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Sulaiman Abdul-Hadi

I started off with asking what his experiences were during the civil rights movements and he started by telling me stories of him in the military because during that time he was in the Navy. This is what ensued after I asked that Primary question. I started recording After I asked.

ABSTRACT

This interview is about my Grandfather’s experiences during the Civil Rights Movement and how he lived throughout that time. He was in the Navy for most of it and he was in the Military for Malcolm X’s and JFK’s assassination. He talks about what it was like to be Muslim during that time and what that meant for him. He begins to speak about what Islam is and how it explains the different scenarios between white and black people over the years. He also talks about what he thinks about people, white and black, today in today’s society.

Research

http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1981/nov-dec/osur.htm

During the time by grandfather was in the navy the military was still heavily segregated but African- Americans were allowed to join and be apart of fighting for their country.

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1CHMO_enUS564US564&ion=1&espv=2&es_th=1&ie=UTF-8#q=when+did+jfk+die and https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1CHMO_enUS564US564&ion=1&espv=2&es_th=1&ie=UTF-8#q=when%20did%20malcolm%20x%20die

My Grandfather was in the  Navy during Malcolm X’s assassination as well as JFK’s. This was 1965 and 1963.

Grand Father: So anyway, as we were talking about uh, talking’ about...we used to call them muck mucks. We called the followers of elijah muhammad muck mucks and they called us spook believers. Reason we called the, muck  mucks is because muck muck is a tribe in Africa that worshipped men. That worshipped human beings. So we said that you’re a muck muck. You worship a man, and they said we were spook believers because we believe in a spirit a guy in the sky so they called us spook believers [mumbles off]. But those were as I was telling you when you go back over it. Those were why my experiences wasn’t really, even though i lived in time wasn’t really with the movement or the civil rights movement or the black movement or the revolution so to speak because I was um I was a muslim, first I was in the Military but then when I came home I was a muslim. NOw when I was in the military. It was...deep. It was uh, when i was aboard ship it was 1,263 men on ship and only 63 was black

Slay: Oh wow

Grand Father: So that’ll tell ya somethin’.

Slay: What branch of the military were you in?

Grand Fater: I was in the navy, I was in the united states navy. I was in the navy right? Went to go see my sister in North Carolina. She was married to a man that was in the Marines, the marines and navy th-they worked in the same kind of a way there were marines aboard ship, aboard ships were marines. So I went down there to meet to uh spend some time with my sister, her husband was a marine like i said and one of his friends were there so he introduced me ya know, this is my brother in law and hes in the navy, right? This guy stuttered. So he looked at me and he said n-n-n-n-no wonder you j-j-j-joined the g-g-god damn n-n-n-navy. Got cha god damn boats with ya. Talkin about my feet. He said ya g-g-got ya god damn boats with ya so thats while I joined the navy and like I told ya I was only in there and i just didn’t go back [God willing] but… I think that...that the biggest thing that got me comin up with the races. I lived in a neighborhood that was at one time a jewish neighborhood because the jews still were there. but they lived in their businesses, overtop of their businesses. And my mother worked for one. It was in the cleaners. And uh his name was young, his last name was young. And my uncles, they worked for a jew. But the children, I remember one little jew boy that I played with his name was Louie. Louis Kramer was his name. We went out in the park one day, guess I  was 10 or 11...maybe not that big because they moved away before I was a teenager. But anyway we was in the park playin. And you know what memorial hall is? Its now called the please touch museum.

Slay: Oh ok

Grand Father: Well out front there are these statues of a man on a horse so we was playin and we climbed up on there and he fell of and broke his back I must have been about eight nine. Something like that. Fell and broke his back. Louis Kramer was his name. I don’t know they moved away I don’t know if he died or what but i do remember that my neighborhood was like all black. and you didn’t see too much mixing ya know. Blacks with girlfriends but sammy davis junior, he married...he became a jew to marry a jew woman. So that kinda was big and then he wrote a book called yes I can and that kinda did something for the race but my personal experience man i’ve been dealing with this Islam and Islam don’t have no racism. When Malcolm X went to mecca he changed his name to malik shabazz. and he came back and he said while he was in mecca he said i saw men with the bluest of eyes and the blondest of hair bowing down with men that were as black as coal. whereas in america if you were white you were the devil and if you were black you followed elijah muhammad. And that really woke him up to the universality of the religion because it doesn’t have a your um matter of fact its more muslims i think indonesia has the most muslim population in the world. but theres more muslims, in america, theres more muslims in china then in saudi arabia even though saudi arabia is arabs and arabs is where islam started at. but when you're in arabia they have um they have arab christians because the man the prophet went to when he became a prophet was a christian he was an arab christian and he died before muhammad became a prophet because he told him he said if i am alive i'll follow you but he died before hand but he died before hand which means he died riotously as so far as allah's concern. because muhammad hadn't taken prophethood but he went to a man that was a christian that wasn't saying that jesus was the son of god because some people they were called haneth which means um. It means to be up right. there is a branch of christians in america that are called unitarians. And they believed in jesus but they don't believe that jesus was the son of god. they believe that he was um. a righteous man but they don't describe divinity to him. divinity is only for  god. that why they are called unitarians. because not just jesus but they asked prophet muhammad one time how many prophets were there. and the prophet said there were 124,000 prophets and 314 of them were uh messengers so a messenger. the difference between a messenger and a prophet is that the prophet...he has divine inspiration from Allah, god almighty. to direct people to god consciousness. the messenger on the other hand, not only does  he have this permission from allah god almighty but he also has divine revelation with him which comes in the form of uh. a physical form. why moses had the torah jesus had the in jail uhhhh, dude had the sods the torah of moses the injeel of jesus and the sons of david. You can find some of that in what is called the holy bible. although the holy bible is not like the Quran the Quran was revealed to one man who didn't write. Wso it was a spoken revelation. The only way to understand the Quran is that like right now. If my voice is in there when you play that back its going to be my voice  so thats what the Qu'ran was. the Quran was given to muhammad so he was like the tape recorder so when you play the tape back it was really the voice who gave the revelation which was allah. So actually the Quran is really the very words of allah it just came through muhammad and just said that  he would be sitting like this and the revelation would come on him. whoom. and he would go [speaking arabic] and recite arabic and then he would come out of it and that was the Quran. So if I did that this tape recorder when you played it back you would be getting my very words so it wasn't muhammad who was saying it was allah using him. so that revelation the Qur'an is the only revelation that is still like it was when they first got it. see it was given to him and it took over a period of 23 years because it was given to the prophet muhammad as he needed it. In other words as a circumstance arose he would ask him like, one time...a jewish man accused a muslim woman. so when they arrested him and brought him to the prophet they said this guy accused one of our women and the prophet said why would you do that? the man said she looked like one of our women, she didn't look no different than the person..so allah revealed a verse that says... say to your wives and your daughters and the believing women to draw their undergarments over their body when they go out when they go out which will make them recognized as righteous women  and prevent them from being molested. All the women you saw out there today that were covered up like  جدة [Grandmother] be or sannah [my cousin] be sometimes or Bashira [My Aunt] be sometimes you know what i mean. like that. that became a revelation a direction because somebody did something to a muslim woman all the instances that happened when um one of the companion one of the prophets friends got drunk and while he was drunk he said something to the prophet something that wasn't right. so allah revealed a verse. so listen from now on gambling and wine and games of chance are forbidden to you because there may be some benefit but the harm is greater than the benefit like people say you can drink a glass of wine a day its good for your heart you know what I mean? but to become a wino you just drink wine to get drunk so while the benefit is there the harm is greater than the benefit.

