50 Years Ago in Photos: A Look Back at 1968 (2/5)

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 ALAN TAYLOR JAN 10, 2018
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2018/01/50-years-ago-in-photos-a-look-back-at-1968/550208/

A half-century ago, much of the world appeared to be in a state of crisis. Protests erupted in France, Czechoslovakia. Germany, Mexico, Brazil, the United States, and many other places. Some of these protests ended peacefully; many were put down harshly. Two of the biggest catalysts for the protest were the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War and the ongoing lack of civil rights in the U.S. and elsewhere. Two of America’s most prominent leaders, Dr Martin Luther King Jr. and Senator Robert F. Kennedy, were assassinated within months of each other. But some lessons were being learned and some progress was being made—this was also the year that NASA first sent astronauts around the moon and back, and the year President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law. It’s fitting that I post this retrospective today, since it is the day I was born—January 10, 1968. So, a 50th birthday present from me to you today: a look back at 1968.

One of the last pictures to be taken of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., as he spoke to a mass rally in Memphis on April 3rd, saying he would not halt his plans for a massive demonstration scheduled for April 8 in spite of a federal injunction. Bettmann / Getty

Civil-rights leader Andrew Young (left) and others stand on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel pointing in the direction of an assailant after the assassination of civil-rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who is lying at their feet, in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. Joseph Louw / The LIFE Images Collection / Getty

This aerial view shows clouds of smoke rising from burning buildings in northeast Washington, D.C., on April 5, 1968. The fires resulted from rioting and demonstrations after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. AP

Firemen battle a blaze on 125th Street in Harlem, New York, on April 4, 1968, after a furniture store and other buildings were set on fire after it was learned that civil-rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated. AP

President Johnson called federal troops into the nation's capital to restore peace after a day of arson, looting, and violence on April 5, 1968. Here, a trooper stands guard in the street as another (left) patrols a completely demolished building. Bettmann / Getty

Coretta Scott King, the widow of Martin Luther King Jr., walks on the arm of Dr. Ralph Abernathy, her husband's successor as head of the Southern Christian Leadership conference, leading about 10,000 people in a memorial march to the slain Dr. King. The King children, Yolanda, Martin III, and Dexter are at left with Harry Belafonte. Reverend Andrew Young marches next to Dr. Abernathy.
Bettmann / Getty

Original caption: DDrTimothy Leary holds a conference in New York City on February 21, 1968. The LSD advocate said he is tuning in with peaceniks and “Yippies” and hopes to have a million young people in Chicago during the Democratic Party’s convention in August. He said he hopes they will disrupt the convention through “Flower Guerrilla” warfare. At left is Abbie Hoffman, who said he is an organizer and at right is Jerry Rubin, peace movement worker. AP

1968 was truly a year of protest around the world. Here in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, state police cavalry charge students attending a memorial mass for Edson Luis de Lima Souto, a student killed by police, at Candelaria Church on April 4, 1968. Edson had been part of an earlier protest over high prices in a restaurant in downtown Rio, and was shot by police who were trying to remove students from premises. Agencia JB / AP

Violent clashes between policeman and students take place during the May 1968 protests in Paris, France. [Editor's note: This photo replaces a previous image in this position that had been mislabeled by the source.] Jacques Haillot / Apis / Sygma via Getty

A massive anti-Vietnam war demonstration in London on March 18, 1968. Hundreds were arrested as they demonstrated outside the United States embassy. Corbis via Getty

50 Years Ago in Photos: A Look Back at 1968 (1/5)

https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2018/01/50-years-ago-in-photos-a-look-back-at-1968/550208/

50 Years Ago in Photos: A Look Back at 1968

ALAN TAYLOR

JAN 10, 2018

A half-century ago, much of the world appeared to be in a state of crisis. Protests erupted in France, Czechoslovakia. Germany, Mexico, Brazil, the United States, and many other places. Some of these protests ended peacefully; many were put down harshly. Two of the biggest catalysts for the protest were the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War and the ongoing lack of civil rights in the U.S. and elsewhere. Two of America’s most prominent leaders, Dr Martin Luther King Jr. and Senator Robert F. Kennedy, were assassinated within months of each other. But some lessons were being learned and some progress was being made—this was also the year that NASA first sent astronauts around the moon and back, and the year President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law. It’s fitting that I post this retrospective today, since it is the day I was born—January 10, 1968. So, a 50th birthday present from me to you today: a look back at 1968.

