The Jack Rabin Collection on
Series I:
Sub-series 4:
Appendix I.4B: Transcript of the reconstructed, amalgamated version of audiotapes 5 through 8
Location: In
front of the Alabama State Capitol,
Speakers: Ralph Abernathy, master of ceremonies, alternating with the unidentified first speaker, T. Y. Rogers, Fred Shuttlesworth, James Bevel, Ralph Bunche, Jim Forman, Amelia Boynton, Jim [?Hicks], John Lewis, Whitney Young, Don Slayman, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Hosea Williams, and Edmond Clark.
Date: March 25, 1965
Repository: University
Libraries, The
Collections Department, Historical Collections and Labor Archives
Transcriber: Barry Kernfeld
Item number: Audiotape #05/06/07/08E, parts 1 and 2.
Unidentified speaker [beginning in mid-sentence]: . . . again. All of us together make up this great nation, which we and they love, and which we and they have died to defend. This is a new house, and we are a new people. Difficult days may lie ahead, my friends, but none like the days of the dark yesterday. No advice can anticipate every development we may meet down the road, but I invite you to use with me a favorite guise of inspiration that I have held through the years from the book of Leviticus, the twenty-sixth chapter and the thirteenth verse, and I quote: “I am the Lord your God which brought you out of the land of Egypt that ye should not be their bond men, and I have broken the bands of your yoke and made you go upright. May God bless you as you go henceforth upright bond men [?] to no man.” Thank you [Applause].
Abernathy: We’re
now friends with the leaders of the state of
Well, the segregationists have given you a pretty rough time
also. You have made their view this day with us, all the way from
Now we are back to the leaders of the state of
Rev. T. Y. Rogers:
To my leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to my fellow freedom fighters from
all over the world, to my daughter, who stood in the door of the [?] at the
University of Alabama.
Abernathy: There
is a man here today who met a Bull (Go on)
on the streets of
Fred Shuttlesworth: Thank you, Dr. Abernathy, our leader Dr. King, distinguished guests from everywhere. God bless you. It’s good to be here. I just have one or two things to say. One of them is I’m a little sorrowful that I’m not supposed to talk to the Capitol. I think the spot where Jeff Davis stood is up there. And that’s where I was yesterday. I bet Dr. King will want to take that spot next time. Going to save that until the next [?] [Laughter and applause]. It wouldn’t bother me.
And then the next thing that’s been bothering me is – I
don’t know whether LBJ [?] regularly, but I don’t an American flag flying on
the State Capitol building [cheering]. I – I believe that this is about the
only State Capitol that does not fly an American flag. I see – I see the
We have – we have come here today, we are preparing a [?] and [?] of abuse and misuse, of violent intimidation, of horrible and acts perpetrated [?] society [?] . [?] men, women, and children seeking to be free, while keeping dishonest men in office. A society which allows [?] and tear gas, does not legitimate [?] . But we’re here just the same. And I [?] [Cheering].
You see [?] Bull’s in
And I – I believe – I want to [?] non-violent movement, a non-violent, because you have to be nice, even to him, and I have to say something good. And I believe Governor Wallace [?]. You know what I think George is thinking this time? My [?] [Cheering and applause].
You know I’m [?] for little miracles in
[ ? ? ]
But now, since we have [?], we got a mayor that’s not quite a bull, but he’s a crying mayor, and he thinks that you can substitute tears for the [ ? ? ]
[ ?.? ]
[ ? ? ]
[ ? ? ]
The voter registration policy [?] now, it seems to me [ ? ? ] with a California lawyer [ ? ? ] criminal offense, for instance that you have had a few lawyers convict you of – you’re a convict, and you had too many [?] offenses when demonstrations was going on. You [?] didn’t qualify. In other words, if you’ve been around a day or two [?], you can’t have [?]. Still too many [?]. You did not pass. No reason why.
[?] of our women when [?]. How long have you been married, and how old is your first child? In other words, be sure you ain’t pregnant when you got married. And if by chance you [?], be sure to [?].
