In 1939, Sam Tucker and his friend George Wilson walked into the Alexandria public library for a simple task, to get library cards. But in the era of Jim Crow, nothing was that simple. Tucker and Wilson were denied cards.
Tucker believed that if the government wanted to take our Black dollars for taxes then they should run us every public service and building we’re owed under the law, including library access. The court suggested that another library be built for us, but Tucker wasn’t having that.
Tucker gathered four other Black men to stage a sit in with him. The men walked in, and each applied for a library card. All were denied. They then grabbed books and sat in the library together until police escorted them out. Tucker proved he was willing to use nonviolent protest to press the issue, forcing the system to yield.
The court ruled that Black people had a right to use the library, proving 15 years before the Civil Rights Movement that protest moves the oppressors.
Tucker’s actions display the power we possess with protest. It may not be the answer to everything, but it is a valuable tool in our liberation arsenal that can force the system to act in our interest.