SUZY STUMP: BEAUTIFUL MESSAGE >>>

This morning on the way to the Weekly Volcano World Headquarters I spotted a new Beautiful Angle poster stapled to a side of a building. It's a tribute to the new civil rights exhibit at the Washington State History Museum. The poster reads as follows:

When Willie Hadley was a baby,
weighed more than 13 pounds.
Formed his hands into tiny little fists,
said, “Gonna bring these hammers on down,
Lord, Lord. Gonna bring these hammers on down.”

Hadley drove ‘round Tacoma,
cruisin’ in his red Corvette.
Women said, “You know I love that man.
The biggest & best I seen yet, Lord, Lord.
The biggest & best I seen yet.”

Date of the Mother’s Day Riot,
a mob set fires all around.
All the police and all of the preachers
couldn’t settle that crowd down, Lord, Lord.
Couldn’t get that crowd to settle down.

Hadley told the policeman,
“A man ain’t nothin’ but a man,
but before I let them burn my town,
they’ll feel the force of my hands, Lord, Lord.
They’ll feel my fists, my hands.”

Willie sang alone to the masses,
Keeping the rhythm with his fists.
“The riot’s over, “ he sang for the chorus
and the riot, it ceased to exist, Lord, Lord.
Like that riot didn’t ever exist.

Willie died years later,
‘cause a man ain’t nothin’ but a  man,
but if you ever think of burnin’ this town,
you’ll feel the force of his hands, Lord, Lord.
You’ll feel the force of his hands.

The South was not the only place where Americans were denied equal rights. Right here in Tacoma, as little as 35 years ago, Americans couldn’t get jobs or housing because of their color. Learn how local leaders fought Washington’s own civil rights battle in Tacoma’s Civil Rights Struggle: African Americans Leading the Way now on display at the Washington State History Museum. Guests will also see how the equal rights effort continues today.

Catch a screening of the companion film to the exhibit Sunday, Sept. 7 at 3 p.m. Produced by award-winning documentary filmmaker Sidney Lee, the film features interviews with a dozen participants in Tacoma's civil rights struggle, including former Tacoma mayor, Harold Moss.

[Washington State History Museum, 1911 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 888.238.4373]