U.S. National Guard troops block off Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee, as Civil Rights marchers wearing placards reading, "I AM A MAN" pass by on March 29, 1968. It was the third consecutive march held by the group in as many days. Bettmann / Getty

The Supremes, with Diana Ross, front, Cindy Birdsong, and Mary Wilson dance with their arms in the air as they perform at the annual "Bal pare" party in Munich, West Germany, on January 21, 1968. The American trio was backed by the West German Rolf Hans Mueller big band and was celebrated with thundering applause. Frings / AP

The flag of South Vietnam flies atop a tower of the main fortified structure in the old citadel as a jeep crosses a bridge over a moat in Hue during the Tet Offensive in February of 1968. AP

South Vietnamese General Nguyen Ngoc Loan, chief of the national police, fires his pistol, executing suspected Viet Cong officer Nguyen Van Lem (also known as Bay Lop) on a Saigon street on February 1, 1968, early in the Tet Offensive. Lem was suspected of commanding a death squad which had targeted South Vietnamese police officers that day. The fame of this photo led to a life of infamy for Nguyen Ngoc Loan, who quietly moved to the United States in 1975 and opened a pizza shop in Virginia. Eddie Adams / AP

A U.S Marine with several days of beard growth sits in a helicopter on July 18, 1968, after being picked up from a landing zone near Con Thein on the southern edge of the demilitarized zone in South Vietnam. His unit had just been relieved of duty after patrolling the region around the DMZ. Stone / AP

A speaker addresses a mass rally in support of democracy organized by the youth of Prague at the Old Town Square in Prague, Czechoslovakia, on May 18, 1968. During a period called the "Prague Spring," Alexander Dubček, the newly-elected leader of the Warsaw Pact nation, enacted numerous reforms loosening state control and expanding individual rights, which both encouraged citizens and angered the Soviet Union. Bettmann / Getty

Prague residents surround Soviet tanks in front of the Czechoslovak Radio station building in central Prague during the first day of a Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia on August 21, 1968. Within a year, Dubček was removed from office, his reforms were undone, and a more Soviet-controlled government was installed. Libor Hajsky / Reuters

American figure skater Peggy Fleming practices on an outside rink on February 1968 in Grenoble, in the French Alps, during the 1968 Winter Olympic Games. Fleming took the gold medal in women's figure skating. AFP / Getty

Fashion in 1968. Left: A male model wears a silk jersey print pajama leisure suit, sandals, and a necklace at a fashion show in New York on January 9. The show was entitled "Clothing for the Emancipated Man." Center: A sculpted silver necklace designed by Pierre Cardin features a diamond worth $60,000. The necklace is built into the halter that is part of a long black crepe evening gown presented in his spring collection in Paris, France, in February. Right: A cocktail dress of printed pure silk with a full skirt, a creation by the Fontana Sisters fashion house of Rome, to be presented at the upcoming Italian spring-summer ready-to-wear fashion show that opened in Florence on November 6, 1968. AP, AP, Mario Torrisi / AP

Disorganised synchronicity?

The first day on the road trip told me all, that there is order in chaos. The haphazard needling and swerving of 'auto' vehicles with the constant blaring of car horns just complemented the irate of the impatient road users stuck at the railway crossing at the heat of high noon.

Nevertheless, my host tells me later, there had never been a fatal road accident in Cuttack, the second biggest town in Orissa (rebranded Odisha).

It precisely describes the dynamics of how the system works in the greater part of India. On one hand, you have the poorest of the victims of globalisation, scrapping the barren barrel of hopelessness whilst the end sees the shakers of global conglomerates. You have the victims of caste segregation deprived of basic amenities, decency and opportunities. Then there are the heart-wrenching tales not much different than of Ambedkar's rise from rags to fame.

There are minions who find contentment in living a whole life performing menial repetitive tasks and there are entrepreneurs with Earth-shattering proposals with simplest of devices. There is wisdom in the mundane.

It is a land of extremes, the land of plenty as well as one dearth of substance. It takes a kind of something to make India go around. With the dense population and the hive of activities, despite the chaos that goes on a daily basis, it is a wonder that things actually move forward. It is one place that proves the butterfly effect may, in fact, be a real thing. A little flutter and a little wave there may just upset the whole dynamic of things. Things appear chaotic but in that bizarre scenario, the sun still rises and things get done, nevertheless.  

Sculpted by devotion?

@PawanDurani This Brahmana is from Melukote. Carries water for abhisheka from the Pushkarani down below to the Yoga Narasimha temple atop a hill. A steep climb of 300 steps, plus added distance from Pushkarani. He has been at it for decades now, 4-5 times every day. Body sculpted by devotion.

https://twitter.com/Tasveer_wala/status/949470952240250881

This is more than a mere photo story. The servant of God takes upon himself his divine duty to carry water up to the temple. In simple terms, he is the modern-day Sisyphus. He carries the heavy load of water up the hill every day without actually having a target. He would never be able to fill up the hill or have a deadline when his repetitive duty would end. He takes the 'job' as his Dharma, his reason for his existence. He carries on this selfless and endless mission with the primary gain of finishing his job. He has to find happiness within the act of completing the job, knowing very well that the monotonous and arduous task needs to be repeated, again and again. Perhaps, it is just better for him to continue the duty at hand subserviently, without asking the meaning of it all. Look at him. He displays the full glory of the beneficial effects of his physical exertion, a well-crafted body and probably pink of health. He may look forward to continuing his job the next day, thinking that there would be no one to continue his legacy.

