Gil Fagiani brought an insider’s view to the social unrest of the late 1960s and early 1970s, which we have been discussing in class. I suppose that an Italian, Bronx-born, military-educated man is not the image that comes to mind when I consider either a poet or an activist for that time period. It seemed more that his background would lead him towards Vietnam, rather than protesting against it. Yet, there he sat before us reading his poetry and, through that, telling us about his life as an activist and a New Yorker.
I was struck especially by his words concerning his time as an insubordinate military college student, which surely contributed to his decision to become an activist. He could not simply accept, he had to question. He had to go to the marches, work with a community that needed him, and fight against the institutions he had once been a part of. However, he was honest with us about this activist life, and did not try to romanticize it. Fagiani told us of his problems with addiction, and of attempting –and failing- to juggle this with his activism.
I think I learned about a different side to the unrest of the 1960s, one that was not always pretty or came from a single kind of person.
-Rachel Smalle
Jerome Krase
April 4, 2017 — 4:00 pm
One of the problems with learning his/herstory is the voices we never hear. Much like the aphorism that history is written by the victors. Interesting to see who is the equivalent today of “Henry’ and his stories of “The Four Million.”
My vote would be for Jimmy Breslin who recent died. His obit by Dab Barry will be in the Additional Resources. Here’s the lede: “Jimmy Breslin, the New York City newspaper columnist and best-selling author who leveled the powerful and elevated the powerless for more than 50 years with brick-hard words and a jagged-glass wit, died on Sunday at his home in Manhattan. He was 88 and, until very recently, was still pushing somebody’s buttons with two-finger jabs at his keyboard.”