I thought of Emmett Till, and when the bus driver ordered me to move to the back, I just couldn’t move.

The time had just come when I had been pushed as far as I could stand to be pushed.

If I stayed angry at other people, I would miss finding friends among those I was angry with.

I thought about Emmett Till, and I could not go back. My legs and feet were not hurting, that is a stereotype. I paid the same fare as others, and I felt violated. I was not going back.

Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully, we shall overcome.

Whatever my individual desires were to be free, I was not alone. There were many others who felt the same way.

I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free... so other people would be also free.