Honoring the Woodstock Nation

When I talk about Woodstock, one incident that folks seem most surprised to learn centers around Jimi Hendrix's performance. He did not hit the stage until about nine-o'clock Monday morning. By then--due to the long rains that poured down in torrents on us Friday night as well as Sunday-the crowd had greatly diminished. Still, to enthusiastic applause, he appeared wearing a white, leather cowboy-like attire as the Band of Gypsies tuned up. I believe it was the first time he performed with them. I was closer to the stage than ever, only about fifty muddy yards away, when Jimi walked to the microphone and said, smugly, "So y'all waited three days in the rain, huh?"

The way he made the statement smacked of vanity too imposing for the moment--as though we had all waited solely to see him perform. Since that was not the case, about half of the remaining crowd turned and walked away even before he started strumming his rendition of The Star Spangled Banner-immortalized on film. Briefly, the notion of showing unity with the people who turned their backs on Jimi did cross my mind. However, a woman I'd met the previous night and I were in a tight embrace that I was reluctant to end.

For despite all the big-name talent that was there, the Woodstock Nation was about much more than music. It was the largest-ever cultural gathering of our generation or any other generation, which in itself was an unprecedented statement to the world. Because the planners were overwhelmed by our vast numbers, they were forced to forgo pay at the gates and declared The Aquarian Festival and Art Fair a free event. The press marveled at how peacefully we coexisted in what they described as a disaster area. There was the rain we endured, the lack of toilet facilities, medical support and supplies, and the alarming shortage of food in the vicinity for-if my memory is correct-an estimated fifty-mile radius. We knew, even before we saw or read any news coverage of those three-and-a-half days, that we were making history.

Today, as was the case then, many people may be of the opinion that all the hippies represented were drugs and promiscuity. And I admit we made more than our share of moral blunders. However, now almost forty-years later, I clearly see how the baby boomer generation made it possible for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to become last year's frontrunners for the presidential Democratic nomination.

Way back when, we advocated a break away from the status quo and dared to question authority as we envisioned a Utopian society. Our youthful idealism came about naturally, considering never before in American history were there so many people under the age of 25. Of course, it's well known that not every child born after World War II endorsed turning on, tuning in and dropping out to grow their hair long, wear peace signs and beads and flowers and attend Love-ins. However, many of the so-called straights did march for racial equality and voting rights for blacks; they also protested the war in Vietnam; and many others joined forces with the women's rights movement; demonstrating that civil disobedience was the order of the day.

In that regard, as a generation we were more like our founding forefathers than any generation that preceded us. Social unrest became the norm and many young people also turned to Eastern religions and philosophies and changed their diets to reflect a new consciousness on the rise in the dawning of the Aquarian Age. Others started movements aimed at leaving the cities and returning to the land to live a simpler life, becoming the first people to voice environmental concerns as a front burner issue.

From Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco to New York, across the mountains and the plains, the vibrations spread across the nation. The main uniting factor was the music, a blend of blues, folk, jazz and country sounds. The lyrics were revolutionary and confounded our parents, who had listened to the exact music their parents enjoyed. All of this led to the term generation gap and fears concerning the future of our country and who would ultimately win the Cold War. Yes, there was an abundance of unrest everywhere and heated speeches by politicians and other pundits warning that the very foundation of our society was in danger of crumbling from within.

Ultimately many of the beliefs and ideals we held, which were once seen as radical and un-American, gained acceptance. Colleges and universities were integrated. Major corporations began hiring across color and gender lines, and an era of Jim Crow and male dominance began to decline. And though we still have a long way to go to make the Declaration of Independence a living document, back in the late '60s no one could have ever imagined an African-American man competing against a white woman in the Democratic primaries, and later defeating a Republican war hero, to become the President of the United States of America.

So even though we baby boomers--and hippies, particularly--did not get it all right, we blazed a path less traveled. For that, one might argue the world is a better place even though wars still rage and peace is still a vague concept as fleeting as a puff of smoke rising from the bowl of a communal bong.