BACKGROUND• MEMBER OF THE YOUTH BRANCH OF THE NAACP– EVENTUALLY THE PRESIDENT OF THE JUNIOR

BRANCH

• THREE YOUNGER BROTHERS

• POLITICAL JUNKIE

• COLLEGE GRADUATE

• SHE HAS TWO DAUGHTERS- THEY HAVE ALSO WORKED FOR EQUAL RIGHTS BASED ON THEIR MOM’S

WORK

DAVID ASKED:

• “WHAT WERE THE RISKS THAT WENT ALONG WITH BEING A FREEDOM RIDER? HOW DID IT FEEL TO

FIGHT FOR THE FREEDOM EVEN KNOWING THE RISKS?”

WE WERE AN ORGANIZATION OF YOUNG PEOPLE MENTORED BY ADULTS (TEACHERS IN HCPS) WE WERE

TRAINED TO RESIST RETALIATING. WHEN I WAS FIRST INVOLVED, I SAT IN A CAR NEAR THE PROTESTS

WITH A BAG OF DIMES AND A LIST OF PHONE NUMBERS. I WAS TOLD THAT I NEEDED TO CALL FOR HELP

IF ONE OF MY FELLOW PROTESTORS WAS ARRESTED OR INJURED. WE HAD NO FEAR. WE “KNEW WHAT

WE HAD TO DO.”

BRAVERY OVER FEAR

• “MY PARENTS WERE FEARFUL OF ME GETTING HURT OR ARRESTED. PEOPLE INTIMIDATED THE

PARENTS OF THE PROTESTORS TO GET THEIR KIDS TO STOP. THE PARENTS WERE THE ONES WHO HAD

JOBS AND HAD MORE TO LOSE. THE KIDS DID NOT HAVE JOBS AND WERE ABLE TO WALK FARTHER

AND LONGER.”

• HER FATHER OWNED A GAS STATION ON ROUTE 40 WHERE THE DUNKIN DONUTS IS NOW!

MARIE ASKED:

• “WHAT WERE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT YOU DID TO WORK FOR EQUAL RIGHTS?”

• WALKING, PICKETING

• “WE KNEW WHAT WOULD HAPPEN, WE KNEW THE RISKS INVOLVED.”

• THREATENED BY: DOGS, FIRE HYDRANTS, AND VEHICLE EXHAUST

DAVIN ASKED:

• “DID YOU EVER HAVE THOUGHTS OF GIVING UP?”

• “DAD WAS FEARFUL OF SOMETHING HAPPENING TO ME AND HIM NEEDING TO STEP IN. HE SAID THAT IF SOMETHING HAPPENED TO ME, HE WOULD END UP IN JAIL.”

• THIS LED TO HER STEPPING DOWN AS A PROTESTER AND TAKING A MORE “BEHIND THE SCENES” ROLE AS PRESIDENT OF THE YOUTH CHAPTER OF THE NAACP. SHE WORKED AS A “STRATEGIZER” FOR THE CAUSE.

HALEY ASKED:

• WHAT IS IT LIKE TO SEE THE PROGRESS THAT HAS BEEN MADE HERE IN HAVRE DE GRACE AND ELSEWHERE?

• “PROGRESS WAS SLOW AT FIRST.”

• MRS. JAMES ATTENDED THE HAVRE DE GRACE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL (SEGREGATED) WHICH IS CURRENTLY

ROYE WILLIAMS ELEMENTARY. SHE GRADUATED IN 1964 AND INTEGRATED SCHOOLS BEGAN IN 1965. STUDENTS

IN BLACK SCHOOLS DID NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THE SAME MATERIALS, CURRICULUM, OR SKILLED TEACHERS.

• MRS. JAMES WROTE A PAPER ABOUT THIS IN COLLEGE.

DESCRIBE WHAT LIFE WAS LIKE.

• BLACK PEOPLE WERE NOT ALLOWED TO TRY ON CLOTHES. THEY WERE NOT ALLOWED TO EAT IN

RESTAURANTS (HAD TO PICK UP FOOD AND TAKE IT HOME]. THEY COULD NOT USE THE SAME

RESTROOMS OR WATER FOUNTAINS.

• MRS. JAMES REMEMBERS A STORY OF HER RIDING A BUS WITH HER GRANDFATHER. HER

GRANDFATHER WALKED STRAIGHT TO THE BACK AND A YOUNG MRS. JAMES PLOPPED DOWN IN

THE FRONT OF THE BUS WITHOUT REALIZING THE “RULE.”

IS YOUR WORK “DONE”?

• “WE’VE COME A LONG WAY, BUT OUR WORK

WON’T EVER BE FINISHED.”

• MRS. JAMES EXPLAINED THE SADNESS SHE

FEELS WHEN SHE HEARS ABOUT KKK STILL

MEETING IN CECIL COUNTY AND FEELS LIKE

MANY POLITICAL PROBLEMS STILL HAVE

RACIAL ROOTS.

Mrs. James!

FAIR HOUSING LAW • IN 1968 THE FAIR HOUSING LAW WAS PASSED THAT GUARANTEED THAT AFRICAN AMERICANS AND

WHITES WOULD BE GRANTED THE SAME RIGHTS AND CONSIDERATIONS WHEN PURCHASING OR

RENTING HOMES.

• IN 1968 WHEN THEY WERE BUYING A HOME, THEY HAD TO SEE THE HOUSE AT NIGHT SO THAT WHITE

NEIGHBORS WOULD NOT SEE THEM AND TRY TO STOP THE PROCESS.

• WHEN THEY MOVED INTO THIS HOUSE, MRS. JAMES HUSBAND WAS MOWING, AND WHITE

NEIGHBORS CAME BY TO ASK IF THEY HAD FOUND ANYONE TO MOVE IN… THEY THOUGHT HE WAS A

YARD WORKER. WHEN THEY FOUND OUT THEY MOVED IN, THEY DID NOT SPEAK TO THEM.

• IN 1995 WHEN MRS. JAMES AND HER HUSBAND MOVED BACK INTO HAVRE DE GRACE, THEY WERE

THE ONLY BLACK PEOPLE ON THEIR STREET, KKK FLIERS WERE PUT IN THE MAILBOXES OF ALL OF

THEIR WHITE NEIGHBORS.

Received threatening anonymous phone calls “you’re gonna

burn N---” The FBI was brought in to trace calls.

JAIDA ASKED:

• HOW HAS YOUR EXPERIENCE FIGHTING FOR EQUALITY CHANGED YOUR LIFE?

• SHE WORKED FOR HUMAN RIGHTS FOR THE REST OF HER LIFE. ALL OF HER JOBS WERE BASED

IN “FIGHTING FOR EQUAL RIGHTS.”

• NAACP HOUSING CHAIRPERSON

• FAIR HOUSING COUNSELOR

• COMMISSION FOR CIVIL RIGHTS – HOUSING COMPLAINTS

HOLLY ASKED:

• WHAT WAS YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE?

• “NOT BEING ABLE TO UNDERSTAND HOW ANYONE COULD SUGGEST THAT ONE RACE IS BETTER

THAN THE OTHER. ISN’T OUR BLOOD STILL RED? I STILL CAN’T UNDERSTAND THE WHY.”

• A HUGE CHALLENGE WAS “NOT GIVING UP, CONTINUING TO WORK TO REACH MY GOAL, EVEN

THOUGH THINGS SEEMED BLEAK.”

Mrs. James!