This was extraordinary. An autobiography, apparently read by children in school often, but one I had never heard of before.
Leon Tillage tells his story of growing up during segregation in North Carolina. The most sickening things happen, and his retrospection is filled with such forgiveness and understanding of how hard it was for his parents' generation to believe that equality would ever happen. One part in particular really struck me- he was talking about the Klu Klux Klan at this point, and how he and his parents would hide when the Klu Klux Klan went riding.
"They weren't interested in participating in marches and stuff like that; they felt like Moses was going to lead the blacks out of bondage like he did the Jewish people. They were thinking... the only thing they could belive in was God, they prayed about every little thing that went on. The figured He was going to send somebody from Heaven. Thank God they had that to hold on to."
This book was devastating, and as Leon grew to participate in the equal rights movement, inspiring.
Fuck the South.
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