1
00:00:02,920 --> 00:00:05,756
Growing up, Mom and
Dad gave me "The Police Talk"

2
00:00:05,881 --> 00:00:08,675
about how to handle yourself
around cops.

3
00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:10,052
There was a presidential election

4
00:00:10,177 --> 00:00:11,970
that created a racial divide,

5
00:00:12,095 --> 00:00:14,223
and there was a flu pandemic
that they said

6
00:00:14,348 --> 00:00:16,892
would kill a million people
around the world.

7
00:00:17,017 --> 00:00:19,436
But it was 1968.

8
00:00:21,021 --> 00:00:23,565
And that's the state our country was in.

9
00:00:23,690 --> 00:00:26,902
Yeah, even the flu part.

10
00:00:27,027 --> 00:00:29,154
This was the year I turned 12,

11
00:00:29,279 --> 00:00:32,074
the age where you transfer
from boy to man.

12
00:00:32,199 --> 00:00:33,825
Or as the old folks used to say,

13
00:00:33,951 --> 00:00:36,703
"When a boy starts smelling himself."

14
00:00:36,828 --> 00:00:38,247
The previous summer's race riots

15
00:00:38,372 --> 00:00:41,875
had caused the first wave of
"white flight" to the suburbs.

16
00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:44,419
As a kid, I didn't understand all that.

17
00:00:46,338 --> 00:00:48,048
We had neighborhoods
that were just as safe

18
00:00:48,173 --> 00:00:50,592
as the ones they were
developing outside the city.

19
00:00:50,717 --> 00:00:53,554
There were teachers, veterans,
shop owners,

20
00:00:53,679 --> 00:00:56,640
all united by pride, self-determination,

21
00:00:56,765 --> 00:00:58,976
and the right to spank
any kid caught outside

22
00:00:59,101 --> 00:01:00,727
after the street lights came on.

23
00:01:05,399 --> 00:01:08,652
? There you go again ?

24
00:01:08,777 --> 00:01:11,488
Daddy's song!

25
00:01:11,613 --> 00:01:13,448
My dad was a music professor by day

26
00:01:13,574 --> 00:01:15,492
and a funk musician by night.

27
00:01:15,617 --> 00:01:18,537
In other words,
he was the baddest dude I knew.

28
00:01:18,662 --> 00:01:20,789
Dean, I know you did not just come
into this house without speaking.

29
00:01:20,914 --> 00:01:21,999
- But I heard...
- No "buts"!

30
00:01:22,124 --> 00:01:23,959
How about "Hello, Mama. Hello, Daddy.

31
00:01:24,084 --> 00:01:25,335
How are you?"

32
00:01:25,460 --> 00:01:28,422
- I heard Daddy's song in Kwame's car.
- You did?

33
00:01:28,547 --> 00:01:30,340
Dean, quit running your mouth
and turn on the radio!

34
00:01:30,465 --> 00:01:32,217
- That's what I was trying...
- Boy, move!

35
00:01:32,342 --> 00:01:34,105
Shh.

36
00:01:34,261 --> 00:01:36,263
Be cool.

37
00:01:36,388 --> 00:01:40,058
"Be cool" was Daddy's catch-all
advice for every situation.

38
00:01:43,770 --> 00:01:44,896
Be cool.

39
00:01:48,650 --> 00:01:50,277
Be cool.

40
00:01:54,656 --> 00:01:55,949
Be cool.

41
00:02:00,454 --> 00:02:02,539
- We on the radio, baby.
- ? I need you more ?

42
00:02:02,664 --> 00:02:04,916
- ? I need you more ?
- Girl, you better be excited.

43
00:02:05,042 --> 00:02:06,960
Your daddy's song is on the radio!

44
00:02:07,085 --> 00:02:11,340
? Can you finally help me
to get to your lovin', oh ?

45
00:02:11,465 --> 00:02:13,300
You were in the car with your boyfriend?

46
00:02:13,425 --> 00:02:15,260
Dean was out after
the street lights came on.

47
00:02:15,385 --> 00:02:16,261
- Hey!
- Ms. Handy was out.

48
00:02:16,386 --> 00:02:17,429
I bet you Ms. Handy saw her out there.

49
00:02:17,554 --> 00:02:18,680
You don't want Ms. Handy seeing you!

50
00:02:18,805 --> 00:02:20,182
She gonna be talking about me
and my mothering.

51
00:02:20,307 --> 00:02:22,392
This certainly wasn't
the first or last time

52
00:02:22,517 --> 00:02:24,811
emotions would run high in our house,

53
00:02:24,936 --> 00:02:27,272
but whether we were yelling or laughing,

54
00:02:27,397 --> 00:02:29,858
if you turned your head just right,

55
00:02:29,983 --> 00:02:32,778
it all sounded like music.

56
00:02:32,903 --> 00:02:35,030
? I need you ?

57
00:02:35,155 --> 00:02:38,530
? I, I need you ?

58
00:02:38,622 --> 00:02:40,006
Subs by kinglouisxx
for www.addic7ed.com

59
00:02:41,703 --> 00:02:44,331
One thing about being 12 that
hasn't changed over the decades

60
00:02:44,456 --> 00:02:46,041
is that it's around 12
where you figure out

61
00:02:46,166 --> 00:02:48,210
what your place is in the world.

