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Many things have changed since those days, she says. She can enter any establishment she wants. White people hold the door for her. Those are good things, she says. But she also has a unique perspective on Selma's dilapidated infrastructure.
"This is — the main — road — in town!" she says as the school bus shudders across pot holes and breaks in the pavement, and her tiny frame bounces in the driver's seat.
Throughout the day she offers out-of-towners advice on getting around Selma, and even gives her cellphone number to a couple unsure of how to find their way back to their car. Call me, she says. I'll come get you.
At the intersection of Church and Anderson streets, she pulls to a stop and peers left and right. The traffic light doesn't work. "At least it works coming the other way," she says, laughing.
She points to blighted homes with broken windows. "These used to be real nice," she says. For the first time of the day, her face is grim. "But the old folks died and the young folks moved off."
Then a young woman with braided hair steps into the street, and Giles regains her form.
"All right, now!" she shouts. "Look at you! Just holding me here!"
She has places to be, and people to pick up.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-selma-scene-20150308-story.html
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