Trial of the Chicago 7

Netflix is available to most everyone for a small monthly charge. Seriously, if you are not a subscriber of Netflix, you are wasting your money on some other TV delivery system and it will never be as good or have as many options.  Yes, some of Netflix is pandering, some is boring but some is really good.

"The Trial of the Chicago 7" is one of those Netflix shows that come around now and then and needs to be watched. This is not a drawn-out documentary, this is one movie, a bit longer than two hours but captivating for every minute of those two hours.

Many of you remember the Chicago riots in 1968, the run-up to the Democratic convention in that city, the terrible year the US had had up to that point.  Started out in January with the Tet offensive in Vietnam, hundreds of attacks by North Vietnam on South Vietnam. Thousands of lives were lost but more than that, the US attitude on the war started to turn. (Thankfully.)  It was a depressing and clear moment: the US could not win this war.

Three months later, in April, Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed in Memphis.  As shocking as this was, the riots that soon followed were an aftershock of this horrible event. Riots on the East Coast, in Washington DC, in Chicago and in the south were violent and they lasted for days. 

On June 5, two months after Martin Luther King Jr was murdered, the hope of millions in the world, Robert Kennedy, was assassinated  in Los Angeles. He was the hopeful front-runner to secure the nomination for President that year and his death sent the United States and a lot of the world into a tailspin. 

Then came the Democratic National Convention, held in Chicago. The atmosphere was incredibly tense and into that stepped Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman, outlandishly out-there Yippies,  trying their best to upset the American norm. Add to that the militaristic tactics of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, the huge and nasty fight between Hubert Humphrey, Eugene McCarthy and the delegates from both sides, it's no wonder that things would escalate to the point of rioting.

And so it did.....and with that very limited background, it is no wonder that several of the far left leaders were arrested and brought to trial for conspiracy and inciting a riot. 

OK, back to the movie at the top of this blog. It's on Netflix. It is really good and pretty true to the facts. When I taught history, no matter if I was supposed to teach only up to 1950 or 1920 or whatever, I ALWAYS taught 1968.  I added it in as a large footnote because it is seminal to how we are now. (Well, pre 2016, I must say.) It was a year of trauma, war, death, free speech, loss of leadership and reaction to all of that and more. It was the beginning of the loss of faith in our country and the start of the cynicism that is now the reality. 1968 shaped attitudes in the US as no other year had since possibly 1929.

I digress. "The Trial of the Chicago 7" is a good movie. For many of us, it will take us back to that time and give us a little hint of why we need to still stand up for free speech, free actions and why causes matter. The acting is excellent and the cast is perfect. A lot of the dialogue came from the court records and from what I read, there isn't a lot of license taken with the events of that time.

Thank you for reading. Watch the movie. VOTE!  (I know, in California that is preaching to the choir.)  If you know anyone in the other states, call them and tell them to vote, unless they are Trump supporters, then drive to their house and steal their mail-in ballot.  Hold on to whatever good thoughts you might have for this November 3 election.  Whatever voodoo dolls you have, whatever saints you pray to, whomever you bribe, do it. We need evil to be overcome by fair play.  We need decency restored to this country. Bottom line, we need to live in a democracy, not a fascist state.  

xo