Opening
You look out your window, and see the bright sun staring down at your crops. It’s seven in the morning, and it feels as if you only got an hour of sleep. You feel as if someone is stabbing you in the back from being so sore from tending to your cotton crops.
You get out of bed and change to start your day. You have to continue tending to the crops, which means standing in the sun all day and making sure that there are not bollweevil bugs. Bollweevil bugs are pests that eat the cotton buds and flowers of the cotton. After they eat it, the cotton becomes worthless. You dream of when you will be able to just sit on your porch and not have anything to worry about, but you know that’s not possible for Negroes in the South.
Racism and discrimination are at their peak in Alabama, and it’s not safe for us black folks. Most white people in Alabama are cruel. They’ll look for any reason to kill a black person.
Last week, your neighbor’s son, Tyler, was lynched for being accused of raping a white woman. You know that is not true because Tyler was helping you tend to your crops when the rape supposedly happened. You couldn’t help him either because the white men took him at night when everyone was sleeping. They left his dead, bruised body in his father’s yard. It was left there as a message to us black folks.
Today, April 6, 1917, started off as just another other day, but little did you know that this would be the day that you would make an ultimate life decision.
You need to go into town to buy supplies to tend to your crops. As you’re on your way to town, you run into your friend, Jacob.
“Oh hey Bobby, I didn’t think I’d be running into you today,” he says to you. He’s carrying a lot of bags that are filled with stuff, and you are wondering where he’s headed.
“What do you got in your bags?” you ask.
“I’ve got my clothes. I’m moving up North, living down here in Alabama isn’t safe anymore,” Jacob says.
“Why do you not think it’s safe anymore?” you ask.
“Let’s face it Bobby, us Negroes aren’t welcome here anymore. These Jim Crow laws make me feel like a second class citizen. I hear it's different up North, they aren’t so racist up there. They also have better jobs that will pay us more without requiring us to work in the sun all day,” he tells you with a sudden enthusiasm.
“What city are you going to now?” you wonder.
“I am going to live with my brother Thomas in Harlem, New York. You should come up there, I heard you ain’t doin so good,” he answers you.
“I’ll consider it. Growing cotton isn’t cutting it. A third of my crops are gone because of those darn boll weevil bugs,” you tell him.
“Well my train is here now, I gotta go. I wish you luck and hope I see you in Harlem one day!” he says while slowly walking away.
Once you are finished getting the supplies you need from town, you make your way back home. While you’re on your way, you notice a commotion. You stop to see what has happened. A little black boy has been beaten to death.
You cannot think of any person that would do this to an innocent child. Although white people are cruel in the South, you would never do this to a white child. Seeing the child dead like that infuriates you, and makes you rethink your safety in Alabama.
The image keeps replaying in your head of the innocent child on the floor. You remember what Jacob says, “I heard its different up North, they aren’t so racist.”
Maybe you could leave everything behind and move to Harlem. You could move in with your cousin to ensure your safety, but you would be leaving everything you’ve ever known behind. You would also have to leave behind your entire belongings apart from everything that fits in your suitcase. Is it worth moving to Harlem?
If you decide to move up North to Harlem, New York turn to page (Choice #3: Move to Harlem).
If you decide to stay in Alabama and continue growing cotton turn to page (Choice #1: Stay in Alabama).
Choice #1: Stay in Alabama
The next day you go to visit your friend Tyler. When you get to his house, you hear crying from inside.
You knock on the door and ask, “Is anyone home?” No one answers. You look through the window, and see his wife lying on the floor. You open the door and approach his wife laying on the floor.
“Jenny are you okay? What's wrong?” you ask.
“They hung Tyler, Bobby,” she says.
“What do you mean they hung him?” you wonder.
“They came at night and took him because he took a white man’s watch,” Jenny says.
“Who came?” you ask.
“The white men came. They took him and killed him just because he took that man’s watch. His life is worth more than a watch. That night we were about to go to sleep, and someone knocked on the door. I went to check who it was and it was four white men.
“I opened the door and asked, ‘How may I help you?’ and they answered ‘Is your husband Tyler here?’ ‘Yes he’s here changing,’ I replied.
“Once I said that he was there, the men pushed me out of the way and barged inside the house to find him. I didn’t know what they wanted. They went into our bedroom, and that’s when I realized something bad was about to happen.
“They dragged him out and they began to yell at him. They insulted him and called him a ‘useless Negro.’ I tried to help him, but they just pushed me down and hit me. Everytime I tried to help, they would just beat me again. When they were beating me, two of the white men took Tyler to town and hung him. I saw his body hung when I went to go look for him.”
The rest of the night you stayed with Jenny to make sure she was fine. You keep thinking of this incident, and it infuriates you. It makes you rethink your decision to stay in Alabama. You have seen so many cruel acts of racism, that you can’t even remember the basic details of each incident. You feel pain for Jenny, who was a victim of these cruel white men. You’ve never seen anyone look so hurt. You start to weigh the benefits of staying in Alabama or leaving to Harlem.
If you move to Harlem, you won’t have to deal with this anymore. You remember what Jacob said, “I hear it's different up North, they aren’t so racist up there. They also have better jobs that will pay us more without requiring us to work in the sun all day.”
If you leave, you’d have to leave everything you have behind and start a new life and live with your cousin and his family. You might have to leave your stuff behind, but at least you’re safe and not discriminated against.
If you continue to stay in Alabama, you can continue your life here and you won’t have to worry about not having a job and spending your savings for the trolley ride to the Harlem. You can make something different of your life and still be surrounded by the friends you grew up with. You might even start a family.
If you decide to move to Harlem, turn to page (Choice #3: Move to Harlem).
If you decide to stay in Alabama again, turn to page (Choice #2: Stay in Alabama Again).
Choice #2: Stay in Alabama Again
The next day you decide to take a break off of work after the loss of Tyler. Seeing his wife, Jenny, so hurt was horrible, and you will never get over that. You’re still infuriated about the incident. You continue to think about what happened while rocking back and forth on your rocking chair. You stare at the beautiful view of the sky from your porch and fall into deep sleep. You dream of your life in a place where Negro’s aren’t discriminated against.
A cold breeze hits you, and you suddenly jump up. You wake up confused, you had been asleep for so long that it was now pitch black, and you can’t see anything. You start to make your way inside, until you hear what sounds like people talking. You go to the side of your house where the voices sound like they’re coming from and look. You see nothing and walk back to your front door.
As you are walking back to your front door, you see something strange. You see something that looks like a small fire floating in the mid air. You think you’re hallucinating, and ignore it.You go back inside your house and try to fall asleep. As you try to fall asleep, you look out the window of your room and see another strange thing. You see what appears to be another torch floating in mid air, but the only difference is that this one is going really fast. You know it couldn’t be you imagining another floating torch, so you decide to go check outside again. When you go outside, you see something that makes your stomach drop.
You see people dressed in all white with triangular hats on horses. They’re all carrying torches, and are surrounding every side of your house. You’ve heard of these people. They call themselves the Ku-Klux, and they loathe Negroes. You don’t know what’s about to happen, but you know it’s not good. Your house is in the middle of nowhere, and no one can help you.
You fear the worst, and look around for a way to escape, but find nothing. You need to do something to get out of this.
A person on a horse shouts, “Burn up the Negro!” Once he says that, they being throwing the torches into your cotton fields in unison, as if it was a ritual. Your cotton plants engulf in flames, and the fire begins to creep its way to your house. You’re stuck, and completely hopeless.
Your house begins to quickly catch on fire. You start to yell for help, and you realize that yelling isn’t going to help. The smell of your burning house becomes toxic, and you begin to suffocate from breathing the smoke. You try to run out of your house, but get third degree burns that make you scream in pain. This is the end of your life, and you did nothing wrong.
~The End~
Choice #3: Move to Harlem
You decide that moving to Harlem is the best thing to do. You’re going to start a new life, and you couldn’t be more excited. You force yourself to sleep so you can be well rested for the long train ride to Harlem tomorrow.
You wake up excited, you’re going to live the life you’ve always wanted. You grab your savings from under your bed, and count how much you have. You didn’t have much in savings, but you had enough to get yourself to Harlem. You grab some clothes, and pack them in a small luggage. You leave your house in Alabama for the last time.
