by Robert Wilkinson
It’s been 52 years since this happened, and the memories of those turbulent times are still etched into my mind. On May 4, 1970, it was made clear that uniformed representatives of the United States government would kill young people who dared to protest against an illegal and immoral war.
At Kent State, 4 students were killed and 9 were wounded when the National Guard "suddenly wheeled and unleashed a 13-second barrage of 67 indiscriminate shots. Why the Guardsmen fired remains a mystery." Some were just students crossing the campus on their way to class. Audio recordings made public the past few years make it clear that it's no mystery why they fired. They were ordered to murder innocent students.
10 days later more students were killed and wounded at Jackson State. These were both senseless tragedies announcing the approval by the authoritarian powers-that-be for jack booted uniformed fascists to use extreme violence against the young people of Amerika.
What’s worse is that it hasn’t gotten better. The fascist elements in our government (even if they’re temporarily out of power) will still shoot or incarcerate anyone who stands against American imperial banksterism and the war machine. The last administration had no problem using violent means to suppress dissent. Tear gas and rubber (or lead) bullets on peaceful protesters is an abomination. And for those who think I'm being hyperbolic, state-sponsored corporatism enforced by government guns is the very definition of fascism.
The protests which followed the Kent State massacre led me to train as a peacekeeper for both the anti-war efforts and anti-nuke efforts across the decades. In Austin, tens of thousands of us marched on May 8 in one of the largest completely nonviolent protests in the nation. This was not a walk in the park. The guns were assembled against us. Literally. The most guns I've ever seen in one place at one time was at the peace march in Austin. As I approached the assembly place, I saw there were about 500 highly armed and armored men ready to shoot thousands of mothers, fathers, and children on a moment's notice. Our team diffused potential mayhem, and the event was totally without violence. (The next day was different, since some were just determined to rumble with the cops, no matter what.)
The Kent State and Jackson State slaughters mobilized countless people against the war machine. So on this 52nd anniversary of a great obscenity, please take a moment to send a loving thought to the dead, the survivors, and the world. There are countless people who were scarred by that event, where we finally understood what was at stake.
Here’s the original studio version written by Neil Young set to some pictures that remind me of the UT Austin campus in May 1970. I was 19. Those kids were me. And you.
“Four dead in Ohio, four dead in Ohio...” "Ohio"
Live in Toronto in 1971, an acoustic offering by CSN&Y of Neil’s "Ohio"
Live in Golden Gate Park in 1991, Neil tells us "I don't mean it to be a downer, but..." and then they take it here! "Ohio."
From 2000, CSN&Y in a live performance of "Ohio"
I found this 3 minute gem where Graham Nash lets us know how Neil wrote the song in an hour and the outrage the band felt at the slaughter. Graham Nash on “Ohio”
Also very live, Crosby, Stills, and Nash in a beautiful acoustic delivery of the song on the “flip side” of “Ohio,” back when such things existed. For your consideration, Stephen Stills’ haunting ode to the war dead, “Find The Cost of Freedom”
A 6 minute documentary composed of live footage of the event titled Kent State, May 4, 1970: America Kills Its Children
From CNN 22 years ago:
Kent State Shooting 30th Anniversary Part 1
Kent State Shooting 30th Anniversary Part 2
In 2017 I had a CNN blog clip of Crosby, Stills, and Nash reflecting on “Ohio” and Kent State but this year it's gone.
7 years ago Alexei found this extraordinarily powerful piece. On the 45th anniversary of the Kent State massacre, a talk with one of the students who got shot. He makes it clear there is forensic evidence that it was an INTENTIONAL MASSACRE. And I believe the powers that be would do it again in a heartbeat, and again lie, just as they did then. Because Alan died, his website is no longer up, but I found this interview with Alan and his wife. Alan Canfora - Interview with a Kent State survivor.
In 2018 I found a video clip that’s been floating around a while that makes it clear this was a deliberate massacre, where the order to fire was clearly given by a Guard commander. For your consideration, New analysis of 40-year-old recording of Kent State shootings reveals that Ohio Guard was given an order to prepare to fire
This is a treat that came to my attention by Alexei 2 years ago. It's a live performance by Steve Miller in January 1974 at Winterland of "Jackson-Kent Blues." More on that song at the end of the article.
Eight years ago a friend of the site left this comment, and I thought it appropriate to include it here, along with my response to this heinous group murder:
Robert, here is my blog post on what that means to me: When Fear is not the Foe, and Love is the Answer. It was meant to traumatize us and it did. It was meant to create fear in us and it did. It was meant for us to fear the government and we do. It time now that we heal that trauma and stand up. It is time that we return to Love. Thank you Marianne Williamson, for helping me see the root cause of my own Cultual PTSD and reminding me that Nothing Real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the Peace of God (and the meaning of Love) – Zackoree
I wrote him back:
Well done, Zackoree. For me, Kent State was a rite of passage out of naivete' into the ugly truth of imperial America. That propelled me into a quest for meaning beyond the drama. That's how I became who I am.Those deaths, and the assassinations before them, taught me not to cling to sentimental notions about my country. That helped me to get beyond the social matrix, since I realized to be consistently against a thing is to cling to it.
