Fall of 2018

Fall 2018 

I have hope and faith since they are part of the lifeblood of solutions. They reinvigorate the soul. Permanent negativity is not liberating. Naivete is not liberation. Realism and honesty are liberating. James Comey recently said that Democrats must not go socialist left, but be in the middle in order to win elections. He's wrong for many reasons. The Democrats for decades have tried to appeal to the center and it hasn't worked. The 2016 election is proof positive that it doesn't work. Also, the major reforms in America during the 20th century alone were achieved by not appealing to the center. The so-called sensible "middle" (not just far right conservatives) were some of the major opponents of Social Security, the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, Medicaid, Medicare, Title IX, etc. Some moderates even opposed the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments of the 19th century. The point is that real revolutionaries and real promoters of freedom aren't lukewarm, but hot or good. The recent victories in Alabama and Virginia came about by politicians organizing a powerful coalition of black people, women, the poor, college-educated folks, other people of color, immigrants, progressives, etc. in order to defeat extremists. That has worked in 2017 and in 2018.

That same strategy along with registering young Millennial voters can make real change during the Midterm elections of November of 2018. Another point is to be made. Too many Americans act like socialism is equivalent to a vicious, crippling totalitarianism and that is an old lie spanning decades. Dr. King didn't use sensible middle of the road policies in getting things done. He said that America was the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today (could you imagine a person saying that in national TV today), he said that he sympathized with democratic socialism, and he was for a radical redistribution of economic and political power. Malcolm X was obviously no moderate and he called for America to be held accountable for its unjust mistreatment against African Americans. Claudia Jones was an overt Communist and promoted liberation for black people. Even Eugene Debs was a socialist who defended workers' rights, fought attacks on the freedom of speech, and stood on his views. I can go down the list showing that the so-called "sensible" middle is not only anti-revolutionary, but anemic in solving our world today.

Bold vision and bold leadership has caused all of our victories. Bold Union black leaders and other human beings contributed heavily in the defeat of the scoundrel, wicked Confederacy. Bold civil obedience, boycotts, meetings, and protests made the Civil Rights Movement to cause legislation to be passed. I do endorse working class interests and interests of the poor. We are totally opposed to Trump's racism, xenophobia, hypocrisy, disrespect of women, slanders of NFL peaceful protesters, attacks on democratic freedom, and militarism (as he has threatened to attack Iran). Bold camera recordings have caused many racists in our generation to be held accountable for their atrocious actions against human beings. Therefore, it will be the bold, progressive views of social and economic justice that will subsequently liberate humanity in the future.

One of the great news today is that Lebron James has opened the I-Promise school in Akron, Ohio. He will send scholarships to students who graduate from high school as well. This will benefit hundreds and thousands of young people. Education is very important and Lebron James has told of his story about how he fought hard to enrich his life with education too. The principal of the school is Brandi Davis and the school is a public non-charter school. It has free breakfast and free lunch for all of its students. The school has experts, a powerful curriculum, and its architecture is beautiful. Lebron has courageously stood up and accurately stated that Trump is exploiting the wonder of sports as a means for him to promote divisiveness. Lebron James has shown that contributing humbly to your community is one great essence of living. His legacy will not only be one of the greatest basketball players in history, but it also includes him being a community activist who wants children to achieve their goals filled with determination and excellence.

More and more people are talking about Nia Wilson. Nia Wilson was a young, beautiful black Sister who was murdered by a sick coward. The murder took place in Oakland and her sister, Letifah, survived. Ansar Mohammed, the father of Nia Wilson, spoke about wanting justice for her daughter. She is entitled to it. The murderer is a sick person. White racism, hate crimes, and murders are serious issues in this country of America. In fact, hate crimes have increased in California and in other places of America since Trump was elected back in 2016. So, we have to know about these issues, so we can grow our consciousness and promote unity plus solidarity in our community.
#Say Her Name
Rest in Power Sister Nia Wilson.

