In the mid 1960s I was reading
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Allen Ginsberg, Sacred Books
of the East, and attempting to read The Prophet
by Kahil Gibran but the illustrations seemed much
more interesting. I was listening to The Fugs,
Peter Paul and Mary, Donovan, Bob Dylan, The
Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead, Jefferson
Airplane, Hendrix, The Doors, The Cream etc.
There were also the Cold War, Vietnam War, human
rights movements, sexual liberation taking place
and an antiwar movement that I was involved in. I
took a stand on important issues and was called a
hippie. Thus I joined the 2% of young Americans
between the ages of 15 and 25 that formed the
1960s Hippie Movement. In 1970s, at about the time when
the Vietnam War was over a gay liberation
movement swept across major American cities and
the world. It was a time for celebration because
the war was over, many folks got their rights and
our goals were reached. There were many house
parties and celebrations, for example where I
lived in Chicago and across the country. But by
the 1980s things slowed down and changed a lot.
Many baby-boomers felt burned out and the economy
also burning out. And then, I became unemployed.
So, I decided to join my Mom on the Old
Continent, who relocated there earlier instead of
moving to Arizona or to Florida as other American
retirees did. I never planned to stay there for
long, but one thing led to another, and I got
sucked in by the spirit of another brewing
revolution in Poland. I suppose, in a
subconscious way, that spirit may have lured me
there so I could witness another major revolution
- the Solidarity Movement; the fall of the Berlin
Wall; the end to the Soviet Union, and the Iron
Curtain. Yes, I believe it was that spirit of
change that I tasted back home in Chicago, a town
that had a long history of revolt dating back the
Haymarket
Square,
the 1937
Memorial Day Steel Mill Riots, and the demonstrations
during 1968
Democratic National Convention that gave rise to the Yippies. It drove me back to the
Old World, to Amsterdam and to Poland. All of
that in an inexplicable supernatural way...
I believe we're always on a
frontier of a better world. And that dynamic
process of changing the world in our times began
with the French Revolution, and later with the
1960s freedom movements in America. So lets move
on in that spirit of peace, love and freedom, and
make this a better place to live for all by
updating our worldviews in a gentile and peaceful
way from time to time, when necessary.
Below are some photos from
1960-80s. More albums are in the photo galleries
on top of this page. But please move on to the
next pages where you'll find more stuff.
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