DEAR YOUNG PEOPLE! Thank you for Marching! Letter from a former Street Fighting Girl
Letter from a former Street Fighting Girl
These are combustible times. There were already 2 huge Women's Marches recently and now we witnessed the heart wrenching and powerful #MarchForYourLives event all over America.
"Welcome to the Revolution!" said the young woman, Emma Gonzalez, who
initiated the movement, in a clear voice at the Washington rally. It was music
to my ears.
Having been a young woman
in the late sixties I had a strong sense of deja vu. I saw today's faces - beautiful young
faces with tears in their eyes, with hope and anger in their hearts and heard the
outrage in their voices. They reminded me of our faces then. The urgency and
the passion were electrifying. I realized that anguish and the wild will to
force change, no matter the risks and the costs, look the same all over the
world in all generations. I choked quite a few times.
I don't know whether young people ever think about us 60s
rebels (maybe if they have a parent or Grandmother with a "marching"
past?), or understand why some still reminisce fondly about revolution, disobedience
and defiance. It wasn't only the power of youth that rushed through our veins in
those years of living dangerously. We, too, were rebels with a cause, for sure.
However, I have to admit that the targets of the sixties' protests and some spontaneous
marches were often not clearly defined and therefore slightly theoretical, yet electrifying. In
short, they didn't have a lasting effect.
In contrast, the current war around gun-control
is very clear-cut, the demands precise and a reflection of the stark reality. The
threat of weapon-violence is real and transcends race, religion and gender. It's
right in our face and heart and happens in front of our door, and INSIDE our
schools. Almost daily. In a country where people are so pathologically
gun-obsessed that they put their "right" to carry weapons before the
likely chance of having children shot to pieces. That is more than any of us
had ever to live through in Europe in 1968, neither does anybody now.
I always thought that rebellion is universal and unifying. I protested
(among other topics) the Vietnam War as a 20 year old in my native Germany. Why
did I do that? In some inexplicable way I felt that I had something to do with
it. It felt very personal to me. The personal is always political we insisted
then - and the other way round. I still believe it. And let me tell you
something. To be political, the chance to
be political which means basically to consider yourself important
enough to have a position and an opinion that has the power to
change society, is not only a gift of youth, but democracy and simple
human right, too. And a thrilling and emotional uplift that has no downside. Rebellion against something we
consider unjust and unsupportable brings out the best in us. We feel authentic,
we feel almost genderless, and we feel like true equal citizens of our planet.
We belong to the past, you youngsters belong to tomorrow. Seeing
the changing of the guards is inevitable in an older person's life. I was once
on the side of the passionate new guards and felt not just very entitled but
convinced that we would change the whole universe in just the time it took to
listen to The White Album for a day.
I had often wondered, not just what will happen to us, the
former wild children and radical hotheads, but how will our children and
grandchildren turn out? Did we leave tracks that they treasured - or trashed?
When I listened to the inspiring and fiery speeches during the
#MarchForYourLives events, I felt happy, I felt nostalgic and I was filled with
energy and hope. And with admiration for the fearless youth.
I see the
continuation of where we left off.
Maybe some of us ex-street fighters have kept
a small torch in the secret space that stores incendiary dreams - always waiting for
the moment to pass it on to whoever is asking.
So it all comes back, repeats itself, sometimes former
victories turn into dark legacies, but sometimes shadows turn into bright
light.
One thing I know - and please believe me, Dear Young Ones:
Everybody has a chance at being strong, influential, important and authentic
for at least once in their lifetime. Some moments might even stretch into
becoming a lifetime choice of living with awareness and courage forever. Keep
it up! It's worth it! A lot of older folks are on your side - marching,
walking, even hobbling along - or cheering from the sidelines. And sometimes,
in glorious moments, we see a glimpse of ourselves in all of you. And that is
the very best reward.
T*H*A*N*K Y*O*U*!
FB:https://www.facebook.com/RadicalChick46
"FUCK BEAUTY DUTY"
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You expressed exactly how I feel about these young people. I was an 18-year-old college freshman when I attended my first protest - an anti-Vietnam War March - and I remember the passion I felt. Decades later I went to our local March for Our Lives, inspired by the dedication of so many amazing teenagers.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much! I know that many many people all over the world feel and felt the same like you and me and "us". It was a global feeling, a very special moment in history which we were not only part of but helped to made happen. It's a very empowering element which I know (now more than ever) will be the joy of my life for the rest of my life. And I will keep on living in that spirit!
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