ABRAHAM, MARTIN & JOHN

Can you tell me where he’s gone? I thought I saw him walkin’ up over the hill With Abraham, Martin, and John

This is a story of the 1960s when I was growing up. During this decade we had the civil rights movement, the Vietnam war, three assassinations, the summer of love, landing on the moon, and some of the best music ever recorded.

President John Kennedy was assassinated on November 23, 1963. That is 55 years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday. I was in fourth grade at Corpus Christi School in San Francisco when the announcement came over the intercom system. Everyone in the classroom including the nuns started to cry. For the next three days as the nation mourned and buried our President, you just knew your life would never be the same, and quite frankly American lost its innocence that day. Whether you were a Democrat or a Republican, it didn’t matter on that day because we were all Americans.

With the recent elections and partisan politics, I think we can all agree that somehow, we need to come together as a nation. We seem to be lacking a leader with an inspirational vision that most of us can agree on. Kennedy’s challenge of, “we choose to go to the moon”; Martin Luther King’s cry, “I have a dream”, and Bobby Kennedy’s simple statement, “Some people see things and ask why, I dream things that have never been and ask, why not” I thought I would share my thoughts on inspiration for the 60s.

I grew up in the 60s. From Kindergarten to High School, from walking to school to driving to school, from hating girls to my first love. It was a time of tragedy, social reform, and inspiration. It was a tremendous time of change, and as a firm believer in vision and inspiration, the 60s remain an influential time for me to look back on. As I’m sure many of you do as well, I hold vivid flashbulb memories of the assassinations that plagued our country during that decade. President John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., and Senator Robert “Bobby” F. Kennedy all served as inspirational figures, and all had their lives tragically cut short in the 60s.

Written by Dick Holier in the days after Bobby Kennedy’s assassination, “Abraham, Martin and John” was recorded and popularized by the singer, Dion. The message of aspiring to greatness carries through the soft rhythm of the ballad, reminding our nation of Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, and Robert F. Kennedy—icons of social change. Whether or not you’re familiar with the song, I urge you to read over the lyrics. If you already know the song, you can even hum the tune. Or if you want to play it click here. If you grew up in the 60s, you will probably get a tear in your eye.

Anybody here seen my old friend Abraham Can you tell me where he’s gone? He freed lotta people but it seems the good they die young You know I just looked around and he’s gone

Anybody here seen my old friend John? Can you tell me where he’s gone? He freed lotta people but it seems the good they die young I just looked around and he’s gone

Anybody here seen my old friend Martin? Can you tell me where he’s gone? He freed lotta people but it seems the good they die young I just looked around and he’s gone

Didn’t you love the things that they stood for? Didn’t they try to find some good for you and me? And we’ll be free Some day soon, it’s gonna be one day

Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby? Can you tell me where he’s gone? I thought I saw him walkin’ up over the hill With Abraham, Martin, and John

Abraham Lincoln—there are obvious reasons he has remained one of the most popular and well-respected presidents of our country. With a vision to keep the union together and a fight for human liberty, Lincoln’s reputation is one of freedom. Lincoln’s status as an inspiring public figure and speaker remains influential even 150 years after his assassination.

In the early 60s, John F. Kennedy inspired a nation with his presidency, and, more specifically, his moon vision. His goal was to get a man on the moon by the end of the decade and to “do it right; do it first.” JFK sought to organize and measure the best the country could offer and accept the challenge to fly a man to the moon and return him safely to earth. Perhaps his most well attributed quote speaks to his character and vision more than any paraphrasing could. “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”

Martin Luther King Jr., an icon of non-violence and the civil rights movement, and an advocate for ending segregation, prejudice and hatred, took the 60s by storm. MLK had a dream that to this day remains a goal in the fight for racial equality. His assassination shook the country but could not shatter his vision. It was in part his sacrifice that led to the passing of the Civil Rights Act, permanently enshrining in law the rights to which he had devoted his life, and protecting those rights for future generations.

The day of MLK’s assassination, Bobby Kennedy gave an impromptu speech to the people of Indianapolis to deliver the tragic news. In what has come to be known as the “greatest speech ever,” Kennedy delivered pure inspiration from the back of a truck. He prompted people to think about what kind of nation the U.S. is. While people can be fixated on hatred, they can instead make the choice to put effort into understanding, compassion, and love. A vision for social change and a united country, Bobby was assassinated 63 days later after winning the California Democratic Primary in Los Angeles, California.

These men are connected not because they were assassinated, but because they spoke to our country in strong, visionary ways, and they were all killed for those inspirational messages without seeing them come to fruition. While you

may not agree with all of their messages, it’s hard to disagree with their powerful influence on the country and the world in the almost fifty years since their deaths. In the last 20 years, I believe there has been little inspiration in the U.S. that matches the level outlined by Lincoln, King, Kennedy, and Kennedy.

I’ll leave you with a quote taken from George Bernard Shaw and paraphrased by Robert Kennedy that sums up the message these four men strived for, fought for, and died promoting:

“Most people see things the way they are and ask “Why?” I dream things that have never been, and ask, Why Not”