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friend's father's house and make the signs. I guess we had our signs made,
and we were out there picketing by four o'clock.
Incidentally, my family owned two dogs. One was a collie and one
was a police dog-great big dogs. People were afraid of them, but they
wouldn't bite anybody. I don't know what good they were, except as pets.
So Elva and I had the dogs, and we were walking up and down with
our picket signs. We were telling people not to go in the store. We were
explaining to people what had happened, because we thought this was a
terrible thing, and Sargent Buster, who was the very favorite policeman in
the community— there were no Black policemen in Baltimore then— walked
up, took me by my plaits and Elva by her hand, and took the dogs, and led us
home. He stopped and told my grandfather what we were doing. Well,
Daddy- well, see, I was his first and favorite grandchild. And he was one of
these kind, who thought we were doing what was right. He was on that side,
you know. Of course, when Momma came home, and my mother came
home, and they learned about all this, we were greatly chastised, and
reprimanded, and said not to go back.
But the next morning the boys were there. And, honey child, we
couldn't wait for the next morning! We were there too! We were there too!
As I say, that was on November 18. On Tuesday, November 21, the
stores were practically closed down, because, believe it or not, we had young
people going from door to door, acquainting people. We had trucks and
loudspeakers going all around the neighborhood. People really were not
going in the stores. Consequently the stores were hurting. I mean
hurting.28
The community mobilization shook the corporate structure of A & P. The
eastern regional director of the A & P chain, William Scrimger, was dispatched to
Baltimore and met with the Citizens Committee at the Sharp Street Methodist
Church. A & P surrendered and by early December had hired 32 Black clerks, with
the promise of two Black managers to follow. At the meeting called to announce
the victory, Prophet Costonie "declared that 4,200 persons had been behind him in
the effort along with the heads of many organizations." Commenting on the
capitulation of A & P, Juanita Jackson Mitchell later recalled, That liberated the
people. It gave them a sense of power. It was a tremendous victory. The churches
too. And then we were ready to go on to Pennsylvania Avenue. ^
At the end of its first phase, the Buy Where You Can Work Movement was
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