The Kaleidoscope of a Black Youth

Things and acts seem to come and go in color in Henry's life, as though he were looking through a tube-like kaleidoscope. If we turned the dial of the scope we will perhaps see 'The Tin Roof'. It resembles a Japanese-styled roof, with its crimps and its rich red color, it was quaint but not universally accepted. Property owners viewed it with contempt and didn't care for the occupants who lived under this oriental design, the Beasleys. There were some individuals in this quiet neighborhood who actually loved it, without this red tin roof their lives would have no meaning. The lovers were Henry Jackson and his cousin, Tommy Lee. Their house towered above several houses as it was on a mound and surrounded by a rich hedge of shrubbery, a citadel for the rock throwers who looked forward to the Beasleys cry, "You better stop throwing on this tin roof!" The reply was robust: "Hee, Hee!" Fortunately, the enemy were not the military type, they didn't resort to b-b guns, or even slingshots, either weapon would have ignored a mere 45 degree angle that the Beasleys faced. The Jackson's held the 'high ground' as the marines would say. How many enemies dwelled in the tin-roofed home was hard to calculate, but they all hated the citadel dwellers. The Beasleys came out in shifts... and would one day surprise the Jacksons by developing a throwing arm among them... There's another image in the scope, along with singing - 'The Amazing Grace'. All the families on Elm Street were awakened one night at a rather late hour by an intruder. In the Walker house where the Jackson family dwelled with Mrs. Jackson's aunt, everybody was up and peering out the side windows toward the home of the strong man, Isaac, the ebony 'Charles Atlas'. Dozens of kids always surrounded him and pleaded, "Do me, Isaac!" They wanted to be muscled up in the air by this weightlifting young man. All eyes strained to get a glimpse of the troubadour who was, some said, a cross between Leadbelly and Fats Wailer, but i