Marching

 I was born in 1959. This means that by the time I was old enough to process things that were happening in the news, said news shows were full to bursting with stories about marches. Mind you this was back in the days when you only had a hand full of stations so you had to put up with watching the news with your parents before the good shows came on, 

There were the anti war protesters, the women's lib protesters and of course the anti segregation protesters. Being a quiet only child who's views were seldom taken seriously I thought to myself who's going to listen? Will it help? Will it change anything? It did but not very quickly.

Then the pentagon papers showed that the war really was seen as unwinnable even before it started for the US yet they went in anyway. Finally they backed off and pulled out. Women began to get lip service, then began to actually push themselves into the main stream. The backbone of segregation was broken. We all know that was just the beginning but it was a beginning. For the American military "don't ask don't tell" was brought in and believe it or not that was an improvement.

In Canada homosexuality was taken out of the criminal code. P.E. Trudeau famously stated, "Government does not belong in the bedrooms of the nation." and decriminalized homosexuality. 

By the time I hit my late teens I don't think anyone was marching anymore.  It was the 80s the era that brought in Greed is Good. All the hippies bought stock and the squares began their climb to the top.

I'm making up for lost time and have been in a couple of marches since. The first march I ever went on I was in my 50s. It was a march for science. Seriously, back in the 1940s and 50s did they even picture having a march to support science? I suppose they never figured science would start telling them things they didn't want to hear.

They taught us a chant. 

"WHAT DO WE WANT?"  

"SCIENCE!" 

"WHEN DO WE WANT IT?" 

"AFTER THE PEER REVIEW!"