Alan W. King

CHAGRIN

—from Rattle #31, Summer 2009
Tribute to African American Poets

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Alan W. King: “During the 40th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination, I interviewed several people who lived through the 1968 unrest in Baltimore. The unrest hit other cities—including Washington, D.C., and Detroit—but I was working on a news story for Baltimore as a reporter with the Afro-American newspaper. Even before the burning and looting of businesses, there was racial tension in the segregated city. While department stores like Kohl’s and Hecht’s allowed Blacks to shop there, they had to do so in the basement. They couldn’t even try on the clothes before they bought them because the dressing rooms were off-limits. I wrote ‘Chagrin’ after several people I interviewed, most of them over 60 years old, believed that the tension was a major catalyst.” (web)