Remembering Dr. King

[huskyd]

In the late 1950s, I arrived in Atlanta to attend college. The city was ground zero in the Civil Rights movement, and some fraternity brothers and I took part in several marches led by Dr. King. These happened in the downtown area of the city. In those days, many large department stores had lunch counters, which were, of course, segregated. Mostly we marched in support of the black protestors who sat-in at these counters and were promptly but passively removed. I remember once when our group was on one side of the street and the KKK on the other (in full regalia). A local businessman had handed out axe handles to Klan members with which to threaten us.
At that time I wrote an editorial for my university newspaper in which I decried the treatment of America's black Olympic athletes. Overseas these athletes were heroes, but the country they returned to cheered them while denying them basic human rights and the honor they deserved. A week after my essay was published, a small white cross was burned on my fraternity house lawn.
We had little idea that we were in the midst of a great movement that would forever change the way America treated its minorities. We had even less idea that we were marching with a man who would become one of the towering figures in our nation's history.

 

[uconnever]

Cool story and thank you for standing up for what's right.

 

[Bigboote]

There was a great story today on Here and Now (NPR program) about King’s association with Memphis. It was evidently a rebroadcast from last year, the 50th anniversary of his assassination. We all know he was killed in Memphis, and I remembered his support of tha Memphis sanitation workers. But he was also in Memphis in the 50’s when he was still in his 20’s, in support of the bus boycott.

We need someone like him today.

 

[BroadwayVa]

MLK.'s Story has some roots in Connecticut. In the 40's he and I worked for the Cullman (could be coleman) Brothers Tobacco company that had fields in Granby,
Suffield, and Simsbury. Huge net covered areas of many acres. He worked with the Georgia College boy and I was bussed in from Terryville.
Our interaction with them was as we and they picked a row, we got a rest together--originally it was strained--as we got know each other there were verbal jabs, a bit of fun wrestling and comradery.
During that time, and he wrote of it later, he and they would attend the Granby Baptist church-they entered it with a bit of timidity--but found they were totally welcomed--this was Connecticut--not totally unbiased --but open.
The work for all of us was dirty, filthy, nicotine black was in our hair, on our clothes--but hey we were making good money---25 cents per hour. after 3 years it went to 40 cents/hour.
The Georgia guys lived in a kind of barracks and got meals etc and stayed until mid Sept then went home--came back the next year, I'm guessing they made more than .25 cents they were older --we were 14 to 17, they were 18 to 22.

 

[uconnfan68]

MLK.'s Story has some roots in Connecticut. In the 40's he and I worked for the Cullman (could be coleman) Brothers Tobacco company that had fields in Granby,
Suffield, and Simsbury. Huge net covered areas of many acres. He worked with the Georgia College boy and I was bussed in from Terryville.
Our interaction with them was as we and they picked a row, we got a rest together--originally it was strained--as we got know each other there were verbal jabs, a bit of fun wrestling and comradery.
During that time, and he wrote of it later, he and they would attend the Granby Baptist church-they entered it with a bit of timidity--but found they were totally welcomed--this was Connecticut--not totally unbiased --but open.
The work for all of us was dirty, filthy, nicotine black was in our hair, on our clothes--but hey we were making good money---25 cents per hour. after 3 years it went to 40 cents/hour.
The Georgia guys lived in a kind of barracks and got meals etc and stayed until mid Sept then went home--came back the next year, I'm guessing they made more than .25 cents they were older --we were 14 to 17, they were 18 to 22.

And Rebecca Lobo worked those fields too. Long after you though ;^)

 

[Lawrence]

He was one of the best...ever.

 

[cohenzone]

He was killed the day before CTs presidential primary. I was scheduled to work a polling place in Hartford along with a law school classmate of mine. He was a true radical and he and his wife were among a handful of whites who lived in a pretty tough ghetto neighborhood. The night of the assassination, there were riots in that neighborhood. I was supposed to pick up my classmate and was pretty nervous, but went anyway. We decided it might be too dangerous for me to take him home after the polls closed.

If you know Hartford, the polling place we worked was about a block down Wethersfield Ave. past the South Green, kind of the gateway into Hartford’s.south end which in those days was almost all white. That morning, some black leaders in town talked about marching past the South Green. During the day, a white cop walked into our polling place and during a conversation about the rioting he said, and this is fairly close to an exact quote “If any of those people come here, I’ll bash their heads in”. Dr. King’s work was definitely not done and sadly still isn’t in too many ways despite changes in law.