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Olden Day Stories

Writer's picture: GodsilGodsil

In this photo taken when Dr. King was hit by a stone thrown by anti-open housing rioters, I was about 10 feet behind him, circled, surveying the mob from whence the stone was thrown. 


 I was given the role of “field marshal,” responsible to literally do my best to catch the rocks and bottles thrown, as well as act to prevent our non-violent marchers from violating our commitment to non-violence(there were some Blackstone Rangers marching with us).  We were separated from the attacking mob by a line of Chicago police,  not happy at all to be protecting us(“Looks like Dr. King started another riot,” one said  loudly).  The rocks and bottles were lobbed over the heads of the police.  We were probably about 15 feet away from the hate filled swarm, faces contorted with hatred and rage...a lynch mob were it not for the police.  They did manage, however, to torch about 10 of our cars, including my 1957 chevy, the one with the brand new overhauled V8 engine my Father spent a summer on, with the spinner hubcaps and metallic blue paint job the “rich roofer” was able to purchase.

And, as captured in the above picture that was to be beamed across the planet, Dr. King was hit by a stone above his right ear, and I was asked to take off my field marshal armband and filter past the police line, walk around within the attackers, alert the police if I saw anyone with a drawn gun.  If you look closely at the look on my face in the circled picture directly behind Dr. King, and to the left of Andy Young, my expression betrays no fear.  Inside the march, with freedom songs and righteous resolve, fear was far away.  But when I was asked to leave that power and comfort of the freedom marchers, and mingle around our attackers, I was profoundly afraid, afraid of being noticed, and only God knows what would have happened.  While snaking through the police line I was almost attacked by one of the officers for responding to him that hate, not Dr. King, was responsible for the mess we were in.


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