The Ink and I, or,
IÕm History
It was four years before I
decided what my next tattoo would be.
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It should have been obvious to
me |
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When I was in high school,
things were very different.
Or maybe not so different.
There was a war going on in a foreign
country. American soldiers were being sent there every day.
Every night on the TV
news, we saw our own soldiers jumping out of helicopters, or
patrolling the jungles, or being killed. We saw lots of terrible
things, every night on the news,
or in newspapers or magazines every day.
The difference was that there were many, many, many people who were opposed to the
war,
and who werenÕt quiet about it. There were huge demonstrations and protests
against the war everywhere.
On May
4, 1970, students on college and high school campuses all over the country
were
encouraged to be part of a giant protest, called The Moratorium Against the
War.
We were all asked to march silently in protest, or to gather in large groups
and listen to
speakers who would be telling us why the war was wrong.
The most famous demonstration that day took place at Kent State University in
Ohio.
There were so many student protesters that the Ohio National Guard was called
in to keep order.
But things got out of hand, and four
students were shot and killed.
I know exactly where I was that
day, too.
I was at an anti-war rally.
Here.
It was around that time that I
got a ŌbuttonĶ, a pin really,
that I wore every day until the war was over.
It was a peace button:
Peace isnÕt just a word. ItÕs
something you have to believe in,
every day of your life. So why not wear it every day of my life?