1968 Part 3


An Uncertain Future in America

Early June of 1968 saw the passing away of the charismatic political leader Robert F. Kennedy. Many people, especially the youth, felt disillusioned afterward. A war was waging onward, people were confused about which direction to go, and the right-wing movement persisted relentlessly against civil rights (plus the other social changes the legitimately transpired during the decade of the 1960’s). If Robert Kennedy had lived, he might have won the Democratic nomination and the Presidency. The socialist Michael Harrington once said that Robert Kennedy was “the man who actually could have change the course of American history.” Two different political figures of Chicago mayor Richard Daley and New Left leader Tom Hayden saw Kennedy’s coffin in St. Patrick Cathedral in New York City. Hayden said the following words about RFK’s coffin that was: “…all that remained of last night’s hopes for the poor. Nothing left of that hope now, gone in a coffin while crews hammered away and police awaited the crowd. I started to cry hard.” At the location, Edward Kennedy gave a very eloquent eulogy that talked about the dreams of Robert Kennedy to end suffering among those who suffered and to end the Vietnam War in general. After the Robert Kennedy assassination, Eugene McCarthy’s campaign faltered. McCarthy continued to fight onward, but he did not have support among the party’s establishment. He won the New York primary on June 18, 1968. He was gaining grown in competition against Humphrey. Long before late August, Humphrey gained enough votes to win the Democratic nomination. The progressive movement was divided. Many people did not want to vote. Some in the New Left started to leave mainstream politics altogether to be part of a third-party movement or independent political circles. Others lived in communes as the hippies did, and some followed the path of guerrilla resistance against the American government (which would be the origins of the later Weatherman Underground movement).  Nonwhite minorities questioned society itself when American leaders were shot down and murdered unjustly. McCarthy wanted his supporters to continue to fight into Chicago which was where the Democratic National Convention would exist by August 5-8, 1968.

The Poor People's Campaign of 1968 ended on the date of June 24, 1968. The police in Washington, D.C. used force to stop the Resurrection City settlement. Resurrection City had about 3,000 people in the capital of America. It had food, other amenities, a daycare, city hall, a mess hall, and a barbershop. Architect John Wiebenson designed the city’s shanty buildings to be sturdy but non-complex so the many unskilled volunteers could quickly make homes for thousands. The most significant event in the campaign around Resurrection City came on June 19, when 150,000 people gathered to rally in support of Poor People’s Campaign and hear speeches from the movement’s leaders. The city sat on the iconic lawn of the Washington mall where it served as a “counter capital.” When Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. conceived of the project, he envisioned Resurrection City as headquarters from which the Poor People’s Campaign could lobby Congress to pass an Economic Bill of Rights.  Hubert Humphrey gave kind words on the project by saying, that the Poor People’s campaign was, “going to produce results” and that “I think we can learn a lot here.” Ralph Abernathy was a leader of the campaign after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. passed away. President Johnson was hostile, as was the bulk of Congress. One Democratic senator from Arkansas, John McClellan, went as far as to say the city was “a premeditated act of contempt for and rebellion against the sovereignty of government.” The population of the city fell to about 500 as the June 24 expiration date for the protest’s permit approached. Abernathy, however, remained committed to the project and said Resurrection City would stay regardless of a permit.

When June 24 arrived, the local authorities in the District of Columbia deployed 1,000 police to tear down Resurrection City. Using tear gas and wearing masks and body armor, police arrested 288 people, including Abernathy. Later that night, the mayor declared a curfew and deployed the National Guard to enforce martial law. The campaign wanted to use people across racial lines in ending poverty, racism, and economic inequality. Today, after 50 years, we are still fighting the same fight.

Richard Nixon and the Rise of Counterrevolution


It is important to note that back then, many liberal and moderate Republicans were still influential (today, it is a different story with more than 90% of the Republican establishment being conservative). By this time, Nixon made a huge political comeback. John F. Kennedy defeated him during the 1960 election. He lost the run for California’s governor in 1962 to the progressive leader Pat Brown. He supported Barry Goldwater when Goldwater refused to support the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on federalism grounds. Richard Nixon later remade himself to appeal to conservatives in the North and the South to run for President again by 1968. Nixon stumped for Republican candidates back in 1966 to cause the Republican resurgence in Congress of that year. That was the first Congressional expression of the white backlash after the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In the 1968 Presidential campaign, he defeated Nelson Rockefeller. Nixon competed against Michigan governor and former American Motors President George Romney. George Romney was a moderate politician, but his son Mitt Romney is a more conservative political leader. George Romney did the brave thing of saying that diplomats and military officers, who briefed him, brainwashed on the Vietnam War. That was very taboo to speak back in the 1960's, especially as he was running for the GOP candidacy of President. Therefore, George Romney’s campaign ended very quickly. As the convention existed in Miami, Florida, Nixon faced off against Nelson Rockefeller and the conservative Ronald Reagan.

