My first protest was in 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama. My mom and I were sent into a Woolworth’s. We were two white people that were supposed to act totally normal when a Black couple walked in to integrate the lunch counter.
The waitress knew that a Black couple would show up but she didn’t know about us, that we were purposefully there to witness the event while acting normal. She was very scared and so nervous that she forgot to put the coffee cup inside the plastic cup holder and poured my Mom’s coffee into the empty holder. It went all over the counter and my mother. It was very funny.
I was 15 and knew what I was doing. I would have been even more involved with the protests if my Mom had let me.
Later I became involved in electoral politics and in between I was very active in the Viet Nam era. I was in college, still in Birmingham. There weren’t very many of us protesting.
I made sure our signs were about bringing our boys home, not about baby killers, in order not to offend people in that community. I found out a bit later that the FBI bugged my apartment and tapped my phone. And I had a friend who moved to Canada when the FBI threatened him after hearing a conversation we had.
Now, after we just lost this election, there aren’t a lot of tools left to try and impact the world. So you do what you can. You make donations and contributions to Wisconsin and Florida, and yeah your social media, but we can still protest.
Will we change anything? We can drive Tesla out of business. But it’s also a way to lift people’s spirits. We can’t be doormats. We have to take a deep breath and get back out there. It’s a way to say we’re still here and we’re still fighting.
OUR THIRD ACT: A COLLABORATIVE PHOTO PROJECT
Third Act MA is partnering with documentary photographer Edward Boches to capture and record the voices, wisdom and experiences of Americans over 60 who are actively working to safeguard democracy.
With portraits and text, the project hopes to preserve a record of democracy in action and to inspire others to get involved. If you would like to be part of the project, please contact Third Act MA at massachusetts@thirdact.org or Edward Boches at bochesphotography@gmail.com.
All interviews and photography © Edward Boches.