Dylan’s Bringing It All Back Home
the origin of the Weatherman nameI sat with my daughter Alice the other night and watched the documentary “The Weather Underground” about the late 60s early 70s ultra-radical group the Weathermen. It was a fascinating look at the radical political movements of that time.  The Weatherman were an offshoot of the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) and literally took over the organization in 1969.

“Outraged by the Vietnam War and racism in America, the organization waged a low-level war against the U.S. government through much of the 1970s, bombing the Capitol building, breaking Timothy Leary out of prison, and evading one of the largest FBI manhunts in history.”

At various points I punctuated the movie with my own commentary in an attempt to help her get a better perspective and understanding for what was going in in this country and the world at that time.  Where to begin?  There is so much to tell.  Riots and fires in the streets.  The nightly body count from Vietnam on the evening news.  Bobby Kennedy and King shot dead. Neal Armstrong walking on the moon.  Amazing stuff! 
Some of the of the big issues of that time: civil rights, Vietnam, the Cold War, the Space Race, to name a few.  The cast of characters is volumous: Dylan, Kesey, King, JFK, RFK, Manson, The Beatles, Nixon, Malcom X, and on and on.

Seeing Timothy Leary briefly in the movie, in reference to Weathermen breaking him out of prison, lead me to try to describe the psychdelic movement.  Now that is an interesting one to try to explain! While a big component of the movement was simply having a good time, there was much more to it that can’t be easily described.  The book “Storming Heaven” by Jay Stevens (free online version) does a great job explaining the bigger picture.  It would be easy to simply dismiss iconic characters like Leary as wackos and criminals but in reality they were profoundly influential on my generation and even me personally. 

She and I watched “The Fog of War” (a must see!) about six months ago and had a similar experience.  I think it important to share something about that time with young people in order to give them a broader understanding of the events of today and perhaps better see what helped shape their parent’s generation.  Of course this is no easy task.  Now that my kids are older I hope they can begin to understand and appreciate just a little of what made me (and their mother) who I am today. And perhaps more importantly, that many folks of my generation struggled and fought (literally and figuratively) to bring about changes in this country and the world that are a lasting legacy. 

An excellent chronology and background on the Weatherman

PBS website devoted to the movie.  See what the Weathermen are up to now

The Fog of War website

A few McNamara quote excerpts from Fog of War movie

People of note in the Sixties

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