The Colored Waiting Room

Kevin Shird is an activist, national youth advocate, public speaker, and author. Shird began dealing drugs at the age of sixteen, and later served almost twelve years in prison for drug trafficking. Today he works with young people to help them avoid the dangers of street culture and advocates for policy changes that support their safety and development. With his friend, award-winning R&B singer Mario (Mario Barrett), Shird cofounded the Do Right Foundation, a nonprofit that from 2008-2014 provided a lifeline to children living with family members abusing drugs. During the tenure of President Barack Obama, Shird worked with the White House Office on National Drug Control Policy and as part of the committee for President Obama's Clemency Project. During the protests in Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray, Shird was an action consultant to then-Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's administration. Today, Shird speaks at colleges and universities nationwide on public health policy, reentry into society after incarceration, and substance abuse prevention. He lives in Baltimore, MD. Nelson Malden owned and worked for a half-century at the Malden Brothers Barbershop. Martin Luther King Jr. was a client of his and the reverend at his church, and the two were friends until King’s assassination. During the civil rights movement, Malden distributed the Southern Courier newspaper, one of the few newspapers in the South to cover the African American community, and participated in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Later, Malden was the first African American to run for political office in the racially divided city of Montgomery, AL. He lives in Montgomery, AL.

Introduction


Part I




Heading South
Martin
America Lynched
Bloody Sunday
The Colored Waiting Room
March On


Part II




The Awakening
I Am a Black Man
Don't Boo, Vote
Leaders Among Us
Knowledge is Power
Women Who Lead
In the End
Murder in Memphis


Afterword: Race in America


Timeline