You get to the train station, and buy your tickets. On each train you took, you had to sit in the crowded, uncomfortable Negro section. You continue to ride the train for what seems to be like an eternity.
When you arrive in Harlem you are amazed by the buildings and lights. You have never seen anything like this before, it’s like a dream. The buildings were tall and brownish, the streets were paved and everything looked neat. This was the complete opposite of Alabama. Your cousin John meets you outside of a Negro restaurant called “Molasses.”
You walk with John to his house. When you get to his house, you greet his family and feast like you’ve never ate before. His wife, Marcy, makes food you’ve never seen before. Her food tastes like heaven in a bite. She made somethings called “meatloaf” and “cornbread.” You could taste the delicious flavors, and it tasted as if there was a flavor explosion in your mouth.
“Marcy, this food is delicious. Thank you so much,” you say.
“Why thank you, anything for family,” she replies.
You feel exhausted, so you go to the room they allowed you to stay in. You lay down on the bed and doze off.
The next day you go into town, and search for a job. You go to a shop, but as you approach, you see a sign that says, “No Negroes Welcome.” Although there is still racism, it is way better than being in Alabama. You see a big factory, with a lot of white men protesting outside it. You wonder why they are protesting.
You continue your search for a job, but you have no luck finding one. You’re exhausted from walking, so you sit down on the dirty floor and close your eyes for a while. You feel as if someone is staring at you, so you open your eyes. You see a white man staring at you. You’re afraid to look back at him fearing a beating. In Alabama you couldn’t even look at a white person without being “disrespectful.” However this man did not look like he was mad or going to hit you.
He walks toward you smiling and says, “My name is Harold Greenwald. I own that factory over there.”
He points to the factory where the men were protesting. “I have recently lost many of my workers. It seems as if you have no job, and I would like to make you a job offer. I will pay you more money than you’ve ever earned before. How’d you like that?”
You think, and have to decide whether or not you’re going to take the job at the factory where the men are protesting at.
If you decide to take the job at the factory, turn to page (Choice #4: Take the job at the factory).
If you decide to not take the job turn to page (Choice #7: Don’t take job at the factory).
Choice #4: Take the job at the factory
You begin to love your new job at the factory. You get to work inside all day and make parts for tractors. You don’t have to stand in the sun for hours tending to crops hoping they won’t be infested with boll weevil bugs.
The pay is great, and your new life in Harlem is beginning to blossom. For the rest of your work day, you continue making the parts for the tractors. The first co-worker you become friends with is named Darrell. Darrell was from Mississippi, and decided to move to Harlem to start new life, just like you. He was your first friend in Harlem.
When you get off of work, you begin your walk back to your cousin’s house. You want to get there as soon as possible to tell him how much you like it in Harlem, so you try to walk home as fast as possible. As you’re speed walking, you hear something behind you. You look behind you and there is nothing there.
You start to become distracted thinking of all the possibilities Harlem has for you, when you suddenly hear people talking behind you.
“That’s him,” they say.
You look behind you, and see one of the protesters from the factory pointing at you. He is with three other men, and they all look like they’re about to kill someone.
Your stomach starts to turn because you begin to get a bad feeling. You being to walk faster, and all of a sudden something hits you in the back of the head and you pass out from the impact.
You wake up with something cold touching your face. They take off the rag covering your eyes, and the man says, “This is what you get for taking our jobs.”
Your stomach turns. You know you’re not going to like what’s about to happen next.
The white men are all staring at you. You begin to try to plead for them to let you go, but one of the white men pushes a knife into your adam’s apple, and says, “Shut up.”
He stuffs a rag in your mouth to prevent you from talking. Your hands and feet were already hog tied, you look at the other men and see them watching him put the knife to your throat with a grins on their faces. You look to your left and see Darrell next to you. He has a large slash in his throat and doesn’t appear to be alive. You’re hopeless. This was their revenge for taking their jobs.
One of the guys says, “Hit the Negro!”
The tall white man suddenly takes out a large metal stick and begins to beat you. You’re in the middle of the forest, and no one can help you. You’re hopeless. He suddenly stops beating you, and takes out the same knife he used to make you shut up. He slashes your throat, and you feel the warm blood gushing out. You begin to suffocate because you cannot breathe. The large gap in your throat fills up with blood. This is the end of your life.
~The End~
Choice #5: Don’t go to the black activist meeting again
You being your usual walk to your cousin’s house after work, when you suddenly notice a white girl crying. You wonder if you should ask her what's wrong, but if you do, it can result in a serious consequence.
You begin to walk away, and the girl begins to cry harder. You feel bad and think it's morally right to ask her what is wrong. Your head is telling you no, but you can’t just leave her like this.
As you’re staring at her you notice she is bleeding intensively from her leg, and it is beginning to seep through her dress. She looks horrible. She moves her leg, and there is a puddle of blood on the floor. Negroes aren’t supposed to associate with white people, but this is an exception.
You approach her, and ask her what’s wrong and she simply ignores you. You run to the closest place to ask for help. The only thing open is a white only night club called “Smithson.” You look at her, and the puddle of blood getting larger. She needs help fast.
You burst the door open and say, “There’s a young girl outside bleeding a lot, and she’s crying, someone please help her!” Five white men immediately get up and go outside.
They ask her, “What happened?”
“That negro raped me,” she answers.
You begin to panic. “I would never do that,” you say nervously.
The white men are never going to believe you because you’re a Negro. You need to do something before they hurt you. You begin to run and look for somewhere to hide. You find a small space between two buildings that is perfect to hide in. The black night makes you undiscoverable.
You’ve been hiding for a couple hours now, and more people have begun to look. As you are hiding, you accidently step on a piece of wood that has nails sticking straight up. You scream from the sharp pain.
The white men hear your loud scream, and find you as you sit on the floor with your foot bleeding out. They drag you by the arms, and force you to stand up on your injured foot. You know what they’re about to do. They make you walk to a tree is with a hanging rope.
You scream, “I didn’t rape her, I would never do that.”
They tie the rope around your neck and begin to lift you off the ground pulling you higher and higher, this is the last thing you will ever see before you take your last breathe.
~The End~
Choice #6: Participate in War Protest
The next day you head to town to participate in your first war protest. Hundreds of black people come to participate. You have never participated in a protest, and you’re excited to be involved. The people that have come to participate in the protest all want the same thing; their rights. This was the first time you had ever seen so many black Negroes come together to support each other. All the Negroes participating feel empowered and the white spectators don’t like this.
The protesters are chanting songs about Negro empowerment and the inequality for Negroes in the war. Every person is holding a sign including you. This girl named Elizabeth gave you a sign and it says “Mr. President, why not give Negroes equal rights?” You are having the time of your life fighting for what you believe in.
About an hour later, the white people get the police They told the police officers that we were protesting aggressively. When the police hear this, they suddenly force everyone to stop protesting. One of the protestors named William begins to argue with the police officer. He was the only one out of one hundred and fifty protesters to defending the protest.
While William was arguing with the police man, the officer suddenly takes out his baton and begins to strike William with powerful blows. William begins to cry for the police officer to stop and the officer continues to hit him. No one does anything except beg to the police officer to stop. The officer continues to hit William, all William did was try to reason with him.
He continues to cry and beg for the police officer to stop. Another protester beings to try to pull William from the reach of the police officer, but the police officer hits him on the head which scares him into not doing anything else.
The police officer’s back is facing towards you and you are the only one that has the best angle to attack him without getting hit with the dreadful baton. The fellow protestors are looking at you and are silently pleading with their penetrating stares for you to do something. The other police officers are holding back the protesters that want to defend William, but you are the only one free to do anything about it.
You can attack the police officer and defend William, but attacking the police officer may result with you getting arrested. William was the only one brave enough to defend the protest.
You look around and see children watching the beating. They cry with fear in their eyes. They’re too young to see something so traumatizing. Thinking of their lost innocence infuriates you, and you suddenly become filled with an adrenaline rush that needs to leak out.
A woman touches you on the shoulder and says, “Please do something!" Only seconds have passed by and you William can’t wait any longer for you to make your decision.
If you decide to attack the police officer, turn to page (Choice #12: Save William).
