Agent Orange

In the 1960s the U.S military sprayed nearly 20,000,000 defoliants in Vietnam. This was used to destroy the agriculture that was feeding the Vietcong troops. Agent orange was one of these defoliants and was used commonly by U.S troops. There are many issues with using this substance such as health effects and environmental effects. There are many negative health effects with using agent orange. These include an increased chance of birth defects, an increased chance of getting cancer, and heart disease.  The issues concerning birth defects and health defects in children was a major issue in Vietnam. In the 1970s researchers found large amounts of Dioxin in the breast milk of south Vietnamese women, and high amounts of Dioxin in U.S veterans blood. Also, there was a large impact on the environment. Spraying these defoliants caused nearly 12,000 sq miles to be affected by these chemicals, which in turn caused many animals and plants to die. This hurt both the amount of food produced in South Vietnam and caused the toxins to be spread out through the food chain.

Manson Family

Today in class when talking about the cults of the counterculture of the 1960's, Mr. Stewart mentioned the Manson Family, generating a response from many of the students in the class. I was surprised that I had never heard of them before, since they are supposedly very infamous, so I did some research on them.

It was a cult led by Charles Manson in California in the late 1960's, who were hippies. Charles Manson gained a group of followers through his ideas that he was Christ, and that they were the reincarnation of the original Christians. They committed many crimes, including the murders of Sharon Tate, an actress, and Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. Other "Family" members committed even more murders. They were very cult-like in the way that Manson's followers would blindly obey him, and he had immense control over them. They were a very eerie and strange group. They were charged for 8 murders throughout the 1960's. Their actions were beyond insane and there are many questions about them, but it is apparent that they committed so many crimes and murders simply because they enjoyed killing.

This is really fascinating to me because in my opinion, Charles Manson fits all the criteria of a psychopath. But his followers could not have all been psychopaths either, the majority of them must have just been regular people, with regular upbringings. So how was he able to have so much influence over them and convince them to commit these horrible murders?

Beatniks --> Hippies

A big part of what we have been studying in the 1960's in the past week is the rise of the counterculture. In the 1950's, the counterculture was made up of the "Beatniks." The "Beat Generation" occurred during the Post-WWII era. The postwar era was a time of rethinking values and challenging the way things were. People were still frustrated and bitter from times of war and wanted lives of peace, happiness, and freedom. The Beat movement was a cultural movement in poetry that continued to evolve throughout the sixties as well. Beat culture was rejection of norms, personal/sexual freedom, experimentation, and also the use of drugs. The Beat culture strongly influenced the development of the counter culture of the 1960's. The "Beatniks" were mostly in the 1950's, but they became the "hippies" in the 1960's. Both the Beatniks and the hippies had the same ideology and beliefs, but there were some subtle differences that gradually evolved. For example, the Beatniks tended to be more subtle, not involved, and rather quiet and grave, while the hippies were more politically involved, especially int he civil rights movement, and they were more outspoken and wore brighter colors.

Despite the stereotype of the 1960's, the majority of people were not hippies, only a small percentage of the American population were. However, it was still a very significant movement of this time period. This facet of the counterculture of the 1960's shows the decade's rise in political involvement and an even higher demand for change and freedom.

Anti-War Music in the 60's

In the 1960's many popular artists went to their songs to talk about important issues at the time. For instance “Fortunate Son,” written in 1969 by Creedence illustrated the issue of how many wealthy individuals avoided the draft for the Vietnam war. Another famous example of artists voicing their opinions through their music was Jimi Hendrix. For example, during Woodstock in 1969, Jimi Hendrix performed an ironic version of the Star Spangled Banner which put an emphasis on the stupidity of war. Arguably the most famous anti-war song was performed by Country Joe McDonald, singing
"Come on mothers throughout the land,
Pack your boys off to Vietnam.
Come on fathers, don’t hesitate,
Send your sons off before it’s too late.
Be the first one on your block
To have your boy come home in a box."

