Dennis Hart is a cabbie who lived during the 50s. Many of his stories were about living during segregation. I was really interested to hear his perspective on his life and how he admired black people in some ways. He said how Martin Luther King Jr. scared him because of his power to do "destructive" things peacefully. Dennis was also impressed with how he saw black people as having a real goal in life while white people base success off of material wealth. Hart thought it to be very important to die with pride. After taking up boxing to get some of his pent up anger out, Hart says "a lot of people think the important thing is knocking the other guy down. The important thing is to keep yourself from getting hurt" (239). This can relate to the Truman Doctrine and how its importance was based off protection and defense against the spread of communism.
The story of Lucy Jefferson was a story of a black woman who migrated from Mississippi. Her story was one of empowerment as a black woman. She made the observation that black women and white men can do what they want because of the fear they instill but the black man and white woman will be slaves forever. Jefferson told how she defied the people she was working with by carrying around a book when others couldn't believe that she was even able to read. Raising her children poor made her qualify for governmental aid but she refused it. She said "how am I gonna teach these children of mine what a pleasure it is in accomplishment?" (245). This could relate to the time of the Depression when most people where in financial need. I'm sure there were those whose pride got in the way of accepting help. I'm also sure that in these tough economic times, there are people who think of themselves too highly to receive financial aid.
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