Gail Milissa Grant: Growing up in South St. Louis
1949-1973

For two decades before she was born, Gail Milissa Grant’s father and mother were actively involved in fighting segregation and discrimination in St. Louis. David Grant had been closely associated with national leaders and celebrities associated with the Civil Rights movement. He and they fought successfully on many fronts, but progress was slow. A de facto racial isolation was part of their everyday life. His decision to move his family to South St. Louis, which was virtually all white, was based on economics, not the need to break that particular geographical barrier. But, it put his two young children into a potentially hostile environment. This period is reflected in Gail Milissa Grant’s personal account, At the Elbows of my Elders: One Family’s Journey Toward Civil Rights.

Contributors: Gail Milissa Grant

Originally aired March 15, 2010