62
00:02:48,335 --> 00:02:50,921
But being in my family made that hard.

63
00:02:52,714 --> 00:02:54,633
I'd never be as popular as my sister

64
00:02:54,758 --> 00:02:56,760
or as athletic as my brother,

65
00:02:56,885 --> 00:02:59,096
as smart as my mom or as bad as my dad.

66
00:03:01,390 --> 00:03:03,308
That's the problem
with being the youngest.

67
00:03:03,433 --> 00:03:04,976
By the time you're born,

68
00:03:05,102 --> 00:03:07,938
all the good parts have been handed out.

69
00:03:08,063 --> 00:03:10,941
Stupid play. I mean, Sheep #3?

70
00:03:11,066 --> 00:03:12,859
Really?

71
00:03:12,984 --> 00:03:16,822
But 12 was the age I was gonna
figure out what my bag was.

72
00:03:16,947 --> 00:03:19,491
Dean, hurry up or you'll miss the bus!

73
00:03:19,616 --> 00:03:22,744
My parents had high standards for us.

74
00:03:22,869 --> 00:03:25,414
I appreciate it now,
and so does my bank account,

75
00:03:25,539 --> 00:03:28,041
but at the time, man, it was annoying.

76
00:03:28,166 --> 00:03:29,501
Did you practice like I told you to?

77
00:03:29,626 --> 00:03:31,461
- Yes.
- Yes, what?

78
00:03:31,586 --> 00:03:33,588
Yes, ma'am.

79
00:03:33,713 --> 00:03:35,257
Nu-uh-uh-uh.

80
00:03:35,382 --> 00:03:38,510
Like how she insisted on giving
me an ashy elbows/lips

81
00:03:38,635 --> 00:03:39,886
and eye booger check

82
00:03:40,011 --> 00:03:41,847
every morning before I left the house.

83
00:03:41,972 --> 00:03:44,850
- Where are your glasses?
- I told you, I don't need them.

84
00:03:44,975 --> 00:03:46,893
Wearing glasses in junior high
was basically

85
00:03:47,018 --> 00:03:49,813
telling your cousin
to get a prom dress ready.

86
00:03:49,938 --> 00:03:52,649
What'd I tell you about bothering
Bruce's things while he's away?

87
00:03:52,774 --> 00:03:56,528
"Away" was the word my mom used
instead of "in Vietnam."

88
00:03:56,653 --> 00:03:58,864
Coach Long said I needed a bigger glove.

89
00:03:58,989 --> 00:04:00,490
Man, I just bought you that glove.

90
00:04:00,615 --> 00:04:02,367
Is Coach Long gonna pay me for it?

91
00:04:02,492 --> 00:04:04,035
He's just looking out for Dean.

92
00:04:04,161 --> 00:04:06,621
Right, right. Is that why
he made you Team Mom?

93
00:04:06,747 --> 00:04:08,039
Looking out for Dean?

94
00:04:08,165 --> 00:04:09,499
Or because he's sweet on you?

95
00:04:09,624 --> 00:04:12,836
Stop it. He just did it
'cause we work together.

96
00:04:12,961 --> 00:04:14,755
Why would Coach be sweet on Mama?

97
00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:16,631
Stay out of grown folks' business.

98
00:04:16,757 --> 00:04:18,008
"Stay out of grown folks' business"

99
00:04:18,133 --> 00:04:21,011
was usually code for something
about money, sex,

100
00:04:21,136 --> 00:04:23,972
or the funny way Dad's studio
smelled after a rehearsal.

101
00:04:24,097 --> 00:04:25,599
Let's go over analogies.

102
00:04:25,724 --> 00:04:27,601
The SATs are important, Kim.

103
00:04:27,726 --> 00:04:30,812
This stupid test has nothing
to do with real life.

104
00:04:30,937 --> 00:04:32,564
You know, Bobby Seale and H. Rap Brown

105
00:04:32,689 --> 00:04:33,899
didn't even finish college.

106
00:04:34,024 --> 00:04:35,400
You're going to college.

107
00:04:35,525 --> 00:04:36,693
I'm sure the revolution's gonna need

108
00:04:36,818 --> 00:04:38,445
a good dentist or accountant.

109
00:04:40,989 --> 00:04:42,949
Besides, what kind of
music professor would I be

110
00:04:43,074 --> 00:04:44,618
if my daughter didn't go to college?

111
00:04:44,743 --> 00:04:46,328
Bad enough my son doesn't have rhythm.

112
00:04:46,453 --> 00:04:48,246
- Hey!
- Yet.

113
00:04:48,371 --> 00:04:50,665
My son doesn't have rhythm yet.

114
00:04:50,791 --> 00:04:53,335
You got to get at least a 1050
to get into Auburn.

115
00:04:53,460 --> 00:04:54,586
- Auburn?
- Mm-hmm.

116
00:04:54,711 --> 00:04:56,588
Plenty of good black colleges
out there, too, you know.

117
00:04:56,713 --> 00:04:58,507
She can go to 'Skegee like us.

