50 Years Later

As a  kid growing up in the late 1950s, I recall going to Belk-Jones,  a large  department store in downtown Texarkana, and seeing two water fountains, one marked “white,” the other “colored.”  Or going to a Saturday afternoon movie at the Paramount Theater, a huge edifice with seating on two floors.  Outside was a separate entrance for “colored” patrons, who had to sit upstairs even though the theater seated over 1,600 people.  With that in mind, on the 50th annivesary of the March on Washington, I post a few photos taken Saturday on the Georgetown square, where about 175-200 people gathered near the steps of the Williamson County Courthouse  for a “Let Freedom Ring” ceremony to  commemorate that day and the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. so many years ago.  Georgetown’s gathering included Jean Tankersley of Round Rock, wearing a shirt emblazoned with Dr. King’s likeness, holding onto her 6-year-old granddaughter, Rayene Johnson.   And the day’s main speaker, Rev. Wendell Hosey, an imposing man with a big voice and frame to match, but not too big to offer words of encouragement to 6-year-old Malulani Lesu of Georgetown.   This morning, while on my daily 5-mile walk through Taylor, Texas, I noted during that stroll how streets in the poorer areas were rough and unkempt, while not so much in areas of where folks had been blessed with better economic luck.   50 years ago, inequality stared you in the face.   Today, it may be more covert, but signs tell me there’s still work to do.