I Want To Be Treated Like A

I Do The Very Best I Can To Look Upon Life With Optimism And Hope And Looking Forward To A Better Day, But I Don't Think There Is Anything Such As Complete Happiness. It Pains Me That There Is Still A Lot Of Klan Activity And Racism. I Think When You Say You're Happy, You Have Everything That You Need And Everything That You Want, And Nothing More To Wish For. I Haven't Reached That Stage Yet.

I Did Not Want To Be Mistreated, I Did Not Want To Be Deprived Of A Seat That I Had Paid For. It Was Just Time… There Was Opportunity For Me To Take A Stand To Express The Way I Felt About Being Treated In That Manner. I Had Not Planned To Get Arrested. I Had Plenty To Do Without Having To End Up In Jail. But When I Had To Face That Decision, I Didn't Hesitate To Do So Because I Felt That We Had Endured That Too Long. The More We Gave In, The More We Complied With That Kind Of Treatment, The More Oppressive It Became.

Since I Have Always Been A Strong Believer In God, I Knew That He Was With Me, And Only He Could Get Me Through That Next Step

An Opportunity Was Being Given To Me To Do What I Had Asked Of Others.

Every Day Before Supper And Before We Went To Services On Sundays. My Grandmother Would Read The Bible To Me, And My Grandfather Would Pray. We Even Had Devotions Before Going To Pick Cotton In The Fields. Prayer And The Bible, Became A Part Of My Everyday Thoughts And Beliefs. I Learned To Put My Trust In God And To Seek Him As My Strength.