There was a drive, a spirit, within most 60s movements & within the general 'air' around them. That is partly caught up in the phrase used by those who reacted negatively, "Too much democracy." And this can be hidden by the wrong focus on particulars out of context. The opposition was powerful, and ultimately overcame us & even succeeded all too well in burying our legacy.
There are no 'lessons' (negative or positive) in the '60s: but the overall sense of possibility which affected so many not even in any particular movement. Getting a glimpse of that, and a quite detailed record of the deliberate steps taken to crush it, hide it, and distort it foreshadows what will happen to us.
LBJ hurriedly called an unscheduled press conference during the 1964 Convention. Why? He needed to steal air time from a Black Woman from Mississippi whose words in a speech she gave there were so dangerous.
And the press tried to treat the Women's Movement as a Youth Rebellion.
And a point linking to current lbo discussion No one has tried, so far as I know, to theorize the '60s. Morgan's book provides some of the information that might go in to such an effort. We didn't do very well in the '60s in performing that theoretical task. More of that if and when I finish a post I'm working on for the "On Theory" thread.
Carrol
Carrol