August 14, 1968
by Janine Stephenson
Becca insisted that we talk to Craig, as soon as we could find him. We figured out that he must have been attending a meeting with Ron across town. So we went back to our rooms and packed our bags. By the time we got to that point, we were good and angry over everything that happened. How dare some strange woman tell us to leave the campaign - just because we were young. We're adults in almost every way, except for the fact that we can't vote. Therefore, it doesn't matter if anyone offends us or fires us.
How hypocritical that the campaign is protesting how black people were left out of the primaries, but they're leaving us out of the campaign! Ridiculous!
So we gathered all of our belongings and met at a coffee house. We decided that we were going to stage a sit-in at the front door to the campaign offices. Because we know that there's nothing worse than bad publicity. So about thirty of us walked back to the campaign headquarters and lined up, careful not to block the front door. Immediately, the volunteer coordinator came out to talk to us. She invited us in, away from the public view. So we went to a big conference room (not ANOTHER conference room) and sat on top of our backpacks and suitcases. Then she left to go call someone.
That's where Craig and Ron found us, sitting in a conference room on top of our luggage. They called us out of the room and into the hallway. Becca gave them an earful. She told them that they had one hell of a nerve to dismiss us, after all the work we did. I didn't say anything, because Becca explained it for both of us. Craig kept telling her to settle down and that they would take care of things. We should give them a chance to straighten it out.
So we went back into the conference room. By that time, all the young people started singing "We Shall Overcome." It was off-key and occasionally no one knew the words, but it made us happy anyway. The parts we didn't know, we hummed. It took almost 15 minutes total for someone to come back to speak to us. I think it's only because we started chanting: We Count Too.
A man in a goatee came back to address us. He looked quite nervous, like he was afraid we were going to attack him. Just as he cleared his throat to speak, Craig and Ron pulled us out of the room again. This time, they said that not only could we stay with the campaign, we got a promotion. We were now their assistants. Becca was highly suspicious of this, especially since nothing changed. It's not like we suddenly aged. We didn't become 21 over the past 15 minutes. Craig finally admitted that they had to sign papers saying that we would "take care of us" or something like that, during the convention.
I didn't know what to make of that. Take care of us? Like we would never know what to do during a riot, assassination or mild confrontation. Ron said that the paper was merely a legal document, and it didn't mean anything other than that. But don't legal documents mean something? Then he added: "That's politics!"
We told them that we'd go along with it. Which means that Becca will be Craig's assistant, and I will be Ron's secretary, or something like that.
I don't know how I feel about any of this, especially since the campaign is still encouraging young people not to attend the convention. Baby John told us afterward that the campaign expects the convention will be rough and maybe even violent, though they hope that isn't the case. But it didn't change anyone's mind. Baby John said the convention won't be any harder than a war, and being there is the least we could do for the boys in Vietnam.