118
00:04:58,632 --> 00:05:00,258
Better yet, Spelman.

119
00:05:00,383 --> 00:05:02,177
No boys. It's a win-win.

120
00:05:02,302 --> 00:05:03,303
For who?

121
00:05:03,428 --> 00:05:04,721
Win. Win.

122
00:05:06,181 --> 00:05:07,557
A lot of black folks like my dad

123
00:05:07,682 --> 00:05:09,726
didn't feel like we needed
to mix with white people

124
00:05:09,851 --> 00:05:11,019
to be better off.

125
00:05:11,144 --> 00:05:13,355
But my dad put his money
where his mouth was.

126
00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:15,357
He'd always hire the black doctor,

127
00:05:15,482 --> 00:05:17,609
black accountant, the black plumber,

128
00:05:17,734 --> 00:05:20,111
and often he'd have something
we'd call "black regret."

129
00:05:34,501 --> 00:05:35,293
Gotta go!

130
00:05:43,134 --> 00:05:44,427
Glasses or not,

131
00:05:44,553 --> 00:05:47,013
I wasn't the most popular kid
in the neighborhood.

132
00:05:47,138 --> 00:05:48,473
Thank God I had Cory.

133
00:05:48,598 --> 00:05:50,851
'Sup, Dean? Give me some skin.

134
00:05:50,976 --> 00:05:53,270
My best friend, Coach Long's son.

135
00:05:53,395 --> 00:05:55,397
He'd figured out his bag
when we hit puberty

136
00:05:55,522 --> 00:05:57,566
and he grew six inches of height

137
00:05:57,691 --> 00:05:59,860
and six inches of hair where it count.

138
00:05:59,985 --> 00:06:01,194
He was macho.

139
00:06:01,319 --> 00:06:03,071
Hey, you got to tell me about that party

140
00:06:03,196 --> 00:06:04,489
at Noddy's last night.

141
00:06:04,614 --> 00:06:05,907
Was it really a makeout party?

142
00:06:06,032 --> 00:06:07,117
Come on now, man.

143
00:06:07,242 --> 00:06:08,702
You know it's not cool to kiss and tell.

144
00:06:08,827 --> 00:06:10,912
Okay, but don't forget,
you were supposed to teach me

145
00:06:11,037 --> 00:06:11,997
how to French kiss on a pillow.

146
00:06:12,122 --> 00:06:14,040
Shh!

147
00:06:14,165 --> 00:06:15,500
I'll tell you later.

148
00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:19,462
That's our old school.

149
00:06:19,588 --> 00:06:21,590
Shut down because of desegregation.

150
00:06:21,715 --> 00:06:23,466
But we still hung out there sometimes,

151
00:06:23,592 --> 00:06:26,261
mainly to girls about girls
and then girls and...

152
00:06:26,386 --> 00:06:28,972
Wow, I really got distracted.

153
00:06:30,891 --> 00:06:32,893
You know the girl that you see
for the first time

154
00:06:33,018 --> 00:06:34,895
and everything slows down?

155
00:06:35,020 --> 00:06:36,563
That was Lisa Jones.

156
00:06:36,688 --> 00:06:38,899
Everybody had a crush on her,

157
00:06:39,024 --> 00:06:41,568
but here comes my crush...

158
00:06:41,693 --> 00:06:43,737
Keisa Clemmons.

159
00:06:43,862 --> 00:06:45,614
She was perfect.

160
00:06:47,824 --> 00:06:48,950
Hi, Dean.

161
00:06:49,075 --> 00:06:50,994
Thanks for letting me borrow this.

162
00:06:51,119 --> 00:06:53,747
You were right. It was great.

163
00:06:53,872 --> 00:06:56,708
To this day, I can't smell
Vaseline and Tide

164
00:06:56,833 --> 00:07:00,253
without being taken
right back to that feeling.

165
00:07:00,378 --> 00:07:02,964
Tell her you want to start
going together, man.

166
00:07:03,089 --> 00:07:05,050
- Don't be scared.
- I'm not scared.

167
00:07:05,175 --> 00:07:06,593
I was so scared.

168
00:07:06,718 --> 00:07:08,261
My plan is to stay best friends

169
00:07:08,386 --> 00:07:10,138
until she realizes she likes me.

170
00:07:10,263 --> 00:07:11,890
And I was an idiot.

171
00:07:12,015 --> 00:07:14,184
Hey, stop it! Stop it!

172
00:07:14,309 --> 00:07:15,477
Was this my opening?

173
00:07:15,602 --> 00:07:17,646
My chance to defend her honor
and win her heart?

174
00:07:17,771 --> 00:07:18,772
My...

175
00:07:18,897 --> 00:07:20,565
You better give my propers!

176
00:07:20,690 --> 00:07:21,650
- Say you're sorry!
- Stop!

177
00:07:21,775 --> 00:07:22,776
Say it!

178
00:07:22,901 --> 00:07:24,361
Man, she's tough.

179
00:07:24,486 --> 00:07:26,279
I know.

180
00:07:26,404 --> 00:07:28,281
I dig it.

181
00:07:44,297 --> 00:07:45,715
Hey, fellas! What's happening?

