Spousal abuse is more commonplace than most people know.  Many couples stay together for the children sake never seeking help for the problem.  I documented my personal experience as a child growing up in this environment in my book called “Checkered Fences”.  I hope that my experiences will help others, in the same situation, to seek help.  Here are excerpts from my book.

“When I was twelve, my father’s mother, Grandmother Rose, passed.  This was the first time I ever saw my father cry.  From that day forward, my father never was the same.  He started to drink more and argue with my mother.  I would wake up in the middle of the night and hear a thumping noise against the wall.  I would get up and follow the sound to my parent’s room and listen at the door.  I could hear my mother hollering for my father to stop.  I would then knock at their bedroom door.  My father would say, “What do you want?  Go to bed.”

“No,” I would reply.  “Not until you stop hitting Moms.”

Daddy would then crack the bedroom door open and say, “Go to bed.  See there’s nothing wrong with your mother.”

I would look at my mother and could see she had been beaten.  “No,” I replied.  “Not until you stop!  You stop or I’ll wake the entire house up.”

“Okay, my father replied.  I’ll stop.  Now you go to bed,” he ordered closing his bedroom door.

I would stand in the hallway outside their bedroom door for about fifteen minutes.  Then I could hear my father knocking my mother’s head against the wall again and punching her in the stomach.  I started banging loudly on my parent’s bedroom door and yelling for my father to stop.

The next thing you know, the whole family was up asking what was wrong.  I told my sisters and brothers what was happening and everyone in the whole house would get upset.  My oldest sister, Joyce, would say we should call the police, but my father would always convince us doing so would only hurt the family.  “It wasn’t good to let the neighbors and other people know your family problems,” he would say.  Afterwards, my father would always promise to stop drinking, but he never did so.”

Alma Hudson, Author

Book:  Checkered Fences

Email Address:  Quench1@msn.com

Website URL:  http://www.eloquentbooks.com/CheckeredFences.html

Tagline:  Spousal Abuse

Short bio:  Alma Hudson works in legal management and is actively involved in community and environmental issues.  Ms. Hudson has an Associate’s and Bachelor of Arts Degree and lives with her two children and husband in California.

1960 to 65 – Civil Rights movement, John F. Kennedy (1961 to 1963) and Lyndon Johnson (1963 to 1965) were presidents.
1963 – President John F. Kennedy assassinated (1961 to 1963).

1965 to 70 – Demonstrations against Vietnam War, Lyndon Johnson (1963 to 1965) and Richard Nixon (1965 to 1974) were presidents.
1966 to 69 – Hippie movement, Richard Nixon (1965 to 1974) was president.

I grew up in an era of change.  I feel that it’s very important to document this change from a personal perspective so the youth of today can experience this change.  Below are excerpts from my book, “Checkered Fences”.

“I watched the afternoon news with my Daddy daily.  I especially remember the year 1968 and the many events that brought about social changes in America, both good and bad.  I remember the war in Vietnam waging and it being shown on our T.V. set daily.  The executing of Vietcong prisoners, the Tet Offensive, marches against the war, Martin Luther King Junior getting murdered in Memphis, and the riots that broke out in dozens of U.S. cities.  I remember watching as Senator Robert “Bobby” Kennedy gave his speech celebrating his win of the California Democratic primary and his getting shot shortly afterwards, live on T.V.  I remember us both sitting in disbelief watching.

How could I forget Cesar Chavez’s twenty-five day hunger strike on behalf of migrant workers, the civil rights movement, the women’s liberation movement, the Black Panther party, the raising of the black fisted glove by Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the Olympic games, Shirley Chisholm becoming the first black woman elected to Congress, the launching of Apollo 7, the first Black Studies Department at San Francisco State College, the hippies, and the flower children.”
Alma Hudson, Author

Book:  Checkered Fences

Email Address:  Quench1@msn.com

Website URL:  http://www.eloquentbooks.com/CheckeredFences.html

Tagline:  Political and Social Change of the 60’s & 70’s

Short bio:  Alma Hudson works in legal management and is actively involved in community and environmental issues.  Ms. Hudson has an Associate’s and Bachelor of Arts Degree and lives with her two children and husband.

