Author: rpeters5

A concept that I constantly reflect back on when looking over the literature we studied is “the thing” that Vinen mentioned in 1968. It’s a funny way to describe the tumultuous era because it is basically a way of connecting the movements that popped up around the world without actually connecting them. Yet it also apt because connecting all these movements is a tall task when even the isolated protests didn’t necessarily have a unifying ideologh. We studied the fictional tale of two young boys in Northern Ireland and were able to connect it to eight activists in America who got thrown into court together and made a mockery of the judicial system. But why did we connect the various pieces of literature that seem like they shouldn’t really have much to do with each other? Because they capture the effects of the energy and the attitude that swept the globe in ’68. They capture “the thing.”

“The thing” is a fascinating topic because it was able to capture the attention of the world. Only around 1% of American college students were activists in the spring of ’68, yet when we think of ’68 we think of the swarms of activists on college campuses. This shows how the theatrics that activists displayed as a result of their attitude worked. Regardless of one’s opinion on whether the ’68ers achieved their goals, they captured the attention of the world. They were able to deploy “the thing” to capitalize on the chaos that American involvement in Vietnam caused and the prominence of the media to draw attention to their causes and show that change needs to occur. “The thing” is so powerful because as we learned it is universal and as we witness the events of 2020 unfold it appears to be timeless.

When discussing Huey Newton’s “Revolutionary Suicide,” the theme of “to be born black is to be born dead” was mentioned. Newton was quite blunt about how this notion affected the way he lived his life as this can be seen in the title of his memoir, “Revolutionary Suicide.” But this idea played a large role in the bold and somewhat daring connotation that is associated with Newton’s name. Whether it was growing up short-changing cashiers, his reckless love life or even starting a breakfast program for students, there has always been a mysticism that surrounds Newton and the Panthers.

This plays into the idea of public perception influencing the way groups and people fit into society. I didn’t know much much about the Panthers before this class. All I knew about them was that they portrayed themselves (or were portrayed) as a somewhat militant group who organized groups to defend themselves. However, the clip of the play we watched and his memoir helped me fully understand the aims of the Panthers. It’s shocking that a group could be so greatly misrepresented, even years after its disbanding.

This notion of public perception’s influence on the conflict we’ve studied is extremely relevant to the conflict in Ireland. It’s amazing that two groups of people who are from denominations of the same religion can have such a bloody and tense history. Mojo Mickybo and Pentecost are two examples of Catholics and Protestants having decent relationships with each other – at least for a little bit. When people from the different sects or races in the literature we’ve studied view each other as individuals they’re able to have a shot at getting along. But when they view each other as part of a group or party public perception entirely affects how they get along. When we read Huey’s memoir it humanizes him. But to the police he was just a part of a group that they viewed as a threat to national security. When Mojo and Mickybo start to understand the conflict that consumes their lives, they can no longer be friends. But when the characters in Pentecost are secluded from the conflict in Lily’s old house, they’re able to reconcile.

In Mojo Mickybo, we witnessed the tale of a childhood friendship destroyed by the long-standing tensions between Protestant Unionists and Catholic Nationalists in Northern Ireland.

Mojo, a young Protestant boy, and Mickybo, a Catholic boy, seemed to transcend the brutal conflict that defined the region during “the Troubles” by being friends. However, at the end of the play, the boys get into a fight and later ignore each other as adults; the end of their friendship showed that the Unionist–Nationalist divide was too much for them to overcome.

Mojo Mickybo demonstrated that Northern Ireland during the Troubles was an impossible place for kids to be able to grow up as children. The action that the boys admired in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was actually somewhat present in their lives. Mickybo’s dad was killed and often they would go to sleep to the sound of bombs exploding. They simply could not escape the conflict.

Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote that one of the greatest threats facing the US Civil Rights Movement was the white moderate. He was afraid of the danger that white moderates who were too afraid to get involved presented. He said this because what the white moderate didn’t entirely comprehend was that the problems black people faced affected nearly every single part of their lives; it wasn’t just a political issue.

Mojo Mickybo is an example of that same concept. The sectarian divide in Northern Ireland affected everything from marriages to childhood friendships. Two boys ultimately couldn’t get along because of which side of the bridge they grew up on. The conflict in Northern Ireland and America during the 60’s and 70’s affected real people’s lives on a deeply personal level. It was inevitable.

After discussing whether or not “Uptight” and “The Informer” are trying to equate the two narratives of the black struggle in America and the Irish struggle, I do not believe that to be the case. The two stories are not trying to equate the Irish quest for independence and resulting internal strife with the black struggle for equality. However the reason Dassin would create his adaptation of “The Informer” is to show how despite the differences of the two movements, both faced the same breaking point and sense of crisis as they looked to turn to violence.

The striking similarity of both movements that built up to their respective breaking points that we witnessed in both works was the duration of tolerance of mistreatment and injustice by the oppressed. Obviously the problems faced by both groups are very different; the Irish lived under British rule for 800 years while black people faced four centuries of discrimination and oppression in America.

However as Martin Luther King Jr. talked about in “Our Struggle,” in America – the South, specifically – the black community almost accepted white people’s rationalization of their actions and some started to believe it. And then at the start of “Uptight” we see King’s funeral procession and the committee’s decision to take up arms. After centuries of discrimination, they turn to violence because they’re too frustrated. Not only have they been mistreated, but once progress starts to actually occur, one of their most prominent leaders is killed in an act of violence. This is the breaking point we witness in “Uptight.”

For the Irish, their breaking point comes after the Easter Rising. Following their first significant uprising in over 100 years, the British execute the leaders at Kilmainham. This sparks outrage and increases support for Irish independence causing a period of violence in which the War of Independence and Civil War occur – the settings of O’Flaherty’s and Ford’s versions, respectively. The brutal acts of violence by the British, mainly the executions, are the breaking point for the Irish revolutionaries causing the sense of crisis and paranoia that we witness in “the Informer” as they get tangled into violence and begin to question how to proceed with their movement.

While the problems faced by both groups are obviously different, Dassin turns to the Irish struggle because the period of crisis and internal strife among revolutionaries captured in “the Informer” is what the Civil Rights Movement experienced as it grew increasingly violent following the death of leaders such Malcolm X and King.

As more tension manifests itself through protests and violence following a series of instances of police brutality throughout America, many parallels can be drawn between the current turmoil and the tension of 1968. Both eras contain a multitude of movements surrounding perceived injustices.

Leading up to ’68 in America, the tension boiled around movements for civil rights, anti-capitalism, and campus free speech – just to name a few. Today much of the tension stems from intense political polarization and immense frustration as the US confronts the Covid-19 pandemic. While the causes of the tension aren’t exactly the same – as one would (hope to) expect more than 50 years later – the most apparent similarity is that major events coupled with the mounting tension to set off the conflict and extreme radicalism of both eras.

As Geoff Brown said, in Britain in ’68 he considered himself a radical socialist. He stated that it was the Vietnam War that truly radicalized him and launched him into activism. This seemed to be the case for many ’68ers in America. Today it was the death of George Floyd that coupled with the built-up tension in order set off conflict. Cities have been damaged, widespread looting has occurred and two people were killed during a protest in Kenosha on Tuesday night following another case of police brutality.

People change, movements change and times change. However, the trajectories of these two eras seem to be quite similar. While activism now primarily takes place on social media as opposed to ’68 when people were declaring their views via posters and the radio, the attitudes of current activists appear to be familiar. It’s too early to tell how our current situation will play out, but it might not be a terrible idea to turn to the aftermath of ’68 for an idea.