Chapter 25 Mom Second Time Around
Emma was able to place Missy in the Church’s day care center while she was working. She soon became a normal routine of waking each morning at 5AM, bathing and feeding Missy and then catching the bus to the Church so she could be there at 7 when the doors opened. She then caught another bus to the community where she cleaned houses. While the house was not the same each day, the house was the same in that she did the same thing each time. She mopped the floors, washed the clothes, ironed and then cooked dinner. Her day ended at 4:30 and she then returned to the Church to pick up Missy and go home and then find something to eat before going to bed around 9PM each evening.
While things were changing around her, nothing was changing in her life. The only real change was that Missy was getting older and now instead of taking her to the Church day care center, she was now taking her to the local kindergarten where Missy was able to play with other kids.
Missy was beginning to have a personality of her own. She had the smile of her mother but she had the tenderness of an innocent child. She never showed fear and was quick to try anything new. At the early age, she began to show some athletic ability while also doing well in the classroom. While Emma had never stopped hoping for the return of her daughter, she also did not want to lose Missy.
Things were changing in Washington DC as well as in other parts of the United States. The Supreme Court had ruled in favor of the folks in Arkansas and stated that separate but equal was not acceptable and that Negroes had the right to go to previously all White schools. In fact this ruling by the Supreme Court was not only the Arkansas case but also cases from South Carolina, Delaware, Virginia and Washington DC.
The Supreme Court also voted in favor of Washington DC non discriminatory laws that had been initiated in 1872 and 1873. These laws had been excluded from the law books in the early 1900s by those advocating segregation but were later found and used as arguments for the integration of schools in Washington DC as well as assuring that Negroes had the right to eat at lunch counters and other civil rights.
Missy became one of the first Negroes to go to a previously all White school. Emma enrolled her there because it was near the communities where she cleaned houses and it was much easier for Emma. While Emma was aware of the changes in segregation, this did not change her day to day activities. She had a daily routine which was only altered on Sundays when she went to Church. Emma made sure that Missy continued to do well in school and especially such when she went to the new school.
When Emma had time she did watch the news and continued to follow Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and his fight against segregation in the South. In her mind, she often compared him to Malcolm X who was the up and coming spokesperson for the Black Muslims. While she did not agree with everything that he said, she did agree with his thoughts on segregation. She even took the time to go and hear him speak one time when he came to Washington DC.
Emma then opened her eyes and looked around and saw Missy. For a quick moment it was like she was looking at her daughter and not her granddaughter. Then just as quickly, her eyes closed and she went back to sleep.