You see this is still taxation without representation. And
we think people ought to vote. I am not responsible for what my mother did, or
what -- how she did, what she did before I got here. I am a citizen, and all
persons, the Constitution says, born or naturalized, are citizens of these
Now, in 1964 we had a [?] campaign slogan: “All the way with
LBJ.” I think it’s time for us to keep on working until LBJ comes all the way
with us here in
Abernathy: Thank
you, Dr. Shuttlesworth. And now we will have the response of the movement by
that great tactician, that great [?], that great non-violent leader who came
out of the wilderness of
James Bevel:
Thank you very much. I’m mighty tired. We walked all the way from
Now we came here to tell Mr. Wallace a few things, and to
tell the nation some things, and to tell ourselves some things. In the state of
In most of the counties, except one county, Negroes are not
serving in any elected capacity in all of the [?] in the state of
Now Mr. Wallace thinks we’re going home. He says it’s all
over. But we want him to understand that if we come back – and we plan to come
back. We’re going to plan to go on after two hours. Mr. Wallace has been
criticized as part of the whole political system that is still disfranchising Negro
people, and that system must be broken. [?] in
We can’t do that by making fine remarks and fine statements.
We have to do that by in fact [?] are counted, making sure our movement is on
the road. We have thousands of Negroes that must be put on the books. We have
thousands of Negroes who aren’t aware that a voting movement is going on in
And if Mr. Wallace does not plan to come down [?], we will
be back to see Mr. Wallace. And I don’t think he going to come back, because in
nineteen-hundred and fifty-four, the Supreme Court delivered a [?] that school
segregation was [?] immoral, and Mr. Wallace and
And I suspect that there’s going to be a lot more
demonstrations in
Abernathy: Thank
you, Reverend Bevel. The eyes of the world are upon us and upon
Ralph Bunche: Fellow Americans, courageous Americans, Americans who have the guts to take a stand on the greatest moral issue in the history of this nation. Not too much I can say, except, by God, we’re here. And little more need be said, because no words could ever hope to be as eloquent as this magnificent, historic march itself has been. It has been made possible by the superlative leadership of Dr. King and his able associates. [?] Dr. King’s [?], I said to him that this must be his greatest triumph in the light of all of the obstacles that he had to overcome, and he admitted that it was.
Incidentally I should say to you what you must already know: he’s not only a great leader. Dr. King [?] clairvoyant. In fact he walks with a certain ease, with a sort of slinging stride, real cool like, and I got the impression that [?] from the Lord, but I’m pretty sure the [?].
Governor Wallace and some others in these parts denounced
many of us who are here, and that includes me, as being outsiders, meddlers,
and I stoutly deny this. I am here – I wish Governor Wallace to know – because
I belong here [Applause]. I am here, because I’m an American, an American with
a conscience, with a sense of justice and decency, and with a deep concern for
all Americans and [?] all over this country. My conscience and my mind tell me
that this is where I must be. I came here to identify, to identify with a just
cause of the right of every Negro in
I say to Governor Wallace, no American can ever be an
outsider anywhere in this nation [Applause]. And Governor, all of these people
are here. All of these people who have come in this great [?] rights are very
great Americans. Black and white, they are the greatest Americans. Why? Because
they seek to bring unity, to bring maximum strength to this country, to the end
that the
Unless the Governor has forgotten – and when I look up on
top of the Capitol building, it appears that he [?] have forgotten –
If Governor Wallace or anyone else doubted that [?] Southern [?] have been forever lost because of the Confederacy and the inhuman, un-American to keep Negro citizens depressed and oppressed, all doubts about that had to be dissipated this morning when we marched through Confederate squares [?] centennial, singing “We Shall Overcome.”
Now, what are we – what we are doing here is an all-American attack on all-American problems. And in the United Nations, we have known from the beginning that secure foundations for peace in the world can be built only upon the principles and practices of equal rights and equal status for all people, respect and dignity for all men wherever they are, whatever their color or race or religion or culture. The world is [?] with us in this struggle, in this cause, of that you may be assured.
And when I went back to
But on conclusion, may I say that it was unfortunate in my view that this non-violent, principled march had to be protected by the federal government, but since that was the case, since the government of this state was in default, then it was an expression of the firm determination of the national government to protect the human rights of all its citizens that just led to the federalization of the Alabama National Guard and the protection [?].
But I would like to give one, just one word of advice to my national government if they ever have to undertake this sort of responsibility again. The next time, when they federalize a state national guard, I hope they will make sure that members of that guard are not wearing Confederate flags on their jackets [Cheering and applause].
But there’s a great old song, saying, “There’ll be some changes made.” [?] today in this [?] group, testifies that [?] some changes have been made in Alabama and testifies that a whole lot more changes, important and radical changes, are going to be made, and very quickly.
I – I approve every one of you for [?] your presence here, the finest in the American tradition. You [?], the modern-day version of minutemen, minutemen of the American conscience. You have witnessed a great new chapter in the heroic history of American freedom. Thank you [Applause].
