Millennials and history
Tom Pinney
One of my friends pointed out that this year, high school freshmen will be taught about 9/11 as an event in history which preceded their birth.
Part of me thought, wow, I’m getting old.
It’s been 15 years since that fateful day, and, much like many of you, I can still remember where I was when it happened.
I was sitting in Mr. Sanchez’s 5th grade Science classroom at Ensor Middle School in the lower valley of El Paso, Texas. For us, school started near the end of July, so we were already near the end of the first grading period, and as such, we were wrapping up a unit and getting ready for the test.
The announcement bell rang, which was odd, because announcements weren’t until third period. Even more odd was hearing our principal, Mrs. Livingston’s voice, because it was usually the more upbeat vice principal Mr. Mooy who did the announcements.
“Good morning, Eagles. We’re interrupting class this morning to let you know that there has been a terrorist attack in New York City. Earlier this morning, two planes crashed into the World Trade Center. Right now, that’s all we know, but there is nothing that says the attacks will continue. As for now, if you pray, please do, because there are people who need it.”
Around me, there were a couple of people bowing their heads. Mr. Sanchez even did the same in front of the class.
I did not. Up to that point, prayer had never really been so tangible a solution for me as it was that day for those people.
The rest of the school day was kind of a blur. I remember coming back to Mr. Sanchez’s classroom for social studies later in the day and seeing the television on, as we watched CNN’s coverage of the attacks.
By then, of course, the towers had fallen, the Pentagon had been attacked, and the heroism of passengers on Flight 93 had redirected a plane from the White House to an abandoned field in Pennsylvania.
I still remember it like it was yesterday, and I don’t even remember what I had for lunch yesterday. Freshmen this year will be learning of this event as newcomers, as people who were born after September 11, 2001.
It makes me wonder: how did Baby Boomers feel when they realized high schoolers would be learning about things like the Civil Rights Movement without having lived through it?
How did my great uncle Dub feel when he realized people would be getting secondhand accounts of World War II that would likely never add up to the things he saw when he stormed the beaches of Normandy?
As history whittles down to words on a page edited for content and exam preparation, what will actually be remembered?
I have taken enough history classes through seven years of higher education to have a full degree in it, and I think this is where millennial technology comes in handy.
Think about it: if today’s technology had existed only a half-century ago, how much more socially active would past generations have been?
Imagine, if you will, if Facebook existed in the 1960s, when Dr. Martin Luther King’s fan page has a video of his “I Have A Dream” speech posted with millions of views. The Atlantic would publish the “full version” of his letter from the Birmingham Jail after CBS News publishes part of it for the story.
An ABC News anchor probably would have gone “live” on Facebook video to cover Kennedy’s assassination and bring the latest updates.
In the 1970s, Twitter would be flooded with “#GetUsOut” or “#JusticeforNam” in protest of the Vietnam War. Cell phone cameras would have likely captured video of Rodney King being beaten by police and the ensuing race riots.
Could you just imagine some of the selfies people would have taken at Woodstock? “Chillin’ with my friends listening to Hendrix! #nofilter”
People say history is written by the winners, but millennial technology has made first-hand accounts not only accessible, but shareable and much harder to edit.
That’s why I share first-hand accounts, including my own. Granted, I don’t see much first-hand, but what I do see, I don’t shut up about.
If you don’t believe me, ask any of my friends how many times I’ve talked about the tornado. Or how many times I’ve talked about mental health issues not being fully addressed (or addressed at all) by society at large.
Millennial technology gives us the ability to publicly post our accounts of our lives, so when you get the opportunity to witness history in the making, post about it.
History is a living, breathing mistress that everyone gets to dance with. Don’t squander your song.