Abstract:

Bruce Grisham reflects back on his past experiences, how him being an African American male affected him from being able to do certain things, and also his point of view on racism and other similar topics, In this interview, Grisham talked about his past experience with segregation. He experienced segregation and discrimination when he was in the service. He talked about the things that he remembered from the civil rights movement. He also talked about how he believes that the education system was better back in the day then it is now, due to the fact that some of the students aren't taking their education serious like they should. Grisham also talked about the differences of how people were treated now and how they were treated back then. He thinks that everyone is still treated the same and that its just “camouflaged”, he believes that we really do not have “equal rights”.

Research:

One event that Grisham talked about is the bombing in Birmingham. On September 15, 1963 a bomb exploded before Sunday morning services at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. This church was a predominantly black and served as a meeting place for civil rights leaders. 16th Street Baptist Church was bombed by the KKK ( Ku Klux Klan). The Ku Klux Klan was a secret organization that was ran by white terrorist. The KKK was against blacks, jews, catholics, and the foreign-born. When the KKK bombed this church, they injured many and even killed 4 very young girls. The four girls names were Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley, and Denise McNair. When Grisham brought this event up in the interview, he didn't talk much about the topic. He said it was 3 girls who were killed in the bombing when it was actually 4.

Soures:

http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/birmingham-church-bombing

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/alabama-church-honors-4-girls-killed-1963-bombing-article-1.1457206

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16th_Street_Baptist_Church_bombing

KN- Hello, how are you?

BG- Oh great, how bout’ yourself?

KN-Im doing fine. I have a few questions to ask you about for my oral history interview.. is that okay?

BG- Yes.

KN -  Okay so, the first question is what's your earliest memory of segregation?

BG- Well my earliest recollection was when i was in the service. I probably even had it before then but it really hit me when i was in Plasby Mississippi (i wasn't sure of how to spell it). And I was in the end of that first phase of training and i was on my way to Germany. But i was gonna have a lead in the interroom. But i had to take a bus from umm Plasby Mississippi to Malone Alabama. And then from Malone Alabama to the airport, and so bc i didn't know exactly the schedules of the local transportation to get me there, i thought it will be wise to skip breakfast. So that i could be sure to get to Malone on time so how ever long it took for me to wait for the bus, ill just wait. But then i said i maybe needed to get something to eat right there in Malone. Well, i had a rude awaking. Here i was standing tall in uniform, and the restaurant refused to serve me. And i said, i said “lady i'm in uniform and you can't serve me breakfast?” She said “not so much as i can personally cant, its the establishment here.” They don't serve, you know colored people. She said “ I can take you in the back and serve you” but then  i said “ugh well its okay, thank you.” I picked up… well back in that time, there was a pack of ugh.. Ritz crackers for a nickel. So i picked up a pack of Ritz crackers for a nickel and put the nickel on the counter and then walked out. And thats when it really hit me of what segregation was all about. Because even though my family is of southern background, people in my generation on up, we were all born up north. We had no experiences of whatsoever about the south. But that was mine.

KN- Well okay, well the second question is how did you feel about segregation?

BG- How do i feel about segregation?

KN- Or how do you feel about segregation … like how did you feel back in the day and how do you feel now? (Both basically)

BG- Well.. Well, the more educated i became.. the more i resented it. And umm i don't feel it has been cured here in the United States. When i was in the service, i was better received by foreigners. Now they had prejudice there too for black people, even in foreign countries. Ill give you a typical example, when i was in Japan, I went into one of the ugh… let me see what did they call it.. Well basically one of the cafes, so you better understand what i am talking about. So when i walked in, (me coughing) one of the patriots walked out.. got up and walked out. And ugh… and so i turned around and i started to walk out to leave and the other patriots told me no no no don’t go. To make a long story short, they said he just.. he just thinks wrong. We want you here, we want you here. And ugh i said thank you, i appreciate it. And they served me, you know the beer.. they sat down and talked to me and everything. So its not only here in the United States believe me its all over the world. Its just more so in some places than others.

KN- Okay.. umm how old were you when the.. civil rights movement

started?

BG- I was in my 20’s. I dont know when it exactly started (laughter), but it started maybe when i was in elementary school. But the ugh real.. well not the real, but the civil rights movement more involved my generation.. like the late 50’s and the 60’s and all that.. See i was in my 20’s at that time and i was in the service, my political activities were very limited and restricted. To the best of my knowledge, the only real political activity that we could participate in is voting. Now we could vote but not take part of any outside political activity.

KN-  Umm what do you remember from the civil rights movement?

BG- What do i remember from it?

KN- Yeah, like what comes to the top of your head when you think of the civil rights movement.

BG- I remember MLK being assassinated, the young girls in ugh birmingham being bombed.. When they had the bombing in birmingham they killed the 3 ugh black girls (me coughing) and the ugh marching and all. When they had the march on washington..  they had marchings in Alabama as well and a whole lot of other places. I mean even though we weren't allowed to participate, we definitely could read. (laughter)

KN- Umm how was the education system for African Americans back in the day?

BG- (pause) Ill be honest. Do you want to know the honest answer to that?

KN- Yes.

BG- It was better than it is today.

KN- You think so?

