Oral history interview

Posted by Zykai Gibbs in African American History - Roy - X on Monday, May 26, 2014 at 8:05 pm

Abstract

I Zykai Gibbs interviewed my 80 year old neighbor Annie Tomas on May 20, 2014. In this interview I ask her about her experiences with the Civil Rights Movement and how being black effected her life. she isn't very detailed in how she answered some of the questions but what she provided me was good enough. The questions that I asked were about the voting acts and the marches and how she coped with being treated like a second class citizen for all those years . In this interview she tells all about how she watched the marches and the Freedom Rides and more.

Research

During the interview one of the subjects that we touched on was the Freedom Rides. civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated southern United States in 1961 and following years to challenge the non-enforcement of the United States Supreme Court decisions Irene Morgan v. Commonwealth of Virginia 1946 and Boynton v. Virginia 1960, which ruled that segregated public buses were unconstitutional. The Southern states had ignored the rulings and the federal government did nothing to enforce them.

Sources

Freedom Riders - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Freedom Rides

Freedom Rides (American civil rights movement) -- Encyclopedia Britannica

Transcript

Zykai- Um.. my name is Annie Tomas. Date 5-20-14, Location, 1823 foulkrod street. Alright, question one: How old were you during the Civil Rights movement?

Tomas- OK……. lets see…….. The Civil Rights Movement became during Martin Luther King time right?

Zykai- um-hum

Tomas- OK I was like ummm….. 60.., 58 or 60…. let me see umm… Kennedy died at 63…. Martin Luther king died at…. um around that time, they both, both died about, about the same time I, I think about 63.

Zykai- 63?

Tomas- um-hum

Zykai- alright so question number 2: Growing up during this time how did you react to what was going on around you?

Tomas- Oh it was very.. very frustrating, very hurtful to how the-, how black peo-, can you say black people

Zykai- yeah you can say black people

Tomas - Black people being treated….. and what not, the kids trying go to school, and had to be shut out of school, you know… the first black girl i think was going to school, she was young….. um and they ha-, they let her go out of school, you know they had um… well participate had

the Civil Rights movement march, fought, they fought, and you know a group fought and

that meant she couldn't go to school, I don’t think she got killed I think she got hurt.

Zykai - umm, alright question number three how old were you to understand what was going on, what was your age?

Tomas- Ok

Zykai- i mean , when you found out all this was going on and you were able to understand, what was your age?

Tomas- no I did never go on the march because it was dangerous. People were getting killed, people were Zykai- Um.. my name is Annie Tomas. Date 5-20-14, Location, 1823 foulkrod street. Alright, question one: How old were you during the Civil Rights movement?

Tomas- OK……. lets see…….. The Civil Rights Movement became during Martin Luther King time right?

Zykai- um-hum

Zykai- 63?

Tomas- um-hum

Zykai- alright so question number 2: Growing up during this time how did you react to what was going on around you?

Tomas- Oh it was very.. very frustrating, very hurtful to how the-, how black peo-, can you say black people

Zykai- yeah you can say black people

Tomas - Black people being treated….. and what not, the kids trying go to school, and had to be shut out of school, you know… the first black girl i think was going to school, she was
Tomas- no I did never go on the march because it was dangerous. People were getting killed, people were Zykai- Um.. my name is Annie Tomas. Date 5-20-14, Location, 1823 foulkrod street. Alright, question one: How old were you during the Civil Rights movement?

Tomas- OK……. lets see…….. The Civil Rights Movement became during Martin Luther King time right?

Zykai- um-hum

Zykai- 63?

Tomas- um-hum

Zykai- alright so question number 2: Growing up during this time how did you react to what was going on around you?

Tomas- Oh it was very.. very frustrating, very hurtful to how the-, how black peo-, can you say black people

Zykai- yeah you can say black people

Tomas - Black people being treated….. and what not, the kids trying go to school, and had to be shut out of school, you know… the first black girl i think was going to school, she was

Zykai - Question number 6: did your parents ever vote?

Tomas- no

Zykai- were your parents ever able to vote?

Tomas - in their time of living it wasn't voting, it might have been something called voting but it wasn't voting per-say. Voting came along after the death of both my parents.

Zykai- Alright, Question number 7: did you ever vote? I know you vote now because I seen you walk out today, but back then as you were growing up around your 20s, did you ever vote for anything.

Tomas- 21 I was going around voting for things pratining black people.

Zykai- Question number 8: DId you ever meet any historical black figures, like Rosa Parks, or Martin Luther King?

Tomas- um… Well Martin Luther King, I was in a couple of his sechions, meetions stuff, but he died young. Umm Rosa Parks, I just know, I read about her, I’ve seen her on television, the first black woman go on the bus, an- and wanted her to sit on the back of the bus. Martin Luther King was the first black man to really get up in the crongressation and speak on the Civil Rights Movement, I watched him on televison, never would go to any of his meetings, but I’ve seen alot of his meetings on TV

Zykai- Question number 9: were you participating in any African American rallies , like asking questions?

Tomas- no there was always a crowd, different people would ask questions, but I never got to ask or answer a question, I would be standing around watching and listening to what was going on.