Four Vignettes Summary and Analysis

The chapter is divided into five sections, shorter stories on different topics. The first is entitled "Watts" and was written August 16, 1965. Cleaver says there was a stigma associated with being from Watts. He likened it to being a country bumpkin. He says that changed following the riots in the Watts area and that there was suddenly a pride in claiming membership in that community.

The second section is entitled "Eyes" and was written October 28, 1965. Cleaver describes an encounter with a woman on Main Street in L.A. He says he was walking the street around noon on a Saturday when he saw a woman sitting at a shoeshine stand. He said that she suddenly broke into song, directed at him, and sang, "Beautiful, beautiful brown eyes." He says he was suddenly aware that he'd been staring, was completely embarrassed...