 

Ronald Reagan was the man who was once liberal and then even opposed Medicare once upon a time (which is highly extremist). Nixon was slick and used the rhetoric of “law and order” to gain the delegates to win the nomination. The problem with the “law and order” rhetoric is that it ignored the rights of minorities to be free from police oppression and law and order was used by the oligarchy to suppress human civil liberties instead of protecting them. This Nixon was not the new Nixon. This same Nixon who used concepts of traditional values to gain votes. He or Richard Nixon hated the Black Panthers and the anti-war activists too. Nixon blamed the Johnson-Humphrey administration for problems in America. He attacked Great Society programs and abhorred federal government social programs in the billions of dollars (that can help minorities and the poor). Nixon believed in the token black capitalism model in that funds for black businesses alone would eliminate poverty in the black community. That is ludicrous since poverty must end by an active federal government involvement along with independent economic endeavors. Nixon wanted to end mandated school busing. Nixon divided Americans by talking about the forgotten Americans and using the Southern Strategy for him to win. Nixon deceived many northern and southern white Americans in believing that more rights for black people (and people of color) would mean fewer human rights for them. Even some urban northern whites were manipulated by Nixon and his cronies to believe in racial scapegoating instead of the capitalist elites causing their problems in the first place. Former Alabama Governor Wallace also used the same southern strategy rhetoric to gain votes in the South, the Midwest, and parts of the North. On June 26, 1968, the Bonin Islands were returned to Japan after 23 years of occupation by the United States Navy.

By July 1, 1968, the Central Intelligence Agency’s Phoenix Program developed. This program came after the Tet Offensive. Operation Phoenix was brutal, and it was an explicit CIA assassination program. The U.S. Army and the CIA worked together in enacting the evil Phoenix Program too. It led to the deaths of at least 26,000 people with some estimates exceeding 40,000. The mission of the Phoenix Program, according to the CIA, was “a set of programs that sought to attack and destroy the political infrastructure of the Viet Cong.” However, in reality, it was a systematic policy of terrorism carried out against the civilian population of South Vietnam. South Vietnamese soldiers did most of the dirty work, but CIA and Army officials oversaw and participated in various forms of torture and assassinations. The main purpose of the program was to collect intelligence on suspected members of the Viet Cong then “neutralize” them, which could mean imprisonment and torture, or assassination, or both. People were forced to put a bag on their head with the holes cut out to point at suspected "Communists." According to the account of Lieutenant Vincent Okamoto, after a house was selected, “that night Phoenix would come back, knock on the door, and say, ‘April Fool, motherf____r.’ Whoever answered the door would get wasted. As far as they were concerned whoever answered was a Communist, including family members. Sometimes they’d come back to camp with ears to prove that they killed people.” Many of the victims were dragged off for them to experience torture. Many Vietnamese people suffered beatings, rape, electrocution, dog attacks, and in some cases were thrown alive out of helicopters. The methods of the US government under the Phoenix Program rivaled the methods of the Nazi Gestapo and Stalin’s KGB. To this very day, very few Americans know about Operation Phoenix.

The semiconductor Intel formed on July 18. From July 23-28, 1968, the black nationalists led by Fred Evans engaged in a fierce gunfight with the police in the Glenville shootout of Cleveland, Ohio. The Republican National Convention took place in Miami Beach, Florida. The RNC nominated Richard Nixon for U.S. President and Spiro Agnew for Vice President. On August 21, 1968, the Medal of Honor was posthumously awarded to James Anderson, Jr.  He is the first black U.S. Marine to be awarded the Medal of Honor.

