1968 http://www.bworldonline.com/BW032309/content.php?id=143
By Filomeno S. Sta. Ana III March 23, 2009 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES I am being transported back to the late 1960s. I just finished reading a novel titled My Revolutions, written by Hari Kunzru. I didn't intend to buy books I couldn't even find time to touch a heap of books purchased through the years that are now gathering dust. But the sale at The Different Bookshop was enticing. Despite a resolution not to buy books that would add clutter to the home, I succumbed to the 30% discount. The novel is about the post-1968 life of a middle-aged Brit who has not revealed his true identity to anyone, including his wife and stepdaughter. He was once a peace activist who turned radical and later embraced revolutionary terrorism. He disliked the methods of violence, but he was already deeply integrated into the underground group. More, he was madly in love with an astonishing, enigmatic comrade. I had high expectations about the novel. But even before its conclusion, I was complaining to myself about the thin development of characters and how incredulous it was to pack the principal character with so many spectacular life experiences. He developed from being a peacenik, a student radical, a terrorist, an acid tripper, a wanderer who journeyed to Asia's most exotic and most dangerous places, a drug addict, to being a Buddhist monk in Thailand. Rehabilitated from substance abuse, he returned to England, found a wife, and settled as a homemaker dad. But his past hounded him. Yet, the novel captures the moods and the details of 1968 and the immediate years that followed. The ex-student activist and the ex-hippie can find resonance in Kunzru's narration of collective life, criticism, self-criticism; free love, lots of f_ _king and voyeurism; quotes from Mao; peaceful demonstrations turning violent; pigs, fascism, decadence. The next novel I will read, something that I have just pulled out from the stack of unread books, is Flower Children by Maxine Swann. As the title suggests, the story revolves around the children of "devout hippies," who rejected convention and Ivy League and turned to communal living. I also plan to replay Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers, a story about unconventional love, friendship, and cinema, set in Paris, May 1968. The late 1960s and early 1970s fascinated me. The peace movement and Bertrand Russell. Civil rights, Black power, and Martin Luther King, Jr. The student uprisings, the wars of national liberation. The chic of non-conformism and the hippie, bohemian zeitgeist. The music of the Beatles, Blind Faith, and the Bluesbreakers. My being a rebel was indirectly influenced by events of the late 1960s, with my Malay cousins as the models of rebellion en vogue. Two of them, Bobbie and Badi, then students at Sorbonne, participated in the 1968 Paris uprising. They didn't bring the revolution to the Philippines. As revolution became fashionable all over the world, Kabataang Makabayan was gaining strength at home, and Jose Maria Sison was rebuilding the Communist Party of the Philippines. I am attached to 1968 for a more personal reason. A few months before Joma Sison established his ragtag party, my pals graduated from grade school. I was a year behind grade school, but a number of them were my playmates, bus mates and neighbors; their parents were my parents' cohorts or friends. In high school, the grade school class of 1968 was at the vortex of woolly activism, fighting against everything: dress code, rules on haircut, pre-military training, hike in oil prices, dirty elections, US imperialism, Marcos's corruption and fascism. Fast forward to the 21st century: from this batch emerged the new activists, in their 50s, determined to fight Gloria to the end. Chito U., one of the batch's officers, put it nicely: "I intended to become an activist upon retiring and reaching 60. But Gloria hastened the process of my transformation into an activist." Chito cut short his business activity in the province and drove all the way from Quezon to Ayala to beef up the ranks of anti-Gloria protesters. Nolo A, like Chito, does not mind sacrificing business to participate in collective action and attend meetings on how best to mobilize people versus Gloria. Joining hard causes is in Nolo's blood, genes inherited from his loveable, lovely mom. The list of the new type of (middle-aged) activists from batch 68 is long. Skip S., the foodie, provides the reliable tsismis or confidential info. Tony R., the passionate one, sees the wisdom of a united front that encompasses the Reds and the followers of Erap. George F. has carved out a space for his politics even as he works long hours and attends to a seriously ill wife. Atoy B., widower and devoted father to two good-looking daughters, has the charms to persuade not only classmates but also an elegant lady in stilettos to join anti-Gloria rallies. It's been months since I joined them in political action. And I missed the homecoming to celebrate their 40th grade school graduation anniversary. Recently, I received an e-mail from Mike L. inviting me to be a Facebook friend. I couldn't ignore the invite of a pleasant, friendly guy. I'd like to ask Mike how he has maintained a youthful appearance. So now I'm in Facebook (FB), thanks to Mike. He said FB is a medium to propagate our causes. Bigger battles still have to be fought, and we need new weapons like FB to fight an intractable enemy. Based on inputs from informed people, Global Source, "a network of independent advisors," thinks that the Gloria Arroyo administration is considering all options to remain in power after 2010, from instituting charter change to taking a "less peaceful route," by imposing martial law. We must thus remain vigilant. We must fight. One lesson from 1968 is that dreams can come true. The ideals of the 1968 movements shaped Barrack Obama.The revolutions of circa 1968 have undergone dramatic transformation the Left parties, especially in Latin America, have seized political power through peaceful elections. We, too, shall overcome. I look forward to seeing again GS 68 pals at the front line for what might turn out to be our biggest fight. -- Mr. Sta. Ana coordinates Action for Economic Reforms (www.aer.ph). The piece is a belated tribute to GS 68, which celebrated its 40th grade school graduation anniversary in late 2008. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Sixties-L" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sixties-l?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
