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I'VE HAD SOME TIME OFF LATELY, AND I'VE BEEN REASSESSING MY LIFE:
WHERE I'VE BEEN AND WHERE I THINK I MIGHT WANT TO GO FROM HERE.
I BELIEVE EACH ONE OF US COMES TO THIS HUMAN EXPERIENCE WITH A PURPOSE.
WE DON'T NECESSARILY REMEMBER WHAT OUR INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT IS.
WE ARE LEFT TO WONDER AND CONTINUALLY STRIVE FOR THE RIGHT PATH.
IN 1948, I WAS BORN COLORED AND CRIPPLED IN SEGREGATED ATLANTA, GEORGIA.
NOT A GOOD START, MOST PEOPLE WOULD SAY. [ LAUGHTER ]
MY MEDICAL CARE FOR MY DISABILITY WAS HANDLED AT THE CRIPPLED CHILDREN'S CLINIC
AT EMORY UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL.
AS FAR AS I KNOW, MOST OF THE CHILDREN THERE HAD CEREBRAL PALSY, BOTH WHITE AND BLACK.
OF COURSE, ALL THE FACILITIES WERE SEGREGATED, INCLUDING THE WAITING AREA WITH A LINE DOWN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROOM.
KIDS BEING KIDS, WE IGNORED ALL THAT, AND WE GATHERED ON THE LINE TO PLAY WITH EACH OTHER. [ LAUGHTER ]
THE IRONY OF THAT IS THAT WE WERE ALL THERE TO SEE THE SAME DOCTOR.
I WAS EXPERIENCING SEGREGATION TWO FOLD: COLOR AND DISABILITY.
BUT I WAS ONE OF THE LUCKY ONES IN THAT I WAS INCLUDED IN MY COMMUNITY. I HAD A GREAT FOLLOWING.
I CONSIDERED MYSELF QUEEN OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD. [ LAUGHTER ]
AND MY SUBJECTS CAME DAILY TO PAY HOMAGE. [ LAUGHTER ] [ APPLAUSE ]
I KNEW ALL THE SERVICE PEOPLE THAT WOULD COME INTO THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
WE WERE SEGREGATED, YET PEOPLE CAME TO YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
THAT'S WHAT THEY DID BACK THEN.
WHAT CAN I SAY? I'M OLD. [ LAUGHTER ]
WE HAD MAIL PEOPLE, MAILMEN, I SHOULD SAY, NOT WOMEN, MAILMEN.
WE HAD MILKMEN THAT WOULD COME AND DELIVER THE MILK.
WE HAD A BREADMAN THAT WOULD COME AND SELL BREAD AND CAKES,
AND AS SOON AS THE BREADMAN FOUND OUT I WAS THE QUEEN,
HE WOULD MAKE A SPECIAL TRIP TO MY HOUSE
AND SET HIS BAG DOWN ON THE FLOOR IN FRONT OF ME SO I COULD PICK OUT WHATEVER I WANTED.
HE ALWAYS KNEW THAT IT WOULD BE PAID FOR.
THE ONE PERSON THAT HAD THE GREATEST IMPACT ON MY LIFE, 00:04:47:.00,00:04:57.00 I DON'T THINK HE EVER KNEW WHAT HE DID FOR ME, BUT IT WAS AN INSURANCE MAN.
HE WOULD COME TO COLLECT THE PREMIUMS, AND DURING THAT TIME, WE WOULD STRIKE UP A CONVERSATION.
I'VE ALWAYS BEEN ABLE TO TALK. MY MOTHER SAYS, I CAME OUT OF THE WOMB TALKING. [ LAUGHTER ]
SO WE WOULD HAVE CONVERSATIONS.
ONE DAY, HE CAME TO THE HOUSE TO SPEAK TO MY MOTHER NOT ABOUT INSURANCE, BUT ABOUT ME.
HE HAD SEEN IN THE NEWSPAPER THAT THE SCHOOL SYSTEM WAS CREATING A SPECIAL CLASS FOR *** KIDS WITH CEREBRAL PALSY.
THAT WAS A MAJOR MOMENT IN MY LIFE, BECAUSE I COULD HAVE SPENT THE REST OF MY LIFE AT HOME WITH MY FAMILY.
I KIND OF THINK I WOULD HAVE BEEN VERY COMFORTABLE IN THAT SITUATION.
I WOULDN'T HAVE HAD AS MUCH STRESS, THAT'S FOR SURE.
BUT I WOULD NOT HAVE HAD A FULL LIFE.
MY MOTHER BEING A GOOD MOTHER IMMEDIATELY CONTACTED THE SCHOOL SYSTEM, AND THEY TESTED ME, AND A WEEK LATER, AFTER BEING TESTED, I BECAME THE POSTER CHILD FOR THAT CLASS.
SO I WAS SEGREGATED AGAIN.
I WAS COLORED AND I WAS IN A SPECIAL EDUCATION CLASS.
BUT THE RAINBOW IN THAT PICTURE WAS THE TEACHER I HAD.
BACK THEN, PARENTS WOULD TELL THEIR KIDS IF THEY WERE BLACK THAT THEY WERE JUST GOOD AS ANYONE ELSE.
AND MY PARENTS TOLD ALL OF THEIR KIDS THAT WE WERE JUST AS GOOD AS ANYONE ELSE, AND THAT INCLUDED ME.
THAT WAS REINFORCED BY THE TEACHER.
THE TEACHER DIDN'T HAVE KIDS, SO WE BECAME HER KIDS.
SHE UP UNTIL THAT DAY, SHE HAD BEEN A REGULAR ED TEACHER.
THEY SENT HER TO SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY FOR A CRASH COURSE IN SPECIAL EDUCATION. [ LAUGHTER ]
AND THEY PLUNKED HER DOWN IN THE MIDDLE OF 16 KIDS WITH VARYING DEGREES OF CP, CRYING AND GETTING NOISY AND SHE,
BEING THE PERSON SHE WAS, FLOURISHED IN THAT ATMOSPHERE AND MADE SURE WE FLOURISHED RIGHT ALONG WITH HER.