If you decide to not attack the police officer, turn to page (Choice #11: Don’t save William).
Choice #7: Don’t take job at the factory
For your own protection, you decide to not take the job. The salary of the job was not worth your life. You begin to walk down the clean streets of Harlem and head to your cousin’s house. When you get to his house, you jump in your bed and your eyelids begin to feel as if they were a thousand pounds. You immediately doze off into deep sleep.
The next day you walk into town to look for a job again. As you are walking, you see a crowd of people. They’re all surrounding something. The spectators all have different facial expressions, some appear to be shocked, others look scared, and the rest look angry. You want to see what they are looking at, so you get closer to the attraction. When you get closer you hear someone yelling “Why!”
You say excuse me and try to get in the center of the circle, you get to the center and get a glimpse at the gruesome scene. There on the floor was Darrell, the guy who took the job at the factory. His body was covered in deep cuts and bruises.
You cannot think of a single reason why anyone would want to kill a person so gruesomely. Then it finally hits you, the angry white men protesting killed Darrell because he took their job. Innocent Darrell died because the white people were infuriated that Negroes took their jobs.
You become so angry, that the anger explodes inside you. You came to the North because you thought this wouldn’t happen in Harlem. This wasn’t fair, no person should die over a job. This would never happen to a white person, because white people were superior. If a white man were laying there on the floor dead there would be policemen surrounding the dead body, grieving white people crying in despair and it would be the most important story in the newspaper. But no, this was a black man, and black people never get any recognition. None of the white people who saw Darrell on the floor cared. Even though his body was covered from head to toe in cuts and bruises.They simply did not care.
A person taps you on the shoulder, and asks, “Are you alright?"
You didn’t realize that you were crying. You now feel the wet tears flowing down your face. “Yeah man, I’m alright,” you answer.
“Did you know him?” the man asks.
“No, I didn’t know him personally, I’m just crying because I’m tired of seeing this happen. I moved here from the South expecting to come here and not worry about things like this happening.” you answer.
The man takes a moment and nods in agreement. “My name is James. I have meetings a couple times a week at my shop down the street. The meetings are for us Negroes to discuss ways to get their rights, we’re members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. We meet to plan protests and find ways to get our rights. The next meeting is tonight, you should come, you’d be a great addition to our group.” James says.
“I’ll see if I can go today. My name is Bobby.”
James begins to walk away, but says, “I hope to see you later Bobby, goodbye.”
If you decide to go the Black Activist meeting, turn to page (Choice #8: Go to the Black Activist Meeting).
If you decide to not go to the Black Activist meeting, turn to page (Choice #9: Don’t go to the Black Activist Meeting).
Choice #8: Go to the Black Activist Meeting
That night you decide to go to the black activist meeting because you want to be a part of trying to end segregation and gain equal rights. You leave your cousin’s house and start walking to James's shop. You’re excited to go to the meeting because you have never before heard of Negroes coming together to fight for their rights.
The meeting is located in a shop that James owns, he owns a small store that sells hardware supplies.You’ve been here before when you had to buy nails. The shop was unique, it didn’t look like the other stores in the area. It was painted white and had a sign on the window that says, “Negroes Welcome.”
No white man would ever step foot inside James’s store because it was owned by a black man. You walk to the front of the shop and see a sign on the window that says “closed.” You look through the glass and see no lights on. You decide to head home because you think the meeting got canceled.
As you begin walking back, the door to the store opens and James says, “I’m glad you decided to come Bobby,” James says.
“I thought the meeting got canceled because I couldn’t see anything from outside the window,” you answer.
“No were here all right, we just make sure no one can see inside. We like to make sure no white people find out,” he says.
If a white person were to find out, something bad could happen. You’ve heard of some Negroes getting killed for organizing protests. James leads you to a room in the back of the store. In the room there are about twenty five other people, both male and female. James introduces you to them, “This is Bobby, he is from the South and is new to Harlem.”
As you stand awkwardly at the front, you decide to say something.
You say “Hi.” Most people respond hi back.
For the rest of the night they keep talking about a war in England and how America is joining it. They say something about a thing called the “Selective Service Act” and how it allows us Negroes to join the war. They say that if Negroes join the war, we would gain utter respect and recognition from white people. We would also get paid more than what we do now living in Harlem.
You consider joining the war because you want to be a part of earning your rights, nothing is more important than to help fight for your rights. If you were to join the war, it would help the future generations of Negroes.
The men in the group were excited to join the U.S. Army. They think that joining could change the lives of Negroes. Maybe you could join and be a part of the revolution in Negro History.
If you decide to join the military, turn to page (Choice #13: Join the military).
If you decide to not join the military, turn to page (Choice #10: Don’t join the military).
Choice #9: Don’t go to the Black Activist Meeting
You decide you don’t want to attend the Black Activist meeting because you think something bad will happen. You’ve heard of white people killing black people who participate in the organization of protest and you don’t want to die. Seeing Darrell’s dead body so gruesomely beaten in the street has really made you not want to risk anything. You don’t want what happened to him, happen to you.
You head into town to get some food, when you get there you see another commotion. You hope it’s not the same gruesome scene as yesterday, but thankfully its not, its something completely different. They’re are around fifty Negroes holding up signs. They have signs that say “Darrell” and are chanting songs about inequality.
There are multiple police officers supervising the protest. You could see the annoyance on the faces of the police officers. They watch with hawk eyes to make sure not white person go hurt. The protesters begin to scream “We deserve our rights!”
Children are participating in this protest by holding signs that say the same thing as the other protesters. You feel a sense of joy seeing this, you hope that by the time they’re your age they’ll have the rights you’ve always wanted.
In the South no one ever protested, here in Harlem people protest for what they deserve. You aren’t used to the new atmosphere of protesting, but you fall more in love with it every second. As you are observing the protesters, you get eye contact with James. James waves at you and you wave back.
He begins to walk towards you and says “Hi Bobby. You should have gone to the meeting yesterday, we talked about some important stuff. Are you going to come to the next one?” James asks.
“I’m not sure, after seeing that man dead on the floor like that. I don’t want to risk my safety,” you say.
“Our meetings are safe Bobby, you don’t need to worry about your safety. Our meetings are always secret and they’re among us black folks. We’re having another meeting tonight, you should go. You’d be a great addition to fighting for our rights.”
“I’ll think about it James,” you say.
“Ok, well I hope to see you there tonight,” James says.
You go home and get ready for bed. You get in your small warm bed in the corner of your room and begin to think. Do you want to be involved in fighting for your rights? You want to help make a change to the lives of the future Negroes, but you don’t want to die. Is your life worth your rights? For the rest of the night you sleep with this thought in the back of your head.
If you decide to go to the Black Activist meeting, turn to page (Choice #8: Go to the Black Activist Meeting).
.
If you decide not go to the Black Activist meeting again, turn to page (Choice #5: Don’t go to the black activist meeting again).
.
Choice #10: Don’t join the military
Signing up for the war doesn’t seem like the best decision. You don’t believe that joining the war will get black people the rights they deserve. Before you go to your meeting, you need to do some house chores. You need to paint the outside of the house.
Working outside reminds you of living in the South. Although it reminds you of working in the South, this was different. You didn’t have to worry about your crops being infested with boll weevil bugs or the weather being too hot. You didn’t dread going outside in Harlem.
Once you had finished painting your cousin’s house, it was six o’clock. Another meeting of the black empowerment meetings was about to start in thirty minutes. You leave your house and begin walking to James’s shop. You arrive to James’s white shop, which was ironic because no white would ever step foot inside. Today, they’re going to talk more about the war. You make your way inside the back room of James’s shop and sit in your usual spot. Something feels different, everyone seems to be happier. You look around the room and see everyone smiling and laughing.
You think that signing up for the war makes people happier. James walks in and says “Good evening everyone.”
Everyone responds, “Good evening James.”
“Would anyone like to share anything?” James ask the group.
A young man named Alfred raised his hand which was quite odd because he never said anything, unless it was something rude or negative.
“Yes Alfred?” James asks.
“I think joining the war will get us rights. We need to show white people that we are as equal as them, and we deserve to be treated the same. We need to fight for the future Negroes. If I have kids, I don’t want them to be discriminated against. Every man in the group should join the war, it will give us better pay and it will prove our patriotism,” Alfred says.
