One Giant Leap for Mankind

The year 1969 seemed to be a year of transformation for America. It was only overshadowed by the assassination of Martian Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy the year before. In 1969 it looked like America was going down the drain. The Vietnam war was raging and protest were tearing apart many US cities. Richard Nixon was inaugurated and Senator Kennedy drove his car off a bridge into the water killing his passenger. The Manson family killed Sharon Tate along with her friends and Hurricane Camille struck the Gulf coast killing 250.
Things were not all bad that year. The Jackson Five made their first television appearance on the Ed Sullivan show, Easy Rider hit the silver screen, music history was made at Woodstock, Sesame Street premiered on PBS and the New York Jets pulled off one of the greatest upsets of NFL history by defeating the Baltimore Colts 16-7 in the Super Bowl.
Lots of things, good and bad happened in 1969 but only three things truly transformed America, giving society a glimpse of what the future would be like in America. The Supreme Court's order to end school segregation, the US started troop withdrawals from Vietnam and the landing of Apollo 11 on the lunar surface were the most historic events that contributed to that transformation.
Forty years ago I was signing my eligibility card for the military draft, bringing a African American home to a family dinner and watching humans step onto the cratered surface of the moon. I did not know it back then but I was playing a big part in America's transformation by being at the tip of the spear with my actions.
Forty years ago on a Sunday in July I sat in front of a black and white television watching fuzzy looking spacesuited figures walk around on the lunar surface then went outside and gazed at the moon and thought anything is possible. That landing and walk, along with the Supreme Court's order and the start of troop withdrawal provided encouragement and hope when America needed it the most. With one giant step the country accomplished a goal that propelled it into the 70s. Neil Armstrong words "That's one small step for man, One giant leap for mankind" really sums up what America's transformation was all about.