Harris has lived in Hough most of her life. A longtime imaging technician at Mt. Sinai Hospital, which closed in 2000, she lived through the 1966 Hough riots and the 1968 Glenville shootout. She watched from the front porch of the family home as her neighborhood was ravaged by white flight and her previously vibrant street was whittled down to just three other families. But Harris will never give up on her home, her neighborhood. As only a Clevelander can, she remembers and endures.
We were fortunate. On this street we had a biracial couple, we had Chinese, we had the Millers — they were from the hills. We had some Jewish people, we had an Asian biracial couple, we had some Italians in the far apartment. We had a couple of white couples.
It was very diverse over here. And very close.
We were the missionary portion of our church. During that time, there were thousands of apartment buildings. On the weekend we would go up and feed the kids, have pops and show movies. On Sunday we would have service.
We had walked to 79th Street during the riots and there was glass everywhere. Lo and behold, we were met with a National Guard rifle on us. “Well, where you going?” My father said, “Well, I’m going up to the church to feed the kids.” He says, “I can’t let you go up there.”
My father says, “Well what are you going to do, shoot me?” He started walking off. What could the guy do? He was called in here to keep things calm.
My younger brother, William, he passed of pancreatic cancer. He was a black nationalist. He worked at White Motor Co.
William would try anything, and he just ran with a different thinking group. I don’t know how he wound up with Ahmed Evans and that group.
He was their flag carrier. I’m like, William, you’re the tallest thing there. You’re going to be the first thing they shoot. Are you crazy? But when they would have their marches in the area, no one would bother them.
I don’t know if William was involved in the Glenville shootout. He may have been. He never did spend any time in jail. He would work, and I know he was with the nationalists.
One thing my father used to say: “When you get your paycheck, pay yourself first. “
If you pay yourself first, you know how to keep everything else in perspective.
You don’t run away from an area like this. Half of the people that had these larger homes ran out and now they’re back. So you may as well stay where you’re at.
You may as well stay and fix what you have, build on that, instead of everybody running here, running there.
