Abstract          

In this interview, I’m asking Thomas Grant, the interviewee who was born and raised in Philadelphia, questions about the Civil Rights Movement, his childhood, his education, and things that were happening in his neighborhood. A couple of questions he doesn't know, but his answers to other questions were things I never knew about. This 67 year-old man witnessed a lot of things during work, school, or even when is at home, but he never participated during that time. When you read and/or listen to the interview, you might learn new things that you never would've guessed.

During the interview, Thomas brought up the Million-Man march. He said that he seen a couple people from his job who went down to Washington D.C. When I researched that event, it said that it happened 20 years ago (October 16, 1995) at Washington D.C. and the website Million Man March says: “The Million Man March was one of the most historic organizing and mobilizing events in the history of Black people in the United States.” The person that led the march was Minister Louis Farrakhan who is the leader for Nation of Islam, but besides that he was a black religious and social leader.

      Interview Part 1

Tyrone: Okay, hello, um..my name is Tyrone Grant. What is yours?

Thomas: Uh...Thomas Grant.

Tyrone: Okay, so...do you remember your parents?

Thomas: (chuckled) Yes.

Tyrone: Okay, so what were your parents like when you were a kid?

Thomas: Um...my parents were...giving, but demanding. They were religious and um...they made sure we had everything we needed. As children growing up, we were fed, clothed, sheltered, they were good and it was a good time.

Tyrone Okay, okay, so where were you living when you were a kid? Outside the state or…

Thomas: I was living in Philadelphia.

Tyrone: So, when you were younger, did you see any role of race in society?

Thomas: Yes, on the news for one, just with the police department how blacks were treated compared to the whites. Certain neighborhoods if you went into them, they would stop you, and harass you. It was...a time where when you stayed in your neighborhood, you were fine.

Tyrone: Oh wow, so how about your parents? Did they see any types of discrimination?

Thomas: Uh yeah, well my dad fought in World War II, and he was born in the South and he had to leave the South and came North because of racism.

Tyrone: Alright, so that’s pretty interesting. So what was it like being you know...a son of a man who fought in the war?

Thomas: He didn’t talk about the war much. He was more into providing, so he spent his time trying to make a...make it so we can survive. At one time, I was told he was making $0.76 an hour, so money was not there like it is today. I’m blessed because I’m able to make a lot more. (giggling)

Tyrone: So that’s pretty interesting. So have you witnessed or involved, or were involved (correcting myself) in anything about the Civil Rights Movement?

Thomas: I’ve witnessed...well basically what you saw on the news; police brutality in Philadelphia. We had riots back in the 60’s because of prejudice and racism. Martin Luther King as you know, being on the news and seeing what he was fighting for. Knowing and heard of the...people talk about it; athletes who’ve played basketball, saying that they couldn’t go in the front door of a restaurant where they was going to go to eat. The Boston Celtics, the center for them talked about it, people talked about it, but coming up when we were coming up, it wasn’t too much we could really do.

Tyrone: Okay, so you’ve mentioned riots and stuff in Philadelphia, correct?

Thomas: Yea.

Tyrone: Okay, so were you involved in those riots?

Thomas: No I wasn’t involved in them, but...they were basically in our neighborhood. Police...attacked a boy and before anybody realized or knew what was going on, people gotten together and four or five blocks away from where I was living, Columbia Avenue and Susquehanna Avenue, they were tearing up, destroying stuff, breaking into the stores, and they brought out the National Guard. So yea I’ve seen it, I didn’t get involved in it.

Tyrone: That’s interesting, umm so have you ever witnessed any other types of segregation against others?

Thomas: Yea, uh it hasn’t been as I got older; I kind of stayed away, but yea I’ve seen where people wouldn’t allow you to do things. You couldn’t go into certain neighborhoods like I said before. I was less of a “out on the streets” type of person, I was more home and when I travel, I travel to a place and came back. I didn’t really hangout.

Tyrone: Oh I see, now I know where I got my laziness from. (laughing)

   Interview Part 2

Tyrone: Alright, so did you know anybody that participated in the Civil Rights Movement?

Thomas: Yea, I people-I knew some not a lot, but I knew a couple of people during the Civil Rights time with Martin Luther King. They went to Washington, the million-man march. Not personally, but knowing them from maybe working with them or their parents, not working but...parents who went on the march.

Tyrone: Alright, so you said working, so what job were you working for?

Thomas: Well, I worked for Septa and I wasn’t working during the Martin Luther King march because I was still in school, but I’ve been where they had other marches, so yea I knew a couple of people, but not many.