Abernathy: Thank you, Dr. Bunche. And now I must insist that all of our speakers will cut their remarks. Please cut them in half. And I present now the executive secretary of the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee, Mr. Jim Forman [Cheering and applause]. Mr. Forman will take one minute to make a presentation.
Jim Forman: I’m
going to keep it less than a minute. All I want to say basically is that in
1901 the state government of
Abernathy: We
will now have Mrs. Amelia Boynton read to you a petition. Mrs. Boynton from
Amelia Boynton:
Petition: To the Honorable George D. Wallace, agent of God, citizen of the
We come petitioning you to join us in spirit and in truth [?] an American movement toward the Great Society, a nation of justice where none shall feed upon the weakness of others; a nation of humility, where greed [?] and poverty shall be done away; a nation of brotherhood, where respect is founded upon service and honor given for nobleness alone.
We have come to represent the Negro citizens of
When the course of human events so denies citizens of that
na – of this nation and of the right to vote, a right to adequate education, an
opportunity to gain sufficient income, and when Negro [?] and poverty, our
people must turn to the rights provided by [?] Constitution of the
We are here, because for almost 100 years now our constitutionality, guaranteed right to vote has been abridged. We are here because state troopers killed Jimmy Lee Jackson, because the psychotic climate of this state produced the man who probably attacked and killed the Reverend James Reeb.
We call upon you, Governor Wallace, to declare your faith in the American creed, to declare your belief in the ways of the Declaration of Independence, that all men are created equal. We call upon you to establish democracy in Alabama, by taking the steps necessary to assure the registration of every citizen of voting age and of sound [?], by ending the poll tax in the state election, by opening the registration [?] at times when they are convenient to working people, such as night and Saturdays, by encouraging the cooperation of [?] officials in the democratic process, and by appointment of Negro citizens to the [?] and [?] of the state in policy-making positions [Applause].
We call upon you to put an end to police brutality and to assure the protection of the [?] and [?] citizens alike. We call upon you to work to end the climate of violence and hatred which persists in this state, by denouncing all who would use violence in the propagation of their fears, and by avoiding the perpetration of racism through official statements and political addresses [Applause].
Abernathy: Can you hear me? I want to know, because now I want to hear you. Do you approve of this petition? (Yes). Do you approve that this will be the only petition that we will now send to Governor Wallace? (Yes). Those who favor, say “Aye” (Aye).’ The opposed [?] “Nay” [No response]. The ayes have it, and the motion is carried [Applause].
Dr. Martin Luther King, our leader, has appointed the
following persons to go and present this petition to the governor of the great
sovereign state of
The following persons are to compose the committee as appointed by Dr. King: the Reverend Joseph Echols Lowery, vice president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Birmingham, Alabama, the chairman [Applause]; the Reverend Fred Reese, Selma, Alabama; Dr. Cashen of [?Muncie], Alabama; Attorney Fred D. Drake, of Montgomery, Alabama; Dr. A. G. Gaston of Birmingham, Alabama; Reverend T. Y. Rogers, Tuscaloosa, Alabama [Applause]; Bishop E. P. Murchison of Birmingham, Alabama; Dr. Gomillion of Tuskegee [Cheering and applause], Alabama; and Dr. Foster, the president of Tuskegee Institute [Cheering and applause]. Mr. Albert Turner of Marion, Alabama [Cheering]; the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth of Birmingham, Alabama [Applause]; the Reverend Joseph L. Winger, a white Lutheran minister of Birmingham, Alabama [Cheering and applause]; Mrs. A. P. Boynton of Selma, Alabama [Applause]; Attorney Orzell Billingsley, Birmingham, Alabama; Mr. Rufus Lewis, Montgomery, Alabama [Applause]; and Mr. Dick Trennon of the University of Alabama, a white student [Applause]; and the Reverend Jesse Douglas of Montgomery, Alabama.
If you approve of this committee, say “Aye” (Aye). The committee is now instructed to
meet for final instructions in the auditorium of the
We will now return to our national leaders. Mr. James Farmer could not be here today because of illness, but we do want Mr. Jim [?Hicks ?Dix] to tell us whether CORE is behind the movement of freedom. Mr. [?Hicks].
