His Father's Namesake
High School: Grades 9–12
Story
Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
His Father's Namesake
)
Seconds before slamming the door in his mother's face, Albert Parsons, Jr.'s blood boiled. Tears stung his eyes and he desperately wanted to shout at her, "You never want to hear what I have to say—you never even try to listen. If I have an idea that is my own, you always strike it down if it doesn't support what you think about the world! I am still your son even if I don't think like you!" But as he looked at her, the words lodged in his throat and he knew once again he would probably be unable to express how he really felt.
He found it very difficult to stand up to this woman, Lucy Parsons. She was a formidable figure: she and his father, Albert Parsons, had always been larger than life, and their ideals had towered over their lives. Albert Jr. and his sister Lulu had always come second—even though their parents would never have admitted it.
)
After slamming the door, Albert breathed steadily and slowly to calm himself down. After his anger receded, he remembered the matter at hand. The month was April in the year 1898 and America had just declared war on Spain to protect and capitalize on its economic interest in Cuba. Albert Jr. was making a decision so many young men were making at the time: should he enlist to support his country? Albert Jr. knew his mother would look down with disdain and disbelief at such an act and would be rendered speechless, but only for a moment because she was never without words for very long. Albert Jr. was confident he would then hear her diatribe once again, admonishing him to carry the torch that she and her father and so many other anarchists had made their life's work, had even sacrificed their lives for:
"Is this how you choose to honor your father and his legacy? Is your goal in life to turn your back on him and all that he believed? How do you think he would feel if he knew his only son wanted to enlist in an army that symbolizes an oppressive and imperialistic government? From the moment he died, your goal in life should have been to carry the torch he worked so hard to light!"
Albert felt his cheeks flush with rage and anger at his parents. Suddenly the month of May twelve years ago flashed in his mind; a chain of events that forever changed his life started then. The events crystallized the politics of being a member of the Parsons family—what Albert Jr. wanted or needed would always seem to take a back seat to his parents' ideals and what they were willing to do to support them.
Downloads (pdf)