There is a very little know secret about the history of arranged marriages in the United States of America.  Many of these practices were carried about to insure that daughters and/or women were married into families that were financially secure.  Here is an excerpt from my book, “Checkered Fences”, about my mother’s and myself personal experiences with the topic.  I was born in the year 1955.

“There in the living room sat three young men.  I stood in the living room with my hair parted down the middle in two pigtails.  Since we lived in the desert, I had dust on me from head to toe from playing basketball in the dirt.  I stood waiting for my father to finish his conversation.

I heard Daddy say to the young men, “Yes, she’s a good cook and house cleaner.  She also knows how to sew.  Diane, these are some of the guys I work with.  I need for you to bring us something to drink.” He said.

I looked at my father and asked, “What do you want me to make? Coffee, tea, or Kool-Aid?”

My Daddy looked at the three men and asked each of them what it was they wanted to drink.

“Coffee,” said one.  ‘Tea,” said another and “Kool-Aid,” said the third.

“I’ll have some coffee,” my father replied.

“Okay.” I said as I went into the kitchen to prepare the drinks.  I then asked Daddy, “Where’s Moms?”

“She’s working late,” my Daddy replied.

Later, I came out with the drinks and laid them on the coffee table.  “Is there anything else you need?”  I asked of my father, waiting to leave.

“Wait.” My daddy ordered.  “I want you to tell them how good you’re doing in school.  You know my daughter is an honor roll student,” he said to the young men.

I stood, not saying a word, looking at the floor.  One of the young men looked at me strangely and asked, “How old are you?”

“Sixteen.” I replied.

“Have you ever dated?” Asked another young man.

“No.” I replied.  Looking at my father, I asked, “Can I go now?”

“Okay,” he replied.

I happily and swiftly left the room, hoping that my brother was still waiting, I ran to the backyard.

“What took you so long?” My brother asked.

“Our Daddy,” I replied.  “He’s trying to marry me off again.”

“He just won’t give up, will he?” My brother replied.

“You know that’s how he met our mother,” I said to my brother.

“Really?” My brother replied.

“Yes, Daddy is a War World II Veteran.  That’s how he was able to get our house.  Daddy took a month’s vacation and went to his hometown in Ringgold, Louisiana, looking for a wife.  He asked around town for a wife and told everyone he was looking for a virgin.  He was shown several young girls. When he saw our mother picking cotton in the fields, he said now that’s the one.

They met on a Monday.  My father took her to church a couple of times.  Since she was thirteen years old, he asked our grandmother, Madea, if he could marry our mother.  Madea said she would consent only if our mother agreed to marry Daddy.  Moms said yes and she married our Daddy that Saturday of the same week.  Our mother was thirteen years old and our father was thirty years old.  Daddy then brought her to California.

Alma Hudson, Author

Book:  Checkered Fences

Email Address:  Quench1@msn.com

Website URL:  http://www.eloquentbooks.com/CheckeredFences.html

Tagline:  Men-Women Relationships/Arranged Marriages

Short bio:  Alma Hudson works in legal management and is actively involved in community and environmental issues.  Ms. Hudson has an Associate’s and Bachelor of Arts Degree and lives with her two children and husband.

Interracial relationships and marriages are quite common today.  But this hasn’t always been the case.  I wrote “Checkered Fences” to document that era prior to the changes of today.  This is my personal experiences in the year 1973.  Below are excerpt from my book.

“Four months later, I showed up on a Saturday morning as normal to babysit.  Mrs. Shaw was rushing about the kitchen and not dressed.  So, I offered to finish cooking breakfast so she could get dressed.  I looked from the kitchen to the stairwell and my eyes locked on a handsome young man who looked to be about twenty years old.  He stood about six foot two, with red hair and freckles.  He looked at me with a big smile and I was instantly attracted to him.  The fact I was attracted to him angered me.  I had never been attracted to any boy, especially a white one.  Following behind him on the stairs, was an attractive white woman who looked to be in her late thirties.  She had long, red hair, freckles, and stood about five foot nine.  She gave me an inquiring stern look.  I looked away and continued to cook breakfast.