The Democratic National Convention in Chicago

From August 22-30, 1968, the police clashed with anti-war protesters in Chicago, Illinois, outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention, which nominates Hubert Humphrey for U.S. President, and Edmund Muskie for Vice President. It had a long history. The Yippies heavily organized the march. The Youth International Party was part of the protest movement too. Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and other of their friends (like Nancy Krassner Paul Krassner, and Anita Hoffman) talked in Hoffman’s apartment. This event took place on New Year’s Eve in 1967. They talked about the Summer of Love and the Pentagon demonstration in 1967. They wanted a musical festival in Chicago in 1968 (called the Festival of Life). The Yippies wanted a politicized hippie ideological view to spread. They wanted to use street theater, and other actions to criticize United States culture plus have change. Another major group involved in the protests at the DNC was the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam (or MOBE). The MOBE group was made up of many groups that opposed the American participation in the Vietnam War. MOBE was run by a small executive board that set up a general framework for mass demonstrations. They sent out invitations to the over 500 groups on its mailing lists, and they coordinated activities between the groups. MOBE recognized and supported various tactics from marching to civil disobedience. MOBE's main aim was to get the largest turnouts at its functions. David Dellinger, MOBE chairman, believed that "The tendency to intensify militancy without organizing wide political support [was] self-defeating. But so [was] the tendency to draw away from militancy into milder and more conventional forms of protest." On January 2, 1968, African American civil rights activist and comedian Dick Gregory said that he would organize protests and marches in Chicago before and during the Democratic National Convention. He wanted Chicago to pass a stronger fair housing ordinance and use other actions to deal with civil rights issues in Chicago. Gregory chose not to lead demonstrations by April 15, 1968.

On April 27, 1968, an anti-war march in Chicago had about 8,000 people. When the march ended, the Chicago police ordered the crowd to disperse. Later, the cops assaulted people with clubs. The unofficial Sparling report criticized the police and the Daley administration. For Chicago, MOBE originally planned for two large-scale marches and an end of convention rally at Soldier Field. The goal has initially been a massive show of force outside the International Amphitheater. MOBE also planned to have workshops and movement centers distributed in 10 parks throughout the city, many in predominantly black areas, to allow demonstrators and participating groups to follow their particular focuses. Then Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley wanted so-called “law and order” to be maintained during the demonstrations. The Yippies applied for a permit to protest on July 15, 1968. The MOBE group applied for permits (on July 29, 1968) to march around the International Amphitheater at the DNC. All permits are denied, except one allowing the use of the Grant Park bandshell for a rally [In 1968 the bandshell was located at the far south end of Grant Park, near the Field Museum].

Convention week came. By August 22, 1968, on Thursday, Dean Johnson was shot and killed by the police. The police said that he pulled a gun. Johnson was a 17-year-old teenage Sioux Native American from South Dakota. He wanted to go to Chicago for the Festival of Life. A memorial, which was organized by the Yippie, existed in the form of a march later in the day. There was once an all-white Georgia delegation. On that day, the Democratic Party made a compromise to split the delegate votes between a group of delegates headed by Gov. Lester Maddox (who was a known segregationist) and another group headed by State Representative Julian Bond. On August 23, 1968, the Yippies nominated their presidential contender of Pigasus, the pig. 7 Yippies and the pig experienced arrest. They were at the Civic Center Plaza at the Loop or Daley Center. Illinois National Guardsmen and individual Chicago platoons practiced riot control drills.

McCarthy volunteers and other anti-war activists decided to go into Chicago to oppose Humphrey. They believed that since the Republicans were never going to create an anti-war platform, they wanted the Democrats to hear their antiwar demands. Some of the protesters opposed the two-party system as undemocratic and representative of imperialism plus war. The Chicago protest had many factions united by the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam (or MOBE). New Left people led the movement like Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, and veteran pacifist Dave Dellinger. The Yippies joined them too. The Yippies were part of the hippie movement led by Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin. They opposed the Democrats. They wanted to promote a “Festival of Life” while they accused the Democrats of advancing the “Festival of Death.” The Yippies joked about sending LSD into the Chicago water system. They were satirical and used a pig to nominate as Pigasus for President. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley was an old-school political boss. He did not like the young protesters. Daley did not want permits for the demonstrators to sleep in city parks. He wanted Chicago police officers to work 12-hour shifts. He had 6,000 Army troops, 5,000 National Guardsmen, and thousands of state and county police. Hundreds of FBI and Secret Service agents were there in Chicago to work undercover.