Jim [?Hicks]: I
want to send greetings from Jim Farmer. I want to tell you that there are a lot
of CORE people [?-ized] from all over the country, from as far away as the West
Coast. As for myself, some of you know I have a little souvenir from
As the CORE and SNCC members who tried to follow to complete
his walk were met by [?] state troopers and their cattle prods, [?] were
promptly arrested. Now I came down here at that time to give a memorial service
for Bill Moore at that point on the roadside where he was murdered. And I said
at that time that I hoped that I would see the day in the not-too-distant
future when it would be possible to conduct a freedom walk across the highways
of
Abernathy: I am
delighted to present to you now one of the finest young men I have had the
privilege of knowing in my life. Like myself, he is a product of
John Lewis: My
fellow freedom fighters, as Ralph said, as a native of
This is the greatest and perhaps the most significant
demonstration in the history of the civil rights movement. Just a few weeks
ago, Governor Wallace said there would be no march from
The President of the
Need a doctor?
Unidentified voice: O.k.
Lewis: We, the Negro
people of
[?] the President of the
I know [?]. [?] beaten, arrested, and jailed, simply because
you want to be free. Some of you [?] , [?] cooked the food, and nursed the
babies, or nothing at all. But we are saying to the state of
We’re in a system. Deny the people the right to vote. It is
not asking just for a battle, but it is demanding a war. And we are involved in
a non-violent war. We are involved in a non-violent revolution. We don’t have
guns. We don’t have missiles. We don’t have tear gas. The only thing we have is
our bodies, our tired feet. The same feet that brought us from
As we leave this march today, we look for [?] to [?]. Go
down to the county courthouse and attempt to register and vote like you did in
And our struggle is a struggle for freedom and liberation.
It matters not whether it’s in
I think you’ll [?]. I think of all the people across this country [?] . [?] we’ll try. We’ll try [?] until they [?]. Too many people have been beaten. Too many people have been shot and even killed. We’ve had enough of that. We [?] our patience, but now is the time for all of us to make some [?] decisions [Applause].
Abernathy: Mr. Whitney Young, the director of the National Urban League, will bring us greetings at this time. Let us listen now to the scholarly civil rights leader that has done so much for our nation and for our people, Mr. Whitney Young.’
Whitney Young:
Reverend Abernathy, friends of freedom. One question has been asked me
repeatedly by reporters today. Is this march better or more significant than
the August ’63 march? [?] the answer yes or no. They are different types of
marches. This march shows our ability to move from the general grievances which
we expressed so magnificently in
Finally, let me ask you three quick questions. People have
said, “Why are we here?” “Why this march?” [?] this march is to give a new
courage to the silent white citizens of state of
Now this march will be meaningful only if you march with the
same enthusiasm asked of the leadership of the President of the
Abernathy: It is my pleasure now to present to you the director of the civil rights department of AFL-CIO, Mr. Don Slayman. Give him a big hand.
Don Slayman:
Reverend Abernathy, Dr. King, Vice President Asa Randolph, Roy Wilkins, John
Lewis, Whitney Young, citizens of
The position of the A.F.of L.-C.I.O. is that every possible
means must be used to achieve the maximum possible registration in voting in
the
Abernathy: Please
forgive me. You can understand, after having made the journey from
A gentleman from
Will the drivers of all of the charter or [?] buses begin moving quietly now to your buses. I want everybody here to keep your positions, if you are seated, or if you are standing, until the benediction is pronounced. This is a non-violent assembly. We came together, and we will leave together.
Someone has just passed to me a wallet which was found. If you can identify it, I will be happy to give it to you.
This march is very costly. Whenever you come up against the
state where your tax money and my tax money is being used to keep you down, then
we must give liberally if we are to get up. Please, if you have a contribution
to give at the close of the service, do not take it back home, but give it to
me, for I am the treasurer of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, or
to some of my associates. When you get back home, make your checks to SCLC and
mail them to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference at
I have just one other introduction, and that is the first lady of the movement, who in nineteen-hundred and fifty-five on December the Third would not get up when everybody else was getting up, and give her seat to a white man. Come here Mrs. Rosa Parks [Applause]. The first lady of the movement, Mrs. Rosa Parks. Raise your hands. [Applause].
Rosa Parks: Reverend Abernathy, and all of the distinguished leaders of this nation, and all of you wonderful freedom fighters, my brothers and sisters, and my children [ ? ? ]: you see before you now a victim of [? ? ] being perpetrated [ ? ? ]. At a very small town I had to hide from the Ku Klux Klan to keep from getting killed. [? ] I wasn’t killed. My family was deprived of the land that they owned and driven off of after they worked and paid for it. I did not have a [ ? ? ] , and I am handicapped in every way. But I am [?] to be a third-class citizen. I [?]. I have struggled hard. Through my early days [?] I would always be thankful to NAACP for giving me some [ ? ? ] my activities for a better way of life.
