Wrong Place, Wrong Time

Arriving in Philadelphia in June of 1970, the man from Trinidad felt welcomed in the city where the Founding Fathers had signed the Declaration of Independence. He found lodging and made friends in a close-knit, largely African American neighborhood, where he soon met people who loved to drink rum and dance to calypso rhythms. But he didn’t find a lot of work. 

When a friend told him about jobs in Boston, he moved north, unaware of the societal rifts brought about by the Civil Rights Movement and resistance to the war in Vietnam. 

He struggled for years before he found steady work, and began to build a life. When his big opportunity arrived, he had to collect a document at the Suffolk County Courthouse. 

He went to the courthouse on Patriot’s Day, not realizing it was a holiday in Boston. 

He returned a few days later, and, on April 22, 1976, a violent manifestation of the era’s political strife disrupted all of his plans.