A Visit from One of MLK, Jr.’s Confidants and a Modern-Day Activist
Nelson Malden was just a college student working at a barbershop in Montgomery, Alabama, when Martin Luther King, Jr. stopped by for a haircut. The two men became close friends and Mr. Malden’s barbershop became a stomping ground for members of the civil rights movement. Mr. Malden, along with activist Kevin Shird, visited with Middle School students yesterday over Zoom.
Mr. Shird wrote The Colored Waiting Room with Mr. Malden and the book describes the civil rights movement through Mr. Malden’s personal experiences with Dr. King, Rosa Parks, and other prominent figures. Mr. Shird and Malden make connections between those initial movements and what is happening today. It is a narrative that inspires us to continue the fight for racial justice.
Messrs. Shird and Malden will come back to St. Bernard’s next Thursday for a morning event with the Upper School and an evening conversation with parents, faculty, staff, and Old Boys.