182
00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:48,885
Brad, the Pee Wee Reese
to my Jackie Robinson.

183
00:07:49,010 --> 00:07:50,720
That is if Pee Wee Reese were Jewish

184
00:07:50,845 --> 00:07:52,722
and Jackie Robinson
couldn't catch a fly ball.

185
00:07:52,847 --> 00:07:54,057
Take a guess.

186
00:07:54,182 --> 00:07:56,017
Dean's still afraid
to tell Keisa he likes her?

187
00:07:56,142 --> 00:07:57,310
Film at 11:00.

188
00:07:57,435 --> 00:07:58,395
Shut up, Brad.

189
00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:01,064
What? I'm telling you,
she already knows.

190
00:08:01,189 --> 00:08:02,732
How? Unless you blabbed.

191
00:08:02,857 --> 00:08:05,235
She can tell by the stupid way
you look at her.

192
00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:06,569
You look like a wet dream.

193
00:08:06,695 --> 00:08:07,821
It's such a wet dream.

194
00:08:07,946 --> 00:08:10,448
I do not look like a wet dream.

195
00:08:10,573 --> 00:08:12,993
Okay, we clearly had no idea
what that meant yet.

196
00:08:13,118 --> 00:08:14,494
Still, good burn.

197
00:08:14,619 --> 00:08:16,871
- You guys have practice today, too?
- Yeah.

198
00:08:16,997 --> 00:08:19,165
Who do you think would win if
our teams played each other?

199
00:08:19,290 --> 00:08:20,291
We would.

200
00:08:20,417 --> 00:08:22,502
But we only play teams
on our side of town.

201
00:08:22,627 --> 00:08:25,171
Think about how boss it'd be
to have our teams meet.

202
00:08:25,296 --> 00:08:27,173
- Yeah.
- Your dad's the coach.

203
00:08:27,298 --> 00:08:28,258
He'll go for it, right?

204
00:08:28,383 --> 00:08:29,509
Uh, maybe.

205
00:08:29,634 --> 00:08:31,386
I mean, he watches "I Spy."

206
00:08:31,511 --> 00:08:33,430
Cool. You ask your dad,
and we'll ask mine.

207
00:08:35,807 --> 00:08:38,018
A scrimmage against some
all-white team from across town?

208
00:08:38,143 --> 00:08:38,977
Hell, no.

209
00:08:39,102 --> 00:08:41,104
But our friend Brad's on that team.

210
00:08:41,229 --> 00:08:42,272
We go to the same school.

211
00:08:42,397 --> 00:08:43,648
We should be able to play each other.

212
00:08:43,773 --> 00:08:45,483
Do us both a favor, put all that energy

213
00:08:45,608 --> 00:08:48,111
in learning how to catch a fly
ball without [bleep] your pants.

214
00:08:48,236 --> 00:08:49,362
If a coach said that today,

215
00:08:49,487 --> 00:08:51,531
he'd have to go to sensitivity training.

216
00:08:51,656 --> 00:08:53,241
At least that's what they made me do

217
00:08:53,366 --> 00:08:55,201
when I cussed out my son's team.

218
00:08:55,326 --> 00:08:56,536
Hey, guys.

219
00:08:56,661 --> 00:08:58,955
I came to take the measurements
for the team jerseys.

220
00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:00,165
Mama!

221
00:09:00,290 --> 00:09:01,666
Tell Coach we should play
a scrimmage game

222
00:09:01,791 --> 00:09:02,917
against Brad's team.

223
00:09:03,043 --> 00:09:04,669
Brad's asking his dad, too.

224
00:09:04,794 --> 00:09:06,504
Why would you want to play
with a bunch of white boys?

225
00:09:06,629 --> 00:09:08,798
- Exactly.
- Why does that matter?

226
00:09:08,923 --> 00:09:11,342
Oh, it doesn't to us.
But trust me, it will to them.

227
00:09:11,468 --> 00:09:14,179
How do you know if you don't try?

228
00:09:14,304 --> 00:09:16,389
Isn't that what you're
always telling me?

229
00:09:19,851 --> 00:09:21,895
For what it's worth, I met Brad's dad,

230
00:09:22,020 --> 00:09:23,313
and he's our kind of people.

231
00:09:23,438 --> 00:09:24,647
That still don't mean
I want some whitey pitcher

232
00:09:24,773 --> 00:09:25,732
throwing at our boys' heads.

233
00:09:25,857 --> 00:09:27,734
Well, let's not get to calling names.

234
00:09:27,859 --> 00:09:30,070
Never mind that there were
teams called the Redskins,

235
00:09:30,195 --> 00:09:32,864
Chiefs, and Savages
and no one batted an eye.

236
00:09:32,989 --> 00:09:34,240
Look at it this way.

237
00:09:34,365 --> 00:09:36,910
We want our sons to learn
to compete with them now,

238
00:09:37,035 --> 00:09:38,661
or never learn
and then go out into the world

239
00:09:38,787 --> 00:09:40,080
feeling like they're lacking...

240
00:09:40,205 --> 00:09:41,831
like we did?

241
00:09:44,959 --> 00:09:46,961
Okay, I'll talk to your friend's
dad and see what he says.

