Free Speech, Drugs, & Social Justice: A Reflection Paper The readings that look at drugs within certain spheres of 60's culture seem to highlight a shifting sociocultural sentiment towards hallucinogens. Within the Momaday excerpt, the reader observes the unfolding of a traditional peyote ceremony. It depicts the psychedelic plant as an enhancer, one that complements spiritual rituals by inducing symbolic hallucinations and intensifying emotion. While I was aware that there were spiritual uses for mescaline, I had never imagined its apparent centrality. This is a significant contrast to traditional views of all drugs as "unholy" and detrimental. Even more, the intro presents a picture of the substances as vehicles for social and cultural revolutions, not life-altering traps to be avoided at all costs. Here, it was interesting to discover that hallucinogens were perceived by some as a bridge to enlightenment, a means to expand one's …show more content…
government sought to suppress. Within "Che's Last Letter," there is a call to youth to persevere against repression and fight. This message goes hand-in-hand with the 1969 "Battle of Berkeley," a protest that shows young people uniting and rebelling to speak up for what they believe in. Before completing this week's readings, I did not know that this event had even occurred, let alone that it resulted in both murder and the arrests of over nine hundred people. Within it, one can observe music's unique power to spark social change, as observed via the songs that comprise The Free Speech Songbook. The lyrics are not only catchy, they are also informative, and thus illicit a desire to act. Here, however, I am left wondering as to why Ginsberg invites "Muslims and unions" to march in Berkeley, but inside the masses (read: hidden from view). What were perceptions of these groups during the