Laurel day - part 4

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There was a party that afternoon for all the people who had participated in the demonstration at Laurel. A good thing, because we were all hungry and thirsty after not being served in four eating places. Muriel, who had been in my group in the demonstration, got good and drunk and was calling everyone “darkling.” Silly, naive me, I didn't take the least advantage of the situation. I felt really sad to see this woman, who had been so strong and dignified earlier in the day, acting so foolish. How's that for making an impression on me, though, in just one morning and one afternoon, to be remembered for 37 years?

I probably left the party early because I had a date for a concert that evening. Jazz musician Bobby Timmons was playing on campus. I couldn't have met Violet Cameron earlier than the Wednesday before, but she was pretty, her friends said she spoke three languages, and she was happy to have me take her to the concert. That could have been because she was really into the music! She was jumping up and down in her seat with excitement. I listened harder and decided I could learn to like it too. Through graduate school, Bobby Timmons, Lee Morgan, and Horace Silver were the musicians I listened to when I had some serious math to study, and it's because of Violet's enthusiasm. That's not bad for making an impression either.

I took Violet back to her house (remember I called myself naive a couple of paragraphs above? I wasn't kidding.) and headed back to the Howard campus, where there was a sorority dance, I think Zeta Phi Beta. I had been hearing all week that the sororities at Howard were very color conscious; that is, they wouldn't accept people who were too dark skinned. I can't testify to that. All I remember about that dance is dancing close with a very dark-skinned girl who told me proudly, “Ah'm a Zeta.”