I’m also very thankful for Dr. Martin Luther King, who came to Montgomery with his non-violent Christian attitude [ ? ? ] last two days in Selma actually I almost lost the faith, and I almost didn’t come here today, because the [?] told me not to come here [? ] that I could not come here, seeing what had happened in Selma [ ? ? ]. However I came here [ ? ? ] today.
Also I want to say that [ ? ? ] someone who was given – gathered leaflets about the [ ? ? ]. That particular [ ? ? ] but I was, and that [?] my apologies to [ ? ? ] white person [ ? ? ] I learned at that time and that place that there are decent people of every color. [ ? ? ] the wrong and right – right and wrong. Thank you [Applause]. [ ? ? ] time for [? ] Dr. King [ ? ? ] [Applause].
?King: Thank you.
Abernathy:
Someone has suggested that we [?], but there’s not [?]. Someone has suggested
that I acknowledge the presence of the people who are here from
?
Abernathy: In lieu of [?] I’ll ask, what do you want? (Freedom). I can’t hear you. What do you want? (Freedom). What do you want? (Freedom). When do you want it? (Now). How much do you want? (All). Aw, shucks now [Laughter].
God never leaves His people without a leader (Yes, sir). When they were down in Egyptland, He caught up with a man who had fled and hid himself safely behind the hills and the mountains and was secure in the land of [?]. God sent him back to lead the people.
One day when he sat him on top of the mountain and summoned
him from [? ], he called Joshua and said, “Lead my people across the
Even when Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego were in the fiery furnace, and two of them wanted to give up, there was one in the group who said, “Brothers, we [?].” There was a leader in the crowd.
Turn the pages of history, and you will find that God always has a leader. And our leader today is loved by millions, but he is hated by thousands. But the main fact is that he’s our leader, and we love him (Yes). He’s been [?], and he’s [?]. He’s been [?]. He’s been beaten. He’s been bruised. He’s been stabbed. He’s been burned. He’s been jailed. He’s been sued. But he still stands up today, saying to every pharaoh, “Let my people go” (That’s right) [Applause].
God called on him the other day, and said to him, “Martin Luther, I conceived you at the right time in history, when there was [?]. Nineteen-hundred and twenty-nine, January 15th, you were born, but in the beginning I gave you the right name. I named you King. And then, I added to it later, Martin Luther. You stood up to so many pharaohs, but now, I want you to go to Montgomery, the heart of Egypt, and tell the pharaoh Wallace [Cheering], to let my people go” [Cheering and applause]. I want to present to you now the greatest leader of this generation, the greatest leader of the twentieth century, my closest and abiding friend, Martin Luther King [Cheering and applause], who will give us the [?].
Martin Luther King: [MLK Papers Project Speeches website, http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/publications/. Select “inventory,” “1965,” and then the 8-page transcript of 3/25/65.]
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My dear and abiding friends, Ralph Abernathy, and to all of the distinguished Americans seated here on the rostrum, my friends and co-workers of the state of Alabama, and to all of the freedom-loving people who have assembled here this afternoon from all over our nation and from all over the world: Last Sunday, more than eight thousand of us started on a mighty walk from Selma, Alabama. We have walked through desolate valleys and across the trying hills. We have walked on meandering highways and rested our bodies on rocky byways. Some of our faces are burned from the outpourings of the sweltering sun. Some have literally slept in the mud. We have been drenched by the rains. [Audience:] (Speak) Our bodies are tired and our feet are somewhat sore. But today as I stand before you and think back over that great march, I can say, as Sister Pollard said—a seventy-year-old Negro woman who lived in this community during the bus boycott—and one day, she was asked while walking if she didn’t want to ride. And when she answered, "No," the person said, "Well, aren’t you tired?" And with her ungrammatical profundity, she said, "My feets is tired, but my soul is rested." (Yes, sir. All right) And in a real sense this afternoon, we can say that our feet are tired, (Yes, sir) but our souls are rested. They told us we wouldn’t get here. And there were those who said that we
would get here only over their dead bodies, (Well. Yes, sir. Talk) but
all the world today knows that we are here and we are standing before the
forces of power in the state of Now it is not an accident that one of the great marches of American
history should terminate in Yet, strangely, the climactic conflicts always were fought and won on Once more the method of nonviolent resistance (Yes) was unsheathed
from its scabbard, and once again an entire community was mobilized to
confront the adversary. (Yes, sir) And again the brutality of a dying
order shrieks across the land. Yet, The confrontation of good and evil compressed in the tiny community of On our part we must pay our profound respects to the white Americans who
cherish their democratic traditions over the ugly customs and privileges of