Would things still be the same if he were to overthink and starts automating? What if he begins outsourcing, delegating or hiring to do the same? What if he devises hydraulics? The physical work may be done,, but the fringe benefits? Perhaps that would explain the meaningless (in our minds), repetitive chanting and rituals associated with religious practices -to stay focused. Whether the physical act of doing the chore has any definitive meaning, that is another question. It is not the action but the effects. Just thinking...

Thanks, AqS and SK for tickling my mind.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Order in chaos!

Durga Sohay (Bengali, 2017)

One cannot take Durga worship out of Bengali culture. In this thriller and family drama, much like the externally angry feminine power that paradoxically nurtures the worlds, in the ten days of Durga Pooja, a negative character appears in a family, blends with the family and through love and attention, changes her perspective of life for the better.

It tells the tale of an extended family which lives under one roof. An ailing widowed father who had just been discharged from a hospital for a heart attack stays with two sons, their wives and a grandson. On the surface, they all look like a big happy upper-middle-class family. The two sons run a successful jewellery started by the father. Brewing beneath is animosity between brothers and sister-in-laws. A maid is recruited to care for the father on the first day of the pooja.

Over the few days as the prayers progress, we realise that people with different demeanours, some seeming bad hearted and the kind ones, all come together with the sole purpose to be blessed by the deity. In their minds, what they are doing is perfectly reasonable. Even with ill feelings upon their servants and air of superiority over the less well to do, they feel they deserve the blessings of the Almighty.

Human beings sometimes commit crimes out of desperation to sustain their lives or by circumstance. The question is whether showing compassion and empathy can actually send a potential criminal to regret his actions and turn over a new leave. Are punitive actions necessary to create remorse or are they exercises in futility? Incarceration and capital punishments have shown to reduce crime rates, anyway.

An enjoyable flick showing a quintessential Bengali celebration, their traditions, music and Indian family values.

It is all in the mind!

The Man Without a Past (Mies Vailla Menneisyyttä, Finnish; 2002)
Director, Producer, Written: Aki Kaurismäki

We are who we are all because of our senses. The composite of the input of senses that are fed to us, with the processing by our associative neurons and the limbic system, showcase us to the world as the unique individual that we are. Our likes, dislikes, values, beliefs, relationships, moods and personalities are all products of these inputs woven together by memory. The memory of the things that we learn along the way, paves the path to follow and adapt to the social mores that are appropriate for our surroundings. When the faculty of recollection fails, we become zombies that just follow the herd like automata.

Kaurismäki's movies are acquired tastes. The acting appears robotic and the actors look expressionless. Herein lies the quirky sense of humour that hits subtly. Along the way, it is apparent that the director also hits a low blow to the modern capitalistic free economy.

In this second offering of Karrismäki's 'Finland trilogy', the unnamed protagonist, credited as 'M', finds himself lost in Helsinki. After being hit on the head by hooligans while sleeping at a park and robbed of his belongings. He wonders around without knowing his purpose of being there, his past and even his name. With the help of container-dwelling fringe society of town, he tries to get himself together. By no means, it is a walk in the park as his existence seem to depend on his pass - his identity, social security number etcetera.

He just seems to be an unwanted figure existing without a soul to care. It finally changes when he gets embroiled in a bank robbery.

Might still rules

Godless (TV Miniseries, 2017)

How would a Godless country be? Will it be one of lawlessness where the strong would be King where weaker ones would just be spun around in serfdom? Would the primal needs of human see no boundaries and chaos would be the order of the day? With no fear of perceived retribution to their action, would the mighty act with impunity?

Without an agreed code of conduct would the fairer sex, the young, the slow and the handicapped be left behind to be at the mercy of the others? Or would the situation spur them to go yonder and explore beyond their perceived capacity and surprise themselves?

On the other hand, a country holding firm on their theological beliefs also imposes many restrictions on certain quarters of the society which appear to clip their wings from doing things beyond what the real potential lies. The feminine gender is usually suppressed by the most patriarchally centred religions. Certains dogmas drilled by the elders as the gospel truth bars people from exploring new frontiers as they may be deemed too sacrilegious to be questioned by the mere mortals. It is what it is, and it is not for us to ask, they would stay to put a full stop to someone who thinks out of the box.

'Godless' is not the usual western fare. It tells the story of a time in the USA when lawlessness was the rife and gunpowder, and quick draw ruled. Unlike most narration of this genre, here women are prominent. They are not mere second-class citizens, but they run a town and are able to protect themselves from a band of dangerous outlaws who are men.