At 2 00 A M on October 14 1960 senator John F Kennedy delivered a presidential campaign speech to thousands of cheering students at the University of Michigan He spoke of starting a volunteer service organization made up of Americans who would travel to underprivileged nations How many of you who are going to be doctors are willing to spend your days in Ghana Kennedy asked Technicians or engineers how many of you are willing to work in the Foreign Service and spend your lives traveling around the world For numerous students those who heard the speech firsthand and those who didn't Kennedy's call to action changed their lives At the time the world was still reeling from past wars and was on the verge of new conflicts The idea of using peaceful means to restore relationships between Americans and peoples of other nations was refreshing In the decades since its founding the organization eventually known as the Peace Corps has worked to establish bonds of friendship and peace with all its partners and to encourage Americans to gain a better understanding of global societies Today the Peace Corps continues to put out the call for volunteers who are ready to change the
The youngest person to ever win the White House John F Kennedy reached out to America's youth in his
VE 2 WE DEM FOR DEMAND MARCH EQUA RIGHT NOW HOUSING NOW CENT OBS FOR ALL A DECENT PAY Sw NOW NOW UUE OR ALL RIGH NON TIE
CHAPTER ONE END ENT ING Peace Talks VOTINU RIGHTS NOW D DE E The culture of the United States in the 1960s was one of radical change In the 1950s many children whose parents had lived through the desperate times of the Great Depression enjoyed much more comfortable lives in com parison However as these young people neared adulthood in the 1960s many of them began to see such comfort as excess They reacted against their parents values and beliefs and searched for another purpose in life Popular folk singers such as Bob Dylan and Joan Baez expressed the views of this new generation who sought freedom in all its forms Young adults of the 1960s did not want to fight in wars like their fathers did They believed that peace and unity would solve disputes and help people from different cultures understand one other Civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr led peaceful protests to gain equal rights for African Americans Many young people of all races joined in the fight to achieve basic human rights for everyone in the U S Meanwhile far beyond America major changes were taking place Between 1945 and The August 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom gathered more than 200 000 participants in the