BG- Yeah. from what i see today from the results of the students. Yeah, my buddies and i use to walk to school together. We use to say… we used to speak about how our offspring are gonna have a much better education than we did because.. (then what we were getting at the time) we were getting a much better education (cough) then our parents. And umm we said just imagine what it would be like for them! And it looks like it backwards.. its working backwards. I am really disgusted at the… at the.. the way the gangs that are proliferating. You would think ugh as it used to be, well they don't have the opportunity for education. I don't except that anymore. (me saying thats not an excuse anymore) No, no they have all kinds of.. the students now today have all kinds of opportunities for education, or to at least strive for an education (me agreeing) but some choose not to, see its a matter of choice and that ugh discourages me… well makes me very disappointed, ill put it that way. Because i was expecting so much more from ugh.. the generation after us. And it just looks like everything went backwards.

KN- How do you feel when people discriminate?

BG- How do i feel when people discriminate?

KN- Mmh.

BG-  I dont feel good, i feel hurt! And umm but once again you have to think about peoples background as well. Ill give you a case and point, when i was in the service. I met a lot of southern fellas, who came to me and actually admitted that they were taught to discriminate!

And some of them actually never seen (we were called colored) actually never seen a black man until they got on different means of transportation in order to come into the service. And so ugh its disheartening, and ugh its a crime chain that one human imposes such ugh demeaning characteristics on one human being. (me coughing) And yet and still they preached… well some of them, not all of them. Preached at so called christian way of living

and ugh it makes me you know, give situations like that some very serious thoughts...Very serious.

KN- (me getting the sentences mixed up) What’s the difference of how people were treated now and how they were treated back then?

BG- What's the difference?

KN- Yeah.

BG- Its still camouflage. Its still more protensus… And now some people might feel.. Well i don't think of it that way, rather they don't think of it that way. Well maybe for their present environment its not. I mean i have ugh ugh met caucasian people and people of other ethnicity and races and what have you. And gotten along with them very well..matter fact gotten along with them better than i do my own family. But that doesn't mean thats the way its gonna be in other parts of the world. So, you just can't put yourself in an enclosed environment and think that its alright. Thats not the reality of it.

KN-Did you ever experience any racism? If so how did it make you feel?

BG- We kinda expressed that earlier, didn't we? How i experienced racism and how did it make me feel? Well it made me feel hurt! Thats for sure, and it made me feel like i was dealing with an ignorant person. But ugh ugh, thats just something that you can not legislate. You can not legislate how they feel and their culture and how they think. Theres no law in the world that could cure that.

KN- Are you happy that we now have equal rights?

BG- (pause) I question that… our rights seemed to have improved. But ugh you see more black people on tv now than other. Now i don't know if its because president Obama has been elected as a black man.. Not as a black man because hes a black man. I do know that its a certain quotients that certain businesses have to maintain, that still exists.  And i myself had the chance to take advantage in that, in certain jobs that i had. They needed someone black at the time and i happen to fit the bill. Not so much because ugh… To make a long story short of other selective criteria. But they needed someone black and they thought i would workout fine. So therefore i was in that right place at the right time and thats how it was with a lot of people in my generation. See they don't actually ugh select you on your true moral character, its just that they need someone at that time to satisfy quota “fine if you dont, its still fine they’ll get another” (laughter)

KN- Umm did anything ever happen to you that changed your point of view about race and racism?

BG- Now what do you mean by change my point of view?

KN- Like say if  you thought about racism a different way before this situation happen.

BG- Oh. No. Because as i stated before, you can not legislate that and you can't ugh legislate people's upbringing. Because as long as its being taught, okay.. its gonna be perpetuated.

KN- I agree...How do you feel about other races?

BG-  (me coughing again) Fine. I believe in treating people as God meant for us to treat them. You suppose to love your neighbor. You can't love your neighbor if you hate your neighbor. You can't love your neighbor if your prejudice against your neighbor. (me saying i agree) Because i had the opportunity to work ugh ugh ugh… well fortunately over 8 ½ years, i spent better 6 ½ years overseas. So i was very fortunate to be able to get an excellent education as far as dealing with people and mixing with people.

KN- Okay umm do you believe that racism still exist today ?

BG- Definitely. It definitely exists. As long as people have the minds that they do to continue to teach it, to continue to have ugh hate groups.. well thats what i call them.. Hate groups and continue to instill in their children that they’re so superior and all. (me coughing) Its going to continue to exists.. there is no if’s, and’s or buts about it.

KN- Do you believe that racism is still one of the major problems that society has today?

BG- Definitely. It definitely is and its gonna continue to be a major problem.. Until people themselves change. Thats what its about. Once people themselves change as generations you know come about, hopefully that happens. Because it is a little better than when i came a long but ugh, its a very slow analyzing process.

KN- Okay, well thank you for your time. That was the last question.

BG- You’re Welcome.

Abstract:

I Interviewed Larry, he is my grand father, he told me all about his perspective on the Civil Rights Movement. He talked about the riots and marches and that is what I did my research on.

Abstract

In this interview, Frank Sandoval talks about his experiences around race and segregation while growing up and the changes he has seen in society over the years of becoming an adult. Sandoval gives you an inside look on his views on society today and how it has changed. You will get an inside look on his opinions and experiences surrounding race and society.

Research

The 1960’s was a huge turning point for blacks in the southern half of the United States. After slavery had come to an end, blacks were still discriminated against and denied basic human rights. The 60’s was when blacks finally overturned Jim Crow and gained equality. The 60’s and 70’s was also the Vietnam War. Blacks had fought for America in many wars hoping that there service will bring blacks at home equality. Unfortunately, there wishes were not granted. After WWll, blacks came home to see segregation and Jim Crow still occurring. The Vietnam war showed the most African-American involvement than any other American fought war. After the war, several African-Americans became generals, but before that, there was not many and there would not be a lot of blacks on army bases for generals.

Sources:

http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/s_z/stevens/africanamer.htm

http://www.americansc.org.uk/Online/Vietnam_Civil_Rights.htm

http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/uhic/PrimarySourcesDetailsPage/DocumentToolsPortletWindow?jsid=b42f31956ce8fa2d44812cddf34dc357&action=2&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CCX3411600118&userGroupName=k12_histrc&zid=bcd0672aae73e39b4a6af7c0f9473a01

Transcript

Interview with my father, Frank Sandoval.

Eva: Im Eva Sandoval and today i’m interviewing Frank Sandoval on May 18, 2014 at 8:37pm. So Frank, How are you feeling?

Frank: I’m feeling pretty good

Eva: If you don’t mind me asking, when were you born?

Frank: I was born on April 12, in 1960

Eva: Where was your birth place?

Frank: I was born in West Point, New York

Eva: Have you ever lived in the South?

