01/31/2013 - Very few African Americans have witnessed as much of their history as Veteran Alyce Dixon.
She is 105 and has seen a century of social and cultural changes since Theodore Roosevelt was president.
Who better to reflect, during African American History Month, on the transitions in her life than a Veteran who has served in one World War and lived through all the other major military conflicts of the 20th century?
Alyce experienced racism and sexism but was born with a resilient strength that told her all along, before there was a song, that she would overcome.
She has seen 19 American Presidents including Barack Obama, the first African American president. Her opinion? “He’s brilliant!”
One of her first jobs was as a civilian at the Pentagon. “The building was still being built when I was there.” She worked in a secretarial pool where women waited each day for an assignment.
“They were calling for the white girls every day,” she recalls.
“I went in and talked to the man in charge. I said, ‘I’ve been sitting here now a whole week and you haven’t called me. What’s wrong?’ The man told me he was trying to find me a spot. So, I said, ‘What are you trying to find me, a ‘black’ spot?’
“I didn’t like that. God made us all. We all eat and sleep and bleed alike. It just doesn’t make any sense.” read more>>>
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