Voices of Protest from the 1960S, an Oral History

University of Kentucky UKnowledge United States History History 12-29-2006 Generation on Fire: Voices of Protest from the 1960s, An Oral History Jeff Kisseloff Click here to let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Thanks to the University of Kentucky Libraries and the University Press of Kentucky, this book is freely available to current faculty, students, and staff at the University of Kentucky. Find other University of Kentucky Books at uknowledge.uky.edu/upk. For more information, please contact UKnowledge at [email protected]. Recommended Citation Kisseloff, Jeff, "Generation on Fire: Voices of Protest from the 1960s, An Oral History" (2006). United States History. 160. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_united_states_history/160 Generation on Fire Generation on Fire Voices of Protest from the 1960s An Oral History Jeff Kisseloff THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY Publication of this volume was made Library of Congress possible in part by a grant from the National Cataloging-in-Publication Data Endowment for the Humanities. Kisselo√, Je√. Generation on fire : voices of protest from the Copyright ∫ 2007 by Je√ Kisselo√ 1960s : an oral history / Je√ Kisselo√. The University Press of Kentucky p. cm. Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth, Includes bibliographical references and index. serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, ISBN-13: 978-0-8131-2416-2 (hardcover : alk. Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky paper) University, The Filson Historical Society, ISBN-10: 0-8131-2416-6 (hardcover : alk. Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical paper) Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead 1. United States—History—1961–1969— State University, Murray State University, Biography. 2. Political activists—United Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania States—Interviews. 3. Interviews—United University, University of Kentucky, University States. 4. Oral history. 5. Counterculture— of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University. United States—History—20th century. 6. Protest movements—United States— All rights reserved. History—20th century. 7. United States— Editorial and Sales O≈ces: Social conditions—1960–1980. 8. United The University Press of Kentucky States—Politics and government—1961–1963. 663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, 9. United States—Politics and government— Kentucky 40508-4008 1963–1969. I. Title. www.kentuckypress.com E840.6.K57 2006 % 1009080706 54321 303.48 4092273—dc22 [B] 2006011831 This book is printed on acid-free recycled paper meeting the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials. Manufactured in the United States of America. Member of the Association of American University Presses For the younger generation of my family: my daughter, Elizabeth, and my niece and nephews, Brittany, Evan, and Jared, in the hope they’ll make their own wise choices and live righteous lives. But mostly for Sue, with love and a wink. When they said, ‘‘Sit down,’’ I stood up. —Bruce Springsteen, ‘‘Growin’ Up’’ Contents Introduction 1 bernard lafayette Freedom Rider 6 bob zellner The Traitor 26 gloria richardson dandridge The Militant 51 paul krassner The Realist 64 lee weiner The Revolutionary 81 daniel berrigan Peace Preacher 100 david cline The Vet 118 peter berg The Digger 137 elsa marley skylark The Artist 152 marilyn salzman webb The Feminist 167 frank kameny The Pioneer 183 barry melton The Guitarist 194 david meggyesy The Linebacker 210 verandah porche The Queen of Poesie 225 doris krause and barry levine Allison’s Story 244 Thanks 267 For Further Reading, Viewing, and Listening 271 Index 277 Generation on Fire Introduction In 1998, Tom Brokaw wrote a best-selling book about Americans who came of age in the 1930s. Because so many of them survived the hardships of the Depression only to risk their lives in World War II, Brokaw called the book The Greatest Generation. Brokaw was right to herald the enormous courage of America’s World War II vets. Once the war was over, however, many settled into lives of confor- mity and comfort, paying little heed to the specters of poverty, racism, and McCarthyism that haunted the country. But it was the children of Brokaw’s ‘‘greatest’’ generation—the so-called baby boomers who came of age in the 1960s—who fought and sacrificed to compel a reluctant nation to make good on its promise of ‘‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’’ for every citizen. This book is a tribute to those Americans who stood up and said no to war, greed, racism, sexism, homophobia, pollution, censorship, lame music, and bad haircuts. All too often they had to wage these battles against their families, their neighbors, and their government, often at the risk of their own safety. Rebellion, of course, is as American as a Fourth of July picnic. Without rebellion, there would be no progress. Those long-haired radicals