Nick Louketis
Nick Louketis was born in Albany, Georgia and had a very different life than many African Americans. His grandfather was Greek and this allowed him a level of freedom. Whenever he traveled about with his grandfather he had access to facilities designated for "Whites Only." When he went to the store with his mother, who looked African American, he was not allowed to use the White water fountain or bathroom, thus, Louketis had a vantage point from both sides of the color line. This donated to his rebellious attitude when he was unable to go to Georgia Tech University to become an engineer, so he chose Albany State. He joined the Civil Rights Movement because he wanted things to change in Albany. He helped get others involved in SNCC and he attended SCLC's voter registration school so that he could teach literacy courses to help African Americans in the community prepare to register to vote. Louketis participated in the mass meetings that changed churches on a regular basis to throw the police off the activists's trail. On one occasion he remembers being late to a demonstration and when he begged the police to arrest him because he wanted to be charged like all the others, they did take Louketis to jail. This showed his level of commitment to changing things in the city. He also participated in the Albany Bus Boycott. He drove different domestic workers to homes in the Whispering Pines area. Today, Louketis believes the next generation should stay abreast of current events so that they can keep up the struggle because the fight is not over.