This was the first positive thing you’ve ever heard him say. You understand Alfred because you also don’t want your future kids to see the traumatizing things you’ve seen, or worse be victims of them. Fighting in the war will prove that you are as equal as a white person, and that you deserve the same rights as them. You’ve always wanted to know what it was like to go to war, maybe this is your chance. You can join the military and earn your rights or not join and participate in war protest.
If you decide to join the military, turn to page (Choice #13: Join the military).
If you decide to not join the military and participate in the war protest, turn to page (Choice #6: Participate in War Protest).
Choice #11: Don’t save William
You decide not to attack the officer because you want to avoid going to jail. The police officer counties bashing at William as he is lying on the floor helplessly. You imagine yourself in his shoes, but you cannot allow your thought to change your decision. You don’t want to go to jail and if you do help him, you’ll be in a great deal of trouble. The thought of getting in trouble sends chills down your spine.
The rest of the protesters are staring at you and are silently pleading for you to do something. You feel as if everything is going in slow motion. A girl next to you is screaming in your ear, “Help him!” You shake your head side to side. To police officer is abusing his power and you’re doing nothing to stop it.
William is tries to yell but he can’t, he’s in too much pain. The officer hits him and suddenly stops. “That is what's going to happen to the rest of you if you disobey the police.” he yells.
The officer backs away and William lies there still. You get a glimpse at William, he has bruises, cuts and broken bones. You could have stopped the beating, but you didn’t.
A girl crouches next to him and begins crying in despair.
This reminds you of seeing Darrell. Darrell was beat to death just for taking a white mans job, does this make you as bad as the people who did that to Darrell? You feel an empty pit in your stomach. You wish you would’ve helped him, but it would’ve risked your life.
You could feel the stares from the other protesters. They know you didn’t help William. You were the only person who had a clear vantage point at the officer and you decided not to help William. You feel great regret as the other protesters continue to stare and talk amongst them self. This could possibly be one of the worst decisions of your life.
You feel too ashamed to talk to anyone and go straight home. You lay in your bed and stare at the ceiling. The pit in your stomach continues to grow, you picture yourself in William’s shoes. The police officer keeps hitting you when you aren’t even fighting back. You stop thinking about it because you want to forget it ever happened. You close your eyes and force yourself to sleep.
The next day you wake up and look out your window. The sky looks angry because it is filled with dark gray clouds. Someone knocks on your door. Its James, you want to pretend you aren’t home because you feel ashamed. James knocks again and says, “It’s me, James.”
You swing open the door and he says, “Hi Bobby.”
“Hi James, how can I help you?” you ask.
“I’ve had a really long night, because I was at Williams mom’s house. She is completely heartbroken, William died from his wounds. She was crying all night. I needed to stay there to comfort her,” James says.
“I’m sorry to hear that, it should’ve never happened. I wish I would’ve stopped it. It’s all my fault,” you say.
James replies, “It was never your fault, it was the fault of those evil officers. No man should ever be beaten that way, it’s cruel. I have to go now, my wife is probably wondering where I’m at,”
“Goodbye, James.” you say.
“Goodbye, Bobby.” he replies.
You feel terrible because you didn’t help William. He died because you didn’t save him, you can never live with yourself or face his family members. You never attend another black activist meeting again and keep to yourself for the rest of your life in Harlem.
~The End~
Choice #12: Save William
You have a clear vantage point of the officer beating William. He continues to bash at him with powerful blows, you need to help William as soon as possible. The officer’s back is towards you and this is the best time to attack him.
Your adrenaline rush kicks in and you attack him. You jump on his back and put your arm around his neck. You wrap your arm tighter and tighter. He tries to move your hand, but your grip is too strong. He continues to struggle to move your hand. The officer drops to his knees.
The other officers continue holding the other protesters back finally realize what is happening, and race to you and try to pry you off of the officer’s back. As they try to pull you off, your arm continues to get tighter and tighter around his neck.
You start to feel him struggling to breathe. He tries to speak, but he can’t because of the force being out on his adam’s apple. You see the life leaving his eyes, when suddenly something hits you on your head and knocks you out.
You feel something tugging at your arm and look up and see four police officers. The side of your head is in excruciating pain. They force you to stand up and you finally remember what happened.
The officers place the cold handcuffs on your wrist. They take you to an old brick building you’ve never seen before because it was on the other side of town. The police officer that is driving opens his door and gets off. The other police officer does the same. They open the door of the seat of where you are sitting at and say, “Get off the car,” You do what they say. For the rest of the walk to the building they verbally abuse.
You begin to recognize what this building is… It’s a jail. The police officers place you a cell and lock the door behind them. The cell is cold and damp and you have no blankets. They leave you in the cell for three days and only give you food and water.
Three days later...
When they take you out of the cell they lead you into a courtroom, because it is time for your trial. Your fellow protesters are in the seats watching and waiting for the verdict. The trial is short and not fair, you get sentenced to 3 years in the county prison.
Being in the prison for three years was miserable. As a Negro in jail you got treated worse than you did in the South. You got of prison May 26, 1920. When you got out you were surprised that W.E.B. Dubois was waiting there to greet you. W.E.B. Dubois was one of the co-founders of the NAACP, which stood for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. It turns out that you are a hero to the Negro community. He came to Harlem to meet you because he heard of your heroic actions. You are now a leader in the NAACP and continue to make progress fighting for the rights of Negroes.
~The End~
Choice #13: Join the military
Since the “Selective Service Act of 1917” was passed you were able to sign up for the war. The United States Army still segregated us Negro troops during the wars. You were “Private Bobby Smith.”
When you were selected out of the many African Americans that applied, you served in the 15th New York National Guard Regiment. The regiment was later well known for being the first African-American regiment to serve with the American Expeditionary Force, which was sent to Europe to fight in the Great War which would later be known as World War I.
Two Years Later…
“Aim for his head Bobby.” says your lieutenant.
The Germans keep shooting at you and your men, you need to shoot them down. You have your gun aimed at one, and he keeps firing his machine gun and doesn’t stop. You aim him down and shoot him in the head, and is body stumbles to the floor. “One down, twenty more to go,” says Lieutenant Europe.
You continue aiming down targets until Sergeant Johnson yells “Grenade!” You run before the grenade explodes and duck for cover so you don’t get hurt. You had become a professional at running from bombs because you had fought in too many battles to count.
You carefully get up from where you took cover and you’re surprised to see that the Germans were now less that 20 feet away. You needed to shot them down immediately. They begin to fire rapidly and hit three of your men, the men scream in pain. “I need to help them, cover for me Bobby!” says Lieutenant Sissle.
“Yes sir!” you replied. You aim the first target down and press the trigger. The enemy goes down and you continue the same process over and over again. The men who were shot were named Hamilton, Needham and Bill.
When you finished shooting the Germans, everyone began to move the injured men to safety. When they were in safety, you saw their gunshot wounds. Hamilton had been shot in the lung and needed immediate help. Bill was shot in the neck, which was causing him to lose blood fast, and Needham was lucky to have only been shot in the shoulder.
The men were cursing because of the pain from the gunshots. Getting wounded was a typical to happen in the war.
The routine was that some men carried the injured on their backs, while others covered. Many of the battles in the other infantries ended with someone dead, your infantry was lucky enough to have gone through a lot of battles without having anyone die.
Six months later…
War, such a short word which such a significant meaning. War kills people, wounds them or leaves them scarred for life. Although you’re proud to have served, you wish it wouldn’t of been such a brutal experience. You’ve seen so many people die, that when you see a dead body you don’t even flinch. The white men still treated the Negro soldiers with no respect.
Fighting with the Germans led them to nicknamed the 369th Infantry, the “Hellfighters.” Your infantry served for three hundred and ninety one consecutive days, more than any other American unit. When you got back from fighting the war, people called your infantry the “Harlem Hellfighters." You gained great fame throughout the states, but unfortunately it did not get you your rights.
They blamed any mistakes that happen during the war on the Negro soldiers. For everything Negroes endured during the war, we still did not get what we had expected… respect. The war was so traumatizing you can’t even get a full nights sleep. You always have flashbacks of the war which led to anxiety attacks.
