The movement with Lu

By: Abiene Larkin

Our story begins in New York City's Harlem neighborhood in 1919. I woke up at 5:45 a.m. like I always do and made myself some breakfast: toast, two slices of turkey bacon, girts, and a glass of lemonade. After the long breakfast, I filled the bathtub with hot water and placed my Lemon and Lavender bar of soap in the tub while I waited for the tub to fill. I went to my bedroom and placed my silly uniform on the bed, tied my hair up in a braided bun and walked back into the bathroom. I took off my nightgown and dipped my toes in the bathtub. 

The warm feeling around my toes became warmer and warmer until my toes were on fire. I lunged out of the tub, and the face I made while looking in the mirror made me smile so wide that I started to laugh. I laughed for 3 minutes which was a perfect amount of time for the water in the bathtub to cool down. 

After my bath, I put on my uniform, grabbed my purse and started walking down to the bus station. I only had enough money for one round trip, to the diner and back home. "Oh, hold on, I'm at the bus station," said Lu, I gave the bus driver my coins and sat in the very back on the left side like I always do. Today while riding I did not see Old Smith, who usually sat on the other side of the bus, wearing his blue coat, blue slacks, and a white button-down shirt like he does every Wednesday.

 I always thought when he wore that outfit he was going to see a special lady. When thinking about it, Old Smith startled me. I looked up at him and he said, "Hi Lu, what's on your agenda for today?”

 I looked over with a smile on my face and said "Well, I have to work at the diner until 4:00 then I'll work my way home, take a bath, fix up some dinner and then head to bed." 

Before I could finish my sentence, it was Old Smith's stop. All he could say back to me was, "Thank you for this lovely talk Lu, I will see you soon." I waved back to Smith then looked out the window and started to think about Old Smith and how he was the only white person to ever talk to me on the bus. 

Then there was a big jolt from the bus; it shook me so hard that I forgot what I was thinking about. I looked around the bus to see if everyone was okay, but they were all staring out the window. There were protesters everywhere, holding posters saying, "If we are given rights, then we should use them!" Before I knew it, it was time to get off the bus. I headed to the diner, running off so quickly that I forgot to say thanks to the bus driver. 

It was only 40 steps to the diner. A voice in my head asked, "Lu why are you working here again?" Then I remembered that I needed more money so I could fly to San Francisco and work as the first African American nurse at San Francisco General Hospital. Yeah, I know, pretty cool, right? 

Well, there I was at the diner. It looked pretty packed, all the reporters from the local newspaper were there, and the teens from both the private and public high schools were all there. Before I finished scoping the area, Marian, my best friend, came and handed me my apron and said, "It’s go time, Lu. we need to finish up early so we can make it to the Marcus Garvey movement tomorrow." 

At that moment I replied, "You can finish up early but I need to work until 4:00, plus, I may not even go to the movement." 

She looked at me all crazy-eyed then left to feed table 5 their chocolate shakes. I smirked then dashed right up to Jo and said, "Whatcha got for me today."

All he said was, "You have tables 3, 4,8, 9, 10, and 2.  Funny, they all want burgers with no cheese and a vanilla milkshake on the side." 

"Alright," I said then I grabbed the food and went on my way. 

After work, I saw Marian hanging out with our friends from the salon. They all waved to me. I waved back then walked back to the bus stop and headed back home. When opening the door to my flat I kept thinking about the Marcus Garvey march and if I wanted to be in it; it made me think about what our culture and my people have been through. I want to change everything, how we educate ourselves, the way we are viewed in our country and so much more. So my answer was yes, I would go. Soon after I fixed myself a BLT and a Coca-Cola, washed the dishes, ran the water for a nightly bath, then went to bed. 

The next morning, I returned to my original routine and called Marian to pick me up instead of me taking the bus. Soon after, in the car, I asked her, “Can you drop me off at the diner just to see if Jo needs any help?” 

She replied and said, "Yah anything you need, and are you coming to the march?" She looked at me like it's the last time I'm going to see her. 

I said back, "Yes I decided last night that I was going." Marian smiled with all her might then dropped me off. We both said bye, and I headed into the diner. 

I quickly put my apron on and asked Jo if he needed my help.  He said, "No, I got it covered today." I hugged him and ran out of the dinner forgetting I had my apron on. While on my way to meet Marian and our friends, I saw Old Smith walking with a lovely lady with red and grey hair. She was wearing a pretty green dress. Smith stopped and pointed to her. He had a big smile, and all I could do was smile back and give him a thumbs up then move along. 

"Finally," I said making it to the movement checkpoint. I could not find Marian and the crew, then all of a sudden I heard "BOO!" I jumped and screamed. I heard someone laughing. It was Marian. I scolded her but laughed at the same time, then asked, “Where do you want to walk?” She advocated being in the front of the march so we would be noticed. I said "Heck knaw. Let’s be in the back so people won't notice us as much.” She stopped to think, I know that Marian is not the person to think through her actions, but this time it was a nice change of pace. 

She said, "Yes," then the crew and I all moved to the back of the crowd. With a loud horn, it signaled it was time to walk. I told Marian, "That was fast." 

She said back, "The faster we move, the faster we can make a difference." I smiled and moved along. While walking, I could see the candy store, the diner, the hair salon and more. 4 miles into the march I started to get tired, I told Marian that I would grab a cab and head back home. She looked at me and gave me a big hug and then parted ways. 

I walked down the nearest Baptist church and waited there for a cab. It only took 12 minutes for a cab to pull over. During the drive back home I fell asleep. Once I got to my house the diver woke me up by playing some local jazz. I said "Thank you" in a drowsy voice then opened my purse to pay the cab driver.

But he stopped me and said, "Please, you don't need to do that. Today we worked on our rights, now you need to work on your sleep." I smiled and walked to the front door, walked inside and sat on my bed. I began to think about what my future bloodline would look, act, and be like: if they would know that I was in one of Marcus Garvey's march and hoped to become the first African female nurse at SF General Hospital. Then for some reason, I thought about my family's 4th generation from now, and if they would know all about my accomplishments and me joining the Marcus Garvey movement.

So then I dream... I dream of me living in San Francisco, becoming the first African nurse at SF General Hospital while having a family, then moving to Sacramento and having my grandkids and family visit me once a month. I see my favorite niece and tell her my life's journey. I dream that she  is happy but shy when meeting new people and has a hard time making connections with others because of her past. My great, great niece says: "Hey, Lu, it's time to go to the market." I slowly look up at her and say,"Alright Abi, just grab my cane and we will be on the move." Abi looks down at me with a big smile and says, "Okay Lu… I love you." And all I say Back is, "I Love you too." 

Thank you (this story is in memory of my aunt Lu who passed away last year of 103 years old.)