After living in this world for over sixty years, after being a child of the 1960’s, I have to ask myself if I am truly feeling the love that broke the doors down in the 1960’s. Being a child of the sixties, I had hopes and dreams of a better world for women, men, gays, and people of color. Here in the year 2018, the struggle for equality is still on the forefront. The “Me Too” movement, “Black Lives Matter” and “March for Our Lives” are amplifying the problems of our current society.
Practices of oppression are being challenged and I believe that a change is gonna come because there seems to be an oversight of a compassionate application. I believe those rights have been mistakenly omitted and will be reinstated. If they are intentional, then we need to take the time to renegotiate our contract of commitment.
I might have been mistaken, but I thought we had signed a contract of equality to protect myself, my daughter and mother, sisters, nieces, and nephews. As a black man, I hold these vows as sacred. As a gay man and father, I thought I had a contract of protection to ensure I receive my birthright of personal safety and my pursuit of happiness in my American Dream would be guaranteed. I believed the contract was signed in good faith. I got the education and I am following the basic required rules. I am waiting for my time spent, my reward for believing in the American Dream.
Sometimes I feel that the contract was signed, but not delivered, as I stand faithfully waiting for my rights of freedom, the freedoms of my family, my brothers and sisters of color, my Hispanic brothers and sisters, my Moslem brothers and sisters, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I am standing in the belief that the contract will be honored, signed, sealed, and delivered in due process.
Could it be there is some fine print in the contract document which I did not read or realize? Could we not be on the same page of the same document?
Am I looking for love in all the wrong places?
The Love Generation of the 1960’s was a generation of exploration and personal expansion. It was a quest for freedom and equality was a common word of the day. It was a time of renegotiating the roles of sex, gender roles, spiritual norms, cultural inclusion, a time of creating music calling for freedom of the heart, body, and soul. It was a kind of music that helped to redefine the sounds of music for the people and by the people, telling their stories with passion and purpose. It opened the door to begin the process of being a gumbo of people learning about how they could live life together. It was a new way of being and doing life and love.
We Children of the Sixties grew up trying to understand our attempts at being loving. We all were willing to try a new type of tenderness, compassion, and understanding. We had no experience and we did the best we could do within our limited experience of blending cultures, religions and souls. We were not perfect, but we willing to spin the bottle of fate as we kept trying to change the eyeglasses of our society. We wanted to create a new contract of how we do life authentically. We didn’t just open the door, we broke it down as we demanded more freedom and equal rights. We wanted peace in the land.
We did not want to go to war, but we were willing to fight for peace and love. The children of today say, “Enough” and they have just begun.
I hear echoes of the voices of 1967 demanding fair treatment, the manifestation of our pursuits of happiness we were promised. Modern life in America has made slavery an equal opportunity employer. The stripping of rights has become commonplace, all in the name of the mighty dollar. I wish someone would send a memo to call a meeting to reexamine our original contract. I hear the rushing noise of the fire hoses washing the streets clean of its people. I hear the bombs and gunshots singing songs of privilege. I hear people crying out in need of some real love. I hear echoes of 2018 and I question our modern contract for love.
The children of today say, “Enough” and they have just begun as they chant, where is the love?
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