~The End~
You look out your window, and see the bright sun staring down at your crops. It’s seven in the morning, and it feels as if you only got an hour of sleep. You feel as if someone is stabbing you in the back from being so sore from tending to your cotton crops.
You get out of bed and change to start your day. You have to continue tending to the crops, which means standing in the sun all day and making sure that there are not bollweevil bugs. Bollweevil bugs are pests that eat the cotton buds and flowers of the cotton. After they eat it, the cotton becomes worthless. You dream of when you will be able to just sit on your porch and not have anything to worry about, but you know that’s not possible for Negroes in the South.
Racism and discrimination are at their peak in Alabama, and it’s not safe for us black folks. Most white people in Alabama are cruel. They’ll look for any reason to kill a black person.
Last week, your neighbor’s son, Tyler, was lynched for being accused of raping a white woman. You know that is not true because Tyler was helping you tend to your crops when the rape supposedly happened. You couldn’t help him either because the white men took him at night when everyone was sleeping. They left his dead, bruised body in his father’s yard. It was left there as a message to us black folks.
Today, April 6, 1917, started off as just another other day, but little did you know that this would be the day that you would make an ultimate life decision.
You need to go into town to buy supplies to tend to your crops. As you’re on your way to town, you run into your friend, Jacob.
“Oh hey Bobby, I didn’t think I’d be running into you today,” he says to you. He’s carrying a lot of bags that are filled with stuff, and you are wondering where he’s headed.
“What do you got in your bags?” you ask.
“I’ve got my clothes. I’m moving up North, living down here in Alabama isn’t safe anymore,” Jacob says.
“Why do you not think it’s safe anymore?” you ask.
“Let’s face it Bobby, us Negroes aren’t welcome here anymore. These Jim Crow laws make me feel like a second class citizen. I hear it's different up North, they aren’t so racist up there. They also have better jobs that will pay us more without requiring us to work in the sun all day,” he tells you with a sudden enthusiasm.
“What city are you going to now?” you wonder.
“I am going to live with my brother Thomas in Harlem, New York. You should come up there, I heard you ain’t doin so good,” he answers you.
“I’ll consider it. Growing cotton isn’t cutting it. A third of my crops are gone because of those darn boll weevil bugs,” you tell him.
“Well my train is here now, I gotta go. I wish you luck and hope I see you in Harlem one day!” he says while slowly walking away.
Once you are finished getting the supplies you need from town, you make your way back home. While you’re on your way, you notice a commotion. You stop to see what has happened. A little black boy has been beaten to death.
You cannot think of any person that would do this to an innocent child. Although white people are cruel in the South, you would never do this to a white child. Seeing the child dead like that infuriates you, and makes you rethink your safety in Alabama.
The image keeps replaying in your head of the innocent child on the floor. You remember what Jacob says, “I heard its different up North, they aren’t so racist.”
Maybe you could leave everything behind and move to Harlem. You could move in with your cousin to ensure your safety, but you would be leaving everything you’ve ever known behind. You would also have to leave behind your entire belongings apart from everything that fits in your suitcase. Is it worth moving to Harlem?
If you decide to move up North to Harlem, New York turn to page (Choice #3: Move to Harlem).
If you decide to stay in Alabama and continue growing cotton turn to page (Choice #1: Stay in Alabama).
Choice #1: Stay in Alabama
The next day you go to visit your friend Tyler. When you get to his house, you hear crying from inside.
You knock on the door and ask, “Is anyone home?” No one answers. You look through the window, and see his wife lying on the floor. You open the door and approach his wife laying on the floor.
“Jenny are you okay? What's wrong?” you ask.
“They hung Tyler, Bobby,” she says.
“What do you mean they hung him?” you wonder.
“They came at night and took him because he took a white man’s watch,” Jenny says.
“Who came?” you ask.
“The white men came. They took him and killed him just because he took that man’s watch. His life is worth more than a watch. That night we were about to go to sleep, and someone knocked on the door. I went to check who it was and it was four white men.
“I opened the door and asked, ‘How may I help you?’ and they answered ‘Is your husband Tyler here?’ ‘Yes he’s here changing,’ I replied.
“Once I said that he was there, the men pushed me out of the way and barged inside the house to find him. I didn’t know what they wanted. They went into our bedroom, and that’s when I realized something bad was about to happen.
“They dragged him out and they began to yell at him. They insulted him and called him a ‘useless Negro.’ I tried to help him, but they just pushed me down and hit me. Everytime I tried to help, they would just beat me again. When they were beating me, two of the white men took Tyler to town and hung him. I saw his body hung when I went to go look for him.”
The rest of the night you stayed with Jenny to make sure she was fine. You keep thinking of this incident, and it infuriates you. It makes you rethink your decision to stay in Alabama. You have seen so many cruel acts of racism, that you can’t even remember the basic details of each incident. You feel pain for Jenny, who was a victim of these cruel white men. You’ve never seen anyone look so hurt. You start to weigh the benefits of staying in Alabama or leaving to Harlem.
If you move to Harlem, you won’t have to deal with this anymore. You remember what Jacob said, “I hear it's different up North, they aren’t so racist up there. They also have better jobs that will pay us more without requiring us to work in the sun all day.”
If you leave, you’d have to leave everything you have behind and start a new life and live with your cousin and his family. You might have to leave your stuff behind, but at least you’re safe and not discriminated against.
If you continue to stay in Alabama, you can continue your life here and you won’t have to worry about not having a job and spending your savings for the trolley ride to the Harlem. You can make something different of your life and still be surrounded by the friends you grew up with. You might even start a family.
If you decide to move to Harlem, turn to page (Choice #3: Move to Harlem).
If you decide to stay in Alabama again, turn to page (Choice #2: Stay in Alabama Again).
Choice #2: Stay in Alabama Again
The next day you decide to take a break off of work after the loss of Tyler. Seeing his wife, Jenny, so hurt was horrible, and you will never get over that. You’re still infuriated about the incident. You continue to think about what happened while rocking back and forth on your rocking chair. You stare at the beautiful view of the sky from your porch and fall into deep sleep. You dream of your life in a place where Negro’s aren’t discriminated against.
A cold breeze hits you, and you suddenly jump up. You wake up confused, you had been asleep for so long that it was now pitch black, and you can’t see anything. You start to make your way inside, until you hear what sounds like people talking. You go to the side of your house where the voices sound like they’re coming from and look. You see nothing and walk back to your front door.
As you are walking back to your front door, you see something strange. You see something that looks like a small fire floating in the mid air. You think you’re hallucinating, and ignore it.You go back inside your house and try to fall asleep. As you try to fall asleep, you look out the window of your room and see another strange thing. You see what appears to be another torch floating in mid air, but the only difference is that this one is going really fast. You know it couldn’t be you imagining another floating torch, so you decide to go check outside again. When you go outside, you see something that makes your stomach drop.
You see people dressed in all white with triangular hats on horses. They’re all carrying torches, and are surrounding every side of your house. You’ve heard of these people. They call themselves the Ku-Klux, and they loathe Negroes. You don’t know what’s about to happen, but you know it’s not good. Your house is in the middle of nowhere, and no one can help you.
You fear the worst, and look around for a way to escape, but find nothing. You need to do something to get out of this.
A person on a horse shouts, “Burn up the Negro!” Once he says that, they being throwing the torches into your cotton fields in unison, as if it was a ritual. Your cotton plants engulf in flames, and the fire begins to creep its way to your house. You’re stuck, and completely hopeless.
Your house begins to quickly catch on fire. You start to yell for help, and you realize that yelling isn’t going to help. The smell of your burning house becomes toxic, and you begin to suffocate from breathing the smoke. You try to run out of your house, but get third degree burns that make you scream in pain. This is the end of your life, and you did nothing wrong.
~The End~
Choice #3: Move to Harlem
You decide that moving to Harlem is the best thing to do. You’re going to start a new life, and you couldn’t be more excited. You force yourself to sleep so you can be well rested for the long train ride to Harlem tomorrow.
You wake up excited, you’re going to live the life you’ve always wanted. You grab your savings from under your bed, and count how much you have. You didn’t have much in savings, but you had enough to get yourself to Harlem. You grab some clothes, and pack them in a small luggage. You leave your house in Alabama for the last time.
