Black Lives Matter

It was a wonderfully warm winter afternoon as she strolled down the sidewalk outside the Smithsonian Institute. More precisely, she was headed for the National Museum of American History and the Woolworth's Counter exhibit. There was a "Black Lives Matter" Program she was determined to attend.

Nicole had chin-length, glossy red hair and bright blue eyes. Her fair skin glowed brightly against the gold knit crew neck sweater she wore with denim jeans. A heavy yet feminine cut denim jacket with golden roses embroidered on flared sleeves completed her look. She was grateful for her comfortable flat shoes as she rounded the corner to the entrance to the Museum.

The talk was scheduled to start at two o'clock and she was excited to be attending. In reality she was killing time while waiting for a friend to arrive into town the next day. There was plenty of things scheduled for them to do together, but two things weren't on their list. the zoo which she had covered that morning, and this talk which her friend hadn't been able to make it into town in time for.

It was Martin Luther King Jr. day, a national holiday here in the United States. The fiftyish degree weather was fine by her as she was from New England where it was in the cold and blustery twenties. The pandas had entertained her in the morning and she was looking forward to seeing the infamous Woolworth's counter where the "Greensboro Four" had their infamous sit-in which started the sit-in movement in college towns of the South.

The "Greensboro Four" were four students from the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College. They refused to leave the counter after being denied service. This was in 1960, and they and many future sitters were arrested for various charges ranging from trespassing to disturbing the peace. This level of attention forced these types of businesses to take a closer look at how they conducted themselves and change.

The solar-powered bus had been on time and Nicole was going to arrive just on time for the talk to start. What she did not realize is that there was going to be a recreation of the sit-in today and she was going to be lucky to get within thirty feet of the exhibit.

It was an original section of the actual counter the "Greensboro Four" had sat at. How exciting! The talk would be in the same gallery and she had stumbled upon the information that led her here, how lucky was she?

By now she had arrived opened the enormous wooden door leading inside to the cavernous Main Hall foyer. To her left was a Civil War Display and the Constitution of the United States and in front of her was a soldier on a horse looking familiar though she couldn't immediately place him.

"Wow", she mumbled under her breath as she grabbed a map from a plastic wall unit to her right. It turned out she didn't need it. The level of noise was moderate and glancing around more, she noticed bright yellow signs with arrows that proclaimed "Black Lives Matter".

"I guess I don't need the map after all", she muttered as she hustled to follow the signs. There was one thing Nicole absolutely couldn't stand and that was being late for anything. Off she went as fast as she could without being rude about it.

After turns down two corridors where she barely glanced at any of the dioramas she passed, she arrived at her destination with five minutes or less to spare. Velvet ropes mapped out where the crowd was supposed to be standing, but it was largely ignored at the moment as people seemed to be milling about everywhere. She tucked herself into a spot as close to the front as she could get without being too pushy and mumbled "Excuse me" to everyone she brushed by on the way.

At two o'clock on the dot, the crowd of all sizes, shapes and colors of fifty or so gathered behind the velvet ropes in an orderly fashion. A woman, Ms. Bernice King, the daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr. took the spotlight and started to speak.

As she opened the program, speaking about her father and his life, Nicole took the time to look about and she was surprised that she could see the counter and people "sitting-in". There were about fifteen people of so involved.

The readings portion of the program started and a young African-American man in a white plaid shirt and jeans wearing glasses read the infamous "I Have a Dream" speech. He had so much passion and conviction that were they not already standing, he would have gotten a standing ovation.

An African-American young lady did a poetry reading that had won her a scholarship to college. It was about trials and tribulations and how she was overcoming them. Another excellent performance full of conviction.

A screen dropped from the ceiling next and a black and white film started playing. It talked a bit about the history of the "Greensboro Four", sit-ins and expanded to the Civil Rights marches and bus rides. A fascinating, violent and long road travelled to get to "almost equal".

Ms. King spoke from the side as an older African-American gentleman in a charcoal grey suit and white shirt moved to the front. His salmon tie blinked cheerfully. It turned out he was the nephew of one of the original "Greensboro Four" and was reading a poem his uncle had written about the dark days after his sit-in and arrest. Woven in the piece about dismay and disappointment in his fellow man however was some hope for change in the future. Overall, it was a moving piece Nicole was glad she had heard, the view of a twenty-year-old barely out of youth himself.

When he had finished and moved away, Ms. King stepped forward and spoke about "Systemic Racism" and things we can do to help eliminate it from our communities. Her Foundation works toward this goal. Nicole wanted to help but what could she do not being in the D.C. area?

Being more aware daily and stopping it when she saw it happening were two things she could do she decided then and there.

The last part of the program and the ending of the day, would be the re-enactment of a sit-in and how the protesters would have been typically treated during one. It turned out that there were a couple of spots open for audience participation and Nicole put her hand right up.

"Don't worry, all precautions are taken so nobody will be hurt. It will look realistic." Ms. King's voice rang in her ears as Nicole ran to the edge of the platform where a blonde haired girl with green eyes in an olive green jumpsuit helped her up.

"Just sit cross-legged next to me and fight just a little when the officer grabs you. then get up and walk away with him. Enough to get the feel of what it felt like," she said to Nicole as she settled in following her directions.

Nicole wasn't nervous until she saw a burly police officer bring in a dog and station himself at the other end of the sit-in crowd. "They used dogs?" Nicole asked herself. "Great". It was a huge male German shepherd and he looked like he meant business.

Suddenly yells and cries filled the air. Sounds of "Pigs!" came from the sit-in people and a cop holding a black baton grabbed Nicole by the wrist. She recoiled in genuine surprise for she had been caught off guard.

The police officer pulled on her and said "Let's go", in a somewhat hard voice. She recovered herself enough to get up and accompany him away from the group. The dog was barking wildly. People were yelling and she was surprised at how realistic it was. Once she was ten feet away from the group, she was "released" and thanked for her participation. She went back to watch the rest of the performance.

After fifteen minutes it was all over. As the numbers of "protesters" dropped, the dog was led away and the noise level fell. The audience stood in silence for a moment and then they applauded. The message had been received. Black Lives Matter.

They disbursed all heading their separate ways. Nicole was starving and had much to think about. She made her way back to the Main Hall and the bus to go back to her hotel. The program had been more than she expected and left her deeply touched. She had never thought about things from another person's perspective that way before and been able to "walk in their shoes" for a moment. Now that she had, she vowed to try to do so more often. If everybody could try to do so, the world would be a better place.