Frank: You know, I have never lived in the South. I have lived in lots a places, more than most people I think but never in the South.

Eva: When you were growing up, if you remember, what was your opinion on other races?

Frank: I think when I was a kid I didn't have much of an opinion. When I grew up, I wasn't exposed to a great deal of diversity but when I knew people of different backgrounds, they were my friends just like anybody else.

Eva: Has your opinion changed over the years?

Frank: My opinion of other races….? I don't really think so, not generally, I learned a lot more about peoples backgrounds and a history, so I know more, but I guess I don't think my ideas have changed

Eva: Have you faced any challenges from being a white male?

Frank: Well, life is challenging for pretty much everybody on the planet and I feel like I face my own just as a responsible working adult but I can't think of particular challenges because of the type of person I am

Eva: In what ways have you benefited from being white?

Frank: Well..you know, thats sort of an invisible thing. From what I know of the world or think I know of the world, it seems to me that I had not faced any particular obstacles that may people from other backgrounds have faced, You know whether it’s somebody with a different accent or just a different background. So I think I benefited almost invisibly

Eva: How about from being a male?

Frank: Well again, I think that its all almost invisible to me. You know, I have my own struggles as like everybody but I can only assume that in my profession, I have a certain amount of automatic credibility by being the type of person I am.

Eva: What is your thoughts on society today when it comes to race?

Frank: Well from what I can tell, we have a long ways to go. I still think that theres pretty obviously some groups of people that are quite disadvantaged in our society and I think that there are lots of different reasons for that. I think many people are open to having a much more equal world but theres other seemingly forces that play from keeping that from happening.

Eva: What changes have you seen in society when it comes to race since growing up?

Frank: Well I grew up a little bit after really open racist policies against various groups of people and so in my personal experience, not someone who's grown up or spent a lot of time in diverse circumstances, you know in my personal experience I haven't seen massive changes but I think in society as a whole, we can point to changes. For example, Having a black president elected I think a couple of decades ago, that would have been almost impossible it seems.

Eva: How about in education?

Frank: In my experience, I don't really know I mean in my workplace for instance, I've seen a huge influx of Indian workers, people who grew up and educated in India and have immigrated to the United States and now work in the software professions. So thats something that i've witnessed in the past ten or so years. But I guess in education in general, I haven't personally seen any changes

Eva: Do you believe that we still have segregation?

Frank: Oh I think very definitely, yes. I mean you can just get in your car and drive around different parts of any city in the country and see that theres differently some groups of people that aren't living as equally as others

Eva: What types of segregation have you personally seen?

Frank: Well segregation in terms of socio economic stratification and…..

Eva: Um…. Segregation in general

Frank: Yea so I think that people of different backgrounds are generally segregated into different neighborhoods in the ways schools are funded in this country. You know…. If you're in a neighborhood of predominantly working class families, their schools don't get a lot of money which means there kids don't get as good of an education. Where as if you go to neighborhoods were people are much more well paid, they have better schools and their children tend to have better education. And so just that whole way of funding the schools doesn't seem very fair.

Eva: Do you think that people are more open minded about other races now then when you were growing up?

Frank: Well…..I would think so, yea I think so like I mean this is sort of just second hand, you know… I grew up not to far distant where racism was very very open and know, you know it very much frowned upon, if people think those thoughts there very much marginalized. So even the effects of racism are still obvious, I don’t think its quite as blatant as it use to be

Eva: Thank you very much, I really appreciate you talking with me today

Abstract:

Dior Thompson interviews her Great Grandmother (84 year old, Earlene McCullough nee Beft) on how her life was growing up in time where segregation was prominent. Dior touches basis on where her family was born, what personal experiences she was exposed to, and the types of different radio stations that blacks and whites listened to separately. They talked about what it was like living in a time when Martin Luther king was alive, and what type of changes started to come about and her families part in the Great Migration. Earlene being the youngest of 8 never really experienced as much hate geared towards her like her other family did. * She will refer to her as Nana, at times during the interview” *

Research:

DT: "This is Dior Thompson & a Mrs.Earlene McCullough , who is 84 years old. It is 6:07 May 23rd"

DT: Nana?

EM: Yes?

DT: where were you born?

EM: Here, In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

DT: Okay and where was your mother's family born?

EM: My mother's was born in Wilmington, North Carolina.

DT: And where was your father's born ?

EM: In Goldsboro, North Carolina.

DT: When you were younger did you experience any type of segregation?

EM:Yes

DT: can you give me example?

EM:Once I visited my aunt in Coatesville, and as I was walking down Main Street, a person called me thee "N- Word"

DT: Was your family apart of the great migration living in North Carolina?

EM:was my family what?

DT: part of the great migration

EM: I guess so, I'm the youngest of eight Dior, So they did migrate from North Carolina into Philadelphia Pennsylvania , But I was born here

DT: where there any casualties in your family around that time?

EM: Any what?

DT: Casualties, like deaths?

EM:  Any tragic things?

DT: Yes

EM: Not that I remember. As, I said I was born here the others were born in North Carolina.

DT: Did they tell you of any things that happened to them? Can you tell me some of the things that happened to them?

EM: They did say that they had experienced some segregation, of course everybody did. At that particular time, that's why neighbor migrating up North for betterment.

DT:  were you ever directly involved in any raids or marches?

EM: No, it didn't happen?

DT: I know that the new Negro Network was established, it was like radio stations and stuff. Did you listen to segregated radio stations? Do you remember the names of any?

The same radio stations we always had were "KYW" I would say that one.

DT: Where did you live? What was your childhood like? Were you wealthy, well off? Did you live in an low income family?

EM: I didn't experience anything because, since I was the youngest, my family always found a way to provide for me okay. I was thee 8th child.

DT: when you were younger growing up, did you have any friends that were from a different race than you? Did you ever get that chance to have friends at a young age who were of a different race?

EM: When I was coming up, no, basically all my friends were all people of color.

DT: What was it like to live during the time of Martin Luther King?

EM:  I would say I had a pretty good life you know things were changing at that particular time. the change was coming at that particular time when Dr King born.

DT:  were you surprised when he was assassinated?

EM: I certainly was

DT: did you ever feel as if you would  live to see the first African American president?

EM: ..?

DT: Did you ever believe that you'd be able to see an African american president come into office?

EM: I guess yeah because that would be, I didn't know when but I'm sure that it was going to happen but I didn't know when of course.

DT:  did your mother or father ever tell you what their childhood was like?

EM: yes

DT: can you explain to me please?