And yes, there's a lot of healing to be done by all gentle truth seeking Souls traumatized by the brute force of a world economy driven by war machines. Heal the heart and mind so the Love of the Soul can shine.
Face every brutal or violent image in your past and present with courage, conviction, and calm confidence that in the end, violence ALWAYS fails, and Love shines anew. Violence is always passing, but Love is always there.
We'll close this with four songs for the dead. For your consideration,
Find The Cost of Freedomby Stephen Stills
Daylight again, following me to bed
I think about a hundred years ago, how my fathers bled
I think I see a valley, covered with bones in blue
All the brave soldiers that cannot get older been askin' after you
Hear the past a callin', from armegeddon's side
When everyone's talkin' and no one is listenin', how can we decide?
(Do we) find the cost of freedom, buried in the ground
Mother earth will swallow you, lay your body down
Find the cost of freedom, buried in the ground
Mother earth will swallow you, lay your body down
(Find the cost of freedom buried in the ground)
Find the cost of freedom
Buried in the ground
Mother Earth will swallow you
Lay your body down
Song © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
To fulfill a request,
"Ohio"
By Neil Young
Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio.
Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?
Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?
Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio, four dead in Ohio,
Four dead in Ohio, four dead in Ohio,
Four dead in Ohio, four dead in Ohio,
Four dead in Ohio, four dead in Ohio...
Third, something Alexei found 2 years ago. It’s a rare audio clip of Bruce Springsteen (when he was with Steel Mill) performing in Richmond VA in June 1970, just after the Kent State massacre. It is said he may never have performed this song since. He was just 20 years old. For your consideration, "Where Was Jesus in Ohio?"
Will the sun ever shine again
Will the moon ever smile again
And where was Jesus in Ohio?
Will we run through the fields again
Oh will the barbed wires cut our legs again
Don't you ask me now 'cause I don't know how we can
And hurry, we'll be late for the show
Where was Jesus in Ohio?
As my life ends
Clouds in the fields that I like
And the sun disappears into the night
I look and you were born
And I hear you, I hear you calling to me in the distance
And then you'll see I'm resisting your essence
And as the cry of war outs the rain
I realize ??? why you see
It's your whole world comin' down on me
And the paper flag flies high over the soldiers grave
Let's see what mistake the young boy made was his life really done
In another land a flower drips in the morning dew
It's been thousands of years since I've seen you, you know that it's so true
And the gun they gave me is heavy, hun
And the helmet hurts my head
And the jokes they tell ain't funny, honey
Sometimes I feel I'm dead
And the gas makes it hard to breathe, baby
And the General never smiles
And the beds aren't big enough for me, baby
And it's raining all the time
Will the sun ever shine again
Will the moon ever smile again
Don't ask me now 'cause I don't know how they can
And hurry, you'll be late for the show
And where was Jesus in Ohio?
And finally, as I promised earlier….
“Jackson Kent Blues”
This song on Steve Miller 5 was released in July 1970, just weeks after the government shot young men and women on campus at Kent State in Ohio and again a few days later at Jackson State in Mississippi. While most know about May 4th Kent State massacre, many forget that 11 days later the cops went rogue at this black university and slaughtered students literally for no reason.
“There were no arrests in connection with the deaths at Jackson State... the Commission concluded "that the 28-second fusillade from police officers was an unreasonable, unjustified overreaction...”
Most have never heard this song from Steve Miller’s psychedelic rock era, but it’s a great song with in your face lyrics.
“Jackson Kent Blues”
I was down in Nashville just payin' my dues
Headed for Ohio when I read the news
'Bout the people demonstrating 'gainst the President's views
Four were shot down by the National Guard troops
Just like Uncle Sam I put on my fighting shoes
School shot down cause there's no more to lose
Now we're headed to D.C. two by twos
Cause those low down, profound, killin' four blues
Lookin' for my Congressman to make it well known
But the politicians already won't answer his telephone
Making in his office while they're shooting kids down at home
Worried about the voters but he won't be worried long
Say CIA ain't lookin', FBI come unglued
Shot some more in Jackson just to show the world what they can do
While we're marching to D.C. cause there's too much to do
Give peace a chance
Give peace a chance
There's no turnin' back my friend
There's no turnin' back
When the President said that the tear gas is gone
The army's pulled out leavin' blood on the ground
The streets are empty and the crying's died down
You can be President if no one's around
Just like Kow Kow, you've heard it before
Get back gangster, don't you open that door
Space Cowboy's back to tell you the score
Nothing any good is gonna come from a war
Got those low down, profound, killin' four blues
Give peace a chance
Give peace a chance
Give peace a chance
Article © Copyright 2022 Robert Wilkinson
Thanks - definitely worth a few minutes to remember and consider. For weeks, there were tanks parked on the rooftop parking lot of Pauley Pavilion at UCLA.
Posted by: Denise | May 04, 2022 at 06:23 PM
My brother, Jim Russell, was one of the wounded. It's always interesting to read what people have to say. Thanks.
Posted by: Rand Russell | May 06, 2022 at 11:03 PM