"My Travel Interests" by nomorewars

Historically speaking, the Civil Rights Movement was a period of time comprised of roughly twenty years (1960-1980) wherein the world was overwhelmed by civil unrest & popular rebellion. The movement toward equality under the color of the law was extremely tenuous in many countries, & the vast majority of these movements did not attain or fully achieve their goals. This was a result of government suppression.

The American & European movements-specifically those pertaining to African Americans & the Irish-are the ones, which, for personal reasons, have grabbed my interest. More times than not, my travel itinerary revolves around this moment in time.

Being from a working class community, I have always been interested in the woes of labor. As a young man I received a firsthand education in labor unrest, as my father participated in several strikes, demonstrations, & protests geared towards improving his working conditions. Witnessing my father in action gave me a strong understanding of the social class that I belonged to; &, therefore, instilled an identity within me.

As you will see, my pages tend to contain information & sites in cities where labor unrest played a paramount role in the developement of that city.

Although my physique would suggest otherwise, I am, nevertheless, an avid outdoorsman. Well, I don’t care for hunting & other activities of the like, but I love to camp, hike, ride a bike, exercise, & just take a stroll in a park or garden. I grew up in an urban environment but, thanks in part to my grandfather, was introduced to the outdoors at a very young age. My grandfather use to take me canoeing down the Sudbury River in Sudbury, Massachusetts & would teach me about all the various animals that lived in & survived due to the river.

After joining the military, the first four years of my service was spent in environments which were anything but urban. During my two years in Kansas, I lived in the Great Plains & was afforded numerous opportunities to hike; horseback, which was something I had never done; fish, again something that was rather foreign to me; & get accustomed to the Great American Bison, which, if you haven’t had the opportunity to witness it in the wild, is a mystical animal.

After my stint in Kansas, I was afforded what I consider to be one of my greatest opportunities in life: to live abroad in Germany. Not counting two deployments to Eastern Europe, I spent a little over two years in Rhineland-Palatinate, in the small, mountainous community of Baumholder. Living in the mountains, surrounded by such breathtaking scenery, propelled my love for the outdoors to levels unseen before. When not engaged in the search of suspected war criminals in either Bosnia-Herzegovina or The Republic of Kosovo, I spent all of my free time on foot, hiking the numerous trails that littered Baumholder, Idar Oberstein, & Birkenfeld.

And when the local offerings failed to satisfy my desire for exploration, I moved onto other regions in Germany as well as France, Austria, & Luxembourg.

I grew up with very little money, so reading quickly became one of my favorite activities. The Pollard Memorial Library in Lowell, Massachusetts, like many other kids in my situation, was a favorite place to spend one’s time in the summer, on the weekends, or pretty much whenever school wasn’t in session. The library offered free membership to those who qualified, numerous activities to keep kids out of trouble, & numerous floors of books to keep one’s mind occupied. Although I rarely traveled as a child, the Pollard Memorial Library gave me the opportunity to travel without ever having to physically leave Lowell.

I recall meeting a young couple from France when I was roughly 10 or 1l-years-old. I was playing in the street directly in front of my house when they approached me. They asked me if I knew where Jack Kerouac’s house was located, to which I replied, “Who the h*ll is that?” My mother, who was picking weeds from her garden, stopped me from replying any further. She chimed in & informed the couple that the house was located three buildings down on the left. The couple left shortly thereafter. Turning to my mother, I asked who Jack Kerouac was. She briefly responded by telling me he was one of the greatest American authors.

Learning that Jack Kerouac was from Lowell sparked my interest in learning about other authors who resided in the city or perhaps in Massachusetts. That following Saturday I made my way to the library learned that numerous authors had once lived & were now buried in Concord, Massachusetts. My grandfather picked me up the next weekend, drove me to Concord, & introduced me to a place inside a cemetery known as “Author’s Ridge,” where Henry David Thoreau (one of my mother’s personal favorites), Louisa May Alcott, & Ralph Waldo Emerson were all buried.

When traveling to other American cities as well as abroad, I try to learn about their authors, poets, musicians. If I am able to find a former residence, high school, or gravesite, I will add these locations to my travel itinerary.

“The Left” is a term that refers to a political ideology that seeks to reform or abolish an existing social order & promotes a more equal distribution of wealth & privilege. Generally speaking, the left advocates for a society where all people are equal in every facets of life. Perhaps the three most popular left-wing ideologies are Socialism (to include Marxism), Communism, & Anarchism.

Although membership & support may no longer be as strong as it once was, Socialism has been a major part of the vibe of Lowell, Massachusetts. Socialism was introduced to the city by Eastern European immigrants-mainly of Ukrainian descent-who flocked to Boston, Lowell, & Lawrence for employment opportunities in the mills. In Lowell, specifically, numerous Russians & Ukrainians became small business owners & advocates for change in the mills. They introduced Socialism to the city. & it has remained with the city ever since.

I first became acquainted with Socialism when I was about 13-years-old. I use to hang out in the coffee shops around the University of Lowell, where the vast majority of the city’s Socialists would accumulate. I would listen to their conversations about war, socio-economics, class struggles, & other topics as well. Their meetings were open to the public & free for all to enjoy. Initially, I would attend for the free food & drinks; however, as I would listen to their speeches, I could not help but to become overwhelmed with curiosity.

Today, a lot of my travels are centered around locations specific to the left, like birthplaces & speeches of important figures, locations of government suppression, protests, etc.