EM:  my mother and my father live in the city of Wilmington North Carolina, in a house that they had there. Where they raised my siblings.  which was my other 7 sisters and brothers.  my father always worked , and my mother was always a domesticate. Domesticate , which meant she always stayed home and raised us children.

DT:  what is the  saddest event that you remember from that time?

* Tape Ends*

Abstract

The 81 year old Cleo Bell was interviewed by her great nephew Caleb Hughes. He asks her questions about the civil rights. She talks about the discrimination of schools and the work places. She also talks about the difference of living in tennessee and New York. She talks about self segregation. The self segregation is indirect.

Research

Segregation usually has to do with African Americans and other races during the jim crow era. It is mostly used with race. The schools were separated in the south as well as work. In the south they were still under jim crow laws. There was school separation in the north. It wasn’t as common as the south but there were elements of it.

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_segregation_in_the_United_States#In_the_South

Abstract

Hello, This is Tiffany Irick . Today, I will be providing you full audio by Myself interviewing Rite Brunton. This Audio is for a 4th quarter project Oral History. The question asked are to be answered by the interviewee to re-cap on any memories about the civil rights movement times. I had interview Rita in Her home. We figured it would be best. As our interviewee answers these questions she thinks about the things the african americans had to go through. Hope you enjoy the audio for the Oral history Project. She talked about the things that went on in her life as a young girl. She provided bits of information that she remembered.

Research-

My interviewee had said a couple of this that caught my eyes. One things she had said went something like this “ ….we played baseball with hispanics.” At that moment I looked back and wanted to research things about hispanics being around or in company with the blacks. So on the http://www.tolerance.org/latino-civil-rights-timeline link 1953 During "Operation Wetback" from 1953 and 1958, the U.S. Immigration Service arrests and deports more than 3.8 million Latin Americans. Many U.S. citizens are deported unfairly, including political activist Luisa Moreno and other community leaders.

1954 Hernandez v. Texas is the first post-WWII Latino civil rights case heard and decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Hernandez decision strikes down discrimination based on class and ethnic distinctions.

I found out that In the civil rights movement there wasn't just black people involved, there were other races like the latios involved trying to get freedom. There are two happenings dated in the link .

Abstract

My good friend Kia Holloway, tells about her experiences with dealing with racism during the sixties and how opinions on race have changed. She explains how most people dealt with race when she was a young child and how she would handle these types of situations now. She gives insight on the ideas and thoughts behind racism and how many African American felt and dealt with this discrimination.

Research

Many people were afraid to speak up against discrimination based on race. Scared either to be assaulted or thrown in jail. Many figures such as Martin Luther King Jr had difficulty finding people to stand up against these problems. King found ways to convince people to stand with him. He did so by both making speeches and by going to jail himself to prove that the cause was worth the punishment.

Sources

http://1960sracism.blogspot.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_from_Birmingham_Jail

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm

Research: My research was based off of my interviewee response that today the world is still some what segregated. Research shows that other people think the world is still segregated today to it just not a visible or as direct as it was back then. People feel like segregation should not determine our future but all this change that we worked for in the past segregation still became our future people just found a “legal way to get around it.

Sources: http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/04/segregation-now/359813/

http://www.npr.org/2014/04/18/304194508/six-words-segregation-should-not-determine-our-future

http://dev.law.fsu.edu/journals/landuse/Vol141/seit.htm

Abstract:

Calvin  grew up in Philadelphia. As a child he didn't really experience any segregation or discrimination. In 2014, Calvin still believes that there is still some segregation and discrimination today. He believes that there is always going to be some segregation or discrimination but he will never give up on hope. He also believes that no matter how many years go by blacks will never be treated as an complete equal to a white  person.

Transcript:

Aaliyah Cooper (AC): Mr.Cooper, What do you remember about the Civil Rights Movement?

Calvin Cooper (CC):Well what i remember about the Civil Rights movement at the time, It was a big step for the blacks at this time because the black was really being mistreated ,We didn't have no equal rights or anything and the movement started an, umm how would i say it started  a whole new error for the black people for them to be able to be equal to the whites.

AC: Okay, and being so young, How did you cope with all the discrimination and segregation?

CC: Well basically during my time which was the 50s,i really didnt face a lot of discrimination because i wasn't born in the south, i always been a Philadelphia young man but i have heard about discrimination that the blacks were going through because my mother's people came from down south, Richman and North Carolina  and stuff like that and she would tell me about the struggles and discrimination that they couldn't use the bathroom, they couldn't ride the bus ,it was a whole lot but i never really had to deal with any of it.

AC: Do you know of any other leaders that don't really get talked about, but made a difference?

CC: Only one that never really got talked about and i can't really say particle one person was a leader,but the Black Panthers, they had a lot to do with the black movement too,but they never really got notice because they were always thought of as a militant group,but they did a lot for the blacks

AC: How was it growing up back then?

CC: umm,like i said it was okay growing up back then because i never really faced,um racial problems like the people,the blacks down south. I'm a philadelphian man and i never really faced that discrimination like that.

AC: Between now and then what are some things you wished have changed and what are some things that you wish haven't changed?

CC:  Well the only thing i wish that have changed that people say that we are equal to the white folks now but were not really we still have a long way to go, umm but the thing that i  would say, that i wish would change, i wish that the black people of this generation get a better chance at making their self, Mix in with the corporate world so they can start, you know,their own umm their own generation

AC: Okay and do you feel like in some ways the community is still segregated today,and if so can you tell me why you feel that way?

CC:Yes i do,i feel as though its still segregated in some areas and even in,even in philadelphia its segregation here even though it's hidden well but yes its  segregation still here, umm you won't see it because its not as dormit its not where you can see it but its there.

AC: Do you ever lose hope that things will get better?

CC:  No i never lose hope on that, things always getting better we have a black president

AC: Did you wish for anything during the Civil Rights movement , like did you wish that certain things didn't happen or,certain people survived things like that?

