Our Years of Protest and the Counterculture of the Sixties: Anti-war demonstrators gather opposite the Lincoln Memorial in Washington , D.C. In the background is the Reflecting Pool, the base of the Washington Monument, and barely visible through the haze is the Capitol Building. (AP Photo) For me, San Francisco was a magical place that I heard of only through rumor. Friends, or friends of friends, would return to our small, conservative Fort Bonifacio enclave with their stories about the happening and from my cousins, who lived in the hills of Marin County, of the Haight-Ashbury, flower children. Immigrating to San Francisco, was first in my mind and it could offer a chance for a new beginning, to be completely independent, and an opportunity to witness firsthand the peace and love movement that was sweeping America.

In my albums, I always portray the nations at war. I want to emphasize that a group of individuals are profiting..WHERE THERE'S WAR THERE'S MONEY . War uses up more materials more quickly than most anything else on earth. In war expensive equipment doesn't wear out slowly, it gets blown up. (It's interesting to note that during the 119 year period from the founding of the Bank of England to Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo, England had been at war for 56 years, while the rest of the time preparing for it. In the process the money changers had been getting rich.) So there it was, the newly formed Federal Reserve poised to produce any money the U.S. Government might need from thin air with each dollar standing to make a healthy interest. Same with Iraq War! Photo portrays happy times of the Kennedy Administration.

John F. Kennedy Speech, April 27, 1961 American Newspaper Publishers Association. In a speech that should shock Americans. He warns the press and America to be on the lookout for the exact circumstances that have manifest themselves under the Bush Administration and the false flag of state sponsored terrorism. This speech should chill Americans. Kennedy died trying to warn us. He wanted to abolish the Federal Reserve and the C.I.A. On November 22, 1963, hardly past his first thousand days in office, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was killed by mutiple assassin's bullets as his motorcade took and unscheduled turn in Dallas. Kennedy was the youngest man elected President; and youngest to die. The Secret Service was not by his side, they had been called off of his motorcade. Who would have the power to do this? This speech which has now transended time could be the key to saving America from the fate which looms over it like a dark spectre

 

With a country in shambles, as a result of the Vietnam War, thousands of young men and women took their stand through rallies, protests, and concerts. A large number of young Americans opposed the war in Vietnam. With the common feeling of anti-war, thousands of youths united as one. This new culture of opposition spread like wild fire with alternate lifestyles blossoming, people coming together and reviving their communal efforts, demonstrated in the Woodstock Art and Music Festival. Although different in its basic urges, the growth of the new youth culture's open hostility to the values of the middle-class society, the counterculture was formed. America became more aware of its young generation. )US troop numbers peaked in 1968 with President Johnson approving the raising of the maximum number of Americans in Vietnam to 549,500. The year was the most expensive in the Vietnam war with the American spending US$77.4 billion (US$ 484 billion in 2010) on the war. The year also became the deadliest of the Vietnam War for America and its allies with 27,915 South Vietnamese (ARVN) soldiers killed and the Americans suffering 16,592 killed compared to around two hundred thousand of the communist forces killed. The deadliest week of the Vietnam War for the USA was during the Tet Offensive specifically February 11–17, 1968, during which period 543 Americans were killed in action, and 2547 were wounded.

With a country in shambles, as a result of the Vietnam War, thousands of young men and women took their stand through rallies, protests, and concerts. A large number of young Americans opposed the war in Vietnam. With the common feeling of anti-war, thousands of youths united as one. This new culture of opposition spread like wild fire with alternate lifestyles blossoming, people coming together and reviving their communal efforts, demonstrated in the Woodstock Art and Music Festival. "All we are asking is give peace a chance," was chanted throughout protests, and anti-war demonstrations. Timothy Leary's famous phrase, "Tune in, turn on, and drop out!" America's youth was changing rapidly. Never before had the younger generation been so outspoken. 50,000 flower children and hippies traveled to San Francisco for the "Summer of Love," with the Beatles' hit song, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band as their light in the dark. The largest anti-war demonstration in history was held when 250,000 people marched from the Capitol to the Washington Monument, once again, showing the unity of youth. Counterculture groups rose to every debatable occasion. Groups such as the Chicago Seven , Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), and a on a whole, the term, New Left, was given to the generation of the sixties that was radicalized by social injustices , the civil rights movement, and the war in Vietnam. One specific incident would be when Richard Nixon appeared on national television to announce the invasion of Cambodia by the United States, and the need to draft 150,000 more soldiers. At Kent State University in Ohio, protesters launched a riot, which included fires, injuries and even death. Through protests, riots, and anti-war demonstrations, they challenged the very structure of American society, and spoke out for what they believed in. From the days of Woodstock to today, our fashion today reflects the trends set in Woodstock. Trends such as; long hair, rock and folk music used as a form of expression for radical ideas, tye-dye, and self expression. While these trends are non harmful, others are; such as the extended use of marijuana, and the hallucinogen, LSD, which are still popular with the youth today. .

I was here and experienced the free Haight Ashbury district of San Francisco, where  people were pure examples of the possibilities and limits of this mid 60’s countercultural movement. In their “free city,” of hippie origin, they set up a free housing network, a communication system, concerts, and store (for free clothes and household goods.) and held a regular food giveaway. The diggers were the theater geeks of these hippies, those claiming to be life actors, scripting their own stories and turning every day life into a theater of endless possibilities. The Photo depicts Anti-Vietnam war demonstrators fill Fulton Street in San Francisco. The five-mile march through the city would end with a peace rally at Kezar Stadium. In the background is San Francisco City Hall.

 

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