
Lucille Times (April 22, 1921 – August 16, 2021)
was an American
civil rights activist
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...
. She was active in the struggle for
civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...
in
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Army major general Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River on the Gulf Coastal Plain. The population was 2 ...
throughout her adult life. Times worked for the cause at a time when the city was at the center of the national movement.
Early life
Lucille was born on April 22, 1921, in
Hope Hull, Alabama
Hope Hull, also known as McGehee's Switch, is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Alabama, United States, southwest of Montgomery.
It is home to the drive-through zoological park ''Alabama Safari Park''.
History
Hope Hull, a stop ...
. Her mother died when Lucille was very young and she was raised by her father, William Sharp in a Christian home with six siblings. During her childhood years the family lived in Chicago, Detroit and Alabama. Mr. Sharp strongly imprinted two ideas on Lucille: The first: "You are no better than anyone else" and the second: "When you're right don't back down."
Lucille married her husband, Charlie Times on February 3, 1939. She and Charlie joined the
NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...
shortly after marriage, and in 1950, when the NAACP was banned the couple hosted meetings in their home, despite the danger. In 1950, both Lucille and her husband became registered voters. In 1952, they opened the Times Café (a.k.a. "Sugarhill") on Holt Street, which operated continuously until 1986.
Activism
In Detroit
When Times lived in
Detroit
Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
, she was part of a successful
boycott
A boycott is an act of nonviolent resistance, nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organisation, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for Morality, moral, society, social, politics, political, or Environmenta ...
of a butcher shop on 12th Street (later named Rosa Parks Blvd). The shop's Polish proprietor sold some bad meat to a black man and refused to replace the meat or give him a refund. The neighborhood residents became indignant and refused to shop there and the shop went out of business in less than a month.
Montgomery bus boycott
In a public conversation at the
Rosa Parks Museum in 2017, Times recounted her story following her claim that she started the
Montgomery bus boycott
The Montgomery bus boycott was a political and social boycott, protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery, Alabama. It was a foundational event in the civil rights movement in the United ...
. On June 15, 1955, she drove her 1955
Buick Special
The Buick Special was an automobile produced by Buick. It was usually Buick's lowest-priced model, starting out as a full-size car in 1936 and returning in 1961 (after a two-year hiatus) as a mid-size. The Special was built for several decades an ...
to the cleaners on the Mobile Highway. On the way, bus driver
James F. Blake tried to force her car off of the road three times. After she pulled into the cleaners parking lot, Blake exited his bus and confronted her with, "you're a black son of a bitch!" Times responded with "you're a white son of a bitch!" and they immediately started physically fighting. Soon two motorcycle policemen arrived to break them up. At that time Times bit Blake's left biceps.
After splitting them up one of the policemen talked to Blake separately and then approached Times angrily with "do you know that was a white man you called a 'white son of a bitch'?" Times responded "do you know that I was a black woman that he called a 'black son of a bitch.'" The policeman became infuriated and shook his flashlight in Times' face and said, "if you were a man I'd beat your head to jelly."
That night
E. D. Nixon came to the Times' Holt Street house and Times told him the story. Nixon responded, "I cannot do anything about what happened off of the bus, something's got to happen on the bus." Times' reply was, "I'm starting a boycott tomorrow!" Nixon said, "wait until after Thanksgiving when the sales come on and we'll hit them in the pocket." Times repeated emphatically, "I'm starting a boycott tomorrow!"
The next day Times, began her boycott with her car. She drove people in her neighborhood to their destinations and would pick up people waiting at the bus stops. Her husband helped with his car and they had a "donations" jar at the café where people made contributions for gasoline. The café became a ''de facto'' transportation hub, and people would call the café when they needed rides.
Twice during this time, Nixon brought
A. Philip Randolph
Asa Philip Randolph (April 15, 1889 – May 16, 1979) was an American labor unionist and civil rights activist. In 1925, he organized and led the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first successful African-American-led labor union. In the ...
to the Times' Holt Street house and Times told him her story. During this time Charlie Times began meeting secretly with Nixon at the café and planning for a large organized boycott. Mr. Times even kept these meetings secret from his wife until after the big boycott started in December. Times continued driving people as she had been until the big boycott ended in December 1956.
Death
Times died from
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
on August 16, 2021
at the age of 100 and was funeralized at
St Jude Catholic Church in Montgomery.
References
External links
The Montgomery Bus Boycott website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Times, Lucille
1921 births
2021 deaths
African-American activists
20th-century African-American women
Activists from Montgomery, Alabama
American civil rights activists
American women civil rights activists
African-American centenarians
American women centenarians
Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Alabama
African-American Catholics
Roman Catholic activists
21st-century African-American people
21st-century African-American women