1950s: A Howl of Injustice
On a Saturday morning, Susan suddenly begins to crawl. For Betty this is a bit bittersweet as it means she's starting to grow up. Soon she too will be running around with her brothers. And if she knew her mother's thoughts, she decides to stand up on her own for the first time the very next day. Betty wants to cheer and cry at the same time.
When Thomas is away at work, the family sometimes visits Grace. The kids are then allowed to watch television or play with the cat, while Betty helps with the baby so that Grace can get some rest. "But you have three! I should be helping you!" Grace points out. "Well the first on is always the hardest," Betty replies.
But as life goes on for them, it doesn't for some others. The murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till in Mississippi reaches even white suburban California when his open-casket funeral and photos of his mutilated body were published in national media. When his murderers are then acquitted by an all white jury, Thomas and Betty are appalled. Nationwide there is protests in black communities and the NAACP releases a press release stating that "it would appear from this lynching that the State of Mississippi has decided to maintain white supremacy by murdering children." Thomas and Anna discuss the matter at length on the phone, and if Thomas was ever hesitant about desegregation, this is enough to make him change his mind.
He tries to avoid discussing the matter with his father, who he suspect would be less sympathetic, but on Betty's birthday this turns out to be impossible. "You do not remember what it is like in the South," Nash tells his son. "They boy should have known not to whistle at a white woman! There are things you just don't do."
"And so he deserved to die?"
"I did not say that! Obviously the murder is out of proportion and the men should be convicted, but the boy's family should have taught him better is all that I'm saying." Thomas never asks what the family members still living in Willow Creek think of the matter. He really does not want to know.
In spite of this, Betty's birthday party generally goes over well, in spite of the fact that there is so much to do for Betty that she doesn't even have time to blow out the candles before it's over. Everyone compliments Betty's cooking, kids are playing and having fun late into the evening, and Betty enjoys seeing her family.
At the Fort Robles art center, people are talking less about the Till-murder and more about social injustices in general. "This is just another example of how the individual is oppressed by the system, how violence is used to keep people in place!" Gordon says knowingly as they are blowing bubbles in the evening. "We must lift those with marginalised voices, bring to attention the systemic oppression of the people," others chime in. "Just what Allen was writing about."
Because right now, that is the biggest topic of conversation here. Allen Ginsberg's reading of Howl in the book shop. The poem, with themes of marginalisation, oppression and alienisation of those who deviates from the norm, resonates with each and every one of them for different reason. It feels important, and as if all of them are a part of something larger than themselves. Barbara wishes she'd find such an expression of her own. Something which could shake people to the core.
At Foxbury, news are always debated and discussed, so too the Till-murder, and later, Rosa Parks' arrests and the bus-boycott that followed. For the debate team, this is major, but for Arthur personally, everything at this point is about his upcoming graduation. His last exams are now, and there is no time to engage in debates or discussions when he barely has time to follow up on everything he needs to do. He spends his day at Larry's Lagoon, in the library studying, or writing on his term paper, or in class, studying even as he waits outside for class. He knows his grades are important, anything other than top marks this semester and he's losing the place at NACA High-Speed Station. But working that hard takes a toll on his health. Final day of class he ends up throwing up in the bathroom rather than studying as his body tells him enough is enough.
He finally gives himself a little bit of a break, taking the time for a game of chess with one of his dorm-mates:
His hard work pays off. When the term is over it's the one with the highest marks. Now he can really start his life!
When Thomas is away at work, the family sometimes visits Grace. The kids are then allowed to watch television or play with the cat, while Betty helps with the baby so that Grace can get some rest. "But you have three! I should be helping you!" Grace points out. "Well the first on is always the hardest," Betty replies.
But as life goes on for them, it doesn't for some others. The murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till in Mississippi reaches even white suburban California when his open-casket funeral and photos of his mutilated body were published in national media. When his murderers are then acquitted by an all white jury, Thomas and Betty are appalled. Nationwide there is protests in black communities and the NAACP releases a press release stating that "it would appear from this lynching that the State of Mississippi has decided to maintain white supremacy by murdering children." Thomas and Anna discuss the matter at length on the phone, and if Thomas was ever hesitant about desegregation, this is enough to make him change his mind.
He tries to avoid discussing the matter with his father, who he suspect would be less sympathetic, but on Betty's birthday this turns out to be impossible. "You do not remember what it is like in the South," Nash tells his son. "They boy should have known not to whistle at a white woman! There are things you just don't do."
"And so he deserved to die?"
"I did not say that! Obviously the murder is out of proportion and the men should be convicted, but the boy's family should have taught him better is all that I'm saying." Thomas never asks what the family members still living in Willow Creek think of the matter. He really does not want to know.
In spite of this, Betty's birthday party generally goes over well, in spite of the fact that there is so much to do for Betty that she doesn't even have time to blow out the candles before it's over. Everyone compliments Betty's cooking, kids are playing and having fun late into the evening, and Betty enjoys seeing her family.
At the Fort Robles art center, people are talking less about the Till-murder and more about social injustices in general. "This is just another example of how the individual is oppressed by the system, how violence is used to keep people in place!" Gordon says knowingly as they are blowing bubbles in the evening. "We must lift those with marginalised voices, bring to attention the systemic oppression of the people," others chime in. "Just what Allen was writing about."
Because right now, that is the biggest topic of conversation here. Allen Ginsberg's reading of Howl in the book shop. The poem, with themes of marginalisation, oppression and alienisation of those who deviates from the norm, resonates with each and every one of them for different reason. It feels important, and as if all of them are a part of something larger than themselves. Barbara wishes she'd find such an expression of her own. Something which could shake people to the core.
At Foxbury, news are always debated and discussed, so too the Till-murder, and later, Rosa Parks' arrests and the bus-boycott that followed. For the debate team, this is major, but for Arthur personally, everything at this point is about his upcoming graduation. His last exams are now, and there is no time to engage in debates or discussions when he barely has time to follow up on everything he needs to do. He spends his day at Larry's Lagoon, in the library studying, or writing on his term paper, or in class, studying even as he waits outside for class. He knows his grades are important, anything other than top marks this semester and he's losing the place at NACA High-Speed Station. But working that hard takes a toll on his health. Final day of class he ends up throwing up in the bathroom rather than studying as his body tells him enough is enough.
He finally gives himself a little bit of a break, taking the time for a game of chess with one of his dorm-mates:
His hard work pays off. When the term is over it's the one with the highest marks. Now he can really start his life!
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