My Generational Label
By John Gilmore
Any questions, comments, or observations should be addessed to john22@wewantmore.com
On March 15th, 2014 I had the opportunity to join my voice with over a thousand like minded people for an afternoon. We joined together to show the private world and the corporate world that people matter in the workplace. We joined together to show that we believe in justice and human rights for the people who work in the fields to bring food to our tables. We joined our voices to support the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. I invite you to go to their website to learn more about the CIW and the Fair Food Program. Please go there and look at this cause. If you are anything like me, you will become angry about the way things are. But, you may just feel hopeful about the way things can and should be. Please go to the CIW website.
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers was finishing up their "Now Is the Time Tour" of ten cities in ten days. The festivities on March 15th were considered the finale of the tour and included the finish of a 24 hour prayer vigil, a demonstration in front of Publix Supermarket, a march through the heart of Lakeland Florida, and a rally in a park at the end of the march. These are just a few of my thoughts and prayers about the events in Lakeland that day. These are just some of my hopes for the supporters of the CIW, and the future of this just cause.
I came of age in the late 60s and early 70s while the war in Vietnam was making all the news headlines. Some people say that I am a "Baby Boomer" because I was born in 1952. I have no problem in being assigned that generational label. On the afternoon of March 15, 2014 however, I became disappointed with others who carry the same label as mine. I found myself at the demonstration in font of Publix supermarket wondering why the baby boomers were so poorly represented at the event. I wondered why the faces I saw at the demonstration were younger than mine. Don't get me wrong. It was a blessing to be there with all these young people. And the CIW was certainly blessed by all the young faces there. But, where were the boomers? Later on at the rally my minister and I told each other about the joy we felt of being with all these young people. I told him of my surprise at the lack of boomer faces. We figured that there were 70% young people and 30% older people in attendance that day. Where were the boomers? Where were the folks who took to the streets and campuses all over America to help end the carnage of the Vietnam War? Where were all the patriots who fought in Vietnam and joined us in the streets when they got home from the war? The 15th was a Saturday. Where were all the boomers? 30% isn't all that great a percentage. Were the boomers at home enjoying a comfortable day? And why is it important? March 15th in Lakeland was a success for the CIW. Why does it matter if many of the 60 somethings stayed away?
I quickly realized that blaming anyone for my lack of participation and support over the last several years was not the answer. In fact, the blame game could be considered by some as the coward's way out. Yet, in my quest to blame someone, I believe I could have stumbled on a way to get more of the people who tote around the same generational label that I do, involved with the CIW in the future. I may have stumbled on a way for young people and older people to share this cause. I may have stumbled on the power that is generated when someone we love wants us to consider an important issue, or concept, or cause. I remembered this lesson from 1970 when two war hawks (my Mom and Dad) finally realized their boy could be drafted and sent to war. I realized that when I got a low number in the draft lottery, my parents gave me the opportunity to sit and talk with them about the war in Vietnam for the very first time. For the first time they were willing to consider redirecting their militant enthusiasm away from the Vietnam conflict because it was important to me that they do so. It all came home for them when they conceptualized their son fighting in a war. They put themselves into the shoes of the parents who watched their kids go off to war. They didn't like those shoes. It is forty four years later. I can see the simularity in the relationship I developed with my parents in 1970, and the present day relationship I have with my daughter. These relationships have been somewhat reversed however, but are still strikingly simular. I am the parent now, and not the young person. If three years ago my daughter wasn't working two jobs and going to school at the same time, she would have known about the CIW website. I know she would have sent me to the site and I know that, if she told me it was important to her, I would not hesitate to go. I would not have given her an excuse like "I'm too busy". I'm sure she would have known that after I saw what was going on in the tomato fields in Florida, I would have been hooked. I saw my daughter in the faces of these young people in Lakeland on the 15th. How many of the young people I was marching with will let their parents or even grandparents know that this cause is important to them? How many will direct those parents and grandparents to the website, and have a conversation with them afterwards? The potential for our young people to make this cause simply explode by getting boomers involved got me excited about the future. By the time we reached the park and the rally I was excited and a little tired. There were more young faces. There were more young voices. There were more blessings. My minister was there. A good friend of mine from church was there. And, a young woman who had been very kind to me when I first started to get involved through our faith group was there working with CIW. I thanked her for working so hard to give me something which would give me an opportunity to walk the talk. Sometimes that's what us boomers need. Sometimes we need someone to provide us with the opportunity. I know that I can look forward to the next demonstration, the next march, and the next rally. I can be optimistic because boomers may be in greater attendance. Maybe some young people will send their parents to the CIW website. Maybe they will talk to some of the people who marched in the streets to help stop an ugly war years ago. Maybe some will sit down with their parents to let them know how much it would mean if they could share this important cause with them. When I sat with my parents years ago Mom and Dad started to turn away from the war. Maybe our young people would be willing to turn their parents away from complacency and towards love, mercy, kindness, compassion, and justice. Many of us boomers, and those who come after us, should be able to soak up this message and pass it on. I pray we will. I feel that this message and this cause should be brought home in the same way that I helped bring my ideas and hopes to my parents in 1970. A few months before March 15th I stood at the pulpit of the church I attend. I told those present why I was getting involved with the CIW cause. I told them I imagined myself working in the tomato fields. I told them I imagined my wife working there and my daughter working there too. I actually visualized myself and my family picking tomatoes for a living. I put myself and my family in the shoes of the field workers. By doing so, I brought this cause home to me. I told those who were listening that I felt this cause touched my heart because it was supposed to touch my heart. How could it not?
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