generations and come forth boldly to join hands with us. (Yes, sir)
From Montgomery to Birmingham, (Yes, sir) from Birmingham to Selma, (Yes,
sir) from Selma back to Montgomery, (Yes) a trail wound in a
circle long and often bloody, yet it has become a highway up from darkness. (Yes,
sir) Our whole campaign in Toward the end of the Reconstruction era, something very significant happened. (Listen to him) That is what was known as the Populist Movement. (Speak, sir) The leaders of this movement began awakening the poor white masses (Yes, sir) and the former Negro slaves to the fact that they were being fleeced by the emerging Bourbon interests. Not only that, but they began uniting the Negro and white masses (Yeah) into a voting bloc that threatened to drive the Bourbon interests from the command posts of political power in the South. To meet this threat, the southern aristocracy began immediately to engineer this development of a segregated society. (Right) I want you to follow me through here because this is very important to see the roots of racism and the denial of the right to vote. Through their control of mass media, they revised the doctrine of white supremacy. They saturated the thinking of the poor white masses with it, (Yes) thus clouding their minds to the real issue involved in the Populist Movement. They then directed the placement on the books of the South of laws that made it a crime for Negroes and whites to come together as equals at any level. (Yes, sir) And that did it. That crippled and eventually destroyed the Populist Movement of the nineteenth century. If it may be said of the slavery era that the white man took the world and gave the Negro Jesus, then it may be said of the Reconstruction era that the southern aristocracy took the world and gave the poor white man Jim Crow. (Yes, sir) He gave him Jim Crow. (Uh huh) And when his wrinkled stomach cried out for the food that his empty pockets could not provide, (Yes, sir) he ate Jim Crow, a psychological bird that told him that no matter how bad off he was, at least he was a white man, better than the black man. (Right sir) And he ate Jim Crow. (Uh huh) And when his undernourished children cried out for the necessities that his low wages could not provide, he showed them the Jim Crow signs on the buses and in the stores, on the streets and in the public buildings. (Yes, sir) And his children, too, learned to feed upon Jim Crow, (Speak) their last outpost of psychological oblivion. (Yes, sir) Thus, the threat of the free exercise of the ballot by the Negro and the white masses alike (Uh huh) resulted in the establishment of a segregated society. They segregated southern money from the poor whites; they segregated southern mores from the rich whites; (Yes, sir) they segregated southern churches from Christianity (Yes, sir); they segregated southern minds from honest thinking; (Yes, sir) and they segregated the Negro from everything. (Yes, sir) That’s what happened when the Negro and white masses of the South threatened to unite and build a great society: a society of justice where none would pray upon the weakness of others; a society of plenty where greed and poverty would be done away; a society of brotherhood where every man would respect the dignity and worth of human personality. (Yes, sir) We’ve come a long way since that travesty of justice was perpetrated upon the American mind. James Weldon Johnson put it eloquently. He said: We have come over a way That with tears hath been watered. (Yes, sir) We have come treading our paths Through the blood of the slaughtered. (Yes, sir) Out of the gloomy past, (Yes, sir) Till now we stand at last Where the white gleam Of our bright star is cast. (Speak, sir) Today I want to tell the city of Yes, we are on the move and no wave of racism can stop us. (Yes, sir) We are on the move now. The burning of our churches will not deter us. (Yes, sir) The bombing of our homes will not dissuade us. (Yes, sir) We are on the move now. (Yes, sir) The beating and killing of our clergymen and young people will not divert us. We are on the move now. (Yes, sir) The wanton release of their known murderers would not discourage us. We are on the move now. (Yes, sir) Like an idea whose time has come, (Yes, sir) not even the marching of mighty armies can halt us. (Yes, sir) We are moving to the land of freedom. (Yes, sir) Let us therefore continue our triumphant march (Uh huh) to the realization of the American dream. (Yes, sir) Let us march on segregated housing (Yes, sir) until every ghetto or social and economic depression dissolves, and Negroes and whites live side by side in decent, safe, and sanitary housing. (Yes, sir) Let us march on segregated schools (Let us march, Tell it) until every vestige of segregated and inferior education becomes a thing of the past, and Negroes and whites study side-by-side in the socially-healing context of the classroom. Let us march on poverty (Let us march) until no American parent has
to skip a meal so that their children may eat. (Yes, sir) March on
poverty (Let us march) until no starved man walks the streets of our
cities and towns (Yes, sir) in search of jobs that do not exist. (Yes,
sir) Let us march on poverty (Let us march) until wrinkled
