During the summer of 1970 - late June/ early July many of us hung out on (I believe it was Kempton Street) in New Bedford on the south side of the street in front of an abandoned house which sat on a corner. There was an old couch in front of the building & some of us would often sit on the couch (though I don't think that I ever did). I lived in Cambridge but my mom & sisters lived in the South End of New Bedford on Purchase Street. I had come down for the weekend to be nearer to the Newport Jazz Fest. We were a peaceful bunch of mostly high school kids. I was older. At one point during the week Senator Edmund Brooke convened a meeting with the youth at this location & it was held at the back of the abandoned house & down some steps. Senator Brooke (a Black man) was addressing us from a table which was the furthest location from the street. I think one or two other people (outsiders) were seated next to him. To his left was one of the (now deceased) Pemberton brothers. Most of us were "just kids" & I certainly was one of the few older individuals & one of the rare participants who was already working. But I was still politically naïve. I had no core issues or stances. At a certain point Senator Brooke asked who could articulate what issues we were having. Some people started urging me to get up and talk. I was resistant b/c I didn't live there, & didn't know what the problems were, & also did not want to seem as if I was an outside agitator. I think the biggest issue that I could think of was that a least one prior generation had grown up sitting on the WALL by the park by Bay Village, we continued sitting at the WALL and now the police were viewing that activity as some sort of unlawful assembly. At a point someone poked their head in and yelled that the feds (???) had gone into a building across the street. The boys ran out and engaged. I went home. Some really crazy things happened - bricks thrown, shots fired. I am not sure how many days/nights it was after that but I went to the Newport Jazz Festival with my sister, Patricia. When we returned from Rhode Island we learned that a number of people - including Lester Lima (a young peaceful & quiet kid) had been shot while sitting in front of the abandoned house. The shooters were two white kids (one was the son of a local school principal). Everything changed that night. On a subsequent night I was at my mother's friend Rosie Tavares' house & we had to sleep on the floor b/c cars were rushing down the street & gunfire was coming from the cars. I don't think that I had ever even heard a gunshot before that night. This was at a time when our grandparents & many of our parents didn't even acknowledge that we were descended from Africans. The Cape Verdean kids & the Black kids from the West End were just about then getting together socially on a significant level. I was half CV & half Black & I couldn't figure out what the problem was between the South & the West ends. But the younger generation was coming into its own. We were announcing that we were Black & Proud. We were wearing daishikis, playing kalimbas, & sporting afros. Most of us did not do any drugs, & had not seen any drugs. A few days later a fire broke out on the opposite side of the street from the abandoned house. The picture above depicts neighborhood kids helping the firefighters. I am told that Lester's mother died within the year after his death. Really tragic event that made us grow up fast and that should not have happened.
This is me during the weekend in question. I am looking AT the
abandoned building where we hung out/visited. Not sure if this was
before or after the tragic incident.
I thought it was 71 b/c I was pregnant but I have been told that it was
70 and IT WAS 70 b/c I was pregnant and had the baby in April 1971.
Thanks for the correction!!!!!!!!!
Does anyone recognize the guys in the photo??????
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