242
00:09:47,087 --> 00:09:48,213
- Yes!
- All right!

243
00:09:48,338 --> 00:09:50,465
All right, now...
now give me three laps.

244
00:09:50,590 --> 00:09:52,258
For... For coming to practice too early!

245
00:09:53,635 --> 00:09:55,762
Come on, get... get some laps in.

246
00:09:55,887 --> 00:09:57,972
Y'all walking? Come on, hustle up!

247
00:10:01,101 --> 00:10:02,977
Now that I'd figured out that my bag

248
00:10:03,103 --> 00:10:04,687
was being "The Great Uniter,"

249
00:10:04,813 --> 00:10:06,356
I couldn't wait to get started.

250
00:10:06,481 --> 00:10:09,067
Hey, Mark. Uh, what's happening, Chad?

251
00:10:09,192 --> 00:10:10,485
How's it going, Quentin?

252
00:10:10,610 --> 00:10:13,279
Hey, Black Jesus, mellow out, man.

253
00:10:13,404 --> 00:10:15,031
You're trying too hard.

254
00:10:20,453 --> 00:10:22,038
It's okay.

255
00:10:22,163 --> 00:10:24,749
My mom's making me wear these.

256
00:10:24,874 --> 00:10:26,876
Pantyhose.

257
00:10:27,001 --> 00:10:28,962
Yuck.

258
00:10:29,087 --> 00:10:30,588
Yeah.

259
00:10:30,713 --> 00:10:31,840
Yuck.

260
00:10:31,965 --> 00:10:34,634
Anyway, your glasses are cute.

261
00:10:34,759 --> 00:10:36,803
She'd just basically said I
looked like Billy Dee Williams

262
00:10:36,928 --> 00:10:38,263
in my glasses.

263
00:10:38,388 --> 00:10:40,890
This was the perfect time
to tell her that I've loved her

264
00:10:41,015 --> 00:10:44,477
since I sat next to her on
the first day of first grade.

265
00:10:44,602 --> 00:10:45,687
Keisa...

266
00:10:45,812 --> 00:10:47,897
Hey, Four Eyes!

267
00:10:48,022 --> 00:10:50,525
Can you look to my house
and tell me what's on the TV?

268
00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:55,238
Now, no one in school knew
how old Michael Simms was.

269
00:10:55,363 --> 00:10:57,532
Some people said he had a son
at another school.

270
00:10:57,657 --> 00:10:59,909
Others said he'd already
done a tour in 'Nam.

271
00:11:00,034 --> 00:11:01,536
Bullies back then benefited from us

272
00:11:01,661 --> 00:11:03,329
not having Google to fact-check.

273
00:11:03,454 --> 00:11:04,664
Shut up, Free Lunch!

274
00:11:04,789 --> 00:11:06,291
Yo mama on free lunch.

275
00:11:06,416 --> 00:11:07,959
Ooh.

276
00:11:08,084 --> 00:11:10,086
What's all the fuss back there?

277
00:11:10,211 --> 00:11:12,755
Somebody said "yo mama."

278
00:11:14,549 --> 00:11:16,342
Now, that's something
that the black students do

279
00:11:16,467 --> 00:11:18,636
that the white students don't.

280
00:11:18,761 --> 00:11:21,639
You ought to be like these three.

281
00:11:21,764 --> 00:11:23,933
Their parents send them here to learn.

282
00:11:26,561 --> 00:11:30,190
Hey, she's not prejudiced.

283
00:11:30,315 --> 00:11:32,817
But was she? In my memory, she was.

284
00:11:32,942 --> 00:11:35,737
But she also gave some of us
black students extra attention

285
00:11:35,862 --> 00:11:37,655
if she thought we had potential,

286
00:11:37,780 --> 00:11:39,824
which may still have been racist.

287
00:11:39,949 --> 00:11:41,534
I don't know.

288
00:11:41,659 --> 00:11:42,744
But bringing people together

289
00:11:42,869 --> 00:11:44,621
wasn't just about the white people.

290
00:11:44,746 --> 00:11:47,624
It was also about black people
like Michael Simms.

291
00:11:47,749 --> 00:11:49,626
I knew I could reach him, too.

292
00:11:49,751 --> 00:11:51,211
- Ah!
- Think you're white, don't you?

293
00:11:51,336 --> 00:11:53,421
- I could not.
- You talk white!

294
00:11:53,546 --> 00:11:54,964
- You act white!
- Ah!

295
00:11:55,089 --> 00:11:57,217
You even brought a lunch box
to school like you white!

296
00:11:58,551 --> 00:12:00,136
That last one confuses me to this day.

297
00:12:00,261 --> 00:12:01,721
Come on, man.

298
00:12:01,846 --> 00:12:04,390
Told you it was a dumb idea
to try to talk to him, Dean.

299
00:12:06,017 --> 00:12:08,144
Ah! So dumb.

300
00:12:08,269 --> 00:12:10,146
Who was I kidding?

301
00:12:10,271 --> 00:12:12,523
The world was always gonna be
full of Michael Simmses

302
00:12:12,649 --> 00:12:14,651
and white people with lunch boxes.

