Way Back In History 3000 Years

Or maybe just 52.

A couple of newspaper stories about getting arrested on charges of rocking while black back in the fifties.  I remember reading about the Mississippi incident in Chuck Berry's autobiography but didn't know it was a national story.  Here is an original newspaper account.  (If the tone sounds remarkably fair for a story from 1959, note the source.)  Read it HERE.

Here is a more "mainstream" version, with all ethnicities carefully observed and recorded.

Another story from the Afro American, this one about getting arrested on charges of changing a tire in the presence of a white woman:  Read it HERE.  Fortunately this one, at least, led to an acquittal.

What's amazing is how persistent it was.  Remember the drunk Keith Richards telling about getting punched in "Hail! Hail! Rock and Roll?"  Remember his comments, and his disapproving sneer?  No wonder he got his clock cleaned.

But Chuck Berry persevered through all this, and did his part to help change the world.  Thank you.  We're not there yet, but maybe someday.