You get to the train station, and buy your tickets. On each train you took, you had to sit in the crowded, uncomfortable Negro section. You continue to ride the train for what seems to be like an eternity.
When you arrive in Harlem you are amazed by the buildings and lights. You have never seen anything like this before, it’s like a dream. The buildings were tall and brownish, the streets were paved and everything looked neat. This was the complete opposite of Alabama. Your cousin John meets you outside of a Negro restaurant called “Molasses.”
You walk with John to his house. When you get to his house, you greet his family and feast like you’ve never ate before. His wife, Marcy, makes food you’ve never seen before. Her food tastes like heaven in a bite. She made somethings called “meatloaf” and “cornbread.” You could taste the delicious flavors, and it tasted as if there was a flavor explosion in your mouth.
“Marcy, this food is delicious. Thank you so much,” you say.
“Why thank you, anything for family,” she replies.
You feel exhausted, so you go to the room they allowed you to stay in. You lay down on the bed and doze off.
The next day you go into town, and search for a job. You go to a shop, but as you approach, you see a sign that says, “No Negroes Welcome.” Although there is still racism, it is way better than being in Alabama. You see a big factory, with a lot of white men protesting outside it. You wonder why they are protesting.
You continue your search for a job, but you have no luck finding one. You’re exhausted from walking, so you sit down on the dirty floor and close your eyes for a while. You feel as if someone is staring at you, so you open your eyes. You see a white man staring at you. You’re afraid to look back at him fearing a beating. In Alabama you couldn’t even look at a white person without being “disrespectful.” However this man did not look like he was mad or going to hit you.
He walks toward you smiling and says, “My name is Harold Greenwald. I own that factory over there.”
He points to the factory where the men were protesting. “I have recently lost many of my workers. It seems as if you have no job, and I would like to make you a job offer. I will pay you more money than you’ve ever earned before. How’d you like that?”
You think, and have to decide whether or not you’re going to take the job at the factory where the men are protesting at.
If you decide to take the job at the factory, turn to page (Choice #4: Take the job at the factory).
If you decide to not take the job turn to page (Choice #7: Don’t take job at the factory).
Choice #4: Take the job at the factory
You begin to love your new job at the factory. You get to work inside all day and make parts for tractors. You don’t have to stand in the sun for hours tending to crops hoping they won’t be infested with boll weevil bugs.
The pay is great, and your new life in Harlem is beginning to blossom. For the rest of your work day, you continue making the parts for the tractors. The first co-worker you become friends with is named Darrell. Darrell was from Mississippi, and decided to move to Harlem to start new life, just like you. He was your first friend in Harlem.
When you get off of work, you begin your walk back to your cousin’s house. You want to get there as soon as possible to tell him how much you like it in Harlem, so you try to walk home as fast as possible. As you’re speed walking, you hear something behind you. You look behind you and there is nothing there.
You start to become distracted thinking of all the possibilities Harlem has for you, when you suddenly hear people talking behind you.
“That’s him,” they say.
You look behind you, and see one of the protesters from the factory pointing at you. He is with three other men, and they all look like they’re about to kill someone.
Your stomach starts to turn because you begin to get a bad feeling. You being to walk faster, and all of a sudden something hits you in the back of the head and you pass out from the impact.
You wake up with something cold touching your face. They take off the rag covering your eyes, and the man says, “This is what you get for taking our jobs.”
Your stomach turns. You know you’re not going to like what’s about to happen next.
The white men are all staring at you. You begin to try to plead for them to let you go, but one of the white men pushes a knife into your adam’s apple, and says, “Shut up.”
He stuffs a rag in your mouth to prevent you from talking. Your hands and feet were already hog tied, you look at the other men and see them watching him put the knife to your throat with a grins on their faces. You look to your left and see Darrell next to you. He has a large slash in his throat and doesn’t appear to be alive. You’re hopeless. This was their revenge for taking their jobs.
One of the guys says, “Hit the Negro!”
The tall white man suddenly takes out a large metal stick and begins to beat you. You’re in the middle of the forest, and no one can help you. You’re hopeless. He suddenly stops beating you, and takes out the same knife he used to make you shut up. He slashes your throat, and you feel the warm blood gushing out. You begin to suffocate because you cannot breathe. The large gap in your throat fills up with blood. This is the end of your life.
~The End~
Choice #5: Don’t go to the black activist meeting again
You being your usual walk to your cousin’s house after work, when you suddenly notice a white girl crying. You wonder if you should ask her what's wrong, but if you do, it can result in a serious consequence.
You begin to walk away, and the girl begins to cry harder. You feel bad and think it's morally right to ask her what is wrong. Your head is telling you no, but you can’t just leave her like this.
As you’re staring at her you notice she is bleeding intensively from her leg, and it is beginning to seep through her dress. She looks horrible. She moves her leg, and there is a puddle of blood on the floor. Negroes aren’t supposed to associate with white people, but this is an exception.
You approach her, and ask her what’s wrong and she simply ignores you. You run to the closest place to ask for help. The only thing open is a white only night club called “Smithson.” You look at her, and the puddle of blood getting larger. She needs help fast.
You burst the door open and say, “There’s a young girl outside bleeding a lot, and she’s crying, someone please help her!” Five white men immediately get up and go outside.
They ask her, “What happened?”
“That negro raped me,” she answers.
You begin to panic. “I would never do that,” you say nervously.
The white men are never going to believe you because you’re a Negro. You need to do something before they hurt you. You begin to run and look for somewhere to hide. You find a small space between two buildings that is perfect to hide in. The black night makes you undiscoverable.
You’ve been hiding for a couple hours now, and more people have begun to look. As you are hiding, you accidently step on a piece of wood that has nails sticking straight up. You scream from the sharp pain.
The white men hear your loud scream, and find you as you sit on the floor with your foot bleeding out. They drag you by the arms, and force you to stand up on your injured foot. You know what they’re about to do. They make you walk to a tree is with a hanging rope.
You scream, “I didn’t rape her, I would never do that.”
They tie the rope around your neck and begin to lift you off the ground pulling you higher and higher, this is the last thing you will ever see before you take your last breathe.
~The End~
Choice #6: Participate in War Protest
The next day you head to town to participate in your first war protest. Hundreds of black people come to participate. You have never participated in a protest, and you’re excited to be involved. The people that have come to participate in the protest all want the same thing; their rights. This was the first time you had ever seen so many black Negroes come together to support each other. All the Negroes participating feel empowered and the white spectators don’t like this.
The protesters are chanting songs about Negro empowerment and the inequality for Negroes in the war. Every person is holding a sign including you. This girl named Elizabeth gave you a sign and it says “Mr. President, why not give Negroes equal rights?” You are having the time of your life fighting for what you believe in.
About an hour later, the white people get the police They told the police officers that we were protesting aggressively. When the police hear this, they suddenly force everyone to stop protesting. One of the protestors named William begins to argue with the police officer. He was the only one out of one hundred and fifty protesters to defending the protest.
While William was arguing with the police man, the officer suddenly takes out his baton and begins to strike William with powerful blows. William begins to cry for the police officer to stop and the officer continues to hit him. No one does anything except beg to the police officer to stop. The officer continues to hit William, all William did was try to reason with him.
He continues to cry and beg for the police officer to stop. Another protester beings to try to pull William from the reach of the police officer, but the police officer hits him on the head which scares him into not doing anything else.
The police officer’s back is facing towards you and you are the only one that has the best angle to attack him without getting hit with the dreadful baton. The fellow protestors are looking at you and are silently pleading with their penetrating stares for you to do something. The other police officers are holding back the protesters that want to defend William, but you are the only one free to do anything about it.
You can attack the police officer and defend William, but attacking the police officer may result with you getting arrested. William was the only one brave enough to defend the protest.
You look around and see children watching the beating. They cry with fear in their eyes. They’re too young to see something so traumatizing. Thinking of their lost innocence infuriates you, and you suddenly become filled with an adrenaline rush that needs to leak out.
A woman touches you on the shoulder and says, “Please do something!" Only seconds have passed by and you William can’t wait any longer for you to make your decision.
If you decide to attack the police officer, turn to page (Choice #12: Save William).
