THE WASHINGTON D.C. RIOTS in 1968
The intersection of O Street NW and 7th St NW in Washington D.C. during the riots in April 1968. (Photographer unknown/Underwood Archives)
The Washington, D.C., riots of 1968 were a four-day period of civic uprising following the assassination of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968.
The police tried to keep the White House safe by keeping the protesters to 14th Street. The White House is at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue — where I worked.
I was 17 when Martin Luther King Jr. was killed and the riots started.
It was horrible to see the smoke getting closer and closer to me. The White House Guards kept telling us to go home. I had work to do, so they dragged me out and offered to walk me home. I said, "no thanks I just live up on 17th Street". I was escorted to my apartment, they said to run and not to go through Lafayette Park (right across from the White House where I would sit to feed the squirrels).
DC was in lockdown at 8pm. I either had to get out or go somewhere else and stay for 4 days. My roommate had a friend in Arlington, Virginia, so we went there and from the top of the hill we could see our town burning up in smoke and tanks moving through our beautiful home.
It was Cherry Blossom Season too. We wondered if our apartment and The White House would be there when we were allowed back and if the World would ever be the same again. Trembling at 17 years old, working at The White House during the Vietnam War and finding solace from the madness in the Cherry Blossoms.
2020 COVID-19 and Riots again for the injustice of human beings. I am safe in Australia now from the riots, but I am crying giant tears. The World of human injustice is still here and I can do nothing.