I was sitting in the dentist’s chair for a teeth cleaning when I was reminded of a longstanding disagreement I have with Tom Brokaw. Yeah, that Tom Brokaw, the famous television news anchor/broadcaster.
As a journalist myself, I’ve always admired Brokaw for his outstanding TV journalism. He is one of the best of all time and even though I’m extremely proud of my work, I know my journalism exploits pale in comparison to his.
But I can still disagree with him in regards to his best selling book titled “The Greatest Generation”. In the book, Brokaw contends the greatest generation are the people who lived during the World War II era.
In his book, Brokaw tells the extraordinary stories of a generation that gave new meaning to courage, sacrifice, and honor. From military heroes to community leaders to ordinary citizens, he profiles men and women who served their country with valor, then came home and transformed it.
There is no doubt, the men and women of the World War II generation are to be highly praised for their contributions to our country and world. But I contend the Greatest Generation is my generation. I’ll tell you why shortly. First let me tell you what brought the thought to mind while I was in the dentist chair.
As the dental hygienist was cleaning my teeth, I noticed how delicate she was in removing plaque, as well as how fluid her hand movements were. I wondered if she were a dancer. Her fluidity made me think of the stirring ballet performed by L. Martina Young in a Stevie Wonder Ribbon In The Sky YouTube video.
I also noticed that a Motown song came on in the background music that was being played. Since the music was very low, I couldn’t determine the name of the song, but it was unmistakably a Motown tune based on the sound. I can say this since I grew up two hours south of Detroit and Motown music back then was the soundtrack of my life.
Growing up during the heyday of Motown is one reason I believe my generation is the greatest generation. Stevie Wonder. Marvin Gaye. Smokey Robinson. The Supremes. The Temptations. The Jackson 5 and all the other phenomenal Motown singers/groups, in my opinion, made the best music of all time. That’s why advertisers still today are using Motown sound to sell product.
But music is just one thing that makes my generation the greatest. It was also how we courageously endured the turbulence of the times we grew up in.
It was on the heels of the Industrial Revolution when manufacturing jobs were plentiful and provided the opportunity for African-Americans to leave sharecropping jobs in the south and move north for industrial jobs that provided a nice middle class living. My own father moved our family from Northern Alabama at the age of 19 to get a job in a steel foundry. That job helped him care for what later would become a family of 12, including 10 children.
My generation also grew up during the turmoil of the civil rights movement and the very unpopular Viet Nam war. It was a time of social and political upheaval that saw the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy, Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcom X.
Between young Black people marching and protesting for our civil rights and young White people marching and protesting against the war in Viet Nam, our country was a powder keg of unrest and violence.
Despite losing way too many young people in the jungles of Viet Nam, the streets of our communities and even on our college campuses like those lost at Kent State, our generation made it through the 60’s and 70’s. That time of upheaval resulted in our country undergoing massive social and political change like it had never seen before, including the fall of President Richard Nixon following infamous the Watergate scandal.
On the heels of Viet Nam and the civil rights movement, we had to make it through the onslaught of the drug epidemic that swept through the country. And, if that weren’t enough, we had to endure the wild economic swings of the 80’s and 90’s, which included what historians call “the deindustrialization” of America.
That deindustrialization – which consisted of manufacturing shutdowns and industrial off-shoring – resulted in the loss of millions of jobs that severely affected the tax bases of many American inner cities and caused crime to skyrocket and prisons to fill up due to people falling into poverty.
Nonetheless, my generation weathered all the storms.
Our journey into greatness didn’t only involve negative situations. There were plenty of positives. For instance, it was our generation that saw the first men step onto the moon. In fact, one of them, Neil Armstrong, lived most of his life just 15 miles south of my hometown.
Here are a few other highlights of positive things my generation experienced: The Cuban Missile Crisis was averted. President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts into law. The electronics and digital revolution and the computer age began. The Berlin Wall was torn down. The World Wide Web was launched.
Along with politics, economic change and magical music, my generation also saw the emergence of reputedly the greatest golfer of all-time (Tiger Woods), the greatest female tennis player of all time (Serena Williams) and the greatest basketball player of all-time (Michael Jordan). I was blessed to see both Tiger and Serena play in person. The athletes changed their sports forever.
There were numerous other positive accomplishments made by my generation, but I’m obviously not going to try to mention them. The bottom line is we definitely helped transform the world.
So yeah, Mr Brokaw. The World War II generation endured a tragic war and effected great change in the world. But I argue that my generation is the greatest. We dealt with war, strife, economic hardship and more. But through it all we were changing the world for the betterment of mankind.
My End-Time Musings 