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>> [MUSIC]

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The group itself was led
by Reverend Jesse Cook,

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who was the pastor
assigned at the time and

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was also the youth
director of the NWACP.

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The one sit-in that I
can tell you about,

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if you'd like to
hear about it is

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we went to what was
called McClellan's.

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It was the five-and-dime store.

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Had a little lunch counter
the best thing in that

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was the BLT but up
until that point,

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Blacks had to order
their stuff standing up,

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take it, and go.

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We decided that we
were going to sit in.

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Everybody else in the NWACP

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youth group at the
time was older than

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me so it was okay for them
to go. I tagged along.

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Reverend Cook saw me tagging

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behind them because he
sent me home and said,

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come on before you get
in trouble so that's

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how I ended up being in
that particular sit-in.

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>> How old were you?

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>> Not old enough
to have been going.

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I think I was like 11 or 12

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but my mother always believed
that since I acted old,

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I needed to be
around older people,

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maybe it would make
me act better.

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It didn't, but she thought
it was. That was her hope.

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When we got there, we all sat

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down quietly and went to order.

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And the lady informed us
we don't serve niggers.

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Well, we looked around because
we didn't see any niggers.

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So we were like,

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okay, and we ordered again.

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And well, this,

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she said it louder so
that it drew a crowd.

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Now one thing you do need to
understand about Marietta,

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even in the worst of times,

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it was better than some others
because there have been

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no truly segregated
neighborhoods.

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Everybody live next
to each other.

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Yeah, they all had to pass.

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I know the Black kids had to

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pass other schools to
come to Lemon Street,

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but we live next to each other.

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We looked out for each other.

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So some of the problems that

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other communities
had, we didn't have.

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There was, of course,

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duoracial tension, but
not to the extreme.

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At any rate, when she said that,

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that drew a crowd.

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We had a little pushing,

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little shoving, a lot of
name-calling, but nothing.

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Somebody got the bright idea
to call the Chief of Police.

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If I'm not mistaken, Bill Hudson

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was the City Chief of
Police at the time.

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He walked over because
the courthouse

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was right there on the
square and he walked

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over and very respectful went
up to Reven Cook and said,

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Pastor, is there a problem?

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You see, we just want to eat.

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And he looked at the lady
he says is that a problem?

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She said I don't serve niggers.

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He says I don't
see any. She said,

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well, I'm not
serving the colors.

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He said, okay. He said
Pastor you have money?

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He said, yeah, we have money.

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She said it again. Finally, she

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said, the grill is closed.

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He said, they've
cleaned the grill.

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And he made her clean
the entire grill,

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like it was the end of the day,

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cash out the cash draw,

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do everything, turn the
little cash draw upside.

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He said, okay, pastor,

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the grill is closed.

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He said, if you will,

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I'm going to ask you all to

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leave because if you stay now,

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you're trespassing and Pastor

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said, okay, but we'll be back.

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He said, that's fine, but the
grill won't be open today.

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Then he turned around and
looked at her and said,

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the grill will not
be open today.

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If it's closed, it's closed,

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and he made them keep it closed,

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which I thought was great.

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And when everybody
else got to leave,

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he asked me, he said,

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is head at the library,

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she at home and I
was I don't know

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because I was chip
on my shoulder,

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and he said, okay,

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so he called the house, told
my mom what had happened.

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Mom asked if she
needed to come get me.

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He said, no, I was in the home,

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and he stood there and watched

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me walk down Church Street.

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Every time I try
to cut back over

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where everybody else
was, he got go home.

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And I'm thinking,
everybody else gets

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at least some kind of arrested

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or at least let out on your
own recognition. Not me.

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Go home to your mom.
When I got home,

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my mother looked at me and said,

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did you have any money
if they had served?

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I was like, no, she said,
don't do that again.

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She said, If you're going to
go make sure you have money.

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I was like, well, they
didn't want me to go.

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She said you should
have been there.

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[MUSIC]