If you decide to not attack the police officer, turn to page (Choice #11: Don’t save William).
Choice #7: Don’t take job at the factory
For your own protection, you decide to not take the job. The salary of the job was not worth your life. You begin to walk down the clean streets of Harlem and head to your cousin’s house. When you get to his house, you jump in your bed and your eyelids begin to feel as if they were a thousand pounds. You immediately doze off into deep sleep.
The next day you walk into town to look for a job again. As you are walking, you see a crowd of people. They’re all surrounding something. The spectators all have different facial expressions, some appear to be shocked, others look scared, and the rest look angry. You want to see what they are looking at, so you get closer to the attraction. When you get closer you hear someone yelling “Why!”
You say excuse me and try to get in the center of the circle, you get to the center and get a glimpse at the gruesome scene. There on the floor was Darrell, the guy who took the job at the factory. His body was covered in deep cuts and bruises.
You cannot think of a single reason why anyone would want to kill a person so gruesomely. Then it finally hits you, the angry white men protesting killed Darrell because he took their job. Innocent Darrell died because the white people were infuriated that Negroes took their jobs.
You become so angry, that the anger explodes inside you. You came to the North because you thought this wouldn’t happen in Harlem. This wasn’t fair, no person should die over a job. This would never happen to a white person, because white people were superior. If a white man were laying there on the floor dead there would be policemen surrounding the dead body, grieving white people crying in despair and it would be the most important story in the newspaper. But no, this was a black man, and black people never get any recognition. None of the white people who saw Darrell on the floor cared. Even though his body was covered from head to toe in cuts and bruises.They simply did not care.
A person taps you on the shoulder, and asks, “Are you alright?"
You didn’t realize that you were crying. You now feel the wet tears flowing down your face. “Yeah man, I’m alright,” you answer.
“Did you know him?” the man asks.
“No, I didn’t know him personally, I’m just crying because I’m tired of seeing this happen. I moved here from the South expecting to come here and not worry about things like this happening.” you answer.
The man takes a moment and nods in agreement. “My name is James. I have meetings a couple times a week at my shop down the street. The meetings are for us Negroes to discuss ways to get their rights, we’re members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. We meet to plan protests and find ways to get our rights. The next meeting is tonight, you should come, you’d be a great addition to our group.” James says.
“I’ll see if I can go today. My name is Bobby.”
James begins to walk away, but says, “I hope to see you later Bobby, goodbye.”
If you decide to go the Black Activist meeting, turn to page (Choice #8: Go to the Black Activist Meeting).
If you decide to not go to the Black Activist meeting, turn to page (Choice #9: Don’t go to the Black Activist Meeting).
Choice #8: Go to the Black Activist Meeting
That night you decide to go to the black activist meeting because you want to be a part of trying to end segregation and gain equal rights. You leave your cousin’s house and start walking to James's shop. You’re excited to go to the meeting because you have never before heard of Negroes coming together to fight for their rights.
The meeting is located in a shop that James owns, he owns a small store that sells hardware supplies.You’ve been here before when you had to buy nails. The shop was unique, it didn’t look like the other stores in the area. It was painted white and had a sign on the window that says, “Negroes Welcome.”
No white man would ever step foot inside James’s store because it was owned by a black man. You walk to the front of the shop and see a sign on the window that says “closed.” You look through the glass and see no lights on. You decide to head home because you think the meeting got canceled.
As you begin walking back, the door to the store opens and James says, “I’m glad you decided to come Bobby,” James says.
“I thought the meeting got canceled because I couldn’t see anything from outside the window,” you answer.
“No were here all right, we just make sure no one can see inside. We like to make sure no white people find out,” he says.
If a white person were to find out, something bad could happen. You’ve heard of some Negroes getting killed for organizing protests. James leads you to a room in the back of the store. In the room there are about twenty five other people, both male and female. James introduces you to them, “This is Bobby, he is from the South and is new to Harlem.”
As you stand awkwardly at the front, you decide to say something.
You say “Hi.” Most people respond hi back.
For the rest of the night they keep talking about a war in England and how America is joining it. They say something about a thing called the “Selective Service Act” and how it allows us Negroes to join the war. They say that if Negroes join the war, we would gain utter respect and recognition from white people. We would also get paid more than what we do now living in Harlem.
You consider joining the war because you want to be a part of earning your rights, nothing is more important than to help fight for your rights. If you were to join the war, it would help the future generations of Negroes.
The men in the group were excited to join the U.S. Army. They think that joining could change the lives of Negroes. Maybe you could join and be a part of the revolution in Negro History.
If you decide to join the military, turn to page (Choice #13: Join the military).
If you decide to not join the military, turn to page (Choice #10: Don’t join the military).
Choice #9: Don’t go to the Black Activist Meeting
You decide you don’t want to attend the Black Activist meeting because you think something bad will happen. You’ve heard of white people killing black people who participate in the organization of protest and you don’t want to die. Seeing Darrell’s dead body so gruesomely beaten in the street has really made you not want to risk anything. You don’t want what happened to him, happen to you.
You head into town to get some food, when you get there you see another commotion. You hope it’s not the same gruesome scene as yesterday, but thankfully its not, its something completely different. They’re are around fifty Negroes holding up signs. They have signs that say “Darrell” and are chanting songs about inequality.
There are multiple police officers supervising the protest. You could see the annoyance on the faces of the police officers. They watch with hawk eyes to make sure not white person go hurt. The protesters begin to scream “We deserve our rights!”
Children are participating in this protest by holding signs that say the same thing as the other protesters. You feel a sense of joy seeing this, you hope that by the time they’re your age they’ll have the rights you’ve always wanted.
In the South no one ever protested, here in Harlem people protest for what they deserve. You aren’t used to the new atmosphere of protesting, but you fall more in love with it every second. As you are observing the protesters, you get eye contact with James. James waves at you and you wave back.
He begins to walk towards you and says “Hi Bobby. You should have gone to the meeting yesterday, we talked about some important stuff. Are you going to come to the next one?” James asks.
“I’m not sure, after seeing that man dead on the floor like that. I don’t want to risk my safety,” you say.
“Our meetings are safe Bobby, you don’t need to worry about your safety. Our meetings are always secret and they’re among us black folks. We’re having another meeting tonight, you should go. You’d be a great addition to fighting for our rights.”
“I’ll think about it James,” you say.
“Ok, well I hope to see you there tonight,” James says.
You go home and get ready for bed. You get in your small warm bed in the corner of your room and begin to think. Do you want to be involved in fighting for your rights? You want to help make a change to the lives of the future Negroes, but you don’t want to die. Is your life worth your rights? For the rest of the night you sleep with this thought in the back of your head.
If you decide to go to the Black Activist meeting, turn to page (Choice #8: Go to the Black Activist Meeting).
.
If you decide not go to the Black Activist meeting again, turn to page (Choice #5: Don’t go to the black activist meeting again).
.
Choice #10: Don’t join the military
Signing up for the war doesn’t seem like the best decision. You don’t believe that joining the war will get black people the rights they deserve. Before you go to your meeting, you need to do some house chores. You need to paint the outside of the house.
Working outside reminds you of living in the South. Although it reminds you of working in the South, this was different. You didn’t have to worry about your crops being infested with boll weevil bugs or the weather being too hot. You didn’t dread going outside in Harlem.
Once you had finished painting your cousin’s house, it was six o’clock. Another meeting of the black empowerment meetings was about to start in thirty minutes. You leave your house and begin walking to James’s shop. You arrive to James’s white shop, which was ironic because no white would ever step foot inside. Today, they’re going to talk more about the war. You make your way inside the back room of James’s shop and sit in your usual spot. Something feels different, everyone seems to be happier. You look around the room and see everyone smiling and laughing.
You think that signing up for the war makes people happier. James walks in and says “Good evening everyone.”
Everyone responds, “Good evening James.”
“Would anyone like to share anything?” James ask the group.
A young man named Alfred raised his hand which was quite odd because he never said anything, unless it was something rude or negative.
“Yes Alfred?” James asks.
“I think joining the war will get us rights. We need to show white people that we are as equal as them, and we deserve to be treated the same. We need to fight for the future Negroes. If I have kids, I don’t want them to be discriminated against. Every man in the group should join the war, it will give us better pay and it will prove our patriotism,” Alfred says.
