"The Kent State shootings—also known as the May 4 massacre or Kent State massacre—occurred at Kent State University in the city of Kent, Ohio, and involved the shooting of unarmed college students by members of the Ohio National Guard on Monday, May 4, 1970. The guardsmen fired 67 rounds over a period of 13 seconds, killing four students and wounding nine others, one of whom suffered permanent paralysis. Some of the students who were shot had been protesting against the American invasion of Cambodia, which President Richard Nixon announced in a television address on April 30. Other students who were shot had been walking nearby or observing the protest from a distance.
There was a significant national response to the shootings: hundreds of universities, colleges, and high schools closed throughout the United States due to a student strike of four million students, and the event further affected the public opinion—at an already socially contentious time—over the role of the United States in the Vietnam War."
I went to Kent State in Ohio for my masters degree. Every May 4th, at noon, the entire campus is given a 1 hour break from the last week of classes, or if needed, no finals are scheduled during that time. A large demonstration takes place. People speak, music played, dancing, artwork, protests
, discussions, plays, everything, takes place on the same grass that over 40 years ago 6 students where killed during peaceful protest. I have meet people who were present that day, I have sung peaceful songs of protest. My generation are the sons and daughters of those effect by the massacre. Going to Kent, you become part of the heritage, a member of a small group that not only remembers the collage for the shootings, but group that has decided to celebrate how is helped the rest of humanity. Peaceful protest can happen, that change can take place, if someone falls, just be sure to remember.
I graduated 2 years ago, but on May 4th, I try to remember, an event that shaped my parents generation, and becoming a graduate of Kent State I have become part of the heritage.