Abstract:

The women that Dashawn Inniss interviewed was his second cousin’s wife. Dashawn asked her around 12 question about her point of view during the Civil Right Movement and this is a short summary of what she stated. Coney McIntosh was born in Philadelphia and is currently 55 year old. She have many experiences in life because of the actions of segregation that affects many people in that time even though she was 7 at the time. Her parents were hard workers, her mother worked while her father tried to help with the movement by working with Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, and even the black panthers. The actions of her father cause her to be taken and placed in foster care from the age of 5 to 13. Being taken away made her both stronger and angry at the world for putting her through this mess. He moved from foster care to foster care until she was placed in this one household that treated and cared for her like their own child even though they were white and she was black. Over the years she kept pushing forward even though many others cursed her for her skin color, but she didn't care. Education was hard to get,but she got hers; because she kept fighting. Coney is a proud black woman that is proud of the changes such as being able to vote, share restaurants, and so on. She is also proud and happy for all the people that fought for her freedom such as Rosa Park, Eli Whitney, and many other people. Nevertheless, her mother and great grand mother were born in the South but migrated to the North. Her great grandmother was a slave, and her mother believed that Philadelphia is a better place to live. Coney hard a long hard life but believe it was all worth it because it’s all better now; she have children, grandchildren, and a good job all because of determination and change.

Research:

During the interview with Coney, she mentioned that her father worked with Martin Luther King with the movement and was part of the Black Panthers as well. She said her father went out each day to help and stand up for minorities because they were afraid or wasn't able to do it themselves. Although her dad went out to fight she was placed in foster care for this; the government made excuses to take her away stating not because of her father which was a lie.

Based on history, the Black Panthers was believed to be a rebellion organization similar to the KKK except they stood for black people.I say this because they had no problem using violence to be heard, and because they believed that Dr. Kings nonviolence movement wouldn't work and would take too long so they had to put this situation in their own hand. The Black Panther Party was created for Self-Defense by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale to protect minority communities against the U.S. government. The BPP was inspired after the Black Power movement and U.S. politics. Black Panther Party became an icon of the counterculture of the 1960s. The Panthers had many interactions with to police/FBI such as protest, shootouts, and many other situations; now I understand why Coney had been taken away from her family based on her father's actions and involvement with the Black Panthers Party.

Coney’s Father was also involved with Martin Luther King’s movement. The movement was based on ensuring that the rights of all people are equally protected by the law, including the rights of minorities.This was created because the US was being hypocritical with it’s laws towards minorities. In order for their point to be heard and seen, thousands of people including Coney’s father marched, protest, and boycott for everyone in the US to be equal and live happily.

Abstract

Me, Jason Perez interviewer's my grandmother Candice on racial discrimination, the civil rights movement, race and racism of course, and the role race plays in our old and new society.

While you are listening to the interview and reading the transcription. You will find out and realize some good points made and well answered questions along with well asked questions. Basically what me and my interviewee talked about was racial discrimination and how has people’s view on race has changed and also the role race has played over the course of the last 50-60 years. I asked my interviewee questions like “has she ever faced or overcome racial discrimination, has her view on race changed and how race and racism affects or old and new society.” She answered the questions very well telling me things like “she has never faced or overcome racial discrimination, how she thinks that we all have come a long way with being racist and racism, even though we are not 100% and how racism and race still plays a big role in our society.” We mainly focused on discrimination and racism itself.

Abstract: Ileka Barker interviews her grandmother Betty Jane on the civil rights movement and life around that time. She explained the things she had to deal with in her every day life and how we are lucky that the world has shaped into how it is now, also she talked about Martin Luther during that time period. She was born in 1955 and around that time she was still in her teens. She said she did not experience anything, no one every targeted her or came at her in a negative way.

Research: Martin Luther King was born January 15 1929.As we know Martin had a long history of doing things for his community, later in 1955 he accepted to be the first leader of the negro nonviolent demonstration of contemporary times in the United states.After that he became like the national peace sign everyone came to him and believed in him as hope. He made a huge difference.

Link:

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1964/king-bio.html

Transcript interviewing Betty Jane

IB: Hi my name is Ileka Barker and I’m interviewing my grandmom todays date is may 18, 2014 and its 4:08 pm, I'm going to be interviewing my grandma about the civil rights movement and how it impacted her

BJ: Hello

IB: Hey ma ma

BJ: Hold on a minute sweetheart.

IB: Okay

BJ: hello

IB: Hey how are you ?

BJ: I’m good dear, how are you ?

IB: Yeah, I’m good, can I ask you some questions about the civil rights movement ?

BJ: Yeah I hope I can answer them sweety, wassup ?

IB: How old were you when the civil rights movement started ?

BJ: How old was I when the civil rights movement started.

IB: Yeah

BJ: umm, I was around 10 years old

IB: oh okay, so how was life around the time.

BJ: Life around that time well, umm. How can I say this we didnt have alot.

IB: Mhm

BJ: umm, my mom worked and everything ya know and like if she cooked you know umm. Like say for instance if we happened to have pork chops

IB: mhmm

BJ: If we were lucky enough to have pork chops it was one for everyone one of us that might have been in the house and we had to eat, things were lean, you know it was hard times.

IB: Yeah

BJ: It was hard times we didn’t have a whole lot of stuff you know, it’s almost like kind of now for a lot of people who is struggling, you know black people struggle.

IB: mhm

BJ: Black people struggle you know and if you, it was just rough.

IB: Did you, were you targeted, did people target you ?

BJ: Was I targeted ?

IB: Yeah, since you were so young ? You could see a lot of racism

BJ: No,no,no,no I never got targeted when I was young, no

IB: Okay

BJ: No I didn't get targeted, now I can say that about my mom, my mom was born in alabama and she came up here when she was a teenager but I don't remember anybody in my family ever saying they were targeted or anything. But umm when I was a little girl, you know.

IB: Mhm

BJ: My dad, I know I heard, you had to ride on the trolley cars.

IB: That’s when your mom was young ?BJ: Yeah we couldn't go, I was born but I was still little. You know certain neighborhoods couldn't go into the…

IB: Oh really ?

BJ: Like near Girard avenue they had like white, wherever it was white folks at they didn't want us blacks folks to be at.

IB: Yeah

BJ: You know stuff like that, Have you ever seen Documentaries on the Civil rights movement ?

IB: Yeah we’ve been watching alot in class recently

BJ: Well it was like that

IB: Oh wow

BJ: yeah it was like that, you know how and a lot of times I had holes in my shoes, cardboard in my shoes

IB: How was like school around that time

BJ: Well from what I can remeber you know school was okay and when I first started there was some white people in my school but I always remembered when I stopped seeing them because that was elementary school.

IB: Oh so they weren't there in like middle school and stuff

BJ: I hadn't seen any, I've got to look on my graduation picture from junior high school, I don't think it was no white kids in my class.

IB: Oh

BJ: I dont remeber no white kids being in my class in junior high but I don't remember any white kids being in my class in elementary and kindergarten and first grade because I went to, I don’t remember no white kids being in my classes.

