Tenement Testaments ― Growing Up Black in the Civil Rights Movement

Martin Luther King Jr. preached equality and my parents were firm believers in his teachings. He preached integration, fair housing and a host of other things. America was in the midst of a civil rights movement and my parents championed his ideals and were on the front lines. We moved from Harlem to Queens and were on the front lines of this movement. I was four at the time and was thrust into what is now known as the ‘Civil Rights Movement’. It was a glorious time for African Americans. It was a time for change. It was a time for upheaval. It was a time for America to finally embrace the Christian Judaeo foundation and ideologies which our forefathers had so eloquently spoken of. But for some reason in Queens, New York they hadn’t gotten the memo.