Later in the story:

“I like you very much as you must know by now,” David stated, kissing me on both sides of my lips.  He lifted both of my arms over my head and pressed his body close to mine in an embrace.  I felt the nipples on my breast harden.  My body was telling me to hug and kiss him back, but my mind was screaming no.  My breath quickened and I started to kiss him back feeling pleasure with his touch.

After some time, I caught myself and pushed him back from me.  He looked at me and stepped towards me again.

“No, I can’t do this,” I stated.

“Why not,” he replied.  “You will be eighteen years old in three months.”

“You’re white and I’m black, it’s not allowed!  Besides, I don’t know anything about you.  Do you go around making out with every girl that looks good to you?  A good looking guy like you must have a whole stable of girls.”

“Yes, I’ve had girlfriends in the past but none like you.  You’re who I want and your color doesn’t make any difference to me,” he replied.

“Well I don’t think your mother would agree with you.  What would she say if she saw you kissing a black girl?” I replied angrily.”

Alma Hudson, Author

Book:  Checkered Fences

Email Address:  Quench1@msn.com

Website URL:  http://www.eloquentbooks.com/CheckeredFences.html

Tagline:  Interracial Dating in the Early 70’s

Short bio:  Alma Hudson works in legal management and is actively involved in community and environmental issues.  Ms. Hudson has an Associate’s and Bachelor of Arts Degree and lives with her two children and husband in California.

1955 – Blacks boycott buses in Montgomery; Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953 to 1961) was president.

1955 - Supreme Courts orders school desegregation, Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953 to 1961) was president.
1960 to 65 – Civil Rights movement, John F. Kennedy (1961 to 1963) and Lyndon Johnson (1963 to 1965) were presidents.
1963 – President John F. Kennedy assassinated (1961 to 1963).

Above is the time line in which I was born.  I was born in the year 1955 and was bused to school.  Here are excerpts from my book, “Checkered Fences” about my personal experiences.

“I not only had problems with the local black kids, I also encountered problems with the white children whom I attended grade school.  Since I was raised up in a small town, I was bussed to school.  I attended school with predominately white children.  Often, I was the only black kid in the class or occasionally there were two of us.

When I started kindergarten, at recess and lunchtime, I would go out to the playground to play.  None of the white children would play with me, so I would play on the monkey bars and swings by myself.  While I played on the monkey bars or a swing, the white kids would push me off and I would get hurt.  I would tell the playground monitor and my teacher.  They wouldn’t do anything about it.  So at recess and lunch, I would stay at my desk and eat lunch.  I didn’t speak to anyone unless I was asked a direct question.

While in kindergarten, one day my teacher instructed me to go to the nurse’s office.  I went to the nurse’s office and was given tests to do.  One of the tests consisted of a different shaped block puzzle.  I was asked to put the blocks in the slots where they belonged.  I quickly placed the blocks where they belonged.  The nurse then said to another lady in the room with her,

“I can’t find anything wrong with her.  I can’t see any reason to hold her back a grade.”

“But she never speaks,” responded the lady.

Now I thought this was very strange, since they both acted as if I wasn’t even there.  Not once did either of them ask me why I never talked or I would have told them why.  I was then instructed to go back to class.

My teacher called my mother one day after school, saying she wanted to hold me back in kindergarten.  My mother asked why.  My teacher stated it was because I never talked or played with the other children in class.  My mother replied to my teacher, that she didn’t care.  She demanded I be passed to the first grade, since I had passed all of my academic classes.”

Alma Hudson, Author

Book:  Checkered Fences

Email Address:  Quench1@msn.com

Website URL:  http://www.eloquentbooks.com/CheckeredFences.html

Tagline:  Discrimination and Race Relations

Short bio:  Alma Hudson works in legal management and is actively involved in community and environmental issues.  Ms. Hudson has an Associate’s and Bachelor of Arts Degree and lives with her two children and husband in California.