The Stolen Girls

“How wonderful when we all live together in harmony!" ~ Psalm 133:1

Smiles often reflect a universal language of happiness.  Their message can be misleading though.  People also smile when they’re frightened, embarrassed, or intimidated.  Such was the case in this photo capturing the “Stolen Girls’” expressions.  More on this photo later.

Inspired by Dr. King’s peaceful protests, more than 200 people marched from Friendship Baptist Church in Americus, GA to the Martin Theatre in July 1963 to protest its segregative practices.  Police responded with brute force: water hoses, cattle prods, and nightsticks.

Protesters were arrested.  Some were adults, but the vast majority of those taken into custody were teenagers.  When the city jail filled, dozens of young girls were housed at the Leesburg Stockade, an unremarkable, concrete structure at the end of a lonely country road.

The building was a relic from the 1940’s.  Rusted bars covered its windows giving mosquitos and roaches free rein.  The only water came from a dripping shower head; the lone toilet didn’t flush.  They ‘dined’ on egg sandwiches or rare hamburgers and slept on cement floors.

Many had joined the march without their parent’s knowledge.  Their families had no idea where they were for more than a week, when the local dogcatcher eventually broke the silence.

They spent 60 days imprisoned for defying segregation.

Word spread.  A 21-year-old volunteer, Danny Lyon, snuck into the stockade, and shot about 20 photographs including the one above.  A Chicago newspaper ran the images under the headline, “Kids Sleep on Jail Floor: Americus Hellhole”

Shirley Green-Reese, one of those jailed and now an Americus city councilwoman is often asked why she was smiling in the photo.  “I wasn’t smiling because of the situation,” she later admitted, “but because at 13 years old, I was happy to see anyone.”

The girls were finally released in mid-September.  They were never charged with any crime, but their parents each had to pay a two-dollar boarding fee.

Today, they’re speaking out about their experiences after more than 50 years in hope of getting closure and the recognition for the injustice.  They speak as one voice, telling the long overdue and hidden story of their illegal, abusive and degrading treatment.

It goes to show that the prettiest smile can hide the deepest secrets.  If you read stories written by the suicidal, some have been saved by a stranger’s kind word or a phone call to a suicide hotline.  Sometimes it can make all the difference.  Keep your eyes open.

Don’t disregard friends that smile all the time or ignore the ones who never talk about their problems.  They may need you the most.  So, how do you know if they don’t say anything.  I just like to assume everyone needs a friend and be available as often as possible.

Thank You Lord for my friends; those who walk alongside me, encouraging me, and loving me.  Help me to be more gracious to them, appreciating them and accepting their help.  Bless those who I call friends, that You may ever be in our midst.  Amen