In defense of the Woodstock generation [View All]

A lot of posts critical of Woodstock have appeared on DU today.

What the critics don't realize is that without the boomers and the social revolution in the 1960s, which are symbolized by Woodstock, there would be no Obama (African-Americans had no rights before the 1960s), no equal treatment for women (I'm an expert on that one), no sexual revolution (we would not be discussing birth control, much less abortion).

The peace movement which is so dear to all of us on DU would not exist had a small segment of the baby-boomer generation, often moved by the spiritual and religious awakening that occurred during that time along with the drugs and demonstrations, embraced non-violent protest as a means of changing our world. A surprising number of those who experienced spiritual and religious awareness also experimented with LSD, marijuana. Their experiments, however, did not culminate in drug addiction. Rather most of them rejected drug use eventually. Nevertheless, drugs were a step in their loosing the shackles of the social and intellectual restraints that had made the lives of their parents so visibly miserable.

Every time you hear the voice of Martin Luther King, think about the fact that the people who walked with him and voted with him in the 1960s were the cross-over generation. The music of our time was a part of that whole cross-over. I will never forget the first time I heard Elvis Presley at the Junior High dance in the 8th grade. I was already a musician. Presley sang in a blues style that was influenced by the gospel music that originated in African-American churches and bars. A few years later, I, a white girl who played the violin, became a regular listener to the Sunday morning service on WMOZ, the Black Spot on Your Dial. You who are younger have no idea how revolutionary that was.

So it was Presley who popularized a sound, a vocal style, that opened average Americans to the sound of soul music. (which was very different from sophisticated jazz music) Aretha Franklin, Jimmy Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan and the rest are history.

Woodstock is a tribute to the oneness of mankind, as were the marches of Martin Luther King. You cannot love one part of that time and hate the rest. Even the violence (which I deplore) signaled the impatience for change that is common among very young people.

Imagine how it was in the U.S. when a huge portion of the population was under 25. It was a world in which adolescence was the norm. Were we, even those of us well over 21, immature? Yes. But -- were we looking at the world without the stain of disappointment that comes with age? Also yes. And that was the beauty of the time. The hope of the time. Was that dream unrealistic? Yes. But it was ours, and to this day I am so grateful for having lived at that time, having dreamed that dream. Never again will there be a time of such hope, such idealism in this country.

If you like cynicism, I can understand that you hate Woodstock. But if you love hope, if you have ideals that you believe in, if you are still willing to fight in a peaceful way for what you want, you are part of the Woodstock generation no matter when you were born.