Tyrone: So um, did you ever attend a school that had segregation?

Thomas: Segregation (whispering), No, because basically the schools I’ve went to were basically black.

Tyrone: So how was it like going to an all-black school?

Thomas: Well you don’t know any difference because it is all black and nobody is being treated any differently. You know, it’s not like going to a school that’s half and half, you can see things, but when you to a school that’s basically all black, you don’t get that.

Tyrone: So, in the all-black schools, did you have like cheaper supplies and like...what I mean by supplies, I mean like books and stuff than the white schools?

Thomas: I can’t answer that because we didn’t know. All we knew was that we had books and we did have books, and we had the pencils, and the paper and all that. Let’s say another school had more than our school, it wasn’t put out there because the media today is so much more, and information is passed around so much easier. Back then, you’ve got your books, and we didn’t have basically what you have today: computers, and calculators, and everything we did had to be done by hand and by memory.

Tyrone: So was it tough in school for you?

Thomas: Well you don’t know because you don’t know the difference...we had nothing to measure one from another.

Tyrone: I meant like..just like...you know. Like right now, it’s tough for me in school so I’m saying on a daily basis doing work and everything...so was it tough?

Thomas: I mean, I made it through if that’s what you’re asking. I graduated, but when you  saying tough, I guess all schools had their bullies, but listening to the news today, it was nowhere near as bad as it is today.

Tyrone: I have a quick question, so it’s a little bit off topic. How many brothers and sisters do you have?

Thomas: One sister, two brothers.

Tyrone: What were their names?

Thomas: Joyce, Troy, and David.

Tyrone: Okay I know Joyce, but tell me about Troy and David.

Thomas: What do you want to know?

Tyrone: What were they like?

Thomas: Oh, well we got along fine, everybody was good. When I went to high school, my sister was married, so she was gone. My brother went to the military, my oldest brother went to the military. My youngest brother, when he got out of school, he went to the military.

Tyrone: That’s interesting. Did you lose anybody that you knew personally like a family member because of discrimination and segregation out there?

Thomas: Did I what?

Tyrone: Did you lose anybody?

Thomas: Oh, no. Not that I...no. I can say no. To my knowledge, I don’t know anybody in my family that died because of segregation.

Tyrone: Okay, well that’s good, that’s good. Have you ever faced any types of segregation like you personally?

Thomas: Personally, I’ll say no cause I don’t...I..no no, personally no.

Tyrone: Okay, well that’s it. Thank you for your time.

Thomas: My pleasure.

History Benchmark Design

Abstract:

In this interview, I am viewing Kimberly Marable. She talks about how she grew up learning about what happened to Emmett Till and learning that Rosa Parks wasn’t the first African American to give up her seat. She also discuss what it was like when she was growing up.

Research:

I looked up that according to the modern-day civil-rights establishment, most of the problems that currently afflict African Americans result directly from the intractable white racism that allegedly continues to plague blacks in every region of the country -- across all age groups, all educational levels, and all income brackets. This civil-rights elite largely ignores the role of issues within the black community, such as the calamitous breakdown of the black family since the 1960s, in framing its critique. Black community has been the worst struggle in the 1960’s and more. They dealt with a 14 year old boy getting killed for something wrong, a woman arrested for trying to reice freedom, and they had to deal with the civil rights.

Sources:

http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/sixties/resources/guided-readings-major-social-issues-1960s

Good evening it is April 29, 2015. Today we will be doing an interview based on personal background and during the civil rights. I will be interviewing my grandmother.

Me: Hello Grandma, how is your day?

Grandmom: it is good , how is your?

Me: Good as well. SO I will start off with basic questions then jump into the civil war. What is your name?

Grandma: My is name is Kimberly Marie Marable.

Me: How old are you?

Grandma: As of today I am 55 years old.

Me: Okay do you remember anything that happened in the civil rights movement?

Grandma: Yes. I remember 14 year old Emmett Till was killed by two white men in 1955.

Me: Do you remember why he got killed?

Grandma: He was visiting his family in Mississippi. He was caught flirting with  21-year old Carolyn Bryant at a small grocery store. Bryant's husband Roy and half brother kidnapped him, gouged out one of his eyes, choked him with a cotton wire fan then shot him.

Me: Do you think that has made a huge impact dealing with racism?

Grandma: Yes. Back then in the earlier days us as black African American slave, we have dealt with alot of racism and since this situation has occurred, it shows that racism was and still is a problem.

Me: Do you still remember anything that happened before?