By August 25, 1968, Daley unleashed his brutal cops to assault the protesters. Law enforcement beat up bystanders and journalists too. The cops used tear gas, mace, and clubs. Many demonstrators were arrested and bleeding from the violence. Camera operators suffered assault too. Cops yelled out “Kill!” “Commie!” and “Pu__y!” at the protesters. One priest had a fractured skull. Terroristic cops beat Hayden, Davis, Rubin, and Hoffman. Hugh Hefner was clubbed. French writer Jean Genet suffered teargas. He called the cops “mad dogs.” The police also ran into the 15th floor of the Hilton Hotel where the McCarthy headquarters stationed. They subsequently clubbed the volunteers of the campaign there. On the convention for, Daley’s guards punched CBS reporter Dan Rather. Another CBS correspondent Walter Cronkite called the assaulters thugs. The Senator from Connecticut Abraham Ribicoff said from the podium to criticize Daley for his Gestapo tactics. Daley was shown by the camera being angry. People believed that Daley said in response to Ribicoff the following words, “F__ you, you Jew, son of a b___!  you lousy mother-f___, go home.” The crowd of protesters yelled Peace Now, and the Whole World is Watching. People around the world saw the brutality of the police. Later, Hubert Humphrey accepted his nomination in the midst of the Democratic Party being divided and self-destructing before folks’ eyes. The events in Chicago motivated the anti-war protesters to continue, but ironically it stirred up the conservatives to fight against the progressive policies that the liberals established. Many conservative Americans saw the protesters in a negative light, and they flocked to Richard Nixon.

The End of the 1968 Presidential Election and Social Movements

After the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, the world changed. The Presidential campaigns of Nixon/Agnew and Humphrey/Muskie would continue. Hubert Humphrey had burdens of being seen as the war candidate despite having a progressive record on domestic issues. Nixon wanted to project a new image of himself, but he was still the same reactionary against the social activism of the progressives. By September 6, 1968, Swaziland became independent. Swaziland is in Africa. On September 7, 1968, about 150 women (members of the New York Radical Women organization) arrived in Atlantic City, New Jersey. They came to protest against the Miss America Pageant. They view it as exploitative against women. Activist and author Robin Morgan led it. This protest was one of the first massive demonstrations of Second Wave Feminism. First Wave Feminism was from the Susan B. Anthony days until the early 1960’s. Second Wave Feminism is from the early-1960’s (with NOW and Betty Friedan writing her famous book entitled, “The Feminine Mystique”) until the 1980’s. Third Wave Feminism is from the 1980’s to 2012. Fourth wave feminism is from 2012 to the present. The media covered the Second Wave Feminism and this protest.

By September 7, 1968, the Banana Splits Adventure Hour begins airing on NBC. It would go on to 2 seasons, ending on December 13 a Year Later in the middle of season 2. Army Maj. Gen. Keith L. Ware, World War II Medal of Honor recipient, was killed when his helicopter was shot down in Vietnam on September 13, 1968. He received the Distinguished Service Cross posthumously. On the same day, Albania officially withdraws from the Warsaw Pact upon the Soviet Union-led Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, had already ceased to participate actively in Pact activity since 1962. On September 20, 1968, Hawaii Five-O debuts on CBS, and eventually becomes the longest-running crime show in television history, until Law & Order overtook it in 2003. The Tet Offensive ended on September 23, 1968. 60 Minutes debuted on CBS on September 24, 1968.

By September 30, 1968, Hubert Humphrey had a speech and announced that he would, “stop the bombing of North Vietnam as an acceptable risk for peace.” This placed distance between him and LBJ. His poll numbers started to increase. McCarthy soon supported him as most Americans by late 1968 opposed the Vietnam War. Labor leaders supported Humphrey too. Even the Supremes gave a speech in favor of Hubert Humphrey as he was a liberal on civil rights and other domestic issues. Wallace and his running mate Curtis Le May (who committed war crimes in WWII involving firebombing Tokyo and promoting using a bombing campaign in North Vietnam) lost ground. Operation Sealords occurred on October 8, 1968, in dealing with the Vietnam War. The United States and South Vietnamese forces launch a new operation in the Mekong Delta. This operation caused a massive break up of North Vietnamese communication and supply systems. The Detroit Tigers won the 1968 World Series on October 11, 1968. They defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 4 games to 3.

