Many of us who were involved in the civil rights movement stayed involved in social action and remained concerned with justice issues. In my case, I opposed the Viet Nam War and became a Conscientious Objector. To some extent, the Viet Nam antiwar movement and civil rights movement dovetailed.

More broadly speaking, I think that many of us learned a valuable lesson: that conventional thinking is not necessarily right thinking, and there are times when a person of conscience must stand up against the powers that be--to advance the cause of justice.

Some of us moved--sadly, in my view--away from the nonviolent philosophy championed by Martin Luther King. I was not in that category.

Many of those involved in the movement also sought justice in the workplace. In my case, as a counselor and teacher, I made an effort to stand up for clients and students when I felt they were being treated badly by staff or their peers. I lent support to a gay student who was being tormented by fellow students; also, a Christian student was was ridiculed for reading the bible during her down time. While working with an inmate in a state correctional facility, I made an effort to advocate for an Islamic inmate who told me he was denied access to the diet prescribed by his religion. I sought to smooth the way for black students and white students--in turn, when they were subjected to ostracism by students of another race. I lent support to a student was marginalized because he openly acknowledged his athiesm. I also stood up for an intellectually disabled student who was suspended for defending himself physically when he was harrassed, physically.

In many instances, I strived to apply the principle of fair treatment advanced through the movement to issues seemingly unrelated to the oppression of blacks by whites during the late fifties and sixties. And I know I am not the only civil rights activist who made this effort. In many instances, making this effort resulted in conflict between me and other activists, on the one hand, and agents of oppression or indifferent observers.

I want to make clear that I did not take a principled stand in every instance. Sometimes I felt too intimated or threatened, other times I simply felt that the timing was not right; I tried to pick my battles.

I was not always brave and have guilt about situations where I did not stand up.