The Significance of Harvey Milk

As we learned in history class today, in 1977, San Francisco resident Harvey Milk became the first openly gay individual to be elected to political office in the US after becoming a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors due to widespread support for his campaign. Although Milk never intended to hold a political position as he spent a lot of his life being a production associate for Broadway and a Wall Street investment banker in New York, he ended up moving to California in the early 1970s in order to open and own a camera shop on Castro Street, San Francisco. Because this region of the city contained a major gay community that contained a lot of gay radicals, Milk was able to voice his political opinion about homosexuality and learn from the people around him, allowing him to eventually develop into a leader and activist for the Gay Rights Movement. With this support, Milk eventually decided to run in the city's elections in 1973 for a position on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, where he crushingly lost due to his lack of experience and money in addition to the lack of social acceptance for his sexuality. Then, four years later after running again for a spot on the Board, developing political connections with many major politicians and city official, and strengthening his ties to the Gay Rights Movement even further, Milk was able to win in the Board's city election and become one of its prime members. This is significant, because as we all know, this is the first time in American history that this feat has ever been accomplished, which is even more surprising considering that Milk had no serious political ambitions prior to his interactions with Castro Street's gay community. Also, the impacts of this victory could be seen to a great extent throughout San Francisco and its policies, as he actively fought for the acceptance and social support towards the gay community and helped the city address many different local issues like child care and housing. Even though Milk and the city's mayor, George Moscone, ended up being murdered by the anti-gay, former police officer and conservative, Dan White who didn't support new liberal changes to the city's political structure (especially with Milk being a member of the city's Board) or his denial from political re-appointment, the significant precedents that Milk was able to set during his time in office through his social and political actions had major impacts on the Gay Rights Movement and the LGBT Movement as a whole. His legacy pushed gay rights activists to fight together against White's 6-year manslaughter charge and influenced them to continue working together in small communities such as that of Castro Street in order to politically and socially defend themselves and develop social equality for them. Overall, even though Milk himself never directly influenced national politics or society with his actions throughout his time of being a gay rights activist and a member of San Francisco's Board of Supervisors, he did help local gay rights activists work together and fight for their rights in addition to symbolizing a national change towards the progression of social equality for homosexuals.

The American Conservative Movement

Throughout American history, there have always been strong conservatives arguing against new, progressive changes to the country because these individuals are extremely adamant about the nation's need for a small, noninvasive government that promotes the liberties and freedoms of the people. As we learned in class, throughout the 1960s these people united under the Conservative Movement, a social movement that centralized around making the Republican Party much more conservative, shrinking the national government, deregulating and privatizing most major industries, and getting rid of liberal social aid programs like Social Security. It gained major traction in 1960 when the conservative Arizona senator, Barry Goldwater, wrote a book titled The Conscience of a Conservative which criticized the spread of liberal values under President Johnson's administration and argued for the decrease in government size, taxes and spending, education, and civil rights. Goldwater and many other disenfranchised conservative Republicans were tired of their party promoting the ideas that traditional conservatives were directly against so when he published this book, millions of Americans were able to connect to and support his somewhat extreme ideology. As a result, the modern Conservative Movement was born and began growing since Goldwater was able to get the support of Republicans and the party leaders and run for the presidency as the Republican Nominee during the 1964 election. Although he ended up losing the election to LBJ by a large margin due to his objectively unorthodox political platform and endorsement from extremist groups, conservativism was able to begin thriving in American politics and develop into a major ideology for the Republican Party. This was especially apparent when one of Goldwater's supporters, Ronald Reagan, began giving speeches promoting conservativism and successfully ran for the governor of California in 1966, a major feat which allowed him to eventually complete two full terms as governor. Over time, this movement grew even further throughout the South as it encompassed religious ideas and anti-liberal sentiments, making it into one of the key ideas for Republicans to believe in. And because conservative Republicans were against the economic and international policies of President Nixon and President Ford during the 1970s, Reagan became the prime candidate to represent conservative ideas for the Republicans, allowing him to win the presidency in the 1980 election and create political change. Obviously, this was very significant for the party as well as the country since Reagan ended up drastically changing American foreign politics and economics, especially with his heavily anti-Soviet ideals and beliefs in "Reaganomics." However, none of the major change and support towards Republican conservativism would have ever developed so quickly if it weren't for Barry Goldwater and The Conscience of a Conservative which is why it is important to acknowledge the significance of the book and its effects on our country's politics - it caused the Republican party to begin its transformation from a liberal, regulation-supporting organization into a conservative group focused on individuality and limited government. Its impacts can even be seen today in President Trump's administration, a group that supports the privatization of most industries in addition to the reduction of government regulation on corporate finances, which is why the ideals that Barry Goldman promoted throughout the 1950s are so important to acknowledge and pay attention to.

