“You could go to Walgreens and buy things but you couldn’t sit down, so you would get your ice cream, jellybeans or hot peanuts, take it out and go into the park and eat it. The reason everybody liked to go there was because you could look into the Fox as people were going in, and of course, Blacks could not go to the Fox.” Oral history of Edna McKinney, born in St. Louis in 1929. Quoted in That’s the Way It Was, Stories of Struggle, Survival and Self-respect in Twentieth Century St. Louis” by Vida Prince. For reflection: Was your first reaction to this quote “well, that was then, this is now”? Do any of the experiences of your grandparents reverberate in your life now? When you can picture the Walgreens at Grand and Olive or the little park across from the Fox, does this quote have extra meaning? How is God present to you in Mrs. McKinney experiences? Interested in joining MMOC’s Peace and Justice Ministry? Call Saralou Hendrickson 314.440.2020