Free The Willard by LeAnne Burnett Morse Page A

chance.
    “Sir, you’re obviously somebody important here. Do you think you could tell me if it would be a good idea for me to bug out and head south? I know you can’t tell me top secret stuff and all that, but maybe you could just give me a sign if the shit, sorry for my language, sir, is about to hit the fan.”
    Tom wasn’t sure whether to laugh or give the kid a hug. The young man was obviously terrified. He wanted to tell him it was all just a dream, but they had arrived at the outer office and Mrs. Lincoln was saying something to Tom about the president being ready to see him now. Everything happened quickly after that, and the idea of all this being only a dream gave way when John F. Kennedy reached out and shook Tom’s hand and thanked him for coming in that distinctive Boston accent. Tom felt the weight of the world descend on him as an aide went to close the door to the Oval Office.
    The last thing Tom saw was Ethan York standing in the hall, waiting for a sign.

C HAPTER 13
    CALVIN WALKER
    1963
    All over the city, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was the main topic of conversation. Public opinion was divided between those who predicted an important event with the potential to bring about real change for those being persecuted on the basis of race and those who believed the event was likely to bring trouble. They thought the trouble could come during the actual march or as a result of the changes the advocates wanted to see. There were plenty of people in Washington that week who believed the status quo was just fine and that people should know their place. In lesser hands the planned march could have been a powder keg, but the top civil rights organizers in the country, those who advocated nonviolence and peaceful demonstration, had worked hard to ensure a positive and safe event.
    The program read like a Who’s Who of leaders in the black community. They had chosen to use the march to mark the anniversary of the enactment of President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. One hundred years earlier the document had given their ancestors freedom from their slave masters, but today they still fought for equal rights and protections. A. Philip Randolph, James Farmer, John Lewis, Roy Wilkins, Whitney Young and Martin Luther King, Jr. all had a hand in the planning. They represented an alphabet soup ofthe most noted organizations including SNCC, SCLS, National Urban League and the NAACP. Marian Anderson was scheduled to sing the national anthem. She had gained fame after the Daughters of the American Revolution organization refused to allow her to perform at their venue in the late 1930s. Eleanor Roosevelt had been so incensed by the action she arranged for Anderson to sing at a special Easter concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. March participants were already talking excitedly about hearing the famous singer along with another favorite, Mahalia Jackson. Christian and Jewish leaders would be on hand to help bring the group together along religious, as well as racial lines.
    Everything was falling into place for a once-in-a-lifetime event. There would be no fire hoses or attack dogs. No grandstanding sheriff or local politician would be permitted to interfere with the program. Though they may have had different ideas about the specific call to action, all the organizers had worked hand in hand to make this march a showpiece for civil action. The emphasis was on the word “civil.”
    It wouldn’t be just black marchers on the mall. White citizens in large numbers were also planning to attend to stand shoulder to shoulder with their fellow Americans. The march would reach across the lines of race, religion, and class and for one extraordinary day the voices of the masses could not be ignored.
    From all indications it looked like a glorious day was set to dawn. Would the promise the organizers imagined echo the promise felt by those who first heard about the Emancipation Proclamation