Witty, outspoken Myra Alexander was 54 years old when she met Chicago radio host Studs Terkel on a train to the 1963 March on Washington and Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Studs included Myra in a book of interviews he published called Division Street: America.
Her family had warned her about the trip: “Oh grandmother, you’re too old for that!” But Myra, a janitor in Chicago public schools, refused to soft-pedal the injustices that Black people like her endured. She insisted, “You’re never too old to be free."
Now, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Mary Schmich asks: What happened to Myra as she went on in her life? What about her kids and grandkids? How can their lives help us understand our lives?
Executive Producers: Melissa Harris and Mary Schmich
Writer/Host: Mary Schmich
Producer: Bill Healy
Editors: Cate Cahan and Mark Jacob
Sound Designer/Audio Engineer: Libby Lussenhop
Associate Producer/Dialogue Editor: Chijioke Williams
Music Director/Composer: Chris Walz
For more information, visit divisionstreetrevisited.com.
