by News Decoder | 19 Sep 2018 | Asia, History, Human Rights, Politics
By Deborah Charles Twenty years ago I used to talk to Aung San Suu Kyi over a spotty telephone connection to Yangon from Bangkok, or in person when I managed to get into Myanmar and she was free to accept visitors in the house that served as her prison for 15 years....
by Susan Ruel | 6 Jul 2018 | Americas, History, United States
With homeless people strewn across cities, young Americans might think the problem is inevitable. But it was not always so — and need not be. Panhandling at subway entrance on “Billionaires’ Row” (57th Street) (Photo by Susan Ruel) NEW YORK – Young people of...
by Harvey Morris | 27 Jun 2018 | Americas, History, Human Rights
Watching news from Nicaragua, where protests are challenging the authoritarian rule of President Daniel Ortega, I’m transported back exactly 40 years. Anti-government demonstrators take cover behind a barricade in Managua, Nicaragua, 30 May 2018 (AP Photo/Esteban...
by Nelson Graves | 15 Jun 2018 | History
It was the best of times and the worst of times. The 1960s stirred so many hopes — utopia was within reach! — only to see many crushed. The lessons? (Photos courtesy of the AP and Wikimedia Commons) This post script ends our series of articles by...
by John Talbott | 24 May 2018 | History, United States, Women
I returned from the Vietnam War in 1968 and helped lead the anti-war movement that exploded in Chicago. Looking back, I wonder what we learned. Chicago police officers try to disperse demonstrators during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, 29 August 1968....
by Feizal Samath | 23 May 2018 | Asia, History
We went without Coke in Sri Lanka in the 1960s. It was a simpler era, full of hope, before a civil war almost tore our society apart. Adam’s Peak in central Sri Lanka (Wikimedia Commons, by Astronomyinertia) This article is part of a series by our correspondents and...
by John Mehaffey | 21 May 2018 | History, Sports, Women
More than just a game, sport reflected wrenching changes in the 1960s — racial tension, the U.S. antiwar movement, women’s rights, decolonialization. This article is part of a series by our correspondents and guest writers reflecting on the 1960s — a...
by Roger Crabb | 17 May 2018 | History
I spent an evening with the Beatles in 1963, escaping with them from their frenzied fans through a window after a concert that launched Beatlemania. This article is part of a series by our correspondents and guest writers reflecting on the 1960s — a decade of...
by Bernd Debusmann | 11 May 2018 | History
“Wake up! They’ve come!” A Russian-led invasion force riding tanks had rolled into Prague, crushing reform hopes and deepening the Cold War divide. A Soviet tank moves into Wenceslas Square in Prague, 21 August 1968.(AP Photo/Peter Winterbach) This article is part of...
by Sue Landau | 9 May 2018 | History, Women
“Free love” of the 1960s fueled the sexual revolution, which liberated many women but failed to end violence and inequality. #MeToo is a needed next stage. The author and her sister at a march in 1979 in favor of abortion rights(photo by Roy Cuckow ) This...