Readers Remember

I had not heard my mother’s usual alarm warning me and my brothers we would be late for school if we did not “Hurry, hurry, I mean right now.” But I knew we had overslept. Across the room, I saw Ty just beginning to stir. At least, I’ll beat him to the bathroom, I thought.

Crossing the bedroom threshold, I saw my mother walking heavily up the stairway. My brother Ron followed, his eyes cast down.

“No school today,” Mother said. She passed me, still somber, and sat on the corner of my bed. I looked at Ron. A moment passed before he softly said, “Somebody shot Dr. King.” We all turned to our mother. An empty, almost stone-like expression covered her normally soft features.

“Anybody who tries to help the black man,” she said distantly, “they just kill ‘em.”

DAVID ARTIS

From the Internet

I was in junior high school when President John F. Kennedy was killed. We sat in disbelief. This was the United States and things like this did not happen here.

This painful day brought us out of our childhood egocentric world and into the realization of the significance of world events. We began to develop a strong social conscience as we looked at what President Kennedy stood for. We began to question authority.

Unfortunately, it also took away a great innocence. When Robert Kennedy was assassinated, we were terribly sad but no longer sat in disbelief. For this was the United States and things like that did happen here.

GAYLE GEFFNER

Los Angeles

In 200 words or less, send us your memories or eyewitness accounts of the 20th century. Write to Century, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053, or e-mail century@latimes.com.