303
00:12:14,776 --> 00:12:17,237
Nobody was gonna listen to Sheep #3.

304
00:12:17,362 --> 00:12:18,988
What kind of present?

305
00:12:19,113 --> 00:12:20,615
I don't know.

306
00:12:20,740 --> 00:12:22,200
Maybe that pearl necklace

307
00:12:22,325 --> 00:12:24,309
I caught you staring at at Parisians.

308
00:12:25,536 --> 00:12:27,872
Well, it's just one royalty check, Bill.

309
00:12:27,997 --> 00:12:29,040
Be cool.

310
00:12:29,165 --> 00:12:31,084
There's gonna be more
where that came from, baby.

311
00:12:37,048 --> 00:12:38,591
What do you need, son?

312
00:12:38,716 --> 00:12:40,885
Just wondering if Mama told you
we're playing Brad's team

313
00:12:41,010 --> 00:12:43,221
from East Montgomery for the first time.

314
00:12:43,346 --> 00:12:45,223
Why our boys gotta play their team?

315
00:12:45,348 --> 00:12:48,101
It's the Barnstorming
Negro Leagues all over again.

316
00:12:48,226 --> 00:12:50,228
Figures Long would be okay with this.

317
00:12:50,353 --> 00:12:51,938
Coach Long was against it, too,

318
00:12:52,063 --> 00:12:53,690
but then Mama talked him into it.

319
00:12:53,815 --> 00:12:57,443
I think it's a good idea, and
I'm proud of Dean for trying.

320
00:12:57,568 --> 00:12:58,778
Hmm.

321
00:12:58,903 --> 00:13:01,197
It doesn't matter. He's not playing.

322
00:13:01,322 --> 00:13:02,365
- But, Dad!
- Nope.

323
00:13:02,490 --> 00:13:04,075
Too many good teams to play over here

324
00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:05,285
and good parks, too.

325
00:13:05,410 --> 00:13:07,495
- What's so bad...
- Are you talking back?

326
00:13:07,620 --> 00:13:08,663
No, sir.

327
00:13:08,788 --> 00:13:09,914
Then you better fix your face.

328
00:13:10,039 --> 00:13:12,125
Well, whether or not he plays,
I still have to go to the game.

329
00:13:12,250 --> 00:13:14,752
Right, because your office buddy
made you Team Mom.

330
00:13:14,877 --> 00:13:16,963
I never say anything
about your work friends.

331
00:13:17,088 --> 00:13:18,381
That's not fair, and you know it.

332
00:13:18,506 --> 00:13:19,382
What's not fair?

333
00:13:19,507 --> 00:13:21,092
Stay out of grown folks' business.

334
00:13:23,011 --> 00:13:24,512
No.

335
00:13:24,637 --> 00:13:25,805
Did you just tell us no?

336
00:13:25,930 --> 00:13:27,181
Have you lost your natural mind?

337
00:13:27,307 --> 00:13:28,599
Boy, what has gotten into you?

338
00:13:28,725 --> 00:13:30,977
I wanted to tell them
about the kids on the bus

339
00:13:31,102 --> 00:13:32,270
and the white kids at school

340
00:13:32,395 --> 00:13:34,147
and Michael Simms and Mrs. Hodges

341
00:13:34,272 --> 00:13:37,066
and that Kim went in Mama's
purse and snuck out last night.

342
00:13:37,191 --> 00:13:39,736
But I realized it was
actually more than that.

343
00:13:39,861 --> 00:13:42,697
What came out surprised me
as much as it did them.

344
00:13:42,822 --> 00:13:48,494
I feel different everywhere I go,
no matter who I'm around.

345
00:13:48,619 --> 00:13:50,997
And I know I'll always be different.

346
00:13:51,122 --> 00:13:55,626
But when I'm with Cory and Brad
and we all feel different,

347
00:13:55,752 --> 00:14:00,173
I finally get to feel
the same as everybody else.

348
00:14:00,298 --> 00:14:01,758
That's why I want to play.

349
00:14:01,883 --> 00:14:02,967
Brad would later tell me

350
00:14:03,092 --> 00:14:04,677
that trying to make myself feel better

351
00:14:04,802 --> 00:14:07,347
by making everybody feel
as uncomfortable as me

352
00:14:07,472 --> 00:14:10,058
was the most Jewish thing I'd ever done.

353
00:14:10,183 --> 00:14:11,100
Fine.

354
00:14:11,225 --> 00:14:12,935
You two do whatever you want.

355
00:14:16,230 --> 00:14:18,983
That was the first time
I'd stood up to my dad

356
00:14:19,108 --> 00:14:21,819
and the first time I realized
just how scary it can be

357
00:14:21,944 --> 00:14:23,321
to get what you want.

358
00:14:35,208 --> 00:14:37,251
Let's go! Team captains!

359
00:14:44,801 --> 00:14:46,260
Come on. Let's go.

360
00:14:46,386 --> 00:14:48,388
When I saw me, Brad,
and Cory on that field,

361
00:14:48,513 --> 00:14:49,514
with kids from my neighborhood

362
00:14:49,639 --> 00:14:52,350
mingling with kids from
a world way across town,

363
00:14:52,475 --> 00:14:54,852
united by something
we all had in common,

364
00:14:54,977 --> 00:14:56,938
I was proud of what I'd done.

