The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963

The story begins on a Saturday when the weather in Flint, Michigan, feels like “about a zillion degrees below zero” (1). Fourth grader Kenny Watson, the 10-year-old narrator, and his family sit together on the couch in coats under a blanket. The family consists of Kenny’s father, Daniel Watson; Kenny’s mother, Wilona Watson; his younger sister, Joetta, whom the family calls Joey; and Kenny’s 13-year-old brother, Byron, who sits inches away, too “full-blown teenager” in attitude to huddle with the rest of the family. The weatherman on the TV says the area won’t see temperatures above freezing for five days and that the Atlanta region is in the mid-70s. Dad tries to cough to cover that information, but Momma—“the only one who wasn’t born in Flint so the cold was coldest to her” (2)—points out that she should have stayed in Alabama, as former acquaintance Moses Henderson warned her to do to avoid Michigan’s bitter cold. Dad, a dramatic storyteller, begins to tell the kids about Moses Henderson: “I almost wasn’t your father. You guys came real close to having a clown for a daddy named Hambone Henderson” (3). Everyone laughs at Dad’s story, even Momma. When Momma tries to say that her hometown of Birmingham might not be perfect but is at least warm, Dad reminds her that public bathrooms are segregated in Birmingham: “Oh yeah […] They’re a laugh a minute down there.