A Historic Moment, A Perspective

History

By Sam Roberts for the NY Times

Three generations of Thompsons gathered around the patriarch’s dining room table in Brooklyn Heights the other day and gave three varied perspectives on the inauguration of Barack Obama.

This prominent black political family from Brooklyn is headed by Harlem-born William C. Thompson. Known as Willie, he is 84 and served in a segregated infantry unit in Italy during World War II. His father worked for a furniture store, was a city marshal and remembered hearing Marcus Garvey preach his Back to Africa gospel on a Harlem street corner.

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