Grandma: Yes. I learned that Rosa Parks wasn’t the first African American lady to sit in the front of the bus.

Me: Who was the first then?

Grandma: Her name was Claudette Colvin.

Me: How did you figure this out?

Grandma: I figured this out because I was reading a newspaper and she was on the front cover with her name in bold stating that she was the first one to give up her seat.

Abstract

​In this interview, Vanessa Anderson-Smith, remember their lives in South Philadelphia. This interview offers more information on the young life of Vanessa Smith as she grew up going to middle school, high school, college, and later onto the real world. She talks about how students of her skin color were treated in middle school, high school, and college. She also talks about her neighborhood friends, how she raised three children of her own and much more.

Research

We drank water from the tap not a bottle and nobody knew about the dangers of lead poisoning so even cribs were painted with brightly colored lead based paint. Medicine and Bottles with tablets did not have child proof lids. No seat belts or air bags in cars, nobody knew or if they did told our parents smoking and drinking was bad for the baby, kids shared coke from one bottle, soda had masses of sugar and we ate real white bread and butter and everything else including full fat milk that we are now told is bad for you. Parents couldn't reach us ( no mobiles ) and most of the day we would be out playing with friends and parents knew we would be safe with hardly any weirdos wandering the streets. If we got caught doing stuff we shouldn't the cops would take us home and we may well have a got a hiding for breaking the law ( but no do gooders saying mustn't smack children ). And if we played up in school the same applied. While playing we got cuts and bruises and the occasional tear in jeans but it was just part of being a kid and no visit to the hospital. We had no fancy games but could play for hours making a Go cart or a new tree swing and for other games most times we would find a ball and whatever we could use as a bat. or in the summer all jump into the nearest place we could find and if the water wasn't that clean we just didn't swallow it. We rode our bikes with no helmets and doing whatever stunts we could ( bikes were so much heavier and hard waring) and always had punctures to repair or get dad to help with. If we didn't get in the team we were not good enough and that was that. But most of all we were allowed to be kids. To dream, to invent and to play. It's no wonder that the generation that grew up then created some of the most innovative and exciting technology we have today. Thanks for those years and all those "BAD THINGS" that is why we are who we are today.

Sources(s)

• http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/50s-memories.html

Transcript

Shaelin: 1. When exactly were you born?

GMOM: “January 25th, 1956”

Shaelin: 2. How old are you?

GMOM: “59 years old”

Shaelin: 3. What was it like in your generation when you were my age?

GMOM:  “When i was just starting high school, i was in a all girls catholic high school, uniforms had to be below our knees, no makeup, no hoop earrings, post back earrings.”

Shaelin: 4. When you were my age did you have white and black friends? just blacks? just whites?

GMOM:  “Yes because I went to a racially diversified school, black, white, hispanic, vietnamese, all types, so i ended up making many different skin color friends.”

Shaelin: 5. Did you go to a segregated high school?

GMOM: “Uh, no. All of the students collaborated with one another”

Shaelin: 6. Was everyone treated fairly?

GMOM: “I would say yes for the most part. We had black students that had a walk out, however I do not remember what for.”

Shaelin: 7. Do you think that high school prepared you for college?

GMOM: “It did to a certain extent because the big issue in college there was no one to tell you to do your work, the professor would give us a syllabus with all of our work and due dates but wouldn’t remind us when it was due.”

Shaelin: 8. After finishing college was it challenging to find a job?

GMOM: “Originally it was, I had a couple side jobs, first real job was at temple university. It was kind of hard, then chop and I worked there every since.”

Shaelin: 9. Did one of your jobs eventually lead you into a career?

GMOM: “I got my third job at temple for a year after I graduated, I then found a job at chop and worked there every since for 28 years which was in the field that I studied in college.”

Shaelin: 10. Was it hard adapting into the real world?

Abstract:

On may the 7th Margaret Coleman was interview by Darian Scudder and she was born in Alabama greenville 1960 she’s a African American her mom raise her up in church and she played games with brothers and sister’s. Her Dad made her brother ‘s and sister’s pick crops and take care of the farm she enjoyed being home with brother’s and sister’s working on the farm. She had to pick food and cotton and crops from the farm, she would play baseball, hide and go seek, and jacks, hopscotch, her dad drove the school bus, Mom would be at home and when come from school. She would spend a lot of time together with her family and  she would come home from church and they would go shopping , and sometimes her  family would sit outside on the porch and watch the cars go by together. Her parents would always watch out for her health not to eat junk food she would go into town and go into the little stores and get hun buns and little snacks from the corner stores. She would eat ice cream from the dairy queens but mostly her family would eat at home her favorite movies were (Gone with the wind) and (Romeo and Juliet) she would watch them in  school. Her Favorite Hobbies were Fishing, and she Made up her own baseball, and Walking to her neighbors houses she was very close to her mother Dad and sister and brothers, The school’s I went to had all blacks schools and I would be in the country schools. Most of her friends were blacks because the area she was in when her mom did house cleaning her boss was white and he had white children she would play around when she was little they help them when they had a lot of work.

