It seems hard to believe that 50 years has passed since the March on Washington and the “I have a Dream Speech.” Even though we all make pretty words today, I can attest to how people in Virginia, at least central Virginia, felt about Martin Luther King. He was seen as an agitator and it was thought that he had been planted by the communists to disrupt society. Only the people at the University had kind words to say, as I recall as a kid. People were very afraid of this march and some predicted it would end up in some sort of civil war or uprising. I remember listening to the grown ups talk about it. it wasn’t a pretty sound. I didn’t dwell. It didn’t affect me so life moved on. It was a blip on my radar screen.

How far have we come? Has the dream been fulfilled? Is there full equality?

Do we live in an integrated society or are we still segregated in many ways?

I once read that we are very integrated at work but we are still segregated in our private lives. Is that true and if yes, is it just the human condition?

Finally, and I must ask the question, how much influence did the music of the time and young people who sung it have to do with bringing civil rights to fruition?  Was it all the SCOTUS or did the young people, in particular, the young white people who basically said ENOUGH, have a strong influence on effecting change?

27 Thoughts to “The Answer is Blowing in the Wind…..”

  1. Scout

    Peter Yarrow is a good friend of a good friend. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting him several times. He is a gentle, lovely guy and very gifted musician. If you really want to see or hear an extraordinary musician, however, look up Bethany Yarrow, Peter’s daughter. She is not well known, but has one of the most extraordinary stage presences and vocal ranges I have ever encountered. She usually performs with ‘cellist Rufus Capaciaola (spelling has to be incorrect – sorry), who is a marvellous, ingenious jazz ‘cellist.

    1. Peter Yarrow also appeared here at Hylton Center, I believe.

      I always enjoyed seeing them at concerts at Wolf Trap. The first time I saw them was on a blind date at the University of Richmond. I REALLY wanted to see them. I wished I were blind when I saw the date but the concert was great. He was a decent human being also. All was not lost.

    2. When did you see him last?

  2. Censored bybvbl

    I was fortunate enough to hear P,P,& M sing several times in Georgia and Tennessee while I was in high school in the 60s and again at Merriweather Post Pavilion in college. They were always excellent. I don’t remember whether the first concert that I attended in Atlanta was integrated or not – I know that the restrooms and water fountains were still separate in department stores.

    White Southerners were an odd group when it came to music. Most of my classmates enjoyed R&B but some wouldn’t support the artists by buying their records – and wouldn’t support Peter, Paul, and Mary either.

    My memory of their concerts is somewhat tainted by how my friends and I got there. My father was a federal agent but also a doting dad who took us to Beatles and Stones concerts as well, but I often wondered whether our rides to Atlanta might have been double duty for him.

    1. Hmmm double duty…as in he worked while he chaperoned you all?

      I went to concerts at UVA. I don’t think I saw PPM there but I did see James Brown, Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Joan Baez, Simon and Garfunkel, and a whole bunch of other people I can’t recall. Some of the early R & B groups also played the frat houses. I wish I had written them all down at the time rather than trying to bring half a century of memory.

      The Baez concert was the best. I sat 10 feet from her. Simon and Garfunkel second best. I saw a long way a way but they played more at the AEPi house after the concert. I made sure I was at least in the yard.

      I do think the buy in of young people to the music was consciousness raising at worst. I am not sure if my parents yelled at me to turn off the communist music of not. I got told to turn down music with a lot of different adjectives in front of it in my day…..

  3. Censored bybvbl

    Yeah. I think he may have been working as well. I know during the time we lived in the South that he staked out both the Klan and the Black churches.

  4. Do you still have those pictures, Censored?

  5. Censored bybvbl

    M-h, yes, I do.

  6. Scout

    Not sure the question was directed at me, but I last saw Peter about two years ago. I also saw him before that by a couple of years at one of his daughter’s concerts, where he opened for her. Again, anyone taking the time to find Brittany Yarrow will not be disappointed. I originally thought it was one of these things where the child of a celebrity is standing on the parent’s shoulders. However, musically, she has far more talent than her father, and I think he would be the first to confirm that.

    1. Do you have a favorite of hers from youtube? If so, please leave a link.

    2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8QGl5cSaZg

      Very talented! I was also impressed with Rufus and that cello. Now who is he?

  7. Mary Travers died in 2009. She was beautiful and talented and I wanted her hair. I used to bribe my brother into ironing mine so it would shimmer like hers.

    I am so depressed thinking of her untimely death.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTcYHqN4-oQ

  8. punchak

    @Moon-howler
    What a treat! Thanks!

    1. The thanks should go to Scout. I had no idea the daughter even existed until he mentioned her. Thanks Scout.

  9. Elena

    That was beautiful, watching daughter and father sing together. What a peaceful higher plane they must have.

  10. Elena

    When I contemplate that period of time, I wonder, would I have been brave enough to risk so much to fight for freedom for my fellow Americans? I hope so. Because winning the fight required white people, it just simply did.

    John Lewis is one my favorite people. He is appalled at the recent loss of voter rights. Collin Powell was fabulous when he spoke in N.C., calling out the governor at the blatant new voter laws. He said “how can voter fraud be so widespread AND be undetected ?”

    1. North Carolina is simply outrageous. Rachel Maddow has been all over that one, and rightfully so. Good for Colin Powell.

  11. Scout

    Rufus is an extraordinary musician. He modified his ‘cello to take a lower string. What he and Brittany do together is music on a very high plane. I have a few of their albums and will try to sort out some of the standout cuts.

    The next time they are in the area, perhaps we can have a Moonhowlings Night at the venue.

    1. Great idea. Let us know. Is Rufus related in any way to the Yarrows?

  12. Scout

    I think there’s something (or there was something) going on between him and Brittany, but I haven’t figured out how to pry into that. He’d be mad not to be smitten with her, especially when they relate so well musically.

    1. They do look like there is a relationship in the videos I saw. I agree with you.

  13. Scout

    I keep saying Brittany – it’s Bethany. Pardon me.

  14. Scout

    There are some music videos on You Tube that show off not only Bethany’s talents, but also the extraordinary, percussive cello work that Rufus does. My two favorites are 900 Miles, and If I Had My Way. I’d link if I knew how, but I’m just working a fancy typewriter. Maybe Moon can put up a link.

  15. Lyssa

    And as Tolstoy wrote in “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”, “So long, and thanks for all the Fish.”

  16. Scout

    Touche (can’t find an accent ague around here)

    Senior moment.

  17. Lyssa

    It was a great comment!

  18. Scout

    And- as you pointed out, you chose the author with the more difficult spelling and nailed it.

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