“Mr. Perry, Mr. Perry, turn on the TV! Turn on the TV!” shouts NewsBoy. “Somebody shot Dr. King! Somebody shot Dr. King!”
The entire ice cream shop gets quiet.
Linda chastises NewsBoy, “Come on, NewsBoy. That ain’t funny.”
Frustrated and upset NewsBoy shouts, “I’m not lying!
I’m not lying! It’s just happened! It just happened! It’s on
the news! It’s on the news!”
Moses stops the jukebox. Mr. Perry turns on the 19”, black and white TV setting behind the counter and turns the volume up. The students all gather around the counter to
see and hear the news. On the TV, the newscaster is
reporting that Dr. King has been shot.
“Memphis police say they have no suspects in the
shooting, but witnesses have indicated the shots came from a boarding house across from the Lorraine Hotel. Dr. King was in Memphis
to lead a peaceful protest in support of striking sanitation workers. Again, for those of you just joining us, reports out of Memphis, Tennessee say that Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. has been assassinated. At this time, we don’t know who or how many killers were involved. Dr. King, the Noble Peace Prize recipient, …”
Mr. Perry turns down the volume on the television. The students and other patrons kind of mill around not quite knowing what to
say or do. There is an uncomfortable silence. Margaret’s cries
breaks the silence.
“I can’t believe it! How could anyone do
this. Dr. King is our savior.
How could they kill him?”
Diane responds, “Evil! That’s what it is. Just
plain Evil.”
Margaret continues to express her pain, “What are we going
to do now? Our leader is dead. How are we going to overcome
without Dr. King leading us?”
In an attempt to comfort Margaret, Robert says, “It’ll be okay, Margaret. Dr. King has a lot of soldiers. The fight will continue.”
William responds to Robert’s statement, “You’re right about that. There is definitely going to be a fight. All I can say
is, y’all better get your guns and get ready. The Revolution is about to start.” There seems to be a sense of satisfaction in William’s voice for the prospect of racial combat.
Johnny jumps on William, “William, Man. Don’t nobody want to hear that noise now.”
“So, what you gonna to do about it, Johnny?” replies
William. “What ‘cha gonna do?”
Johnny moves towards William. William gets off of the
stool and takes a defensive stance. Robert and Moses quickly step in
between the two.
With a stern voice, Mr. Perry squashes the tension.
“All right now. I know everybody’s upset but we’re not
going to have any fighting up in here,” declares Mr. Perry.
“Y’all so disrespectful to Dr. King”, Margaret exclaims.
“They’re just stupid,” says Cynthea. “They think they
can solve everything by fighting.”
Heeding Mr. Perry’s words, William and Johnny return to their seats.
Ricky, who graduated from Central last year, comes through the door. He is a boastful young man who is a member of the Nation
of Islam. Wearing a brown suit, yellow bowtie, and sunglasses,
Ricky moves swiftly and confidently carrying a stack of newspapers.
“As-salaam-alaikum, my brothers and sisters,” says Ricky. No one acknowledges him.
“What’s up? Why y’all so quiet?” asks Ricky
NewsBoy responds, “Didn’t you hear the news, man?”
“What news?” asks Ricky.
NewsBoy points to the television.
“They killed Dr. King,” says NewsBoy.
“Who killed Dr. King?” asks Ricky.
“They don’t know yet. All they know is that somebody
shot him,” replies NewsBoy.
Ricky starts to laugh. NewsBoy rushes out of the
ice cream shop.
“Well, well, well. The mighty Dr. King is
dead. What will the Negroes do now?” asks Ricky.
“Shut up, Ricky! Shut up!” shouts Margaret.
“What?” responds Ricky. “You don’t want to hear
the truth? It’s all right here.”
Ricky holds up a copy of “The Final Call”, one of the newspapers he’s carrying.
“Maybe now some of you play tenders will get
enlightened and follow the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad,” replies Ricky.
Diane chastises Ricky. “You have absolutely no
sense of compassion, do you Ricky? A man just died who spent
his whole life trying to make it better for people like you, and all you can do is sit up hear and promote some fake…”
Ricky interrupts Diane.
“FAKE?” interrupts Ricky. “You call the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, fake? He has done more to enlighten Black men than King. All King wanted you to do was to march and sit-in, and beg the white devil for what is already yours. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad teaches you that you are
great. You
don’t need the white man.”
“You sound just like William,” replies Cynthea.
“Please! This brother don’t have a clue,” responds William.
Ricky addresses William.
“What are you talking about, brother?”
“I’m talking about your whole Muslim movement,"
responds William. “What are y’all doing? Y’all talk big game, but
where’s the results?"
For the first time, Ricky takes a defensive tone.
“Well, what are you doing ‘Mr. Black Panther’?” retorts Ricky. "You go around talking about how you going to have
a revolution, but all I see is your butt always sitting on that stool.”
“Oh, we’re getting ready, My Brother,” replies William.
“Yeah, I bet,” responds Ricky. “I’ll come back a year from now, and you’ll be sitting on that stool, talking the same ‘ole, same ‘ole. Meanwhile, I will have led a lot of people to the truth.”
“But that’s all you do. Sell papers and bean pies,” replies William.
“And all you sell is wolf tickets,” responds Ricky.
“We’re helping people, man,” William proudly declares. “We have kitchens...”
“We have kitchens, too,” counters Ricky.
“We empower our people. We tell them to be in charge of their own lives,” says William.
“The exact same thing that we teach our people in the Nation,” says Ricky.
Mr. Perry is amused by the pseudo debate Ricky and
William
are trying to have.
“Sounds like you two have more in common than
you realize,” interjects Mr. Perry. “That’s what Dr. King was all about. He understood that we are all God’s children, and we
are more alike than we could ever be different. Isn’t it ironic
that on the day that he dies, you knuckle heads finally learn that?"
