Fact #189845
When:
Short story:
Mayor Adrian Perkins of the town of Shreveport, Louisiana, USA, issues an apology to the family of singer Sam Cooke. In 1963, while on a tour of the southern states, Sam Cooke was arrested in Shreveport, for trying to procure lodgings in a whites-only motel. He had tried both the local Holiday Inn and The Royal Hotel. When the press got wind of the story, Cooke found himself hailed as a civil rights spokesman. This encounter, and others in Memphis and Birmingham, inspired Cooke to write his anthemic A Change Is Gonna Come.
Tweet this Fact