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Is It Time to Become "Organized Radicals"?

Musings K-mitch-hodge-r3IE4JJLrFk-unsplashA recent article in The New York Times about the forgotten history of the Gray Panthers by author/professor Susan J. Douglas really resonated with me. Maybe you don't remember the Gray Panthers and their fiery founder, Maggie Kuhn, since they were active fifty years ago when Boomers were much younger. Their mission was to advocate on behalf of older Americans. Kuhn built the organization up to an impressive membership of 100,000 oldsters in more than 30 states by the late 1970s, writes Douglas. Kuhn was incensed at being forced to retire from her job at age 65, and equally disgusted by the "disengagement theory" popular at the time. This theory suggested "it was normal and natural for older people to simply withdraw from society."

Fast forward to 2020 and it might be easy to dismiss the Gray Panthers as just a bunch of angry radicals. After all, we have two septuagenarians running for President this year. But not so fast. While we could make a case that Americans over 65 are treated more equitably today, ageism remains a vexing problem in our society. Older workers are still very much discriminated against. The media is still very much biased against elders. Brand marketers and their agencies are still very much focused on youth, even though the real buying power is still in the hands of Boomers.

In her article, Douglas points to some of what Kuhn and the Gray Panthers fought against in the 70s: mandatory retirement ages, lack of accessibility in mass transportation, cuts in Social Security and Medicare, nursing home abuse, inequitable health care, negative stereotypes, racism and sexism. To Kuhn's credit, she embraced intergenerational alliances through the organization's motto, "Age and youth in action." She encouraged older and younger generations to work together instead of being at odds with one another. All of this sounds awfully familiar to me, so maybe things haven't changed so much.

Douglas writes that the demise of the Gray Panthers was caused, in part, because "there's been a shift away from activism on the part of older people and toward more institutionalized forms of political power." I would suggest another possibility: that after the 1960s and 1970s, Americans may have been feeling fatigued by activism in general.

Thankfully, we have seen a rebirth of activism, but today's activism is being channeled differently. It still focuses on racism, sexism and social injustice in general -- but not so much on ageism. While it is encouraging to see intergenerational forms of activism now, how many rallies are held in support of older Americans' rights? Despite our economic power, we seem to have taken a back seat when it comes to activism.

So is it time to follow the lead of the forgotten Gray Panthers? Do old people need to become "organized radicals," as Susan Douglas suggests? Or will our generation willingly "disengage" and become forgotten too? I welcome your thoughts.

HappilyRewired.com is a Top 75 Baby Boomer Blog.

Photo by K. Mitch Hodge on Unsplash

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