First, to the heroes and heroines of the civil rights movement, for dreaming a better world.
To John Hawkins, agent extraordinaire, for envisioning the mother–daughter telling of this story that enabled us to find a home for our book. To E. Lynn Harris, who caught John’s ear by telling him about our civil rights project. To Janell Walden Agyeman, who gave us invaluable support and her deep belief in this project. To Anita Diggs, our first editor at One World/Ballantine, for giving us a wonderful home and making the book better than it was when she first read it. And to Betsy Mitchell, editor-in-chief at Ballantine/Del Rey Books, for shepherding us through to the end.
Many thanks to Boston-based transcriber Johanna Kovitz, who is prompt and professional. Thanks to the Martin Luther King Jr. Papers Project at Stanford University, for its assistance transcribing Henry Steele’s interview. Thanks to Yolanda Everette-Brunelle for her transcription assistance. And thanks to the members of the SNCC online mailing list, at www.honors.ole-miss.edu/mailman/listinfo/sncc, for their ongoing commitment to human dignity. And many thanks to Jeanne Killebrew, founder of the Lyles Station Historic Preservation Association.
In remembering my childhood, names occurred to me that are much worthy of mention, including many of my teachers: Ms. Harris, Ms. Abramowitz, Ms. Willig, Mr. Hallberg, and Ms. Jack from elementary and junior high school, and Mitchell Kaplan, Jane Estaver, Lynn Shenkman, Tom McClary, and Ann Hayward from Miami Southridge High School, as well as guidance counselor Barbara A. Anders. Thanks to Heath Meriwether and Joe Oglesby, who hired me at the Miami Herald when I was fifteen. And thanks to the late Susan Burnside, formerly of the Herald, for her guidance as my editor both while I was still in high school and again when I came to work full-time. Also, many thanks to my childhood friends: Chip Davis, Michelle Ricciardi, Craig Bell, Ivan Yaeger, Nancy McElrath, Juan Strickland, Lisa Stockham, and Andy Enriquez. Thanks to my college friends: Susan “Charlie” Jordan, Kathryn Larrabee, Rob Vamosi, Rob Sidney, Craig Shemin, Mary Dickman, Donna Washington, D. J. Wells, and Albert Mensah. And thanks to Larry Hildes and Roger Gorham, for their example in commitment. I also mustn’t forget Nadine, Sharmila, Nigel, Berhanu, and Kofi. Your friendship was invaluable.
Thanks to the community members who enriched my life beyond measure while I was young: Thelma Gibson and the Theodore R. Gibson Foundation; Nancy Dawkins of the Theodore R. Gibson Oratorical Contest; Cornelia “Corky” Dozier of the Coconut Grove Children’s Theater; former state Rep. Gwendolyn Cherry; former state Sen. Carrie Meek; Dr. William Perry, former president of the Greater Miami Branch of the NAACP; Doris Hart, Miami-Dade’s county-wide coordinator for the NAACP’s ACT-SO program; and Vernon Jarrett, who breathed national ACT-SO to life. Thanks also to perennial Miami-Dade County ACT-SO volunteers Lee Harris and Pat Daniels. And to the late Rotarian Jim Lee.
Thanks to Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Greater Miami, and especially to Penny Darien, for allowing me to share her childhood with her.
Thanks to my sisters, Johnita and Lydia, for their constant support.
Thanks to my wonderful husband, Steven Barnes, and my stepdaughter, Nicki.
But mostly, thanks to my parents, for more than I can say.