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What Were You Doing in the Summer of 1968?

Some of you were there. Some of you were in the military, some in school, some in the streets. Some were too young to remember much, some not yet born.

Like many here, I've been obsessed with the events in Ferguson. As of this writing on Thursday evening, a change of strategy that replaced a militarized and depersonalized police force with more human representatives of law enforcement has dramatically de-escalated a situation that had clearly spiraled out of control. That one shift hasn't solved the alarming rise of militarized police forces across the country, but it may have pointed out a viable new direction.

As I read through comments on twitter and Daily Kos I saw repeated references to 1968, including this diary, Ferguson Police Remind Me of Chicago 1968 Only MUCH Worse.

I was 11 years old that summer and too young in many ways to understand the violent social change taking place all around me. I was half in love with hippie culture and spent many baking hot afternoons wandering down Highland Avenue to the head shop with its black light psychedelic posters, strings of brass bells, beaded curtains, Indian print bedspreads and the pervasive heady aroma of incense. These tactile experiences contrasted with the televised images of riots, beatings, dogs, and tear gas.

It wasn't until I was in college in the mid 70's that I first heard the term that made perfect sense in describing the unbridled arrogance and brutality of law enforcement at the Democratic convention in Chicago: Police Riot.

We came so close Tuesday night to another outbreak of police rioting. The restraint it took the people of Ferguson to pull back from the brink stops my breath.

Dare we hope....?

The Civil Rights Act is 50 years old. These two pictures were taken 50 years apart. Behold our progress. Jackie Summers (@jackfrombkln) August 13, 2014


Chicago, 1968



Ferguson, 2014. Turning police into soldiers.



Just a normal guy walking down a normal street in a normal town.



I can't believe it either. Let us never give up, or give way to despair.


Share your thoughts, your images, your memories, and your hopes with us today.

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