Social activism and various movements play an essential role in shaping regional and global policies, moral values, and culture. For example, the Black Lives Matter movement united people of color worldwide, showing that the issues of racism and ethnic discrimination are not resolved yet. If I were to go back to the mid-1960s, I would become a part of activist groups that wanted to end the war in Vietnam. As all Americans know now, the United States wasted billions of dollars and lost thousands of soldiers during this ground war. The main reason why I want to be part of this movement is that, according to my internal belief system, military conflicts are unnecessary, financially draining, and demoralizing for the involved parties. Moreover, considering the parameters of activism, I believe that responsible citizens are obliged to raise their voices against harmful policies of the government.
In modern times anti-war demonstrations do not usually receive any significant resistance from the government; however, in the 1960s, politicians were less open to public criticism. Therefore, if I were to participate in the student movements that beseeched the war in Vietnam to be ended, the outcomes might be brutal. Specifically, I would participate in a peaceful demonstration might be subjected to police shootings. In fact, the massacre at Kent State University in Ohio showed that the federal government was violently focused on external politics, particularly the Cold War, rather than on its citizens. Still, I would not be afraid to participate in the peaceful demonstrations and marches against that war for which many young individuals were drafted and never returned home. As history shows, this movement, combined with the active stand of musicians of that time, helped eventually to force Congress to vote for withdrawing American military troops from Vietnam.