BlackLiberalBoomer

November 22, 1963. 45 years ago. Many Americans still remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard that the 35th President of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy had been assassinated in Dallas Texas.

I was, if you can believe it, in my 8th grade Civics class. We were supposed to be doing some kind of writing assignment, but it was Friday afternoon and everyone waiting for 3 pm when school would finally be out for the weekend. I clearly remember my teacher (can’t remember his name, but I remember he wore wire-rimmed glasses, though) sitting at his desk in the front of the room. Another teacher poked his head in the room and called my civics teacher to the teachers’ lounge where there was a radio. A few minutes later, my teacher came back to the room. Tears were streaming down his face. He told us what had happened, although he could barely get the words out of his mouth.

School was immediately dismissed. Everyone at school, everyone in the city, everyone in the country, everyone in the world seemingly was in shock. Even Walter Cronkite, the anchor of the CBS Evening News, cried on-air when he announced that the President had been killed. That’s the way it was.

Where were you on November 22, 1963?

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