IB: Oh really

BJ: It was so long ago, what you see in those documentaries it’s pretty much like that.

IB: Oh thats crazy.

BJ: I had grandparents who had a club and they made money like that and it seemed like it was the elderly people who had their own homes and stuff like that. My uncle worked for what is called septa now It used to be called the ttc back during the civil rights movement

IB: So like how much has the world changed since then ?

BJ: Huh ?

IB: How much has the world changed since then ?

BJ: It has changed an awful lot except for maybe like a lot of us are still disenfranchised

IB: Yeah

BJ: LIke it seems like sense are president has got elected it seems like racism has raise over head again. You know what I’m saying ?

IB: Yeah

BJ: Now I had people that have acted nasty towards me in stores you know the different lines in the late 70s early 80s and the civil rights movement was over with. You know Martin luther king had died.

IB: Wait so you was

BJ: They don’ t wanna wait on you or something, you know what I’m saying.

IB: Yeah, did you like ever meet him

BJ: Noo, uh uh

IB: He was alive during the time right.

BJ: He was alive, ya.

IB: ohh

BJ: I think he was assassinated in 68 I think

IB: ohh

BJ: I think he did I have to google it

IB: Okay, thank you mama for the answers.

BJ: You know when they bombed the church with the girls in it.

IB: Oh yeah, how old were you around that time ?

BJ: And, wait a minute that was around in early 60s .

Abstract:

In this interview Betty Jane talks about her life during the Civil rights movement and anything she can remember. She is African American and grew up in Philadelphia, she is currently 69 years old. She expressed in the video that it was a very hard time and they didn’t have that much to eat and that the world has changed a whole lot over time. She described her experience in direct with white people and she said she was not targeted but she can still see when you go somewhere and in older white people in their late 70s towards early 80s have attitudes.

Research:

In the video she talked a lot about Martin luther king and she also described what kind of shoes she used to wear. like for example one was a real shoe and the other was like a cardboard box. The civil rights of movements were a bunch of political movements for equality,we all know that AAM get had less so of course they didn’t have fancy clothes and such. She said she could remember hearing a lot about Martin Luther king and her family talking about him, he died in 1968 so she was about 23 years old at the time.

Sources:

-https://www.google.com/search?q=martin+luther+king&oq=martin+luther+king&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.4303j0j9&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8

-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American_Civil_Rights_Movement_(1896%E2%80%931954)

NB: Hi my name is Nileka Barker and I’m interviewing my grandma. Today’s date is May 18th 2014 and it’s 4:08 pm. I’m going to be interviewing my grandma about the Civil rights Movement and how it impacted her.

The phone is ringing…..

BJ: Hello

NB: Hey mom-mom

BJ: hold on a minute sweetheart

NB: okay.

BJ: hello

NB: hey, how are you ?

BJ: I’m good dear how are you ?

NB: Yeah I’m good, can I ask you some questions about the Civil rights movement ?

BJ: Yeah I hope I can answer them for you, wassup

NB: okay um, how old were you when the Civil rights movement started ?

BJ: How old was I when the civil rights movement started ?

NB: Yeah

BJ: Um, I was around 10 years old

NB: oh okay, how was life around that time ?

BJ: Life around that time, well um how can i say this

um we didn’t have a whole lot

NB: mhm hmm

BJ: Um my mom worked and everything you know, and liked she cooked, and say for instance if she cooked and if we happened to have pork chops

NB: uh huh

BJ: We were lucky enough to have pork chops, it was one for everyone of us that might have been in the house and we had to eat…things were leen you know, it was hard times.

NB:yeah

BJ: It was hard times, we didn’t have a lot of stuff you know and it’’s almost kinda like it is now for a lot of people who is struggling, you know black people struggle

NB: uh huh

BJ: Black people struggle you know and if you.. it was just rough

NB: Did you, were you targeted, did people target you ?

BJ: Was I targeted ?

NB: yeah, since you were so young ? You could see a lot of racism

BJ: No, No, Nooo, I never got targeted when I was young. No

NB: okay

BJ: Noo I didn’t get targeted. Now uh I can’t say the same you know about my Mom because my mom was born in Alabama and she came up here when she was a teenager but I don’t remember nobody in my family ever saying they were targeted or anything but when I was a little girl

NB: Mhm huh

BJ: My dad, I know I heard that you had to ride on the trolley cars

NB: This was when your mom was young ?

BJ: Yeah we couldn’t go, I was born but I was real little. You know certain neighborhoods couldn’t go onto the ...

NB: Oh really ?

BJ: Like near Girard avenue they had like white, wherever it was white folks at they didn’t want us blacks folks to be at.

NB: yeah

BJ: Have you seen on Documentaries on the Civil rights movement ?

NB: yeah like we’ve been watching a lot in class recently.

BJ: Well it was like that

NB: Oh wow.

BJ: Yeah it was like that, you know and a lot of times I had holes in my shoes and they would put cardboard in my shoes

NB: How was school around that time

BJ: Well from what I can remember school was okay you know and when I first started school it was some white people in high school and I don’t remeber you know when I stopped seeing them because that was Elementary school

NB: Oh so they weren’t there in Middle school and stuff ?

BJ: I hadn’t seen any, I got to look on my graduation pictures from Jr. High school. I don’t think it was no white kids in my class.

NB: Ohh

BJ: I don’t remember no white kids being in my class in Jr. high school but, and I don’t remember in white kids being in my class in Elementary school, and kindergarten and first grade because I went to.. I don’t remember no white kids being in any of my classes.

NB: Oh really.

BJ: It was so long ago, what you see in them documentaries it’s pretty much like that

NB: Oh that’s crazy

BJ:I had grandparents that had a club and they made money like that and it seemed like it was the elderly people who owned homes and stuff like that and then my Uncle worked for what is called Septa right now it used to be called the TTC back during the Civil rights movement.

NB: So like how much has the world changed since then ?

BJ: Huh ?

NB: How much has the world changed since then ?

BJ: It has changed a awful lot except for maybe like a lot of us are still disenfranchised, you know what I’m saying ?

NB: yeah

BJ: Like it seems like since our president got elected it seems like racism has raised over head again, you know what I’m saying ?

NB: yeah

BJ: Now I had people that act nasty with me in stores you know different times in their mid 70s early 80s and the Civil right’s movement was over with. You know Martin Luther King had died

NB: Wait so you was

BJ: They don’t wanna wait on you or something, you know what I’m saying

NB: Yeah did you ever meet him

BJ: No, uh uh

NB: he was like alive during your time right ?