365
00:14:57,063 --> 00:14:58,898
It didn't even matter who won the game.

366
00:15:04,529 --> 00:15:06,781
Now, I'd find out much later
that Michael was only there

367
00:15:06,906 --> 00:15:07,990
to steal Brad's bike,

368
00:15:08,116 --> 00:15:10,743
but at the moment, it was validation.

369
00:15:15,790 --> 00:15:17,208
It's a trip,

370
00:15:17,333 --> 00:15:20,002
the little things that
you remember all your life.

371
00:15:20,128 --> 00:15:22,672
Your first hit, your first kiss,

372
00:15:22,797 --> 00:15:26,300
the first time your dad
lets you know that he sees you.

373
00:15:26,426 --> 00:15:27,718
Well, I still hadn't had the other two,

374
00:15:27,844 --> 00:15:30,054
but, boy, did that third one feel good.

375
00:15:41,315 --> 00:15:43,693
Hey, he's not prejudiced.

376
00:15:43,818 --> 00:15:47,113
Well, if he wasn't, then the ball was.

377
00:15:47,238 --> 00:15:48,865
Come on. Front of the box.
Watch the fastball!

378
00:15:48,990 --> 00:15:50,658
Back of the box! Watch the curve!

379
00:15:52,368 --> 00:15:54,370
Front of the box! Look fastball!

380
00:15:54,495 --> 00:15:56,581
Dean, back of the box. Watch the curve.

381
00:15:56,706 --> 00:15:58,166
- Front of the box.
- Back of the box, Dean!

382
00:15:58,291 --> 00:15:59,375
- Back of the box!
- Scoot to the front, Dean!

383
00:15:59,500 --> 00:16:00,418
- Dean!
- Dean!

384
00:16:00,543 --> 00:16:01,752
Dean Jeremiah Williams!

385
00:16:01,878 --> 00:16:03,171
I don't know his whole... Dean!

386
00:16:03,296 --> 00:16:04,589
- Dean!
- Dean!

387
00:16:04,714 --> 00:16:06,674
Strike!

388
00:16:06,799 --> 00:16:08,134
You'll get it next time, son.

389
00:16:09,969 --> 00:16:11,804
- Come in, Dean.
- Stay deep.

390
00:16:11,929 --> 00:16:13,347
No, no, no, no. C-Come in some.

391
00:16:13,473 --> 00:16:14,515
Stay deep, Dean.

392
00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:15,808
- Come towards me.
- Deep.

393
00:16:15,933 --> 00:16:16,934
- This way.
- Away from me.

394
00:16:17,059 --> 00:16:18,227
- This way.
- That way.

395
00:16:18,352 --> 00:16:19,187
Dean!

396
00:16:24,567 --> 00:16:26,694
All right, now, hands up! Weight back.

397
00:16:26,819 --> 00:16:29,197
- Weight back, hands up, Dean.
- You saying the same thing I'm saying.

398
00:16:29,322 --> 00:16:30,364
- Listen to your coach.
- Weight back, hands up.

399
00:16:30,490 --> 00:16:32,074
- No, no, no, hands up first.
- That's not the same thing.

400
00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:34,494
- Hands up first, then weight back.
- Weight back, hands up, Dean.

401
00:16:34,619 --> 00:16:36,954
Strike three!

402
00:16:37,788 --> 00:16:40,458
Bill, if you got a problem
with the way I coach, say so.

403
00:16:41,626 --> 00:16:43,002
Be cool.

404
00:16:43,127 --> 00:16:44,295
Be cool.

405
00:16:44,420 --> 00:16:45,463
I thought instead of a new glove,

406
00:16:45,588 --> 00:16:46,797
maybe Dean just needed
better instruction.

407
00:16:46,923 --> 00:16:48,674
No. Well, listen, man.
This ain't no piano recital.

408
00:16:48,799 --> 00:16:50,259
So you stick to the do-re-mi's

409
00:16:50,384 --> 00:16:51,511
and I'll stick to the one-two-threes.

410
00:16:51,636 --> 00:16:53,221
That doesn't even make sense.
It just rhymes.

411
00:16:53,346 --> 00:16:55,097
Well, I could say the same thing
about your songs.

412
00:16:55,223 --> 00:16:56,933
Oh, so you raggin' on my music now?

413
00:16:57,058 --> 00:16:58,726
Well, I may be a musician,
but I still struck you out,

414
00:16:58,851 --> 00:16:59,936
- let's not forget.
- You know what?

415
00:17:00,061 --> 00:17:02,063
That was in sixth grade, and I
didn't hit my growth spurt yet.

416
00:17:02,188 --> 00:17:03,523
- "Yet."
- Get the ball, Bill.

417
00:17:03,648 --> 00:17:04,732
- You get the ball.
- Get the ball, Bill.

418
00:17:04,857 --> 00:17:05,816
- You get the ball, Long!
- You get the ball!

419
00:17:05,942 --> 00:17:07,818
If I get the ball,
you ain't gonna touch it!

420
00:17:07,944 --> 00:17:09,195
This may not be the right time,

421
00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:12,281
but, dude, your sister is choice.

