Beyond FASCINATION: “Whatever you think….”

Over at Simply Wait, author Patry Francis reflects on two memorable encounters from a recent trip to the grocery store. Check out the lively discussion in her comments section, too. I have a feeling her second encounter wasn’t triggered by the green of the stranger’s eyes, but by their intensity. I was captivated in a similar way while watching the second PBS segment of Eyes on the Prize (an appropriate title on so many levels!) about the Civil Rights Movement last night and was fascinated by that intensity in the eyes of so many people interviewed. There’s no looking away when you see someone like that, when you come across a person—even in a documentary—who views the world on such direct terms, who harbors such an intense understanding of what needs to be done. Diane Nash—a student at Nashville’s noted Fisk University in 1961 who organized sit-ins at lunch counters, founded a non-violent student group responsible for numerous peaceful but powerful protests, and selected students who would become the first Freedom Riders—is one of those people whose presence of mind and heart and soul ultimately impress, and whose eyes challenge assumptions at the very first glance.

For more striking photos of Nash and many other Civil Rights activists in action, check out the Civil Rights Movement Veterans site. Then mark your calendar for next Monday night for the final segment of Eyes on the Prize.