Read Online Fire in the Streets by Kekla Magoon - Free Book Online Page B

don’t begrudge.
    We hop forward to grab them. “Thanks.” Fast grab, quick retreat. Handful of napkins and we are out the door.
    â€œBye, Jimmy.” I use my sweetest, drippiest voice.
    â€œYeah, bye, Jimmy,” Patrice echoes in kind. It appears he barely hears us. Half laughing, we retreat to the street, perching on the bench against the window, while Emmalee lingers by the counter, licking her cone.

CHAPTER 19
    L ET’S GO BACK TO THE OFFICE,” I SAY, once Emmalee finally leaves Jimmy to his job and we’ve wiped our fingers clean.
    â€œI don’t wanna work,” says Patrice.
    â€œIt’s important,” I tell her.
    â€œI know,” she says, “but we never get to do anything fun anymore.”
    â€œWe just had ice cream.”
    Patrice rolls her eyes. “But we spent two hours working in order to get it.”
    â€œSchool’s starting so soon,” I say. “We’re not going to be able to go there as much.”
    â€œYeah, we’ll just be all cooped up indoors someplace else.”
    â€œNot the same.”
    â€œYeah-huh. Plus we have PE class tonight. What, do you want us to be all Panthers, all the time?” Patrice knows perfectly well that’s what I want.
    Emmalee butts in. “Okay, let’s go to the park, but while we’re there I’ll quiz you on the platform. Good enough?”
    Patrice shrugs. I put my hands on my hips. “Fine.”
    We accept Emmalee’s compromise by spending the afternoon in the park, working on memorizing the Black Panther Party’s Ten-Point Platform and Program. When we become full members, we have to be able to recite it at will, so we figure we should get a jump on it.
    â€œWhat we want. What we believe,” Emmalee prompts. “Number one?”
    â€œâ€˜We want freedom,’” I quote. “‘We want power to determine the destiny of our Black Community.’”
    â€œâ€˜We believe that black people will not be free until we are able to determine our destiny,’” Patrice says.
    â€œGood. Number two?”
    â€œâ€˜We want full employment for our people.’” I like this point especially, because it means Mama would always have a job. The second half is trickier, but I take a deep breath and do my best to say it. “‘We believe that the federal government is responsible and obligated to give every man employment or a guaranteed income. We believe that if the white American businessman will not give full employment, then the means of production should be taken from the businessmen and placed in the community so that the people of the communitycan organize and employ all of its people and give a high standard of living.’”
    â€œYou got it, word for word,” Emmalee says, sounding impressed.
    I smile. We already talked about this one, what it means. I remember, because I want it most. A “high standard of living” means always having food and shelter and a warm coat in the winter. The whole paragraph together means that instead of having a bunch of rich white bosses who hire and fire people and make all the money, big businesses should be owned by the people and everyone should share the profits. Raheem says this would be hard to make work in America, but the Panthers want us to try anyway.
    â€œNumber three?” Emmalee says.
    Patrice pipes in. “‘We want an end to the robbery by the white man of our Black Community.’ But I forget the second half. . . .”
    â€œIt’s long,” Emmalee says. “It says America owes black people money because of slavery. Let’s do number four.” She already has the platform memorized, ’cause things like that come easy to her.
    â€œâ€˜We want decent housing, fit for shelter of human beings.’” That means good apartment buildings like the one Patrice lives in, or a real house like Sam’s. Not like the