Fifty-seven years ago I was there, having hitched a ride with a friend with parishioners from a church in Indianapolis. We had been attending the National Students' Association annual convention at Indiana University, he as a member of the UC Berkeley student council and I as the incoming editor of the student newspaper, the Daily Californian.
It was a wonderful experience, and it looked like society in the United States might actually come to grips with its racist past. And there were some improvements, I must admit.
But the fact that the country is currently shaken by justifiable protests about police brutality and more divided than ever shows that progress can be illusory.
So there were peaceful demonstrations yesterday in Washington. Wish I could have been there, but I'm hunkered down in Canada, having left the US 52 years ago next week. Things are better here, but there's still a lot to fight for.
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