The Times They Are A-Changing

In the summer of 1961, Judy and I (who were seriously dating at the time) drove to Glorieta, New Mexico with three college colleagues to participate in Student Week at Glorieta. We stopped in Amarillo, Texas, to get some lunch. We were not seated. The owner of the restaurant came, told us we would have to leave and escorted all of us to the door. One of our friends was black. In the fall of 1962 another friend and myself from Oklahoma Baptist University tried unsuccessfully to buy tickets to admit us into the OU and Texas football game. Since we were already in the area, we decided to stay over on Sunday and go to church to hear a rather well-known Baptist Preacher. The Church's usher told us we could not sit on the main floor, so he would take us to the balcony. My friend was black. We skipped church that day and drove back to Oklahoma Baptist University having neither seen the football game nor gone to church. Today, some fifty years later, our nation stops to celebrate a holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., an Afro-American Baptist Preacher. Also today, our nation inaugurates an Afro-American President for his second term of office. In 1964, Bob Dylan was singing, "The times they are a changing." Yes, how the times have changed. Deo gratis!