This was the first positive thing you’ve ever heard him say. You understand Alfred because you also don’t want your future kids to see the traumatizing things you’ve seen, or worse be victims of them. Fighting in the war will prove that you are as equal as a white person, and that you deserve the same rights as them. You’ve always wanted to know what it was like to go to war, maybe this is your chance. You can join the military and earn your rights or not join and participate in war protest.
If you decide to join the military, turn to page (Choice #13: Join the military).
If you decide to not join the military and participate in the war protest, turn to page (Choice #6: Participate in War Protest).
Choice #11: Don’t save William
You decide not to attack the officer because you want to avoid going to jail. The police officer counties bashing at William as he is lying on the floor helplessly. You imagine yourself in his shoes, but you cannot allow your thought to change your decision. You don’t want to go to jail and if you do help him, you’ll be in a great deal of trouble. The thought of getting in trouble sends chills down your spine.
The rest of the protesters are staring at you and are silently pleading for you to do something. You feel as if everything is going in slow motion. A girl next to you is screaming in your ear, “Help him!” You shake your head side to side. To police officer is abusing his power and you’re doing nothing to stop it.
William is tries to yell but he can’t, he’s in too much pain. The officer hits him and suddenly stops. “That is what's going to happen to the rest of you if you disobey the police.” he yells.
The officer backs away and William lies there still. You get a glimpse at William, he has bruises, cuts and broken bones. You could have stopped the beating, but you didn’t.
A girl crouches next to him and begins crying in despair.
This reminds you of seeing Darrell. Darrell was beat to death just for taking a white mans job, does this make you as bad as the people who did that to Darrell? You feel an empty pit in your stomach. You wish you would’ve helped him, but it would’ve risked your life.
You could feel the stares from the other protesters. They know you didn’t help William. You were the only person who had a clear vantage point at the officer and you decided not to help William. You feel great regret as the other protesters continue to stare and talk amongst them self. This could possibly be one of the worst decisions of your life.
You feel too ashamed to talk to anyone and go straight home. You lay in your bed and stare at the ceiling. The pit in your stomach continues to grow, you picture yourself in William’s shoes. The police officer keeps hitting you when you aren’t even fighting back. You stop thinking about it because you want to forget it ever happened. You close your eyes and force yourself to sleep.
The next day you wake up and look out your window. The sky looks angry because it is filled with dark gray clouds. Someone knocks on your door. Its James, you want to pretend you aren’t home because you feel ashamed. James knocks again and says, “It’s me, James.”
You swing open the door and he says, “Hi Bobby.”
“Hi James, how can I help you?” you ask.
“I’ve had a really long night, because I was at Williams mom’s house. She is completely heartbroken, William died from his wounds. She was crying all night. I needed to stay there to comfort her,” James says.
“I’m sorry to hear that, it should’ve never happened. I wish I would’ve stopped it. It’s all my fault,” you say.
James replies, “It was never your fault, it was the fault of those evil officers. No man should ever be beaten that way, it’s cruel. I have to go now, my wife is probably wondering where I’m at,”
“Goodbye, James.” you say.
“Goodbye, Bobby.” he replies.
You feel terrible because you didn’t help William. He died because you didn’t save him, you can never live with yourself or face his family members. You never attend another black activist meeting again and keep to yourself for the rest of your life in Harlem.
~The End~
Choice #12: Save William
You have a clear vantage point of the officer beating William. He continues to bash at him with powerful blows, you need to help William as soon as possible. The officer’s back is towards you and this is the best time to attack him.
Your adrenaline rush kicks in and you attack him. You jump on his back and put your arm around his neck. You wrap your arm tighter and tighter. He tries to move your hand, but your grip is too strong. He continues to struggle to move your hand. The officer drops to his knees.
The other officers continue holding the other protesters back finally realize what is happening, and race to you and try to pry you off of the officer’s back. As they try to pull you off, your arm continues to get tighter and tighter around his neck.
You start to feel him struggling to breathe. He tries to speak, but he can’t because of the force being out on his adam’s apple. You see the life leaving his eyes, when suddenly something hits you on your head and knocks you out.
You feel something tugging at your arm and look up and see four police officers. The side of your head is in excruciating pain. They force you to stand up and you finally remember what happened.
The officers place the cold handcuffs on your wrist. They take you to an old brick building you’ve never seen before because it was on the other side of town. The police officer that is driving opens his door and gets off. The other police officer does the same. They open the door of the seat of where you are sitting at and say, “Get off the car,” You do what they say. For the rest of the walk to the building they verbally abuse.
You begin to recognize what this building is… It’s a jail. The police officers place you a cell and lock the door behind them. The cell is cold and damp and you have no blankets. They leave you in the cell for three days and only give you food and water.
Three days later...
When they take you out of the cell they lead you into a courtroom, because it is time for your trial. Your fellow protesters are in the seats watching and waiting for the verdict. The trial is short and not fair, you get sentenced to 3 years in the county prison.
Being in the prison for three years was miserable. As a Negro in jail you got treated worse than you did in the South. You got of prison May 26, 1920. When you got out you were surprised that W.E.B. Dubois was waiting there to greet you. W.E.B. Dubois was one of the co-founders of the NAACP, which stood for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. It turns out that you are a hero to the Negro community. He came to Harlem to meet you because he heard of your heroic actions. You are now a leader in the NAACP and continue to make progress fighting for the rights of Negroes.
~The End~
Choice #13: Join the military
Since the “Selective Service Act of 1917” was passed you were able to sign up for the war. The United States Army still segregated us Negro troops during the wars. You were “Private Bobby Smith.”
When you were selected out of the many African Americans that applied, you served in the 15th New York National Guard Regiment. The regiment was later well known for being the first African-American regiment to serve with the American Expeditionary Force, which was sent to Europe to fight in the Great War which would later be known as World War I.
Two Years Later…
“Aim for his head Bobby.” says your lieutenant.
The Germans keep shooting at you and your men, you need to shoot them down. You have your gun aimed at one, and he keeps firing his machine gun and doesn’t stop. You aim him down and shoot him in the head, and is body stumbles to the floor. “One down, twenty more to go,” says Lieutenant Europe.
You continue aiming down targets until Sergeant Johnson yells “Grenade!” You run before the grenade explodes and duck for cover so you don’t get hurt. You had become a professional at running from bombs because you had fought in too many battles to count.
You carefully get up from where you took cover and you’re surprised to see that the Germans were now less that 20 feet away. You needed to shot them down immediately. They begin to fire rapidly and hit three of your men, the men scream in pain. “I need to help them, cover for me Bobby!” says Lieutenant Sissle.
“Yes sir!” you replied. You aim the first target down and press the trigger. The enemy goes down and you continue the same process over and over again. The men who were shot were named Hamilton, Needham and Bill.
When you finished shooting the Germans, everyone began to move the injured men to safety. When they were in safety, you saw their gunshot wounds. Hamilton had been shot in the lung and needed immediate help. Bill was shot in the neck, which was causing him to lose blood fast, and Needham was lucky to have only been shot in the shoulder.
The men were cursing because of the pain from the gunshots. Getting wounded was a typical to happen in the war.
The routine was that some men carried the injured on their backs, while others covered. Many of the battles in the other infantries ended with someone dead, your infantry was lucky enough to have gone through a lot of battles without having anyone die.
Six months later…
War, such a short word which such a significant meaning. War kills people, wounds them or leaves them scarred for life. Although you’re proud to have served, you wish it wouldn’t of been such a brutal experience. You’ve seen so many people die, that when you see a dead body you don’t even flinch. The white men still treated the Negro soldiers with no respect.
Fighting with the Germans led them to nicknamed the 369th Infantry, the “Hellfighters.” Your infantry served for three hundred and ninety one consecutive days, more than any other American unit. When you got back from fighting the war, people called your infantry the “Harlem Hellfighters." You gained great fame throughout the states, but unfortunately it did not get you your rights.
They blamed any mistakes that happen during the war on the Negro soldiers. For everything Negroes endured during the war, we still did not get what we had expected… respect. The war was so traumatizing you can’t even get a full nights sleep. You always have flashbacks of the war which led to anxiety attacks.
~The End~