On October 2, 1968, there was the Tlatelolco massacre: A student demonstration ends in a bloodbath at La Plaza de las Tres Culturas in Tlatelolco, Mexico City, Mexico, ten days before the inauguration of the 1968 Summer Olympics. 300-400 are estimated to have been killed. By October 5, 1968, Police baton civil rights demonstrators in Derry, Northern Ireland, marking the beginning of The Troubles (which took place in Northern Ireland and the fight to either make Northern Ireland be in the UK or be part of the larger area of Ireland in independence. More than 3,500 people were killed in the conflict, of which 52% were civilians, 32% were members of the British security forces, and 16% were members of paramilitary groups). On October 7, 1968, at the height of protests against the Vietnam War, José Feliciano performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Tiger Stadium in Detroit during Game 5 pre-game ceremonies of the 1968 World Series between the Tigers and the St. Louis Cardinals. His personalized, slow, Latin jazz performance was innovative. He opened the door for later interpretations of the national anthem. As part of the Apollo program, NASA launched Apollo 7 on October 11. It was the first human-crewed Apollo mission (the astronauts involved were Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele, and Walter Cunningham). Mission goals include the first live television broadcast from orbit and testing the lunar module docking maneuver. October 12 was the time when Equatorial Guinea received its independence from Spain. By October 14, 1968, the United States Department of Defense announced that the United States Army and United States Marines would send about 24,000 troops back to Vietnam for involuntary second tours.

An Inspirational Protest (in Mexico City) and the End of 1968

On October 16, 1968, something inspirational happened. It was when in Mexico City, track athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos (who are two black Americans competing in the Olympic 200-meter run) raised their arms in a black power salute after winning the race with respectively the gold and bronze medals for first and third place. Ironically, the 2nd place was an Australian athlete named Peter Norman who agreed with the salute. On the morning of October 16, 1968, US athlete Tommie Smith had a world-record time of 19.83 seconds. Australia's Peter Norman finished with a time of 20.06 seconds, and the US's John Carlos had a time of 20.10 seconds. The two US athletes received their medals shoeless but wearing black socks, to represent black poverty. Smith wore a black scarf around his neck to represent black pride, Carlos had his tracksuit top unzipped to show solidarity with all blue-collar workers in the US and wore a necklace of beads which he described "were for those individuals that were lynched, or killed and that no-one said a prayer for, that were hung and tarred." It was for those thrown off the side of the boats in the Middle Passage." All three athletes wore Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR) badges after Norman, a critic of Australia's former White Australia Policy, expressed empathy with their ideals. Sociologist Harry Edwards, the founder of the OPHR, had urged black athletes to boycott the games; reportedly, the actions of Smith and Carlos on October 16, 1968, were inspired by Edwards's arguments. When The Star-Spangled Banner played, Smith and Carlos delivered the salute with heads bowed, a gesture which became front-page news around the world. As they left the podium,  the crowd booed them.

Smith later said, "If I win, I am American, not a black American. However, if I did something bad, then they would say I am a Negro. We are black, and we are proud of being black. Black America will understand what we did tonight."Tommie Smith stated in later years that "We were concerned about the lack of black assistant coaches. About how Muhammad Ali got stripped of his title. About the lack of access to good housing and our kids not being able to attend the top colleges." International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Avery Brundage deemed it to be a national political statement unfit for the apolitical, international forum the Olympic Games were intended to be. In response to their actions, he suspended Smith and Carlos from the US team and banned from the Olympic Village. When the US Olympic Committee refused, Brundage threatened to ban the entire US track team. This threat led to the expulsion of the two athletes from the Games. Brundage hypocritically supported racist Nazi salutes during the 1936 Olympics. In contrast, Tommie Smith and John Carlos wanted to advance freedom and justice.

Both Tommie Smith and John Carlos were praised by the black community and progressive communities worldwide. Back home, both Smith and Carlos were subject to abuse, and they and their families received death threats. The athletes experienced hatred by the far right and suffered unjust punishments until recently for their heroic act of opposing racial oppression. When Norman died in 2006, Smith and Carlos were pallbearers at his funeral. Smith and Carlos received an Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2008 ESPY Awards honoring their action. Former U.S. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy married Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis on the Greek island of Skorpios on October 20, 1968. The Gun Control Act of 1968 transpired on October 22, 1968.

By October 25, The Jimi Hendrix Experience released Electric Ladyland. Jimi Hendrix was a great guitar player who was ahead of his time regarding his musical expression. Citing progress in the Paris peace talks, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson announced to the nation that he has ordered a complete cessation of "all air, naval, and artillery bombardment of North Vietnam" effective November 1. Hubert Humphrey publicly calls for an ending of the bombing. His polls increase, and he almost defeated Richard Nixon. On November 5, 1968, Republican challenger Richard M. Nixon defeated the Democratic candidate Hubert Humphrey. Nixon had 43.4 percent of the vote while Humphrey had 42.7 percent of the vote.  Also, American Independent Party candidate George C. Wallace lost the election too with 14 percent of the vote and winning five states of the Deep South. Nixon did not win a significant large city. Nixon won well in the upper South, Midwest, and West. Humphrey won in Texas, Washington State, Washington, D.C., and throughout most of the Northeast.

