OUR BLUES SONG --Available August 1, 2014 on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google, Apple iBooks July 23, 2014 Chapter excerpt: “Our Blues Song” By Herb Jackson Novel Excerpt Boys to Men Chapter 12 On how to deal with student protest: “If it takes a bloodbath, let’s get it over with.” —Ronald Reagan, Governor of California Soon after the boys left home, Frances spread her wings and opened her eyes to notice new waves of picket lines, pickets signs, and jails full of revolutionary black militants and freedom fighters flashing across television screens as the beat of liberation played on. Now it seemed every soul in the nation got caught up in the hopeless tempo of those blues—taking sides in wars with strange battle lines. Dark skin was in. Young whites stood against the wisdom and advice of their old-time family members. Money and politics as usual was out. Black Party Leader Fred Hampton said it best: “Nobody had answers that answered, explanations that explained, or conclusions that concluded.” Politicians who thought they had the power to prophesy and shut up the sky so it wouldn’t rain and turn water into blood sent youngsters halfway around the world to die for their causes. Nevertheless, they ran scared when floods of blood-soaked body bags from Vietnam filled to overflowing with the young, lifeless, darlings of America. Young black folks grew bad-ass Afros, and young longhaired whites waded into the struggle loving it—and came to believe struggle for their principles was what they were born to do. They came committed and passionate, ready to put their lives on the line for their high-flying notions of right and wrong for a simple reason: they thought they were too young to die. ***
Posted on: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 04:40:18 +0000
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