Student Demonstration Time

[bill_schubert]

Ah, the good old days. I was listening to a podcast today that took me back to Eldridge Cleaver, H Rapp, and the anti war contingent.  What sent me down the rabbit hole of my mind was the statement that there were 'outside elements, non-students' that were causing the problems on campus today.

What we used to call 'outside agitators'.

Mary Ann Vecchio, the 14 year old girl in the Kent State photo, was such an agitator.  I remember the commentators of that day saying so.  It must be true.

My next thought was 'nattering nabobs of negativism'.  Dear old Spiro.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.  

One of the best songs of that era, really after it and describing the history, is on a dusty record few have heard.  It is a Beach Boys tune called Student Demonstration Time.  Nothing new in it.  But, really, nothing new under the sun.

Nothing pithy from all this.  Mary Ann is two years younger than me.  Still kicking.  Lives down in the Everglades where she grows avocados.  

So it goes.

Comments

[msconduct]

I was listening to something on the World Service about this yesterday and thought of Kent State as well.

It's interesting to see different countries' response to this kind of thing. I was accidentally caught up in a student protest in Paris once. French protestors are hard core and the Parisian police even more so. There's no messing around with negotiations, they just unload. I walked around a corner into a cloud of tear gas and had to get out of there fast. It's just lucky I avoided the rubber bullets.

[anais_pf]

I don't think I had ever heard that song, and I definitely had not seen the video. Thanks.

[lenine]

I, too, have had Kent State on my mind. I have also had the Chicago riots of 1968 on my mind. As you say, nothing new under the sun. I hope the situation calms somewhat before the Democratic National Convention. On the other hand, Daley is long gone.

[siglinde999]

I’m too young to really remember much about the demonstrations, but I remember them happening. They really do have a 60s feel to them. I was interested to see how different universities are responding. Columbia calls in the police, while Brown negotiates and the protesters get at least some of what they want (divestment). This is not even a new call, and on a whole lot of fronts I think people should be agitating much harder for ending investments (I would start with things that harm the climate because I think Israel has a right to exist and defend itself). I think the students are absolutely right to be angry about what is happening in Gaza. It is horrifying and won’t solve anything.