During one of our long conversations shortly after I met Mr. McBride (1909-2007), he told me this: "I lived through a time in this America that so crushed the hopes of people that I felt suicidal and I know I was not alone." That statement summed up for me how he chose his life's work or how his life's work chose him, as he often said. Ernest McBride, Sr., fought for the civil rights for all people.