1963

1963 started out with a US Postage rate hike, when a first class stamp rose from 4 to 5 cents. Alabama saw George C. Wallace sworn in as the state governor with a speech that declared "..segregation now; segregation tomorrow; segregation forever!". NBA basketball was not segregated; Wilt "the stilt" Chamberlain was a star. Both Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle signed $100,000. contracts with their teams: the San Francisco Giants and the New York Yankees. In August, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his now famous "I have a dream speech". President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Jr. was assassinated in November.

1963 was a busy year. Kennedy spoke about segregation calling it "morally wrong", while Wallace was busy ordering State Police to prevent black students from enrolling in white schools and universities. This caused the Federal government to issue an injunction to stop the practice. The USA and Russia were embroiled in a Cold War. It was agreed upon that the use of nuclear weapons was MAD, acronym for Mutually Assured Destruction of planet earth. Kennedy proposed a joint US and Soviet moon voyage after the Soviets missed their moon landing. Major League baseball introduced fans to the Alou brothers, Matty, Felipe and Jesus; Elston Howard was the first black player to receive an American League Most Value Player award.

Television in 1963 was still seen in black and white on small screens. If it were not for music, I probably would have stayed in my bedroom reading, rather than joining dad to watch the Ed Sullivan Show on Sunday nights. New on the pop scene was a 13 year old harmonica playing blind kid called "Little Stevie Wonder" who scored a hit with a tune called "Fingertips". 1963 saw the start of what was called "The British Invasion" with these strange "mop-heads" called the Beatles. Bob Dylan created some controversy by walking off the set of the Ed Sullivan Show and would later croon "the time's they are a' changing". A favorite garage band tune, "Louie, Louie" was considered obscene by radio DJs and U.S. teens probably did not notice that the Supreme Court ruled against reading of Bible verses public schools.

A quick recap: 1963 found the USA government involved in a global Cold War and Space Exploration War. There was other involvement with domestic violence going on in several nations. We might also say that the USA was involved in a human rights war, as government and descendents of slaves battled descendents of slave owners and White Supremacists, such as Governor Wallace. There was little segregation on AM radio stations and it was non-existent among my siblings' record collections. Billboard, the top record charter service, kept separate charts for "Rock and Roll" and "Rhythm and Blues" music. When a R&B hit raced up the R&R charts, it was called a "cross-over" hit.

Obvious: people born in 1963 will be age 44 by the end of this year. The average age for marriage and childbearing in 1963 was 21. Relevance: babies born in 1963 were raised by parents that grew up in a time when there was no television. If those parents grew up in Louisiana, for example, they knew African/Americans were not allowed to play integrated sports in their state. Even when Louisiana State University teams played outside of the state, the team would not play ball with an integrated team. If possible, picture yourself a young parent in 1963 having been raised by parents that believed in enforcing segregation. Next imagine yourself to be the parent being denied the right to do things that all other citizens could do, except for you.

Obvious, too, is many people born in 1963 raised children who are today's young adults. Less obvious seems to be that children, do, learn what they live. People who thought it was cool to bomb a church in Alabama, killing 3 children, for instance, will raise children differently than the victims of such insane hatred. To put 1963 in perspective, it was the year Michael Jordan, Johnny Depp, Charles Barkley, Brad Pitt, Karl Malone, Phoebe Cates, Coolio, Tori Amos, Whitney Houston, Elizabeth Shue and M.C. Hammer were born. Rev. Jesse Jackson was 22 in 1963 and Rev. Al Sharpton was 9 years old. The next time you offer a negative critique of Jackson or Sharpton, try to imagine yourself being them in 1963 and all the years that followed. They may be viewing life from different perspectives than you or me.

The first US Postage Stamp I bought cost me 3 pennies. This article was created for and dedicated to a 44 year old Associated Content Producer who opened a debate on the Civil Rights movement (which I call the fight for human rights) and African-Americans in contemporary US of A. The ball is in your court, my young associate.