The Rock and the River (19 page)

I turned around. “You do what you have to do, right?” I had a lot to learn, but finally, I was ready to learn it.

Leroy smiled slightly as he studied me. I leaned against the window. The sun warmed my back through the glass.

“You sound just like him.” Leroy shook his head and clapped my arm. “Just like him.”

“I know,” I said. I wanted it to be true. Maybe then Stick would be less gone. But I knew I could never be like
him. Stick had an energy, a charisma that I would never have. Nor could I be like Father, so steady, so sure of his ways. For so long now, I'd felt torn between their worlds—so different, and yet so much the same.

All this time I'd thought Stick was the river, but he was a rock in his own way too. The river moves, but it follows a path. When it tires of one journey, it rubs through some rock to forge a new way. Hard work, but that's its nature. Standing in this room, I knew there were no promises ahead, no road map. I couldn't follow anymore.

I was the river. I was the one who would turn the corner and see what tomorrow held in store.

S
AM'S STORY IS FICTIONAL. HIS FAMILY
, friends, and the people he encounters in his community are all made-up characters. However, his story does involve some real historical events and individuals, such as the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a well-known leader of the civil rights movement.

Sam's story takes place in 1968, which was a critical turning point in the civil rights movement. The struggle that Sam faces in the story is based on the real-life challenges that many teenagers went through.

The Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968)

The civil rights movement began in the 1950s, when black Americans united to protest decades of racial discrimination and inequality. The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. emerged early in the movement as a powerful leader. His passionate sermons and speeches motivated black
communities to stand up for equal treatment under the law.

Dr. King joined with clergy, community leaders, student groups, and thousands of others to fight for civil rights. They believed that nonviolent “passive resistance” was the best way to oppose discriminatory laws. They took to the streets of cities all over the country, staging marches and demonstrations to make their goals known.

One of the first demonstrations, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, was a protest against segregation (separate seating areas for black riders and white riders) on public transportation. Black workers in Montgomery, Alabama, stopped riding the city buses. They refused to pay for a service that treated them as second-class citizens. The boycott lasted over a year. Finally, the city agreed to desegregate the buses.

The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, held on August 28, 1963, became the biggest demonstration that had ever been held in the United States. Hundreds of thousands of Americans, of all races, gathered around the Lincoln Memorial that day. Dr. King delivered his now-famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

Most demonstrations occurred on a much smaller scale. Sit-ins were especially common in segregated areas of the south. On February 1, 1960, four black college students staged a sit-in at the “whites only” section of a Woolworth
lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. The staff refused to serve them, so the students simply sat there for hours, occupying the chairs and waiting to be either served or arrested. They went back every day for six months, until Woolworth officially desegregated their lunch counter. Similar lunch-counter protests occurred all over the South. The protesters sometimes had condiments dumped on their heads or were beaten by other patrons in the restaurant.

The civil rights movement's most peaceful demonstrations were often met with violence. Black activists were often arrested, threatened, beaten, and even killed. At times the attackers included police and law enforcement officials, who used powerful firehoses to drive back the crowds and turned their police dogs loose on protestors. Integrated buses carrying black and white students were bombed by angry supporters of segregation.

The civil rights movement's philosophy of nonviolence meant that protestors should never fight back when attacked. They wanted to prove that hatred could be defeated by embracing peace and equality. But as the movement went on, it became harder for some black people to believe that nonviolence was going to work.

On April 4, 1968, Dr. King was assassinated. That night, throughout the nation, riots broke out in urban black communities as young people vented their rage over the
tragedy. For many youth, Dr. King's murder symbolized white America's rejection of the civil rights movement's goal of promoting equality through peace.

The Black Panther Party (1966–1982)

The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense was founded in Oakland, California, in October 1966 by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. The two college students were frustrated by the slow progress of civil rights legislation at creating actual change in the areas where it was most needed. They began monitoring police action in urban black communities. They believed that balancing the power dynamic between police and citizens would decrease police brutality. They formed teams who followed police officers through the streets to observe any encounters. The Panther teams openly carried large rifles, which was legal under California law. They would approach the police, while armed, if they believed the officers were stepping out of line.

The group later shortened its name to the Black Panther Party, to focus on a broader range of issues. The Party's ten-point platform outlined their goals, which they summed up by saying, “We want land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice, and peace.” They called for the release of black men from prison, exemption from military service for blacks, and fairer trials by jury for the accused.

These goals resonated with young blacks across the country. By 1969, the organization had more than five thousand members, and dozens of major cities had opened chapters of the Black Panther Party. The Party's militant aspects tapped into the frustration, anger, and determination felt by youth at the time, but violence was not at the core of their ultimate goals. All members attended political education classes, which included lessons in black history, politics, civil rights, justice, and the socialist theories of Mao Tse-tung, Che Guevara, Frantz Fanon, and Karl Marx. The Panthers sought to completely transform the social, political, and economic structures of the country.

The Panthers rejected “passive resistance” in favor of self-defense and self-determination. They believed it was up to black communities to demand equality, defend their rights, and look out for their own needs. The Black Panther Party initiated landmark community organizing efforts to bring much-needed services into black neighborhoods. Their programs included free neighborhood health clinics, drug-awareness education, GED classes, clothing supply, tutoring, legal aid and referrals, free dental care, free ambulances, bussing families to visit loved ones in prison, and free breakfast programs for school-age children.

Mainstream American culture was shocked by the Panthers' radical ideology and their militant approach
to securing justice for black Americans. Law enforcement agencies grew nervous about the developing power base in black urban ghettoes. The Federal Bureau of Investigation created a counterintelligence program specifically to undermine black militant organizations like the Black Panther Party. They imprisoned, assassinated, or otherwise destroyed the reputations of many Party leaders.

The Party struggled under the pressure from law enforcement and the violence that resulted from it. Internal disputes grew, and the Party lost its cohesion. With many of its leaders dead, in prison, or in exile, the organization began fading in the late 1970s. The Panthers continued to promote their political agenda, but the community programs closed as membership declined. In 1982, the Black Panther Party officially disbanded.

I
AM BLESSED TO BE SURROUNDED BY THE LOVE
and support of family, friends, and colleagues. Special thanks to Kobi, my brother and best critic, and to my parents, whose belief in me has never wavered.

Thanks to my friends, who faithfully cheer my successes and whose enthusiasm helps me persevere, including: Katherine Gebhardt, Kerry Land, Stephanie Nichols, Sarah and Christos Badavas, Ruth and Julian Schroeder, Pamela Harkins, and Kristina Leonardi.

Thanks to my writers groups for many valuable insights and indispensable advice; and to the faculty and students of Vermont College of Fine Arts, who nurtured this book from the very beginning, especially Ellen Levine, Tim Wynne-Jones, Liza Ketchum, Jane Resh Thomas, Bethany Hegedus, and my fellow MVPs of the July 2005 graduating class.

Finally, deepest thanks to Kate Angelella for embracing this story and giving it a home at Simon & Schuster.