| In the mid 1960s I was reading
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Allen Ginsberg, Sacred Books
of the East, and attempting to read The Prophet
by Kahil Gibran but the illustrations seemed much
more interesting. I was listening to The Fugs,
Peter Paul and Mary, Donovan, Bob Dylan, The
Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead, Jefferson
Airplane, Hendrix, The Doors, The Cream etc.
There were also the Cold War, Vietnam War, human
rights movements, sexual liberation taking place
and an antiwar movement that I was involved in. I
took a stand on important issues and was called a
hippie. Thus I joined the 2% of young Americans
between the ages of 15 and 25 that formed the
1960s Hippie Movement. In 1970s, at about
the time when the Vietnam War was over a gay
liberation movement swept across major American
cities and the world. It was a time for
celebration because the war was over, many folks
got their rights and our goals were reached.
There were many house parties and celebrations,
for example where I lived in Chicago and across
the country. But by the 1980s things slowed down
and changed. Many baby-boomers felt burned out
and the economy also burning out. And then, I
became unemployed. So, for I move to Europe where
I join my Mom, who decided to relocate there
earlier instead of moving to Arizona or Florida.
I never planned to stay in Europe for long, but
one thing led to another, and I got sucked in by
the spirit of another brewing revolution. I
suppose, in a subconscious way, that spirit may
have lured me to Poland where I had the
opportunity to witness a major revolution - the
Solidarity Movement, the fall of the Berlin Wall,
the end to the Soviet Union and the Iron Curtain.
Yes, I believe it was that spirit of revolution
that I tasted back home in Chicago, a town that
had a long history of labor revolt dating back
the Haymarket
Square and the 1937
Memorial Day Steel Mill Riots that drove me back
to Europe, Amsterdam and Poland in some
inexplicable supernatural way.
I believe
we're always on a frontier of a better world. And
that dynamic process of changing the world began
with the French Revolution and the 1960s freedom
movements in America. So lets move on in that
spirit of peace, love and freedom, and make this
a better place for all through updating our world
in a peaceful way from time to time when
necessary.
Below are
some photos from 1960-80s. More albums are in the
photo galleries on top of this page. But please
move on to the next pages where there's more info
and stuff.
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