How the 2020s are giving us déjà vu of a different decade BY PARKER BLACKBURN • PHOTOS BY COLEMAN ROJAHN, CHLOE CAUDILL & HENRY TRAVIS DESIGN BY EMILY SCHOONOVER • MODELS: REBECCA CORTEZ, JAMARA GREEN & KAYLA HULL
Those white knee-high boots, colorful funky rugs, patterned tops, wavy mirrors and pastel candles you’ve been seeing all over TikTok are no coincidence: the 1960s are back. ‘60s trends have been circulating the fashion industry for spring and summer 2021; designers such as Paco Rabanne, Cristopher John Rogers and Miu Miu showcased ‘60s-inspired collections at New York Fashion Week. The fashion of the 1960s was creative and experimental, often used as a form of escapism from the stress of the present, something many can now relate to. Parallels between the ‘60s and today like the civil rights and Black Lives Matter movements, the sexual revolution and the body positivity movement are obvious inspiration for why we are turning back to this decade for fashion inspiration. In the 1960s, our parallel begins when four Black students sat down at a whitesonly lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C. Their story of resilience to fight for their rights rocked the nation into action. Tens of thousands of people participated in sit-ins throughout college towns in the South. These sit-ins jumpstarted the civil rights movement, a struggle for justice and equality for African Americans that still persists till this day. In 1963, civil rights activists marched in Birmingham, Ala. as a form of peaceful protesting. When more than a thousand minors turned up to protest peacefully, the commissioner of public safety unleashed police dogs and fire hoses. In August of that same year, the famous March on Washington occurred, in which civil rights supporters marched to the Lincoln Memorial and Dr. Martin Luther King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. Civil rights leaders decided not to end the march at Capitol, to ensure that members of Congress did not feel as if they were under siege. History has since taken an ironic turn, as almost 60 years later, white nationalist rioters stormed the Capitol Building.
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In 2013, Trayvon Martin, a Black 17-yearold boy, was shot while walking to a family friend’s house, leading to the birth of the Black Lives Matter Movement. When the killer, George Zimmerman, was acquitted, Facebook activist Alicia Garza posts, “Black people, I love you, I love us. Our lives matter.” Patrisse Cullors, Garza’s friend on Facebook began using the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. One year later, Michael Brown was shot by an officer in Ferguson, Mo. Massive protests erupted in Ferguson, in which police tear-gassed protestors while the world was watching, causing solidarity protests in cities across the United States. In response to protests surrounding the death of Michael Brown, Garza, Cullor and Opal Tometi organized a freedom ride to Ferguson under the #BlackLivesMatter campaign, calling back to the freedom rides of the 1960s when Black activists rode interstate buses traveling throughout the South. What’s important to remember is that the activists of the past influence the activism of the future. Without the civil rights movement, there would be no Black Lives Matter movement. As the Democratic Party spiraled into crisis in 1968, President Johnson, despite being elected with a huge majority in 1964, was loathed by many of his peers due to his pro-Vietnam War policies. The 1968 protests at the Democratic National Convention showed that the country was undergoing political unrest. Protesters largely opposed US involvement in Vietnam war, but there were other protests sparked at the convention dealing with civil rights. Many of President Trump’s policies have been opposed by his own party members, including his stance on free trade and his involvement in traditionally non-partisan organizations such as the Federal Reserve and the Justice Department. This uproar as well as the confrontation from a president’s own party is yet another parallel connecting the two decades.