A: I was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, in 1938, and I came of age in the 1940s and ’50s in a deeply segregated world. Everything was divided — the schools, department stores, movie theaters, drinking fountains, even the neighborhoods. That reality shaped me. And yet, despite that environment, I grew up in a remarkably close and supportive community. My extended family lived nearby, and education was a deeply held value.
My mother was an elementary school principal; my aunt was a teacher. I went to school on foot — elementary and high school — and though those schools were segregated, we had excellent teachers.
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