In almost another world, 62 years ago James Matthews went to a movie theatre in Jefferson City, Missouri. He was an 18-year-old freshman at Lincoln University. He quietly found a seat and sat down. Above his head was a sign. It read “Blacks Only.”
“The blacks would be sitting downstairs, and the whites would be sitting upstairs. We were seated by toilets. They would throw popcorn down on our heads.” (James Matthews)
Fast forward to December 4th, 2008. Matthews is legally blind. He can barely make out the bowl of turkey noodle soup steaming in front of him at the corner table in Faegan’s, on Marshall Street. A thick white beard covers his chin and frames a face lined with age. And now he celebrates how times have changed.
“I’m very happy that I’m around — I’m alive to know that we have a president-elect that is b-l-a-c-k.” (James Matthews)
Matthews, who is African American, is among those who grew up challenging America’s racial discrimination. The election of Democrat Barack Obama to the presidency is a fulfillment of Matthew’s life’s work.
He was born in 1926, one of seven in a family defined by Great Depression hardship. He entered the Air Force after college, and then took a job with the Naval Department. He followed his pension to Syracuse in 1965, and became a coordinator of community groups that encouraged civil rights.
“We teach people how to fight for themselves. We would teach you how to go and preach your case before the superintendent. Before the chief of police. Before a judge or a lawyer or anything.” (James Matthews)
The equality he has long fought for is what makes him happiest about Obama’s election.
“Know that we all are the same. It’s time that this color stuff s-t-o-p, stop.” (James Matthews)
And age 82, he’s planning another trip to Washington. This time he wants to be there for Obama’s inauguration.
“It’s my desire to go, unless my health stop me. I’m going to give it a shot.” (James Matthews)
His reason is simple. Matthews will be part of Obama’s celebration of the changes in the past 62 years. Matthews describes it this way:
“History. You spell history ‘h-i-s, dash, s-t-o-r-y’. His story is now gonna be told.”(James Matthews)
For Democracywise, I’m Matt Rivers
(Matt Rivers is dual major in broadcast journalism and Spanish).
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