When I set out to interview Helena Hicks, I thought we'd talk history. The soft-spoken, 80-year-old who stands just 4 feet 10 inches tall with a sleek, silver bob, is known for her role in helping to desegregate Read's Drug Store chain. But it turns out she's as active as ever, a force to reckon with at any sense of injustice.
"My father taught me that 'you are somebody,' " she says. "If it's wrong, you do something about it."
We crossed paths when I was reporting on the Lillian S. Jones recreation center in Sandtown, Baltimore. It's the neighborhood of Freddie Gray, the young, black man who died after being arrested by police in April. It's also where Hicks grew up and the center is named for her late sister, who was also a local activist. Hicks had organized a rededication ceremony.
[For more of this story, written by Jennifer Ludden, go to http://www.npr.org/2015/06/26/...-to-help-citys-young]
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