Portraits of Feminist Leaders

During class, we discussed the movements through the sixties and one of the movements that sparked my interest was the women's movement. It is incredible to think that back then women couldn't open a bank account, were not legally allowed to own businesses and other things that today we would think of as ridiculous.
Betty Friedan, often viewed as the leader and spark to the Women's Movement, attended Smith College. After graduation, she moved to New York to become a reporter but lost her job when she was pregnant with her second child. She had three children but felt bored working as a homemaker. She wondered if others felt the same way so she reached out to graduates from Smith. What they told her inspired her revolutionary book, The Feminine Mystique. She cofounded the National Organization for Women (NOW).
Gloria Steinem also attended Smith College. She had an unusual early life as she did not go to school until she was 11 because her family moved around often. After her parents divorce, she had to take care of her mother who had mental health issues. After taking care of her mother, she was tired of taking care of others, "I didn't want to end up taking care of someone else." She was a freelance journalist who became most famous for going under cover as a play boy bunny.
What interested you about the women's movement? Would you have joined or played a part? Why or why not?

Movements

In class, we learned about various movements in the 60's and how they changed the United States. Many of these movements are still active today; the gay rights movement has grown considerably since the 60's, and there are still active movements for civil rights, the environment, women's rights, and other things.
While there have been many changes in all of these movements, many people want to continue them, and say that there's still lots of work that still has to be done. Other people, however, say that these movements have gone too far, and want to get rid of some of what these movements have accomplished. Both of these sentiments mirror what people thought about these movements in the 60's. Do you think these movements will continue to make progress like they have between the 60's and today, or are we starting to reach a status quo?

Social Movements of the 1960s

In class, we just finished watching a documentary about the social movements of the 1960s. I thought it was interesting mainly because I learned quite a lot about the background of modern movements from this documentary. From my point of view, I believe that the 1960s and the times before then were filled with disappointment - that is, for people whom society was not tailored to. In other words, anyone who was not a straight white male felt some kind of disappointment as to how their rights were limited by society and government. They decided, based on these conditions, that it was finally time for them to take action. Women began questioning the status quo of how they were being treated and the expectations that society laid out for them. Like the Blacks Civil Rights Movement, some homosexuals and advocates for gay rights risked their lives and almost paid the highest price for getting the rights that they deserved.

Today, we are seeing more and more social movements because of conditions that parallel those of the 1960s: growing disappointment among the people. The Women’s Marches that happened quite recently mirrored the 1960s Women’s Movement; however, the former was much larger and advocated for a wider range of issues, such as women’s rights, LGBT+ rights, respect to minorities and people with disabilities, and more. It saddens me to say that we have definitely made progress over the past fifty to sixty years, but still not enough.

The Moon Landing

On July 20, 1969 an estimated 600 million people around the world watched as the manned spacecraft landed on the moon. This American expedition covered an astounding 240,000 miles in only 76 hours from their takeoff at the Kennedy Space Center. ABC, CBS, and NBC overall spent around $11-$12 million covering this event that lasted from Sunday morning to Monday evening. The men on board were Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Micheal Collins. After spending time on the Moon gathering samples and planting the American Flag they departed, ending up landing in Hawaii. An interesting fact is that when they did land back in Hawaii they were asked to fill out a customs form at security, which the crew wrote that they departed from The Moon.

MLK's Letter from Birmingham Jail

Earlier this semester, my English class analyzed and discussed Martin Luther King, Jr's Letter from Birmingham Jail as part of our persuasion unit. It was during that unit when I read his Letter for the first time, and it was the most important document of the Black Civil Rights Movement. Coming back to it a few weeks later raised my interest in it once again.

King wrote his letter about the inequality and unfair treatment of African Americans in the United States, as a reply to another letter that eight clergymen had originally written to him. The targeted audience of his letter is clearly the clergymen, as well as anyone else against equal rights for African Americans. King's letter is written in a way that speaks to the public, and his supporters and enemies.