The aftermath of the 1968 election caused the growth of conservativism in America. It shifted many from embracing New Deal-style liberalism into a more right-wing agenda. Tons of voters, who supported Nixon, expressed a backlash against civil rights, the counterculture, the anti-war movement, and progressive social programs. Liberalism had to fight back. Conservatives slandered the Great Society, but it continued forth as we the beneficiaries of it today in 2018. Numerous voters left the Democratic Party and became Republicans overnight. Progressives would not be utterly defeated, but they continuously plus heroically fought for equality and social justice afterward as well.

On that day, Luis A. Ferre was elected Governor of Puerto Rico. On November 11, 1968, The Vietnam War had Operation Commando Hunt. It was initiated to interdict men and supplies on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, through Laos into South Vietnam. By the end of the operation, 3 million tons of bombs are dropped on Laos, slowing but not severely disrupting trail operations. Yale University first admitted women on November 14, 1968.

On November 17, 1968, there was the Heidi game. This time was when NBC cuts off the final 1:05 minutes of the Oakland Raiders–New York Jets football game to broadcast the pre-scheduled Heidi. Fans are unable to see Oakland (which had been trailing 32–29) score two late touchdowns to win 43–32; as a result, thousands of outraged football fans flooded the NBC switchboards to protest. The Farmington Mine Disaster of Farmington, West Virginia killed 78 men on November 20, 1968. The Beatles release their self-titled album popularly known as the White Album on November 22, 1968. By November 24, four men hijack Pan Am Flight 281 from JFK International Airport, New York to Havana, Cuba. On November 26, 1968, United States Air Force First Lieutenant and Bell UH-1F helicopter pilot James P. Fleming rescues an Army Special Forces unit pinned down by Viet Cong fire, earning a Medal of Honor for his bravery. Elvis Presley returned to the concert atmosphere via the NBC special, "If I Can Dream" on December 3, 1968. During an airing of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, NBC Renews the Banana Splits Adventure Hour for a second season on December 6. By December 9, 1968, Douglas Engelbart publicly demonstrates his pioneering hypertext system, NLS, in San Francisco. The film Oliver!, based on the hit London and Broadway musical, opens in the U.S. after being released first in England. It goes on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.

The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus existed on this date, but not released until 1996. This event occurred on December 11. On December 20, 1968, the Zodiac Killer was believed to have shot Betty Lou Jensen and David Faraday on Lake Herman Road, Benicia, San Francisco Bay, California.  David Eisenhower married Julie Nixon, the daughter of U.S. President-elect Richard Nixon on December 22. The release of the USS Pueblo crew existed on December 23, 1968, after spending 11 months in captivity by the North Koreans. By December 24, 1968, something historic happens. U.S. spacecraft Apollo 8 enters orbit around the Moon. Astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William A. Anders become the first humans to see the far side of the Moon and planet Earth as a whole. The crew also reads from Genesis. The end of 1968 caused many monumental changes in human history as 1968 was one of the most revolutionary years in world history.

Appendix A: The Music of that Era

On September 7, 1968, Led Zeppelin performed for the first time, billed as The New Yardbirds (the Yardbirds had disbanded two months earlier, and guitarist Jimmy Page subsequently formed this new group). Diana Ross & the Supremes replace The Beatles' hugely successful "Hey Jude" at number-one in the U.S. with "Love Child"; this would be the last of five turnovers at number-one between the two most successful music acts in America during the 1960s. The Supreme’s Love Child song talked about the experiences of single mothers and their children in a positive way. The song shined a light on an important part of the black experience. On November 22, 1968, The Beatles released "The White Album." Also released is The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society by The Kinks. By November 26, 1968, Cream plays their farewell concert at the Royal Albert Hall. It will be the last time Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, and Ginger Baker play together until their 1993 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. On December 9, 1968, TCB aired on NBC starring Diana Ross &the Supremes and The Temptations, becoming the first variety special in America to feature an exclusively African American cast. TCB is a 1968 television special produced by Motown Productions and George Schlatter–Ed Friendly Productions of Laugh-In fame.


By Timothy