All You Have to Do by Autumn Allen

Author:Autumn Allen [Allen, Autumn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2023-08-29T00:00:00+00:00

Tuesday, April 23, 1968

I leave the posters of Malcolm and Stokely to preside over the lobby. I find Eddie with the group working on the banners. They’re making a mess. Eddie asks me to take over. The letters are enormous, to be seen from across campus. I outline the letters with straight lines and let others help fill them in with black paint. While they paint, I ask Eddie if I can borrow a pencil and use some of the smaller papers. I don’t have my sketch pad, and I’ve already captured some scenes in my head today that I want to get down on paper.

“Of course,” he says. “Take whatever you need.”

I roll up a stack of papers and put them in my pocket. In the bathroom I wash the paint off my hands. On my way back to the lobby, I smell reefer. I look around to see where it’s coming from. Inside a classroom, a handful of white students are sharing a joint. I want to say something, but where do I begin? This is not how we behave at sit-ins. Our behavior is supposed to be beyond reproach. In a corner of the hallway, a white couple is making out. Good grief.

Back in the lobby, I find Eddie again. “Do you know what some of these crackers are up to in the classrooms?” I ask him. I tell him what I saw.

“What do they think this is?” He looks around with disgust.

Black students sit in groups, upright, with looks of concern on their faces. White students lounge and chat excitedly.

“We need to get this situation under control,” Eddie says, “or we’re not going to accomplish anything. I’m gonna go look for Claudius.”

I want to follow him, but I’m exhausted. I find a place to sit down and pull out the paper and pencil. I remember Richard’s face as he stepped in front of the cop. A chill runs through me as I remember Richard reaching for the cop’s hand, trying to calm him down, to defuse the situation . . .

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