Lionel Richie, 66, told the story of how as a 9-year old, he and his father went to Montgomery, Ala., and Richie unwittingly drank from a fountain marked For Whites Only. Some white men confronted his father, who grabbed Richie and ran off. Years later, Richie challenged his father, asking why he didn’t stay and fight. His dad simply answered, “I had a choice: to be a man or be a father.”
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