When Rosa Parks said, “No,” it changed my life forever, and I’ve never been the same since. I wanted somehow — in some way — to make it to Montgomery. I just wanted to be a part of it. It created a great sense of pride. I felt things were about to change. I knew it was very dangerous because I read about it, I heard about the bombings of the churches, the homes, people being arrested. I had witnessed through news accounts the lynching of Emmett Till. This young teenager from Chicago — visiting relatives in Mississippi, going to the store — was accused of whistling or saying something to a white woman, and then later that night, someone coming and grabbing him out of his uncle’s house, out of bed, taking him, beating him and throwing him in the river. That all had an impact on me.