While the World Watched is a powerful story of one African-American woman who grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, during the Civil Rights movement. Four of her friends were killed in the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church on September 15, 1963. She also participated in the Children’s March in early May, though she did not end up arrested. The book also told the story of her as she became an adult, and her personal struggle with alcoholism and depression. It also told the story of other people in the Civil Rights movement, in the eyes of this woman, Carolyn Maull McKinstry.

Something that stood out to me was the community’s lack of acknowledgement to what happened and how it affected the young people connected to it. Like, when the bomb happened and killed four of Carolyn’s close friends. Nowadays, there would be counselors at every school, and there would be people to talk to. People would be willing to talk about it with the people affected by it. But back then, it wasn’t like that. In fact, the next day, one boy even told Carolyn “get over it. It’s not that big of a deal.” Um, sir, HER FOUR FRIENDS WERE JUST MURDERED!!!! IN A BATHROOM! WHILE THEY WERE DOING THEIR HAIR AND TRYING TO GET NICE FOR CHURCH! THEY WERE KILLED IN COLD-BLOOD! SO DON’T TELL ANYONE THAT THAT “IS NOT A BIG DEAL!” BECAUSE IT IS!

When people need to mourn THEY NEED TO MOURN! That means that NOBODY tells them that they need to “get over it.” Because that is outright RUDE and DISRESPECTFUL! Does no one in this city understand basic etiquette? Same thing with cancer. NO ONE would talk about it. This caused her issues later in life.

Issues such as depression and alcoholism. These are NOT jokes. They were caused by all of the issues around her In one decade, she had had 2 near death experiences due to bombs, lost 4 friends, lost a brother (didn’t die, just withdrew from life), and 3 important leader/role models (Mamma Leslie, JFK, and MLK Jr.). She was not yet 21 years old. And on, and on, and on. THESE ISSUES (depression and alcoholism) could have been avoided, had someone talked to her about it. It took the near death of her daughter to snap her back into reality.