Jackson advocate., 1942-12-19

side me ana me. we TWO were De-
hind the boyrd.
1.-The polio eman said, Get out
there and get in that car We all
started. asked What am / charg-
ed with?' Ee asked, Don't you
know anything about it?' answer
ed, NO. Well come back here and
sit down before 7 slap you down
he said. l replied, you have no
reason to do that He answered,
I'll knock he'd out of you with the
board / sat down. He got another
man who was standing and they
went ON to the police car. A Negro
man said, Let's get on off, said
Yes, let's do.' The driver said
Yes, get on Off l answered
7 am going TO report you
| to the company for being rude to
passengers, calling the police on
innocent people and having them
threatened Cali en- he said,
''That won't do you no good When
| I got off the bus, he was standing
outside the bus and called to the
policeman Hey take her on too.
The policeman said, Come on girl
Get in that car When stepped
on the running board, he kicked
me. sat down without word.
when We got tC the Jail, he said,
Get outta that car, you boys
take off your hats. Inside the men
were questioned. The men said they
did not know who moved the board.
One Of the men said he took 1t out
of the seat and put it on the floor.
Then the policeman, an Officer
Dean, asked me, What do you
know about it girl answered, i
don't know anything about it.
She's liar, put her in jail. Get on
over there The desk sergeant took
by bag and packages. When
turned my back, the policeman
kicked me, when I turned he
slapped my face and struck me on
the shoulder with his fist. He then
reached for his gun, for an in
slant seemed to come out of his
madness, then pulled his blackjack
and struck me on my hip with it..
shouted, what is wrong with you?
Only then did he come to himself
and asked in a dazed weak voice.
What's wrong with you?' Get on
| up them stairs
Il was locked in q cell with five
other girls. In my purse they found
my name on some cards and papers.
The man came upstairs and call
ed, Mildred, how old are you?'
'TWenty-seven,' L answered. viii
you call a number for me- I asked.
Not now,' he said, 1 will when
1 finish He never came back. /
was later told my bond would be
arranged for and that I'd be out
in short while. No one came near
the cell after that.
Then I turned my attention to
The cell. The floor was crawling
with reaches, literally thousands
OF them. One mattress was as hard
and dirty as the floor. I read Sun
days funnies and everything in
the magazine section about three
times. AT nine o'clock, the lights
were turned out, l climbed lpon
one OF the hunks N hopes that
the reaches would not come up
there and sat with my back to the
wall
AT $3.50 a. m, the warden came
for those who had not had a trial.
We all went down. Some one had
called Attorney Shores for me.
ON the witness stand the police
man and bus driver gave a made
up testimony. I was charged with
interfering with an officer. One of
the other men was charged with
moving the board. The bus driver
testlfled under oath that I said
Where I came from they didn't
treat Negroes this way, and that
| was tired of it, How he liedl 7
was born and reared in Birming-
nam, Alabama and have only been
out OF Birmingham on short vaca-
tlons. I was fined ten dollars.
"This thing that happened to me
IS symbol of what can happen to
any Negro; to you, your wife. sister
mother or daughter. The buses over
a period Of time have been a sore
spot to all Negro citizens. With