Research:

Abstract

While Interviewing Robert he explains his broad experience with his experience of Racism. He had left some things out that were pretty explicit and he didn’t feel comfortable saying. Yet he said I could share and he said that his white friends would chase african americans  out of the park by screaming them out of there names and beating them up if they didn’t leave.

Additional Research

Cinnaminson is an eastern suburb of Philadelphia that borders the Delaware River. "The inhabitants of the township of Chester having become so numerous that it is impracticable for them to meet with convenience and good order in one assembly... the Township shall be divided." The name of  "Cinnaminson" comes from the Lenape Native American word "Senamensing," which means "sweet water".

Interview Details: May 2nd or 3rd, either the evening of May 2nd or the afternoon of May 3rd and at 2521 Pine St Cinnaminson, NJ 08077

Robert Sigler:

1. How often was segregation or racism  brought up in your household when you were younger?

Not very often we did not talk much family wise,  school wise not much.

2. When people said or say racial slurs how does it make you feel? why?

I don't know I pretty much just ignore them. Do you think you hear them on a daily basis?  Ah No

3. When you were in school were there colored kids that went there?

Yes, How many?  Ah maybe a half dozen.

4. Did you ever display any type of segregation or racism towards anyone?

No, not really.

When you were growing up do you think anyone in your family did?  Eh maybe grandparents somewhat.  Can you give us an   example?  Excuse me? I said can you give me an example?  Well well the last time I saw my grandmother who was born in the 1890's in a nursing home she expressed displeasure with the black attendants in the Nursing Home. Let's put it that way.

5. How many colored families lived in your neighborhood when you were a child?

There was one elderly couple that lived up the street.

6. Has anyone treated you different because of your race?

Not really.

7. Are you aware of the African Americans being killed by police? what is your response?

Yes I am aware of it I mean it's been all over the news. Umm as for the whole police shootings some are justified and some aren't it depends on the certain circumstances.

8. How many colored people do you see or interact with on a daily basis?

Now?  Ahh two or three probably.

9. Do you think where you live is segregated?  No

No

In the neighborhood you live in is the diversity in it?

Yes

10. On April 20th, 1971 how old were you when The Supreme Court, in Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, upholds busing as a legitimate means for achieving integration of public schools happened? How did you feel?

I was about 13 and I it really didn't affect our areas I really didn't think much about it.

What grade were you in? eighth or ninth somewhere in there.

Abstract: In the interview with Ms.Helen we hit topics that just dealt with the basics of the civil war like Brown vs. Education or segregation. Then we got a bit personal and spoke about segregation and racial differentiation in Jamaica her birthplace. My interviewee however was not so educated on the factor of war and her knowledge is based off of new reports and personal opinions.

Additional Research: “Although Jamaica has a diverse population, Afro-Jamaicans constitute the overwhelming majority. The 1991 census recorded a total population of 2.3 million. Blacks accounted for 2.08 million, or 90.5 percent of the total population, while whites accounted for 5,200, or 0.2 percent. East Indians made up 1.3 percent and Chinese 0.3 percent. Other ethnic groups as well as small numbers of Syrians, Lebanese, and Jews made up 0.5 percent. People of mixed descent accounted for 7.3 percent of the population. Recognition of this diversity led the framers of Jamaica's constitution at independence, in 1962, to choose as the island's motto 'Out of Many, One People,' suggesting that despite racial and ethnic differences, all live united as one Jamaican people.”

As taken from:  http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/43/130.html

This excerpt is stating that Jamaica had no racial segregation and was full of diversity even though the mass population was of blacks.

Interview of Helen James by Nacere James                                                          5/8/15

NJ: Good Evening, Ms. Helen how are you today?

Ms.Helen: I’m fine thank you, how are you?

NJ: I’m alright, can you answer a few questions for me if that’ll be okay?

Ms. Helen: Yes it’ll be okay

1. What do you know about the civil war?

Nothing really because I wasn’t really interested in war.

