I was a young child during the US War in Vietnam. I wasn’t old enough to fully understand what was going on. But something amazing was happening then. And it’s happening again today.
A generation woke up. Young Americans, who grew up in a different world than their elders, didn’t accept the story they were told about a senseless war and killing innocent people in their name. They made their voices heard, through activism, protest, and art. They stood up for what they believed in.
If you listen closely, you can hear an echo from the sixties. Take a look at the image above from 1967 and see if it reminds you of the anti-war protests we’re seeing all around the world today.
Nearly a year before the October 7th attack, a Gallup study (Young Adults’ Views on Middle East Changing Most) reported:
Millennial Democrats’ feelings about the Middle East conflict have changed over the past decade, shifting from solidly in Israel’s corner to now expressing more sympathy toward the Palestinians. While millennials are not the only Democratic generational group moving in this direction, the extent of their more Palestinian-oriented sympathies combined with their growing numbers means they have had a disproportionate influence on the broader pro-Palestinian shift seen on this question among Democrats as a whole.
Just like in the 1960s, young people, not just in America but everywhere, are more aware of what’s really happening in the world around them, are less willing to accept the narrative fed to them by those in power, and are more willing to take a stand for justice.
Bob Dylan’s words from 1967 were never more true:
Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin’
Please get out of the new one
If you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’