stomachs in Let us march on ballot boxes, (Let’s march) march on ballot boxes until race-baiters disappear from the political arena. Let us march on ballot boxes until the salient misdeeds of bloodthirsty mobs (Yes, sir) will be transformed into the calculated good deeds of orderly citizens. (Speak, Doctor) Let us march on ballot boxes (Let us march) until the Wallaces of our nation tremble away in silence. Let us march on ballot boxes (Let us march) until we send to our city councils (Yes, sir), state legislatures, (Yes, sir) and the United States Congress, (Yes, sir) men who will not fear to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God. Let us march on ballot boxes (Let us march. March) until brotherhood becomes more than a meaningless word in an opening prayer, but the order of the day on every legislative agenda. Let us march on ballot boxes (Yes) until all over Alabama God’s children will be able to walk the earth in decency and honor. There is nothing wrong with marching in this sense. (Yes, sir) The
Bible tells us that the mighty men of Joshua merely walked about the walled
city of Joshua fit the battle of Joshua fit the battle of And the walls come tumbling down. (Yes, sir. Tell it) Up to the walls of "Go blow them ramhorns," Joshua cried, "‘Cause the battle am in my hand." (Yes, sir) These words I have given you just as they were given us by the unknown, long-dead, dark-skinned originator. (Yes, sir) Some now long-gone black bard bequeathed to posterity these words in ungrammatical form, (Yes, sir) yet with emphatic pertinence for all of us today. (Uh huh) The battle is in our hands. And we can answer with creative nonviolence the call to higher ground to which the new directions of our struggle summons us. (Yes, sir) The road ahead is not altogether a smooth one. (No) There are no broad highways that lead us easily and inevitably to quick solutions. But we must keep going. In the glow of the lamplight on my desk a few nights ago, I gazed again
upon the wondrous sign of our times, full of hope and promise of the future.
(Uh huh) And I smiled to see in the newspaper photographs of many a
decade ago, the faces so bright, so solemn, of our valiant heroes, the people
of My people, my people, listen. (Yes, sir) The battle is in our
hands. (Yes, sir) The battle is in our hands in But I have a message that I would like to leave with It is normalcy all over our country (Yes, sir) which leaves the Negro
perishing on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of vast ocean of
material prosperity. It is normalcy all over The only normalcy that we will settle for (Yes, sir) is the normalcy that recognizes the dignity and worth of all of God’s children. The only normalcy that we will settle for is the normalcy that allows judgment to run down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream. (Yes, sir) The only normalcy that we will settle for is the normalcy of brotherhood, the normalcy of true peace, the normalcy of justice. And so as we go away this afternoon, let us go away more than ever before
committed to this struggle and committed to nonviolence. I must admit to you
that there are still some difficult days ahead. We are still in for a season
of suffering in many of the black belt counties of And so I plead with you this afternoon as we go ahead: remain committed to nonviolence. Our aim must never be to defeat or humiliate the white man, but to win his friendship and understanding. We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience. And that will be a day not of the white man, not of the black man. That will be the day of man as man. (Yes) I know you are asking today, "How long will it take?" (Speak,
sir) Somebody’s asking, "How long will prejudice blind the visions
of men, darken their understanding, and drive bright-eyed wisdom from her
sacred throne?" Somebody’s asking, "When will wounded justice,
lying prostrate on the streets of I come to say to you this afternoon, however difficult the moment, (Yes, sir) however frustrating the hour, it will not be long, (No sir) because "truth crushed to earth will rise again." (Yes, sir) How long? Not long, (Yes, sir) because "no lie can live forever." (Yes, sir) How long? Not long, (All right. How long) because "you shall reap what you sow." (Yes, sir) How long? (How long?) Not long: (Not long) Truth forever on the scaffold, (Speak) Wrong forever on the throne, (Yes, sir) Yet that scaffold sways the future, (Yes, sir) And, behind the dim unknown, Standeth God within the shadow, Keeping watch above his own. How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. (Yes, sir) How long? Not long, (Not long) because: Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; (Yes, sir) He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; (Yes) He has loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword; (Yes, sir) His truth is marching on. (Yes, sir) He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat; (Speak, sir) He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat. (That’s right) O, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant my feet! Our God is marching on. (Yeah) Glory, hallelujah! (Yes, sir) Glory, hallelujah! (All right) Glory, hallelujah! Glory, hallelujah! His truth is marching on. [Applause] |
Abernathy: Who is our leader? (Dr. King). Who is our leader? (Dr. King). Who is our leader? (Dr. King). Who is our leader? (Dr. King). God bless you.