2. If you didn’t know about it, how did you find out it exist?

Oh from listening to the news

3. Do you think the civil war was important and why?\

I don’t think any war was important

NJ: |I agree war really is pointless.|

4. Do you know about Brown vs. Education? Do you think that was important and why?

Education is important but I don’t know about the court case.

5. What was the racial variety like in Jamaica?

We didn’t have racial problems in Jamaica.

6. Did you experience any racial segregation once coming to America?

Yes one time in a Korean store and it wasn’t very pleasant, I didn’t spend very much time in there just bought some flower pots and some baskets, some flower baskets

7. Did you experience anything out of the racial norm?

No not in Jamaica

8. Do you think things like these (Civil War etc..) are important to be taught in schools and why?

No, they waste time teaching that because it’s unnecessary to go back in the past.

9. Why do you think the History lessons are disrupting young minds?

Because they spend time going back in the past it doesn’t make any sense to me

10. Do you think the way segregation ended was right?

I- it’s not over

NJ: Okay that’ll be all for today,

Ms. Helen: Okay

Abstract,

In this interview my interviewee is talking about her being happy graduating from high school when she was younger. I ask her if she could tell me how is it different from back in the day from today. She said lived in a African American community. How her house was when she was younger. She talks about her not going to a segregated school. I ask her if she was ever discriminated About her race or skin color but she couldn't remember. I also asked if she had white friends but she didn't. And my last question I asked was why she came to Philadelphia from North Carolina and she said because there was more jobs in the north than the south.

Research

The topic I choose is when Mrs.Nixon migrated from North Carolina to Pennsylvania. She migrated in 1966, she was 23. The Great Migration is when more than 6 million African Americans relocated from the rural South to the cities of the north. From 1916 through 1970 it had a huge impact on urban life in the united States. Driven from their homes by bad economic opportunities and harsh segregationist laws, many African Americans headed north, where they took advantage of the need for industrial workers that first arose during the First World War.During the Great Migration, African Americans began to build a new place for themselves in public life, actively confronting economic, political and social challenges and creating a new black urban culture that would exert enormous influence in the decades to come. Shortly after the Civil War, large numbers of newly freed men and women left the plantations where they had served as slaves and moved to new areas, but most remained primarily in the South.In the south they had driven in a part of economic concerns. Many african americans didn’t have jobs and they were having a poor living condition, so that lead them to move to the North but they needed help to get there. Also the south was losing people and they were probably losing money. (b) In the North many african americans were looking for jobs because they heard they had more jobs than the south. Many of them were still in poor living condition because they still had a low fare waged.

Sources:

http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/great-migration

http://www.uni.edu/historyofblackhawkcounty/peopimmigrants/African-AmericanMig/HeadingNorth.htm

I used some information from an old assignment

Transcript

May 11,2015

Time 6:20

Person who interview her: Ivana Gutierrez

Interviewee: Mrs.Rosa Nixon

IG: Um, hi this is ivana, um I’m interviewing Egypt’s grandmother. Um what is your name?

RN: Um, hi ivana. I’m Ms.Nixon.

IG: I’m gonna be asking you some questions today. Um, so um first question um.

What was like your best childhood memory?

RN: Uh, best memory, my childhood memory is uh graduating from high school. (hahaha)

IG: That's good.  Um my second question is what was it back in the day? Is it different from today?

RN: Uh, different from today uh , back when i was growing up uh it was different uh the community that we lived in uh was most all black community.So we didnt have that much uh you know uh assoseation with other groups of people. We just lived you know in a close community. and we lived in a farm, uh we uh grew peanuts, corn and soybeans um we had a 8 room home which was one level, like a ranch house and it was nine of us, and my mother and father.

IG: oh ok. So um my third question is  Did you go to a segregation school? If yes How was it?  

RN: uh when we went to school there was no segregation, it was an all black school, and even the principal and teachers were black. There was none white person in that school that I can remember.

IG: will um if you did go to a school like that would uh you be friends with the white people?

RN:  Yes i would be yes.

IG: Were you ever discriminated about your race or your skin color?

RN: No I can’t remember being discriminated about my skin color or race.

IG: Um, Did you ever had white friends when you were younger?

RN: No i never had whites friends when I was growing up.

IG: Oh ok, Um what made you come to the North from North Carolina?

RN: What made me come to the north was uh, I was in the south, I finished um high school and I needed a job to help my mother so i came to the north because I heard that you will get a good job if you come to north, that they had a lots of jobs available. So I came to the north to get a job.

IG: Oh okay, well thats all my questions for right now. Thank you for answering my questions.

RN: You're welcome