January 4 1965

On January 4th 1965,I turned 10 years old. In 1965,I wanted to be President of the United States. In 1965 desiring to be President of the United States at 10 years old was not a popular ambition amongst other 10 year olds. Generally what you heard was kids wanting to be firemen,policemen or baseball players. Add to the fact that in 1965,given social conditions at the time along what what Bob Marley would refer to later as "mental slavery",there was a widespread belief at the predominently black CA Barbour School in Hartford Connecticut's North End thought of a black President as an impossible goal and by many kids,the ambition for me to be President was viewed upon as "acting white." For me,aiming for the White House at 10 years old in 1965 meant giving kids one more thing to tease,ridicule and threaten me about.

One person who didn't scoff at my ambition was my Mom. She in fact was thrilled by the thought. Mom was a Civil Rights and Democratic Party activist. In addition,Mom was born and raised in Washington DC. The White House and Capitol were just minutes away from the house where she grew up. One surefire way to make my Mom mad in addition to bringing up my Dad was bringing up the name of Richard Nixon who she remembers for taking his kids out of the DC Public Schools the moment the schools desegregated. Mom's political hero was Minneapolis Mayor Hubert Humphrey who she remembered for making a fiery speech in favor of the adoption of a Civil Rights Plank in the Democratic Party's 1948 Platform.  I remember Mom screaming with excitement at the TV when at a news conference,President Lyndon Johnson announced he would nominate now Senator Hubert Humphrey as his Vice Presidential running mate. That was my Mom. All she did once I made my ambition known was to push for me to make good grades,talk to me as to what careers I might want to pursue on the way to the White House,and on our family's summer trips to Washington,she would take me to the halls of Congress. I was impressed that Connecticut Senators Abraham Ribicoff and Thomas Dodd both knew my Mom on a first name basis. When at school classmates would tease,ridicule and threaten me for being Me,I could always find comfort in my Mom's encouragement and belief. While she would acknowledge that there would likely be added obstacles due to being Black in America,she'd always tell me "You can accomplish whatever you want if you put your mind to it."

Mom also encouraged us Daniels Brothers from an early age to think for ourselves and to stand up for our beliefs. I believe she probably questioned herself for stating that beginning in the Fall of 1964.

CA Barbour School was going to hold mock elections for Grades 4-6. I was in the 4th Grade. Mom at this time was working on behalf of the Johnson-Humphrey campaign. Mr.Eugene Green,my 4th Grade teacher was a friend of Mom's. Prior to the mock election,Mr.Green decided to decorate the classroom with posters and flyers of various candidates.Mom was happy to supply the classroom with posters and literature from the Johnson-Humphrey campaign as well as every other Democratic candidate on the ballot. It endeared Mom to most other students as part of the mock election project was for the students to bring in something about the Presidential candidate that they liked.

But where was the Republican literature?

At this point it was time for me to take action. I knew Mom hated the Republican candidate for President,Barry Goldwater,primarily due to his opposition to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. My grandmother felt as if she was witnessing a contrarian in the making.."Why do you have to be so contrary?" she would say to me. "If the wall was red,you might say it was black just to be different"
Armed with that information and seizing the opportunity to stand out,I informed Mom that I was going to support Barry Goldwater in the mock election. I knew why she hated him,I also knew by watching the news that he often wore Cowboy gear and rode horses. I liked Cowboys thus in my mind he couldn't be as evil as everyone was making him out to be.

When I look back,thinking about how Mom felt about Goldwater,knowing how active she was on behalf of the Johnson-Humphrey team,for her to go to Goldwater Headquarters to obtain a Goldwater poster for my school project might give someone just a glimpse of who my mother was. I still had to deal with talks like "Do you know what he stands for?" and warnings about if I'm going to be President how I better not be guided by blind ambition. If I talked back,I risked comparisons to Richard Nixon or my Dad,then you knew she was real mad and that it was time to back off

I was the only one from Grades 4-6 to vote for Goldwater and Goldwater lost in a landslide similar to CA Barbour School's mock election.

For my 10th birthday,a party was held at the Parma Restaurant in Downtown Hartford. A number of the neighborhood kids were in attendance along with their parents.
The Parma was an Italian Restaurant and we were all treated to a nice Italian meal. I cant remember anything except how I loved the Italian bread.

"Why?" One might ask "would a birthday party for a 10 year old be held at a downtown Hartford restaurant when such a gathering could have easily been held in the Daniels house or any number of houses in the neighborhood?

Mom,being who she was knew the Parma Restaurant was frequented by Hartford's politicians. Hartford's Mayor at the time,William Glynn made an appearance at this party,What was interesting about that appearance was Mom and Mayor Glynn had clashed in the past. I remember overhearing a heated phone conversation over a "Letter to the Editors' piece she wrote in the Hartford Courant criticizing him. At the same time it was clear that Mom was well respected in the neighborhood and it was best not to alienate her too much. Also making an appearance was the North End's City Councilman,West Indian born Collin Bennett

Already this is pretty heady stuff for a 10 year old who wants to be President,but a 10 year old,no matter how "heady" the occasion might be, still appreciates the traditional birthday ice cream and cake and the opening of presents.

I got a couple toys and a little money..the last present came from Mom in the form of two envelopes.One smaller One larger.Mom told me to open the smaller envelope first. It was an Eastern Airlines flight to Washington DC!  No Daniels Brother had ever flown in an airplane before!The Daniels family usually drove to Washington DC and we travelled to DC in the summertime,not in January. The thought of seeing my Granddaddy in January alone was exciting enough,but Mom said to open the second larger envelope.

It was a formal invitation to the Inauguration of President Lyndon Johnson and Vice President Hubert Humphrey. Apparently Mom forgave me for voting for Goldwater.



A postscript:Sometimes what goes around does come around as years later as a parent,there I was witnessing in a High School Debate,my daughter Rose as the only person speaking out against the Legalization of Marijuana..