BJ: He was alive, yeah

NB: Ohh

BJ: I think he got assassinated in 68 i think

NB: Ohh

BJ: I think he did Ima have to Google that

NB: Thank you Mom-Mom for the answers

BJ: You know they bombed the church with girl in it

NB: Oh yeah, how old were you around that time

BJ: And, wait a minute. That was around in early 60s.

Abstract

In this interview my grandpa and I discuss what was happening during the 60’s and what he experienced in Philadelphia during the civil rights movement. It is hard for him to recall the exact dates and his exact age, but he has a vivid memory and remembers exact events. He provides info about other peoples feelings and what they experienced.

Research

The civil rights movement was an international series of political movements for equality before the law that reached a peak in the 1960’s. It often took the form of campaigns of civil resistance such as “The Montgomery Bus Boycott”. There were many civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. In this interview my grandfather references his experiences and the assassination of MLK and the feelings of people older than himself.

Sources

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movements_for_civil_rights

Abstract

During this interview, I, Goran Bernard interview my next door neighbor, Vivian Black. Mrs. Black describes her experiences during the civil rights movement and the privileges she experienced in her career bases however, her husband was not as lucky as she was. She grew up in Washington D.C. but then, because of her many different jobs, she was forced to move to Philadelphia to continue. “I worked first in the Navy yard, Navy department, VA department, umm… what was the other one ?....ummm… VA department, and the Pentagon! “ She also explains the fact that her husband faced a lot of segregation in Philadelphia. He was forced in different parts of the buses, yet he fought for his rights and kept his head high to prove that blacks were the same as whites, they are humans and they deserved the same rights as whites. Vivian Black also expressed her admiration towards Martin Luther King Jr. and how she went to two of his marches back in 1963. She expresses the fact that people from all over the world came to see him present his speeches and that she was very close to him when he spoke.

Research

Vivian Black, the person I interviewed spoke of many different job careers she had during the Civil Rights Movement. She also spoke of a man who went by the name of Martin Luther King Jr as well as her husband who faced a lot of segregation, especially on the buses. Whites, during the 1950s forced blacks to go to the back of the bus. Martin Luther King, however organized a boycott that changed the course of history. Whites would always intimidate blacks to get a rise of them, however Martin Luther King told them not to fight back physically, Nonviolence is absolute commitment to the way of love. Love is not emotional bash; it is not empty sentimentalism. It is the active outpouring of one's whole being into the being of another.

--Martin Luther King, Jr., 1957 He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.

--Martin Luther King, Jr. And many obliged. Dr. King was a man of great determination, He organized marches to unite everyone into one big community. On November 13, the Supreme court ruled that the bus  segregation was illegal. This ensured a great victory for the boycott and an advancement in African American history. Dr. King was a man with great guidance, during the bloody sunday march “Dr. Martin Luther King turned the marchers back around to go back to the church”, two days after that march, Dr. King “led a "symbolic" march to the bridge.” a march into equality.

Sources:

http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/mlk/srs216.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selma_to_Montgomery_marches

http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/civilrights/al4.htm

Oral History

May 18, 2014

INTERVIEW WITH VIVIAN BLACK

GB: Where were you born?

GB: About the civil rights movement ?

VB: It wasn’t a movement, I was working in a segregated office in Washington DC, it was veteran’s administration. I grew up in my home in Washington DC I went to school in Washington DC, and I went to College in Howard University but I left because I wanted to go work (laughs) and got a job. During the summer they would hire students, from high school, different high schools to work for the Federal Government during the summer. We worked in the summer and went back to school in the Fall, so I was lucky enough to work during those summers and I worked first in the Navy yard, Navy department, VA department, umm… what was the other one ?....ummm… VA department, and the Pentagon! We get lost every day in the Pentagon, (laughs) because it was new to me, shaped like a pentagon, I’d get lost finding my office every morning, and the security, he wasn’t the security but the guard, he would show me where my office was every morning, (laughs), I was lost getting into the new building. But , before I came to Philadelphia, I worked for the Veteran’s administration. And I happened to come here because my job was transferred to the Philadelphia VA. I didn’t know anything about Philadelphia, during that time it was 1954! I did not know anything about Philadelphia, I would only come up to see the Lincoln games, I don’t know if that answers your questions
GB: That’s fine
VB: The Lincoln games and go back home on the bus. But I had a friend who introduced me to a friend here. Her friend whose aunt lived in Philadelphia, her aunt was a sister of a musician W.C. Handy (I don’t know if you have ever heard of him but he was great musician named W. C. Handy, and I stayed with his sister) her aunt. And that’s how I happened to come and with the work for the VA on the Wissahickon Avenue. That’s where I met my husband’s sister who worked at the VA, she introduced me to my husband. That was back in 1954-55.
GB: Well, hum, so, when you did come here, so there still was segregation and all that, so how did you deal with it?”
VB: the office I worked in and even in Washington, it wasn’t segregated. it was work with all nationalities at the VA. And worked together. There weren’t any problems at all.
GB: That’s pretty good, I mean during that time….
VB: Things were different, I heard Philadelphia was really segregated, back in the.. some time ago. My husband told me about things that happened in Philadelphia. But when I came it was everything.
GB: Do you remember anything he has faced ? your husband?
VB:”I’m sorry ?
Me: Do you remember anything your husband had faced during that time?
VB: Know he told me how the trolleys were segregated and they had to get forced I think it was to,I don’t know,  to… to board the buses, to make sure that everything was safe on the buses, I think it was that so to board the buses, ugh, ugh,the service man or something that board the buses to be sure that everything was safe, people riding the buses trolleys, if they weren’t trolleys,then they were buses, they weren’t trolleys… I don’t think they had any black people drove those buses, I think they were all white all that time, it wasn’t until later years that the segregation came about with Martin Luther King.
Do you remember any … ?!!
Martin Luther KIng, I went on both marches with him…. back in 63 and the one that came after that ten year later…
GB: You went on both marches??
VA: Yes!
GB: How were those?
VA: Okay! It was just, Oh, it was just wonderful, to see so many people to see so many from all over the world come for that march in DC, and I was lucky enough to sit right near where he was speaking, so I had an opportunity to almost look into his face, that’s how close I was, my husband and I , to watch him, to listen to his speeches, the other people who spoke…
That must have been quite an experience…
It’s something to remember and it was all because of him that things happened for our benefit. For All people, it wasn’t just working for us, for me, for anybody…
GA: Thank you.

Here is a VIDEO of W.C. HANDY:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGqBmlZR3dc