Our Children Were Born Into Struggle
All of our kids -- Maria [born at Jackson in 1962], John [born at Raleigh in 1965], Peter [born at Chicago in 1969], and Josie [born at Gallup in 1979] -- entered the World In Struggle. The same holds for some grandchildren.
Tougaloo College, Mississippi, December 1962: Maria is held by Karin Kunstler, with Lois Chaffee. Karin, from New York, was a student at Tougaloo and Lois, from Idaho, taught English at the college. Both were extremely active in the Movement. This photo was taken at just about the time Eldri and I were jailed in Jackson for picketing.
Raleigh, North Carolina, ca. 1966: John and neighborhood friends -- Ricky Arrington and Michael Hall -- around the time about 15,000 members of the United Klans of America, many armed, marched through Raleigh for a huge rally at the Civic Center.
We lived in an all-Black housing addition -- Biltmore Hills. I bought our home with my GI vet's loan when I set up our SCEF office. The address was 828 Newcombe Road -- and our neighbors, always well armed, watched out for Eldri and offspring when I was gone -- organizing -- for long periods of time.