Rob:  Well, few people know that Martin Luther King was almost an Oklahoman. Straight out of the seminary, he came to Oklahoma in view of a call to preach at a local Baptist church.  Now, church deacons recognized his potential, but believed he was just too young to guide their congregation.  Now Dr. King went on to lead the civil rights movement; and here in Oklahoma, another civil rights leader emerged; her name is Clara Luper, and she’s still alive today.  We sat down with her two years ago, to reflect on the struggles and triumphs of her life.
Rob:  For the young people behind these paper plates, something as simple as eating at a lunch counter was once impossible in Oklahoma, because of the color of their skin.  But by using non violent methods, a young Clara Luper accomplished something even the courts couldn’t.  All after a simple bus trip with a group of students to an NAACP rally in New York.
Clara Luper:  My young people had the opportunity to, ride on a bus, to go into restaurants, café’s, and eat, which was really a big thing, because they had been part of the Jim Crow programs of their own state.  Then we came back to my beloved South, where we could not eat in any restaurants.  We would have to find a grocery store and get some baloney and crackers or something.  But when we got to Oklahoma City, these young people decided that they would take on a project.  And they said, well we have enjoyed eating in public places; let’s take on public accommodations; and this we did.
Rob:  So on August 19, 1958, Ms. Luper and her students marched to KATS Drug Store, and started what became known as the longest non violent sit-in movement in the history of the country.  And it took another six years for the final barriers to public accommodations, in Oklahoma, to be removed.
Luper:  We’ve come a long ways; believe me.  We’ve come from the back of the busses, to the front of the busses, to drivers, to owners.
Rob:  Yet Luper knows, there’s still more work to be done.
Luper:  When you start behind in a race, you have to run twice as fast as other people, in order to catch up.  What kept me moving?  I had to move.  I came from a family that believed in something that was bigger than themselves.  My family believed in a sun when it didn’t shine and in the rain when it didn’t fall.  They believed in a God that they had never seen, and they believed that some day, we would be able to stand, and stand strong.
Rob:  So unlike many courageous others who never saw freedom at its best, Clara Luper lives on in her commitment and contributions to the African American experience.
Luper:  Without the prayers, the hope, the training, the investment, and the sacrifice of a lot of people, there would be no Clara Luper.  I want to be remembered as a lover of people who wanted more than anything else to help somebody, knowing that if I could help somebody, I would not have lived in vain.
Rob:  Making the African American story not just one of obstacles overcome and battles won, but a message of hope that still lives on in Clara Luper.
Singer singing:  We shall overcome some day.