African American Migration: Dad Chose Connecticut

"Out of ALL of the places in the world, Daddy, why did you choose, Connecticut?", a sibling asked teasingly, this past summer. It was after the Montford Point Marines Congressional Medal of Honor Ceremony and we were back at my parents' house in Windsor, CT.  Many African Americans had left the South in droves during the Great Depression for better job opportunities and less racism. The North and Midwest represented the Promised Land, an exciting frontier.  Blacks headed to large Metropolitan areas such as New York City and Newark from Georgia, Alabama, and North Carolina. If you hailed from Tennessee, like my mom, there was a good chance you had relatives that migrated to Chicago or Detroit.

Note the preponderance of British Names, as CT was a former British Colony.
CT is one of seven states that comprise New England.

                                                           Source: infoplease.com
                                                     
                                                            


California also had a lot of Negroes, as they were called back then, that moved west from Lousianna, Misssissippi, and Arkansas. In the autobiography, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, by America's former Poet Laureate and noted author Maya Angelou, she poignantly describes her interesting experiences in Oakland /San Francisco, CA and being hired as the first African American female streetcar conductor. Additionally,  Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Gary, IN, (Think Jackson 5) were all cities that also received an exodus of Blacks from Jim Crow South.

                                                                       Source: Norcalblogs.com



But young Clifford Primus, at age 17 with four dollars in his pocket, and his best friend Columbus, took the bus to up north from Daytona Beach, Florida. Columbus possessed about 35 dollars, because my dad stated his father "had money". He said everyone was going to New York City. He simply looked at a map and chose Connecticut, "The Constitution State." Connecticut played a pivotal role in forming the federal government. Its Native American Alogonquin name means " Upon the long river."

Clifford knew absolutely no one in the state.

Another Senseless Tragedy

Dear readers, I am deeply sorry for the the delay in my posting about Montford Point Marines. My eighty nine year old father, a prostrate cancer survivor, had some complications along with  pneumonia and was hospitalized. He will be home today. Semper Fi, dad.

 I was also troubled by the senseless and horrific carnage of twenty children and seven adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. The massacre is considered the worst in US History and weighed heavily on my mind, as I used to be an elementary school teacher in my home state.

                                                           Source: Newtown Bee, CT Post


Post Columbine and especially after 9/11, schools were mandated to practice lock down procedures in order to  prepare for emergencies. Teachers were giving code names and if something "went down", we were alerted over the intercom. Doors had to be locked, lights out, and children were to huddle under desks, silently. There would always be a student who would giggle and not take it seriously, and I would quickly reprimand the student for being silly.

School children in previous decades had drills during wartime, and schools were designated as fallout shelters in the event of an atomic bomb. Some of you  might remember the bright yellow and black signs. Additionally, the President of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev in 1962  installed nuclear missiles ninety miles away in Cuba, an ally of the former U.S.S.R. (Now called Russia). President John F. Kennedy and Cabinet members had some intense negotiations with Soviet leaders for thirteen days and the missiles were removed. The American Public had been informed that military action would be taken if the missiles were not removed. It was a very scary crisis that was fortunately avoided.

                                                         Department of Defense, Circa 1961



Mall shootings. Movie Theater killings.Virginia Tech massacre. We live in a world where we have to be vigilant. It is imperative to  appreciate your children, loved ones, first responders, soldiers, teachers, parents, social workers, clergy, etc. and realize that violence can happen in a small peaceful town in New England, in the early hours of a naval base in Hawaii, and in the financial district of of a major world city.

How do you make sense of all this?