named Washington, Je√erson, Adams, and Franklin recognized this over two hun- dred years ago when they rose up against King George and demanded their independence. In the 1960s, antiwar activists believed they were acting in that same patriotic tradition when they demanded that President Lyndon Johnson and, later, Richard Nixon end the war in Vietnam. Think about it this way: if not for the activists of the 1960s, the first black person might still be waiting to enroll in the University of Mississippi. You or your sister might not be able to have children because of a botched back-alley abortion. Someone you love might have been the twenty-thousandth Ameri- can to die in Vietnam. Nor is this just ancient history. In the wake of the 2000 presidential election controversy, the tragedy of September 11, increased erosion of civil liberties, and a war over the now admittedly false claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, the need to ask questions and speak out is as important as it has ever been. Newspapers are filled with stories indicating that the spirit of the 1960s is thriving today. The World Wide Web is an electronic version of the old under- ground newspapers. Antiglobalization protesters and Greenpeace activists make headlines by borrowing the tactics that many of their parents used so e√ectively to help stop the war in Vietnam. The 1960s also live on in the conservative backlash against so-called liberal values. The decade scared the daylights out of the industrial, military, political, and religious elite of America—and for good reason. Profit margins were threatened when corporations could no longer dump industrial waste with impunity; in Vietnam the military suddenly found itself forced to act with more restraint than it was accustomed to; and religious leaders were taken aback when young people began taking the motto ‘‘Make love, not war’’ literally. The ’60s also lay siege to the moral police, who believed that sex before marriage was immoral, use of drugs a crime, profanity an o√ense, and di√erent ways of thinking a danger. Mostly, the 1960s proved that in the face of widespread protest and discontent, even the most entrenched aspects of American life and thought are not immune to change. For those in power, that remains a terrifying prospect. That’s why, forty years later, the establishment is still fighting back. Laws have been passed limiting free speech on the Internet and curtailing a woman’s access to abortion. Congress has reinstated draft registration and the death penalty; and because so many elected o≈cials receive campaign contributions from major corporations, they are inclined to serve those interests rather than the citizens they were elected to represent. Perhaps most frightening of all, in 2000, politicians, not the voters, decided who would be the next President of the United States. Eternal vigilance, as our Founding Fathers knew, is the price of liberty. My first book, You Must Remember This, was an oral history about life in Manhat- tan from the 1890s to World War II. I talked to people in their eighties and nineties, and even centenarians, about what the Big Apple was like when they were young. Former bootleggers, jazz musicians, World War I veterans, even the last farmer in Manhattan—almost all were great fun to talk to. By the time I interviewed them, you’d never know that many of them had been real tough guys (or women), far stronger than I ever was. I remember one tiny ninety- year-old woman telling me about her union battles. ‘‘I beat up a lot of scabs,’’ she said with pride. That book hinged on the value of community. My next project, The Box, ≤ generation on fire focused on creativity. Using the history of television as a backdrop, it told the story about what happens when creative and commercial visions collide. Again I met people who were long into retirement. Many of them told similar stories about being in the lab or on the set, attempting to do things that hadn’t been done before. Some supervisor would invariably say, ‘‘That won’t work’’ or ‘‘It’s impossible,’’ but through cleverness and determination my subjects would prove those in authority to be wrong. With this book I intended to focus on responsibility. I also wanted to write a personal book about the decade that shaped my own life. I was fifteen years old on May 4, 1970, when four students at Ohio’s Kent State University were shot and killed by National Guardsmen for exercising their right of free speech. The next day in my Long Island high school, there was a riot when jocks chanted, ‘‘Kill the Jews,’’ attacking a group of long-haired students (many of them Jews) who were attempting to lower the flag on the front lawn as a protest against the killings at Kent State. The jocks, who mirrored the thinking of most of the country, insisted the shootings were justified (‘‘The kids weren’t in class’’; ‘‘They were throwing rocks’’) and defended the free- doms the flag symbolized by beating up those who disagreed with them.

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