Due to the subject matters that this presentation covers, such as sex, drugs, race relations, and other adult topics, viewer discretion is advised. Thank You
Due to the subject matters that this presentation covers, such as sex, drugs,
race relations, and other adult topics, viewer discretion is advised. Thank You
1968THE YEAR THAT ROCKED OUR WORLD
Presentation by: Nia Johnson
The First Week
January 1 :Day of peace Pope 12 hr. extension to Viet Cong announced ceasefire
France President gives New Years speech Fought Vietnam and Algeria after WWII France in Prosperity
America Civil Rights Riot protection
Vietnam US Presidential Election
Prague Spring- Summary
The Election of Alexander Dubček reformed the Communist
government to give more freedoms to the people
Added some democracy into the government
Reformed too fast, instead of gradually
Reforms didn’t go well with the Soviets sent troops to invade
Czechoslovakia Saw tit as a threat to communism
Dubček expelled as communist leader Most of reforms undid
Violent vs. Non Violent Protests/LBJ and Vietnam/Anti- War Protests/Eartha Kitt
Disagreement among civil rights leaders on demonstration methods Both sides agree that they need an event that attracts media
attention
MLK Star of the Show
Media coverage vital to Civil Rights Movement To get coverage, they needed to provide daily short term news
stories, sound bites Anything that was “exciting” was a candidate to get on TV Presence of cameras had a impact on civility in debates
Pres. Johnson gives State of the Union address Got more coverage than any State of the Union Address Announced the safe streets act Talked about Vietnam
Post Johnson SOU Speech Anti-War Movements MLK called for a march on Washington to protest Vietnam War Protest by 5000 women dressed in black protesting Vietnam War Broadway for Peace Wall Street went Anti-War At a dinner Robert Kennedy asked for a show of hands of people
who approved of the war and those who didn’t In spite of all of the rigamoro surrounding the SOU speech
Johnson was still front runner in the electoral polls Eartha Kitt dinner incident
Student Protests (Part 1)
College demonstrations influenced high school and junior high schools to protest
Columbia protests new gym that displaces poor blacks in Harlem anti- war movement- day long boycott of classes
University of Wisconsin- Madison protesters planted 400 white crosses on the lawn in front
administration building Howard University
500-1000 students took hold of administration building Protesting lack Black history courses
Hippies taken over NYC Grand Central Station militant anti- war demonstration
University of Rome 1st day 200 students were injured 2nd day faulty members were protesting police brutality Italian communists failed in calming students down
German student organization organized around protesting the Vietnam War
Spain demonstrating against a fascist regime Brazil armed violence failed to keep students in
place
Student Protests (Part 2) Japanese students were violently protesting the presence of
U.S. military in Japan blocked a US air carrier from docking a Japanese port Cronkite’s visit to Japan covering Eisenhower’s visit
UK Student Protests started out with protesting Vietnam then moved to local
issues attacked anyone that represented the UK government turned the water in the fountain in Trafalgar Square red
Violence took less effort than nonviolence few rebels embraced it
SNCC thrilled world with creative nonviolent ideas influenced students as far away as Poland to stage sit-ins ”We Shall Overcome”
Black freshman sit-in at Woolworth in Greensboro SDS
inspired by Greensboro sit-ins Tom Hayden, SDS leader, went on a trip to Berkley
Hayden went South to bring food to blacks displaced from their homes for registering to vote hardship and loneliness in the South inspired him to take SDS
large scale Freedom Rides
invention of SNCC rode busses around the South; whites sat in black sections
and vice versa used wrong bathroom provoked white racism all over the South White Southerners responded with violence
The Influence of Poetry
1968 was a time when poetry mattered NYC offered dial-a-poem -Government pilot program sent poets around the
country to public high schools Robert Lowell Allen Ginsberg Lei Roi Jones
Ezra Pound Even though he was an Anti-Semitic fascist, he was the key
to poetry of 1968
Influenced Dylan Thomas, Lawrence Feringhetti, Allen Ginsburg
Rod McKuen Other “poets” of the time
Bob Dylan The Doors
Eugene McCarthy- Candidate and poet Bobby Kennedy
Revolution!
Fidel Castro started out with non revolutionary image gained a lot of positive media in the U.S. The seducer
Cuba and Lei Roi Jones At first your average beat poet Latin American writers attacked him for lack of
political commitment Helped him apply revolution to the black community
Cuba and Ginsburg seduction less successful didn’t like the police persecution of homosexuals and
beats
Once people realized that it was a real revolution, opinions changed
Bay of Pigs Chinese Cultural Revolution
initiated by chairman Mao Zedong to force out elements that undermine the revolution
Chinese 1968 generation were defenders of Mao- “Red Guard”
In practice the revolution was brutal Chinese Revolution influencing Cuba
Che Guevara
Hippies and Youth Culture
Rock music closely connected to college campuses gave benefit concerts for political causes student represented a large share of record sales album cover were designed for doing drugs and
studying it when high
LSD made by accident in a Swiss lab acid rock
Free Love rock concerts were starts to sexual encounters ”Make Love Not War”
Columbia Protests Protesting the gym that displaced Harlem
residents Occupied a building Violent police attacks
The Freedom Can
Miss America Pagent -”ideal of American womanhood” -homogeneous pageant -no breaking news at these events -by the ‘60 it was viewed racist and
empty headed Feminist Protesters
only wanted to speak to female reporters
-throwing “beauty products” like girdles, hair curlers, into the trash can
-backlash -labeled as bra-burners- even though
there is no proof any bras were burned -protesting the degrading nature of
Miss America “The Feminine Mystique” Airline stewardesses Feminist movement rooted in the Civil
Rights Movement Women’s Fashion
The Influence of a Decade
This decade help give a voice to oppressed people
Fostered a rebellious, generation
Gave us rights that we take for granted today
The End