The World Was Watching

The World Was Watching
By: Sonja Moore

The world was watching -
In times of crisis they always do

What happens when individuals and leaders make choices that cause violence to ensue?
Negative events spark a change
In relationships around the nation
Controversial events cause changes
In one’s universe of obligation
Which one takes precedence – federal rights or the state’s?
How is it that racial hatred led to a desire to litigate?
Why was there such uproar to the call for integration?
Would the world really be turned upside down with the end of segregation?
How did innocent children become the dreaded enemies of a community?
Why did mothers work as agents of hate rather than agents of unity?
Lynch mobs and militia formed a barrier to academic success
Now, they are immortalized as perpetrators of civic unrest

The world watched as Little Rock showed its ugly side
It’s unfortunate that those hard lessons seem to have now been tossed aside
They seem to be forgotten in the annals of history
Why the world stopped watching remains a mystery.


December 12, 2008
Inspired by a Choices in Little Rock seminar session led by Steve Becton.