Catalyst for a powder keg populace

Back in 1968, I remember my neighbor in Illinois telling me her brother was going up to Detroit to “fight the riots.”

I was only six years old at the time, but remember thinking, “what’s a riot?”

Then in 1970 I learned about “four dead in Ohio.”

On my 11th birthday I remember hearing “Arab guerrillas have taken Israeli Olympic wrestlers hostage.”

I remember thinking, “why were they dressed like guerrillas?”

I learned it was a figure of speech as I watched them blow up the planes with the Olympians inside. Not my favorite birthday memory.

The Jim Jones massacre resonated next in my shocked conscious memories coming of age.

I was learning about hatred and hypocrisy in many significant ways.

The American hostages taken in Iran was next on the list when I was 18. I went down to register for Jimmy Carter’s impending draft.

I was still very ignorant at the time to what was upsetting the Iranians about the United States.

“Why are we friends with this Saddam Hussein guy?” I would wonder. A “moderate dictator”?

Oklahoma City, 1995. Domestic terror.

Remember 9/11/01? It seems like a lot of people have already forgotten about it.

George Floyd’s murder by cops was just the catalyst necessary for a locked down powder keg populace to explode.

The arrests and charges of the cops involved has eased my anger a bit.

I also noticed some ethnic diversity in the makeup of those arrested.

I’m grateful that cooler heads have prevailed here in the Antelope Valley.

Music is the best thing for my soul at these troubled times.

George Harrison’s, “All Things Must Pass” album has brought me some peace.

Mitchell Seyfer

Palmdale