Racial pride and self-dignity were emphasized in my family and community.

Nothing in the Golden Rule says that others will treat us as we have treated them. It only says that we must treat others in a way that we would want to be treated.

Every day before supper and before we went to services on Sundays. My grandmother would read the Bible to me, and my grandfather would pray. We even had devotions before going to pick cotton in the fields. Prayer and the Bible, became a part of my everyday thoughts and beliefs. I learned to put my trust in God and to seek Him as my strength.

I do the very best I can to look upon life with optimism and hope and looking forward to a better day.

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

I had given up my seat before, but this day, I was especially tired. Tired from my work as a seamstress, and tired from the ache in my heart.

I'm tired of being treated like a second-class citizen.