422
00:17:12,406 --> 00:17:14,337
- Shut up, Brad.
- You know what?

423
00:17:14,399 --> 00:17:15,899
- I ain't scared of you no more.
- Bill.

424
00:17:15,952 --> 00:17:16,994
What is wrong with you two?

425
00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:18,246
You both know better than to be out here

426
00:17:18,371 --> 00:17:20,915
showing your ass in front
of these white folks.

427
00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:22,458
That was a universal rule

428
00:17:22,583 --> 00:17:24,877
that cut across all classes
of black people,

429
00:17:25,002 --> 00:17:27,004
but it was too late now.

430
00:17:27,129 --> 00:17:28,506
We're so sorry.

431
00:17:28,631 --> 00:17:29,924
We just heard what happened.

432
00:17:30,049 --> 00:17:31,384
Heard about what?

433
00:17:31,509 --> 00:17:34,345
Dr. King. He...

434
00:17:35,930 --> 00:17:37,640
He was s-shot.

435
00:17:37,765 --> 00:17:39,850
What? Where?

436
00:17:39,976 --> 00:17:42,937
In Memphis. It... It's all in the news.

437
00:17:43,062 --> 00:17:46,232
- Is he...
- They rushed him to a hospital.

438
00:17:46,357 --> 00:17:50,111
We saw you all were upset, and we...

439
00:18:10,172 --> 00:18:13,342
The incident happened at
the Lorraine Motel in Memphis,

440
00:18:13,467 --> 00:18:14,844
where the reverend was staying,

441
00:18:14,969 --> 00:18:17,179
as he planned to march
later in the week.

442
00:18:17,305 --> 00:18:19,890
Now the entire country awaits the update

443
00:18:20,016 --> 00:18:21,767
on Dr. King's status.

444
00:18:21,892 --> 00:18:23,269
We know he was admitted

445
00:18:23,394 --> 00:18:26,063
shortly after 6:00 p.m.
Central Standard...

446
00:18:26,188 --> 00:18:28,316
Wait, this just in.

447
00:18:28,441 --> 00:18:29,734
Good evening.

448
00:18:29,859 --> 00:18:31,569
Dr. Martin Luther King,

449
00:18:31,694 --> 00:18:34,655
the apostle of non-violence
in the Civil Rights Movement,

450
00:18:34,780 --> 00:18:37,491
has been shot to death
in Memphis, Tennessee.

451
00:18:37,617 --> 00:18:39,410
Police have issued
an all-points bulletin

452
00:18:39,535 --> 00:18:41,203
for a well-dressed young white man

453
00:18:41,329 --> 00:18:42,830
seen running from the scene.

454
00:18:42,955 --> 00:18:45,333
Officers also reportedly chased...

455
00:18:52,214 --> 00:18:53,466
Mama?

456
00:18:53,591 --> 00:18:55,259
Dr. King is dead.

457
00:19:01,223 --> 00:19:02,475
I just couldn't understand

458
00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:05,519
what was so important
about folding those clothes.

459
00:19:14,570 --> 00:19:16,530
He's gone, man!

460
00:19:20,618 --> 00:19:23,245
We should go check on Ms. Handy.

461
00:19:23,371 --> 00:19:24,955
Yeah.

462
00:19:43,349 --> 00:19:44,934
Police report that the murder

463
00:19:45,059 --> 00:19:47,603
has touched off
sporadic acts of violence

464
00:19:47,728 --> 00:19:50,356
in the Negro section of the city.

465
00:19:52,483 --> 00:19:55,069
I didn't understand
a lot of what was going on,

466
00:19:55,194 --> 00:19:57,279
especially why when people
get really upset

467
00:19:57,405 --> 00:19:58,739
about something bad,

468
00:19:58,864 --> 00:20:01,409
they resort to destroying
their own things.

469
00:20:01,534 --> 00:20:02,993
Sick and tired of this!

470
00:20:03,119 --> 00:20:04,620
But something told me that my friends

471
00:20:04,745 --> 00:20:06,831
were probably just as confused as I was.

472
00:20:06,956 --> 00:20:08,666
Why do they keep doing this to us?!

473
00:20:09,667 --> 00:20:11,961
Nothing but them ol' white folks.

474
00:20:41,991 --> 00:20:44,160
Suddenly, the anger
I was seeing on the news

475
00:20:44,285 --> 00:20:46,579
made a little more sense,

476
00:20:46,704 --> 00:20:51,459
especially because it felt like
some things would never change.

477
00:21:18,611 --> 00:21:19,945
Everybody in my family

478
00:21:20,070 --> 00:21:22,531
plays that day over and over
in their minds.

479
00:21:22,656 --> 00:21:26,035
But for different reasons.

480
00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:28,329
For each of us, it felt
like the world around us

481
00:21:28,454 --> 00:21:29,497
had changed forever.

482
00:21:38,130 --> 00:21:40,508
But thankfully, for each of us,

483
00:21:40,633 --> 00:21:43,302
the world on the inside hadn't.

484
00:21:56,649 --> 00:22:01,987
Subs by kinglouisxx
for www.addic7ed.com