My friends, let us keep our positions now. Let us keep our
positions now. We have just one or two things which we must say to you. Number
one: the father of Dr. Martin Luther King is here today, Dr. Martin Luther
King, Sr., and we do want dad to stand and wave at the group [Applause]. God
bless you. There is one other person I want you to see today, and I know of no
other woman in
Now my friends, I don’t – I don’t conduct meetings like
this. I don’t know who gave the orders for this stage to move or for anybody to
move. I don’t care who they’re carrying off. I want – I want – I want
everything – I want – I want – I want everything -- leave the microphones for
just now, and listen. Everybody from
Hosea Williams: My friends . . .
Abernathy: Let us listen.
Williams: My friends, we – because of the number of automobiles and buses and trucks and trains [?] involved – soon as we disperse, we’re asking all the persons—all the persons—because of your title or position that is associated with the logistics committee, to meet with me down in Dexter Street Baptist Church.
Now in dispersing, we hope that this can be done very orderly. This is the truest moment of challenge. [ ? ? ]. Those that came in on chartered buses – those that came in on chartered buses – will take the first street down to my right. You are facing me, that’s the first street down to your left. We’ll take the first street down to my right, go down one block, and turn right. The buses are parked just behind the Capitol on the [?]. You are requesting transportation to the airport. We’re asking you to remain – we’re asking you to remain where you’re standing. You are requesting transportation to the depot, down to the train station. [?] transportation for you, also, on the [?]. So if you would go down one block and to the right, one block again and turn right to [?], you’ll find transportation for those again on chartered buses, those that are leaving by train. Those of you people that are going to the airport, we ask you to remain where you are.
We’re going to ask one last special favor – one last special
favor. This march has exemplified the dignity of non-violence and of this
non-violent revolution. This dignity now will be displayed according to how the
people of
Abernathy: Now,
my friends, all persons who came on Alderman Shu’s plane from
Little Cynthia Brown, age 7, will you please come to the – to the rostrum. Your mama is here waiting for you. If you see Cynthia, please send her here, because I know my children are here, and I don’t want them to get lost, either.
We are going to sing now, “We Shall Overcome.” And following the singing of “We Shall Overcome,” Dr. Edmond Clark, the executive secretary of the American Baptist Convention, who is the official representative of the National Council of Churches here today, will pronounce the benediction. Let us now stop in our tracks, and let us join our hands.
Unidentified voice: We’ve got a few others in the corner down here, [ ? ? ].
Abernathy: The
three other people who marched, stay where you are. We have transportation for
you back to
Mass singing, led by Abernathy: We shall overcome. We shall overcome. We shall overcome some day. For deep in my heart, I do believe. We shall overcome some day.
Abernathy: God is on our side.
Mass singing, led by Abernathy: God is on our side. God is on our side. God is on our side today. For deep in my heart, I do believe. We shall overcome some day.
Abernathy: Black and white together.
Mass singing, led by Abernathy: Black and white together. Black and white together. Black and white together now. For deep in my heart, I do believe. We shall overcome some day.
Abernathy: We are not afraid.
Mass singing, led by Abernathy: We are not afraid. We are not afraid. We are not afraid today. For deep in my heart, I do believe. We shall overcome some day.
Abernathy: We shall overcome.
Mass singing, led by Abernathy: We shall overcome. We shall overcome. We shall overcome some day. For deep in my heart, I do believe. We shall overcome some day.
Edmond Clark [accompanied by mass humming of the melody of “We Shall Overcome”]: And now may the Lord bless and keep us. May the Lord cause His [?] to shine upon us and be gracious unto us. May the Lord lift up the [?] of his [?] upon us and give us peace both now and forever more. Amen.
Mass singing, led by Abernathy: Deep in my heart, I do believe. We shall overcome some day.
Abernathy: Let us go back home and arrange a mass meeting when we will come – Dr. King and I will come and make a report to you, from the Governor. Arrange a mass meeting, and wait to hear from Governor Wallace. Let us leave singing, “We Shall Overcome.” We shall . . .
Mass singing [fading into the distance and overlaid by crowd noises and voices from the rostrum]: . . . overcome. We shall overcome. We shall overcome some day. For deep in my heart, I do believe. We shall overcome some day.
Recording operator: At 4:12 most of the crowd started leaving. It seems to be breaking up.
Abernathy: Instructions
will be given to delegations from
Diverse unidentified voices [largely inaudible]
Recording operator: That will run out [ ? ? ]
.
Abernathy: The bus to the airport – just stay here and we’ll – we’ll –we’ll give you the information in a little while.
Diverse unidentified voices [largely inaudible]
[tape ends]