One thing King did particularly well was that he narrowed the rifts between himself and his audience. Unlike King, these clergymen were clearly against equal rights for people of all races, as can be inferred from their original letter. However, one thing King and the clergymen shared was their religion, faith, and the Bible. This is why King begins his letter with the phrase “My dear fellow clergymen,” as a reminder that he is on the same level as the clergymen despite them having addressed him in their letter as if he was below them. In addition, King makes many historical, philosophical, and Biblical references to especially appeal to these clergymen. After stating that he “would agree with St. Augustine that ‘an unjust law is no law at all’”, King goes on to “put [this situation] in terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law…” as the clergymen would recognize as a famous priest. It is clear that these clergymen would not be likely to challenge the word of such a well-known religious figure; thus, King makes these allusions to build bridges between himself and the clergymen, as well as refute their reasons to be anxious over his "willingness to break laws".

I believe that writing his Letter to the eight clergymen was a great way for MLK to express his disappointment towards the Black Civil Rights situation at the time, and to stand up to some of the people who perpetuated racism in his society. One lesson we can take away from King's letter is that we should face our opponents directly when speaking up for what we believe in.

Black Civil Rights Movement Reflection

When reflecting on the documentary we watched last week, I noticed a few overarching themes that encompassed the strategies of the Black Civil Rights Movement. These themes seem to be united under nonviolence, sacrifices, and appeal to the public. For example, Martin Luther King, Jr’s approach to the movement came in the form of nonviolent protests; he also appealed to the masses through his well-known “I Have a Dream” speech. This strategy of inspiring his supporters to make change and encouraging them to break the law was effective. We can also see a similar strategy among the Freedom riders, who were blacks and whites who rode the greyhound buses together. Although a handful of them died at the hands of people who opposed the Black Civil Rights Movement, the message they sent to the public was that the Freedom riders, among many others, were willing to give their lives for what they believed in. Finally, many events relating to the Black Civil Rights Movement were broadcast on television and the media, so that they would reach an even broader audience and spread awareness of the movement.


We should keep in mind what we have learned from past civil rights movements, such as the effective and proven strategies utilized by Black Civil Rights activists, and apply those to present-day issues. Minority, LGBT+, and women's rights have not completely been achieved yet, not in the federal government nor everyday society. Our country has a long way to go before we achieve equal rights and representation for people from all walks of life.

Racism

Recently we have been looking at the civil rights movement. We can say segregation isn't legal anymore, yet people segregate themselves and the idea is still there.
When you make racist jokes, even if they are jokes, are you adding or subtracting to the issue? In our history, race has always been big in the American's minds. Even in schools, we see cliques that tend to be all of one race. Yes, there are groups who share races, but most are of one race.
In the 1950's people moved away from the cities to get away from minorities, even though segregation was beginning to become illegal, people continued the idea of it. If you go to San Francisco, if you go to New York, wherever you go you will find separation of people.
Yes, in California it is better, better than middle America but that doesn't mean racism doesn't exist here. Last year I went to North Carolina and the racial tensions there made some girls uncomfortable. We stayed in Rocky Mount, an area where mainly blacks live but just across the highway was an area completely filled with whites. My friend, Jessika, felt uncomfortable when going to a certain resturaunt because she is black and she felt that everyone there stared at her. She had never felt this unwelcomed.
Have you ever experienced anything like this?

Soccer

Hi, this is a random post and I don't even know if I'll get credit for it but I didn't know what to write about so I decided to write about soccer.
As you may know, I have played varsity soccer at LAHS for 3 years. When I was a freshman we got relegated, meaning we moved down a league. This season, however, we won league, and made it to CCS playoffs. Because we won league, we will be moving up next year and will be playing teams such as Mountain View High and Palo Alto High. One player, Hannah W. got 16 goals this season and was obviously the leading scorer. I was the leading assister with 8 assists in the season and 7 goals.
I play for Palo Alto Blue 99g and we are number one in the country for the 18 and under age group. This last weekend we played at a showcase in San Fransisco and went 4-0. Jessika Cowart was the lead scorer last weekend with 3 goals and I was the second lead scorer with 2. In the weekend we scored 10 goals and let in one. On Sunday, we played while it hailed! The weather was so cold and when the hail came down it hurt a bit on our legs and faces. In the second game, the referee added 4 minutes of extra time but cut it short due to the hail.
We play in two leagues, NPL and CRL and compete in state cup. The winners of state cup goes to regionals and then if they do good there they go to nationals. In 2 weeks we will be heading to a National League tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada.