American Experience (1988) s20e05 Episode Script

1
THIS IS A SPECIAL PRESENTATION
OF AMERICAN EXPERIENCE.
MAJOR FUNDING FOR AMERICAN
EXPERIENCE with captioning
IS PROVIDED BY THE
ALFRED P. SLOAN FOUNDATION.
NATIONAL CORPORATE FUNDING
IS PROVIDED BY LIBERTY MUTUAL
AND THE SCOTTS COMPANY.
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
IS ALSO MADE POSSIBLE
BY THE CORPORATION
FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING
AND BY:
FUNDING FOR THE RE-RELEASE
OF EYES ON THE PRIZE
MADE POSSIBLE BY:
AND:
I KNOW THE ONE THING
WE DID RIGHT ♪
WAS THE DAY
WE STARTED TO FIGHT ♪
KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE ♪
HOLD ON, HOLD ON ♪
KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE ♪
HOLD ON. ♪
THIS COUNTRY KNOWS
WHAT POWER IS.
IT KNOWS IT VERY WELL.
AND IT KNOWS WHAT BLACK POWER IS
BECAUSE IT'S DEPRIVED BLACK
PEOPLE OF IT FOR 400 YEARS.
WE ARE ON THE MOVE
FOR OUR LIBERATION.
WE HAVE BEEN TIRED OF TRYING
TO PROVE THINGS TO WHITE PEOPLE.
WE ARE TIRED OF TRYING
TO EXPLAIN TO WHITE PEOPLE
THAT WE'RE NO
GOING TO HURT THEM.
WE ARE CONCERNED WITH GETTING
THE THINGS WE WANT,
THE THINGS THAT WE HAVE TO HAVE
TO BE ABLE TO FUNCTION.
Narrator:
BY 1967, THE FREEDOM MOVEMEN
WAS CHANGING COURSE.
BLACK PEOPLE SEEK POWER,
AND THEY MUST HAVE POWER
TO CHANGE THE CONDITIONS
UNDER WHICH THEY LIVE.
Narrator:
ACROSS THE NATION,
BLACK MEN AND WOMEN STRUGGLED
FOR CONTROL OF THEIR LIVES
THROUGH THE BALLOT BOX
ON THE STREET
IN THE SCHOOLS.
THE CALL FOR POWER CHALLENGED
THE ESTABLISHED RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN BLACKS AND WHITES
IN AMERICA.
ARE THE PEOPLE OF CLEVELAND
WILLING TO VOTE
FOR A CANDIDATE FOR MAYOR
WHO HAS THE BEST QUALIFICATIONS,
WHO HAS THE BEST PROGRAM,
WHO HAS THE PHILOSOPHY
OF GOVERNMEN
AND ITS RELATIONSHIP
WITH PEOPLE,
BUT WHOSE SKIN
DOES HAPPEN TO BE BLACK?
Narrator:
15 MILLION BLACK AMERICANS
LIVED IN THE CITIES,
YET IN 1967, NO MAJOR CITY HAD
EVER ELECTED A BLACK MAYOR.
DETERMINED TO BREAK
WITH THAT PAST,
THE BLACK COMMUNITY
IN CLEVELAND, OHIO,
LAUNCHED A VOTER REGISTRATION
CAMPAIGN TO SUPPORT CARL STOKES.
WELL, WE THOUGHT A BLACK MAYOR
COULD DO IT AS WELL AS SOME OF
THE WHITE MAYORS HAD DONE.
AND WE CERTAINLY THOUGHT I
WOULD BE AN IMPROVEMEN
IN POLICE/CITIZEN RELATIONS,
BECAUSE, AT THAT TIME,
THEY WEREN'T TOO GOOD.
AND WE THOUGHT MAYBE HE COULD DO
SOMETHING ABOUT HOUSING.
WE THOUGHT HE WOULD HAVE
THE INTERESTS OF THE BLACKS
MORE AT HEART,
WHICH THE WHITE MAYORS DIDN'
SEEM TO HAVE, PARTICULARLY.
Narrator:
TWO YEARS EARLIER, CARL STOKES,
AN OHIO STATE LEGISLATOR,
HAD RUN FOR MAYOR AND LOS
BY A NARROW MARGIN.
WHITE VOTERS HAD NOT SUPPORTED
A BLACK CANDIDATE.
NOW, SOME WERE SAYING HE MIGH
SAVE THE CITY
FROM THE UNREST ERUPTING
IN OTHER URBAN AREAS.
CLEVELAND HAD SEEN THE FIRES.
A VIOLENT UPRISING IN THE BLACK
NEIGHBORHOOD OF HOUGH
HAD CLAIMED FOUR LIVES
AND DESTROYED HUNDREDS
OF HOMES AND BUSINESSES.
IN THE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY, RALPH
LOCHER, THE INCUMBENT MAYOR,
WAS STOKES' MAJOR OPPONENT.
WE CAN'T SOLVE OUR PROBLEMS
SO LONG AS WE HAVE
DISRESPECT FOR LAW,
SO LONG AS WE HAVE ANARCHY
AND SO LONG AS WE THUMB OUR NOSE
AT LAW AND ORDER.
WITH THAT IN MIND, THIS COUNCIL
AND THIS ADMINISTRATION
HAS ADDED 234 ADDITIONAL POLICE
TO OUR FORCE
AND WE'VE SAID TO THE HOODLUM
WE'RE GOING TO RUN YOU
OUT OF TOWN
AND WE'RE GOING TO HAVE
LAW AND ORDER IN THIS CITY.
Narrator:
MAYOR LOCHER SOUGH
TO REASSURE THE CITY
THERE WOULD BE NO REPEAT OF
THE DISTURBANCES IN HOUGH.
LOCHER'S ADMINISTRATION WAS ALSO
MARKED BY INDUSTRIAL DECLINE
AND RISING UNEMPLOYMENT.
HOUSING FOR ONE-THIRD
OF CLEVELAND'S RESIDENTS
WAS CONSIDERED SUB-STANDARD.
BUT FOR SOME, THESE WERE NOT THE
MAJOR ISSUES OF THE CAMPAIGN.
Reporter:
THIS ELECTION SEEMS
TO HAVE A LOT MORE INTERES
THAN A LOT OF ELECTIONS
IN RECENT YEARS.
WHY DO YOU
THINK SO?
WELL, I GUESS IT'S THE RACIAL,
THE RACIAL POINT.
WHAT IS THERE
ABOUT LOCHER THAT,
YOU KNOW?
WELL, I LIKE WHAT HE'S DONE,
AND JUST LIKE HE SAID,
I THINK HE'LL FIND THE MISTAKES
HE'S MADE
AND WON'T MAKE THEM AGAIN.
WELL, WHY WOULDN'
YOU GIVE STOKES
A CHANCE?
WELL, I GUESS IT'S THE IDEA
OF HAVING A COLORED GUY IN.
THE REALITIES OF BEING ELECTED
MAYOR OF THE CITY OF CLEVELAND,
WHICH WAS 35% BLACK
AT THAT TIME,
AND 65% WHITE, AND WHITE
EASTERN EUROPEAN ETHNICS,
WAS THAT YOU COULDN'T RUN
A CIVIL RIGHTS CAMPAIGN HERE.
YOU HAD TO RUN A STRAIGH
POLITICAL CAMPAIGN,
IN WHICH YOU BLURRED
OR ELIMINATED
THE RACIAL DISTINCTIONS
AS MUCH AS YOU COULD.
DO YOU FEEL THAT YOU'RE
MAKING ANY PROGRESS WITH THEM?
I WOULDN'T BE
OUT HERE TONIGH
IF I DIDN'
BELIEVE THAT.
I HOPE I MADE I
WITH YOU, FOR INSTANCE.
GOOD LUCK.
I WANTED TO TELL
THE GENTLEMAN THE FAC
THAT ALL OF US LADIES,
WE PICK OUR LIPSTICKS BY COLOR,
SOMETIMES OUR DRESSES,
BUT WE DON'T VOTE THAT WAY
WE STUDY THE CANDIDATES.
I BELIEVE THAT.
CIVIL RIGHTS WAS A MOVEMEN
WHERE PEOPLE BELIEVED
THAT THEY COULD CHANGE
THE WAY PEOPLE WERE TREATED.
AND, IN THE STOKES CAMPAIGN,
WHILE IT WAS
A POLITICAL CAMPAIGN
IT HAD A CANDIDATE
AND BECAME A CAMPAIGN
THAT STOOD FOR
THAT KIND OF CHANGE.
Narrator:
CLEVELAND WAS JUS
OVER 1/3 BLACK.
STOKES NEEDED TO WIN
WHITE SUPPOR
AND INCREASE VOTER TURNOU
IN THE BLACK WARDS.
WE KNEW WE HAD THE VOTES
BUT WE HAD TO GET THEM OUT.
IT'S ONE THING TO HAVE THEM,
BUT TO HAVE THEM JUS
SIT THERE
SO WE ORGANIZED BLOCK BY BLOCK.
Narrator:
BY LATE SUMMER,
THE REGISTRATION DRIVE
HAD ADDED 30,000 BLACK VOTERS
TO THE ROLLS.
BUT WITH THE PRIMARY
ONLY WEEKS AWAY,
CAMPAIGN WORKERS
IN THE BLACK NEIGHBORHOODS
FOUND THEY HAD
ANOTHER BATTLE TO WIN.
Man:
THERE WAS A CERTAIN SEGMEN
OF PEOPLE
WHO HAD THIS NEGATIVE ATTITUDE.
THEY FELT, WELL,
THIS JUST CAN'T BE.
THE PEOPLE JUST WON'
ELECT A BLACK MAN.
WE WERE IN A MOTORCADE COMING
DOWN EAST 55th STREET,
AND MY WIFE SHIRLEY
AND I WERE SITTING
ON THE BACK SEA
OF THE CONVERTIBLE
AND A LITTLE BLACK KID
THAT WAS MAYBE
EIGHT YEARS OLD, PROBABLY,
CAME UP TO US AS WE WERE STOPPED
AT A TRAFFIC SIGNAL
AND HE SAID,
"ARE YOU CARL STOKES?"
AND I SAID, "YES."
AND HE JUST GAVE A LITTLE LEAP
IN THE AIR
AND RAN DOWN THE STREET,
CLAPPING HIS HANDS,
SAYING, "HE'S COLORED.
HE'S COLORED, HE'S COLORED,
HE'S COLORED."
I THOUGHT THAT SORT OF
CAUGHT THE SENSE OF PRIDE
THAT I FELT AS I WEN
THROUGH THE BLACK AREAS
OF THE CITY OF CLEVELAND.
IF YOU HAD
A CHOICE OF COLORS ♪
WHICH ONE WOULD
YOU CHOOSE, MY BROTHERS? ♪
IF THERE WAS NO DAY OR NIGHT ♪
WHICH WOULD YOU PREFER
TO BE RIGHT? ♪
DON'T VOTE FOR ME
BECAUSE I'M A NEGRO
BUT GOD KNOWS, DON'T VOTE
AGAINST ME BECAUSE I'M A NEGRO.
WE AIN'T WHAT WE WANT TO BE
AND LORD, WE AIN'T WHAT WE'RE
GOING TO BE
BUT GREAT GOD, WE SURE AIN'
WHAT WE WAS, LORD.
THANK YOU.
Narrator:
ON PRIMARY ELECTION DAY,
BLACKS VOTED IN RECORD NUMBERS.
STOKES' SUPPORTERS KNEW THA
VICTORY WAS WITHIN REACH.
WE WENT BACK
TO THE CAMPAIGN HEADQUARTERS
BUT IT WAS A VERY DIFFICULT JOB
EVEN GETTING CLOSE TO IT.
THE CAMPAIGN HEADQUARTERS
THAT I HAD OPENED MONTHS BEFORE
AS AN EMPTY, BARREN PLACE,
WAS NOW JUST SURROUNDED BY
PEOPLE FAR OUT INTO THE STREET,
AND THERE WAS DANCING IN
THE STREET ON SUPERIOR AVENUE.
(intro to "We're a Winner"
by the Impressions )
WE'RE A WINNER NOW ♪
AND NEVER LET ANYBODY SAY ♪
HI, BABY GIRL.
DADDY WON.
Narrator:
STOKES' PRIMARY VICTORY
WAS CLEAR-CUT:
96% SUPPOR
IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY
AND 52% SUPPORT CITYWIDE.
BUT THE CAMPAIGN WAS
FAR FROM OVER.
WE HAD STRESSED SO MUCH
THAT YOU MUST VOTE
FOR CARL IN THE PRIMARY
AND YOU WON'T GE
A SECOND CHANCE.
NOW, IF YOU DON'T PUT HIM
ON THE BALLOT,
YOU CAN FORGET THE WHOLE DEAL.
SO THEY WENT OU
AND VOTED FOR HIM,
I THINK THAT WAS OCTOBER
THE THIRD.
OKAY, WE SAID,
"NOW, WE GOT TO GET THEM
BACK TO THE POLLS AGAIN
NOVEMBER THE SEVENTH."
SO WE HAD TELEPHONE BANKS GOING
AND WE WOULD CALL THEM
AND WE WOULD VISIT THEM.
WE'D HAVE THE BLOCK CAPTAINS
GO SEE THEM,
THE BLOCK SUPERVISORS,
AND THEY'D TELL US,
"ALREADY VOTED FOR HIM."
WE SAID, "OH, MY GOD,
WE GOT TO DO
A VOTER EDUCATION CAMPAIGN."
WE SAID, "YES, BUT YOU
JUST PUT HIM ON THE TICKET.
YOU'VE GOT TO GO BACK AGAIN
AND VOTE
TO BE SURE THAT HE'S THE MAYOR."
AND THAT WAS A JOB.
WE GOT TO GET OU
AND KNOCK ON THESE DOORS!
WE GOT TO BRING THE ONES THA
NEVER GET OU
AND NEVER THINK ABOUT WHA
IS GOING TO BECOME OF THE CITY.
JUST A FEW OF US HAVE TO GET OU
AND BRING THE
MAKE OURSELVES
A COMMITTEE OF ONE
AND GET THE VOTE OU
FOR CARL STOKES.
AND THEN WE CAN SING, "WE'RE
GONNA WALK TOGETHER, CHILDREN.
"WE'RE GONNA TALK TOGETHER,
CHILDREN.
"AND WE'RE GONNA HAVE OUR MAYOR
DOWN THERE
THAT WILL SPEAK FOR EVERYBODY,
CHILDREN."
LET'S GO ON AND WORK
FOR CARL STOKES.
Narrator:
IN CLEVELAND, 80% OF THE VOTERS
WERE DEMOCRATS.
WINNING THE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY
USUALLY MEANT CERTAIN ELECTION.
BUT WHITE VOTERS WERE MOVING
TO THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE,
SETH TAFT.
Taft:
SO, RIGHT AFTER THE PRIMARY,
WE JUST HAD THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE
MARCHING INTO OUR HEADQUARTERS
SAYING, "WE'LL CAMPAIGN FOR YOU,
WE THINK YOU'RE THE GREAT GUY."
THEY'D NEVER HEARD OF ME
BEFORE.
BUT, UH
SO, WE HAD A
IT MADE A VERY UNCOMFORTABLE
SITUATION, I CAN ASSURE YOU,
WHEN A WHOLE BATCH OF PEOPLE
RUSH INTO YOUR HEADQUARTERS
AND WANT TO WORK
IN YOUR CAMPAIGN,
WHEN YOU DON'T LIKE
THEIR MOTIVE.
WE FIRED A WHOLE BATCH OF THEM
THAT WENT OUT AND CAMPAIGNED
SAYING, "HEY, YOU WOULDN'T WAN
A BLACK MAYOR OF THIS CITY,
WOULD YOU?"
AND WE GOT RID OF EVERYBODY
WE COULD OF THAT SORT.
FRANKLY, BOTH OF US RAN A
I THINK
UH, VERY MUCH AN AFFIRMATIVE,
UH
NON-RACIALLY ORIENTED CAMPAIGN.
BUT THE RACIAL ISSUE WAS
LIKE ONE POSTAGE STAMP THICKNESS
BELOW THE SURFACE.
Narrator:
STOKES BROUGHT THE ISSUE
INTO THE OPEN
DURING A CANDIDATES' DEBATE
AT A WHITE WEST SIDE SCHOOL.
THERE WERE VERY FEW BLACKS
OVER THERE TO START OUT WITH
I THINK JUST A HANDFUL OF US
FROM THE CAMPAIGN.
AND, UH, BLACKS DIDN'T GO
ON THE WEST SIDE TOO MUCH.
I MEAN
NEVER DID FEEL TOO WELCOME.
AND STOKES INTRODUCED THE MATTER
OF RACE INTO THE CAMPAIGN.
Stokes:
I AM GOING TO BE BRUTALLY
FRANK WITH YOU.
AND EQUALLY FRANK
WITH SETH TAFT.
THE PERSONAL ANALYSIS
OF SETH TAF
IS THAT SETH TAFT MAY WIN
IN THE NOVEMBER 7 ELECTION,
BUT ONLY FOR ONE REASON
AND THAT REASON IS THAT HIS SKIN
HAPPENS TO BE WHITE.
(crowd boos )
THE WHOLE PLACE WENT KABLOOEY.
YOU COULDN'T HEAR A THING
FOR FIVE MINUTES.
CARL WAS TRYING TO SAY,
"HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY,"
TO GET ATTENTION AND SO FORTH,
BUT HE LOST THE AUDIENCE.
NOW, THAT AUDIENCE
WAS A WEST SIDE AUDIENCE
AND IT WAS 90% WHITE.
(crowd restless, talking )
Stokes:
SETH HIMSELF HAS ATTEMPTED
TO BYPASS THIS SO-CALLED
BLACK-WHITE ISSUE
BUT IN PRACTICALLY
EVERY PUBLIC UTTERANCE
HE HAS MADE
DURING THIS CAMPAIGN,
HE NOT-SO-SUBTLY POINTS OU
THAT "CARL STOKES HAS MORE
EXPERIENCE THAN SETH TAF
AT BEING A NEGRO"
WELL, WHICH IS TRUE.
AND HE GOES ON TO SAY
THAT SETH TAFT HAS HAD
MORE EXPERIENCE AT BEING WHITE.
WELL, NOW, IF THIS IS NO
SOME KIND OF SUBTLE APPEAL,
THEN WHY CONTINUALLY
BRING IT UP?
(applause )
WELL, WELL, WELL
I GUESS IT TOOK SETH
QUITE BY SURPRISE
AND HE SAID, "WELL, WELL, WELL.
"I GUESS IF YOU DON'T VOTE
FOR CARL STOKES,
YOU'RE A RACIST."
AND OUR HEARTS JUST SANK BECAUSE
THAT WAS HIS VERY BEST REMARK
OF THE WHOLE NIGHT.
AND I'M SURE THAT BY CARL
INTRODUCING THIS
INTO THE CAMPAIGN,
IT CAUGHT HIM BY SURPRISE,
BUT HE CERTAINLY ROSE TO THE
OCCASION, YOU CAN BELIEVE THAT,
AND IT SCARED US TO DEATH.
Taft:
IT SEEMS THA
THE RACE ISSUE IS WITH US.
NOW NOW IT APPEARS THAT IF I
SAY SOMETHING ON THIS SUBJECT,
IT'S RACISM.
IF CARL STOKES SAYS SOMETHING
ABOUT IT, IT'S FAIR PLAY.
Narrator:
THE DEBATE WAS A TURNING POINT.
OPINION POLLS SHOWED
LARGE NUMBERS
OF UNDECIDED WHITE VOTERS
MOVING TO TAFT.
WITH 15 DAYS LEFT TO CAMPAIGN,
TAFT REACHED OU
TO THE WHITE WEST SIDE.
HELLO THERE, SIR,
I'M SETH TAFT.
HOW ARE YOU?
Man:
FOR WHOM DO YOU
INTEND TO VOTE FOR?
TAFT.
TAFT.
WHAT DO YOU FEEL THE MAJOR
POLITICAL ISSUE IS:
RACE, CRIME,
URBAN RENEWAL?
I'D SAY CRIME.
CRIME?
Man:
AND I WANT YOU TO KNOW
THAT ALL THE SLOVAK PEOPLE
ARE FOR SETH TAF
FOR MAYOR IN THIS TOWN.
AND THIS IS THE WAY
THEY SAY IT IN SLOVAK:
(speaking Slovak )
Narrator:
STOKES STRUGGLED TO HOLD ON
TO HIS WHITE SUPPORT.
BUT AS HE CONTINUED
TO SLIP IN THE POLLS,
HE RETURNED TO THE BLACK
COMMUNITY TO MAKE HIS APPEAL.
FOREVER IN PEACE ♪
NO WATER CAN SWALLOW,
NO WATER CAN SWALLOW ♪
OH, THE SHIP OF LIFE ♪
THE MASTER OF ALL TIME ♪
GLORY, GLORY, HALLELUJAH ♪
GLORY, GLORY, HALLELUJAH,
HIS TRUTH IS MARCHING ON. ♪
THE THING UPON WHICH
I HAVE DEPENDED
HAS BEEN THAT IF YOU SHOW PEOPLE
THAT YOU HAVE
THE QUALIFICATIONS,
THEN YOU'RE NO
GOING TO BE PENALIZED
JUST BECAUSE YOU HAPPEN
TO BE A NEGRO.
MR. STOKES, HE KNOWS MORE
ABOUT WHAT WE NEED.
HE CAN DO MORE FOR US,
AND HE'S GOING TO DO IT.
I THINK HE'S GOING TO GET IT.
BECAUSE WE HAVE WORKED
AWFULLY HARD.
Man:
WE NEVER GAVE UP HOPE
BECAUSE, I GUESS, WE WERE
VERY LOOSE IN THIS ENDEAVOR.
BECAUSE CARL B. STOKES
HAD BROUGHT MORE UNITY
AMONGST THE PEOPLE OF CLEVELAND
THAN I HAD EVER WITNESSED,
AND LOSING REALLY WASN'T PAR
OF MY THOUGHT AT THE TIME.
STOKES.
STOKES TWO.
STOKES.
STOKES THREE.
STOKES.
STOKES FOUR.
TAFT, TAFT, TAFT.
Taft:
WE WERE AHEAD IN WHA
HAD COME IN SO FAR.
AND SO THE GUYS WERE
GETTING ME PRACTICED UP
ON AN ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
OR WHATEVER WE MIGHT CALL IT.
AND THEN SOMEBODY CAME IN
WITH A LIS
OF WHAT PRECINCTS
HAD NOT REPORTED.
AND AS SOON AS WE SAW THAT,
IT WAS ALL OVER,
BECAUSE THE PRECINCTS THA
HADN'T BEEN REPORTED
AT THAT MOMENT,
WERE PRECINCTS
IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY.
Narrator:
AT 5:00 A.M., THE FINAL
TALLY WAS ANNOUNCED.
BY A NARROW MARGIN,
CARL STOKES HAD BEEN ELECTED
MAYOR OF AMERICA'S
10th LARGEST CITY.
Reporter:
CARL, HOW'S IT FEEL?
IT'S A WONDERFUL MOMENT.
(crowd applauds, cheers,
whistles )
NEVER HAS ONE MAN
OWED SO MUCH TO SO MANY.
THOSE OF US WHO ARE
POLISH, HUNGARIAN,
CROATIAN, ROMANIANS,
NEGROES, GERMANS, IRISH
JEWISH, YEAH.
YES, JEWISH.
(crowd applauds )
AND I CAN FIND NO MORE
FITTING WAY TO END THIS APPEAL
BY SAYING TO ALL OF YOU,
IN THE MOST SERIOUS
AND IN THE MOST MEANINGFUL WAY
THAT I CAN,
THAT TRULY, NEVER BEFORE,
HAVE I EVER KNOWN
THE FULL MEANING OF THE WORDS
"GOD BLESS AMERICA."
THANKS A LOT.
Williams:
OH, YES, IT WAS A FIRST
WE HAD DONE SOMETHING
THAT HADN'T BEEN DONE
ANYPLACE IN THE COUNTRY BEFORE.
AND SINCE FOLKS LAUGHED AT US
IN '65
AND WE PULLED IT OFF IN '67,
I GUESS
WE FELT PRETTY SMUG ABOUT IT.
AND, UH, YEAH,
WE WERE VERY HAPPY ABOUT IT.
AND WE SAID,
IF IT CAN BE DONE HERE
IT CAN BE DONE OTHER PLACES.
Narrator:
IN CLEVELAND,
THE POWER OF THE VOTE
PUT A BLACK MAN IN CHARGE
OF CITY GOVERNMENT.
TWO MONTHS LATER,
GARY, INDIANA,
INAUGURATED ITS FIRS
BLACK MAYOR, RICHARD HATCHER.
IN OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA,
THE SEARCH FOR POWER
BEGAN ON THE STREETS.
BLACKS HAD LITTLE SAY
IN HOW THEIR COMMUNITY WAS RUN.
IN PARTICULAR, MANY QUESTIONED
THE ROLE OF THE POLICE.
THE POLICE THROUGHOUT THE BLACK
COMMUNITIES IN THE COUNTRY
WERE REALLY THE GOVERNMENT.
WE HAD MORE CONTAC
WITH THE POLICE
THAN WE DID THE CITY COUNCIL.
THE POLICE WERE
UNIVERSALLY DISLIKED.
Narrator:
THE SIZE OF THE MOSTLY WHITE
POLICE FORCE WAS INCREASING.
SO WERE COMPLAINTS
OF POLICE BRUTALITY.
INFLUENCED BY FREEDOM STRUGGLES
IN THE SOUTH
AND IN THIRD WORLD NATIONS,
IN 1966, HUEY NEWTON
AND BOBBY SEALE
FORMED THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY
FOR SELF-DEFENSE,
A SYMBOL TAKEN FROM
A LOWNDES COUNTY, ALABAMA,
POLITICAL ORGANIZATION.
ARMED WITH LAW BOOKS
AND WITH GUNS,
THE BLACK PANTHERS MONITORED
THE ACTIONS OF THE POLICE
IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY.
I REMEMBER ONE
OF THESE FIRST EVENTS.
WHEN WE GOT OUT OF THE CAR,
WE SAW POLICEMEN, YOU KNOW,
MAKING AN ARREST OF SOME KIND
ABOUT 20 OR 30 PEOPLE
IN THE COMMUNITY
STANDING TO THE SIDE, WATCHING.
AND THE BLACK FOLKS,
ONE OF THEM SAYS:
"HEY, WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?
HEY, MAN, THIS GUY GOT A G"
"HEY, MAN, I'M GONNA MOVE
OUT OF HERE.
THESE GUYS GOT GUNS
AND STUFF LIKE THAT."
THEY WERE OUT LOOKING
AT WHAT THE POLICE WERE DOING.
WE HAD OFFICERS STOPPING A CAR
AND THEN WE WOULD HAVE A CARLOAD
FULL OF THESE BLACK PANTHER
PEOPLE PULL UP BEHIND THEM,
AND WATCH THEM AND SEE
WHAT THEY WERE DOING, YOU KNOW?
THEY WERE LOOKING A
WHAT THE POLICE WERE DOING.
WE WOULD FOLLOW
THE POLICE AROUND
AND WHEN THE POLICE
WOULD ARREST OR DETAIN SOMEONE,
WE WOULD READ THEIR RIGHTS
TO THEM.
AND IT CAME DOWN TO SOME POIN
WHERE THE POLICEMAN SAYS,
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING
WITH THOSE GUNS?"
AND HUEY SAYS,
"WELL, WE GOT OURS
TO DEFEND OURSELVES
AND TO OBSERVE YOU."
AND THE POLICE: "YOU HAVE
NO RIGHT TO OBSERVE ME."
AND HUEY WAS ALL THIS LAW STUDY,
'CAUSE HE WAS IN NIGH
LAW SCHOOL AT THE TIME
"CALIFORNIA STATE SUPREME COUR
RULING STATES THAT EVERYONE
"HAS A RIGHT TO OBSERVE A POLICE
OFFICER CARRYING OUT HIS DUTY,
"AS LONG AS THEY STAND
A REASONABLE DISTANCE AWAY.
"AND A REASONABLE DISTANCE
WAS CONSTITUTED
"IN THAT PARTICULAR CALIFORNIA
SUPREME COURT RULING
"AS EIGHT TO TEN FEET.
"I'M STANDING APPROXIMATELY
22 FEET FROM YOU.
"I WILL OBSERVE YOU
CARRYING OUT YOUR DUTIES
WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT."
AND THE BLACK COMMUNITY
IS SAYING,
"WELL, GO AHEAD ON
AND TELL IT!"
Narrator:
THE BOLDNESS OF THE PANTHER
ACTIONS ATTRACTED YOUNG BLACKS,
MANY IN THEIR TEENS.
CARRYING LOADED FIREARMS
IN PUBLIC
WAS A WELL-PROTECTED LEGAL RIGH
IN CALIFORNIA
BUT, WITH THE EMERGENCE
OF THE BLACK PANTHERS,
STATE OFFICIALS INTRODUCED
LEGISLATION
TO OUTLAW CARRYING LOADED
FIREARMS WITHIN CITY LIMITS.
MAY, 1967.
IN PROTEST, THE PANTHERS
TRAVELED TO SACRAMENTO,
THE STATE CAPITAL.
WE ARRIVED THERE,
ALL THESE BLACK MEN AND WOMEN,
24 MALES
AND SIX FEMALES, WITH GUNS,
AND RONALD REAGAN,
THEN THE GOVERNOR,
WAS ON THE LAWN WITH 200
FUTURE LEADERS OF AMERICA
YOU KNOW, 12- AND 13-
AND 14-YEAR-OLD KIDS.
AND THESE KIDS STARTED LEAVING
HIS SESSION ON THE LAWN
AND COMING TO SEE US.
AND THESE YOUNG WHITE KIDS
THOUGHT WE WERE A GUN CLUB.
Narrator:
KNOWING THE MEDIA WOULD
BE THERE,
THE GROUP OF MEN AND WOMEN THEN
ENTERED THE CAPITOL BUILDING.
Reporter:
THEY'RE HEAVILY ARMED.
WHETHER THEIR WEAPONS ARE LOADED
OR NOT, NOBODY SEEMS TO KNOW.
Man:
WAIT A MINUTE, NOW,
WAIT A MINUTE.
WAIT A MINUTE
ARE YOU UNDER ARREST?
AM I UNDER ARREST?
AM I UNDER ARREST?!
DID YOU PLACE HIM
UNDER ARREST?
GO AHEAD, BROTHER.
AM I UNDER ARREST?
AM I?
TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF ME
IF I'M NOT UNDER ARREST!
IF I'M UNDER ARREST,
I'LL COME.
IF I'M NOT,
DON'T PUT YOUR HANDS ON ME!
IS THIS THE WAY THE RACIS
GOVERNMENT WORKS?
DON'T LET A MAN EXERCISE
HIS CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS?
IF MY SWEATER'S RIPPED,
YOU WILL GET
I'D LIKE TO MAKE A STATEMEN
NOW, WITH THIS RESPECT:
THE STATEMENT OF THE BLACK
PANTHER PARTY FOR SELF-DEFENSE
ON THE MULFORD ACT NOW PENDING
BEFORE THE CALIFORNIA
LEGISLATURE.
THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY
FOR SELF-DEFENSE
CALLS UPON THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
IN GENERAL,
AND THE BLACK PEOPLE
IN PARTICULAR,
TO TAKE FULL NOTE OF THE RACIS
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE
WHICH IS NOW CONSIDERING
LEGISLATION
AIMED AT KEEPING THE BLACK
PEOPLE DISARMED AND POWERLESS,
AT THE VERY SAME TIME
THAT RACIST POLICE AGENCIES
THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY ARE
INTENSIFYING THE TERROR,
BRUTALITY, MURDER AND REPRESSION
OF BLACK PEOPLE.
Narrator:
A NATION THAT HAD GROWN USED TO
THE NONVIOLEN
CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMEN
WAS NOW CONFRONTED WITH
NEW IMAGES OF BLACK PROTEST.
LATER, AT A SACRAMENTO
SERVICE STATION,
NEWS CAMERAS DOCUMENTED
THE CONTINUING DEBATE
OVER LAW AND GUNS.
Man:
THAT AIN'T NO SAWED-OFF,
THAT'S A RIOT SHOTGUN,
JUST LIKE YOURS.
YOU DON'T KNOW THE
CONSTITUTION, RIGHT?
UH-UH.
SURE WE DO; WE'RE WELL AWARE
OF THE CONSTITUTION.
YOU HAVE NO RIGH
TO TAKE MY GUN
AWAY FROM ME.
YOU BREAKING
THE CONSTITUTION LAW.
Reporter:
THE PAMPHLET SAYS
THAT THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY
FOR SELF-DEFENSE CALLS ON THE
AMERICAN PEOPLE IN GENERAL
TO TAKE CAREFUL NOTE
OF THE RACIS
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
WHY DO YOU BELIEVE
THE LEGISLATURE IS RACIST?
DON'T YOU KNOW?
YOU'RE A PART OF IT.
ISN'T IT OBVIOUS?
THIS IS A WHITE SYSTEM.
THIS IS OBVIOUSLY
WHERE WE AT.
DO YOU BELIEVE EVERYTHING
THAT'S IN THAT PAMPHLET?
THE PAMPHLET SPEAKS FOR ITSELF.
Douglas:
IT WAS LIKE BEING
A PART OF A MOVEMEN
THAT YOU HAD SEEN ON TV
AND NOW BEING ABLE
TO PARTICIPATE
AND SHARE IN THAT MOVEMENT.
WHEN YOU HEARD TALK
ABOUT MALCOLM,
SEEN MALCOLM ON TV,
AT THAT TIME,
YOU HAD HEARD AND TALKED
ABOUT STOKELY CARMICHAEL
RAP BROWN AND S.N.C.C.
AND WHAT HAVE YOU,
AND ALL THE DIFFERENT THINGS
THAT WERE HAPPENING.
AND TO BECOME A PAR
OF A MOVEMEN
THAT HAD ENCOMPASSED ALL THESE
DIFFERENT CONCEPTS AND IDEALS
IN ITS OWN CREATIVE WAY
IT BROUGHT A SENSE OF PRIDE.
BUT THERE WAS ALSO, THERE WAS
THE DOUBTS AND THE FEAR
OF WHETHER YOU WERE GOING
TO SURVIVE OR EXIST,
WHICH BECAME A PAR
OF YOUR MAKE-UP
AND YOU WENT ON AND TOOK CARE
OF BUSINESS THE WAY YOU HAD TO.
Narrator:
THE PANTHERS HAD NOT VIOLATED
CALIFORNIA GUN LAW.
THEY WERE CHARGED INSTEAD
WITH DISTURBING THE PEACE.
SIX PANTHERS, INCLUDING CHAIRMAN
BOBBY SEALE, WERE CONVICTED.
WELL, AS CHIEF DEPUTY
ATTORNEY GENERAL,
WE'D HAD
I'D HAD EXPERIENCE
AND THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
HAD HAD EXPERIENCE IN THE 1960s,
PRIOR TO THIS TIME,
WITH A VARIETY OF NUT GROUPS,
BOTH EXTREME LEF
AND EXTREME RIGHT,
WHO WERE RUNNING AROUND
WITH GUNS,
THINKING THAT THEY COULD
SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF CALIFORNIA
AND THE WORLD
THROUGH DIRECT MILITANT ACTION.
AND WE WERE AND HAD BEEN
WELL INFORMED,
AND IN SOME CASES HAD
SURVEILLANCE UPON,
EXTREME GROUPS
THAT CARRIED WEAPONS.
WHEN THESE CHARACTERS
CAME ALONG,
WE THOUGHT THEY WERE ANOTHER
IRRITATING PAR
OF THE BOUILLABAISSE
THAT WAS STARTING TO BUBBLE
ALL OVER CALIFORNIA.
WE NEEDED THEM LIKE A SEVERE
CASE OF A BAD DISEASE.
Narrator:
THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY'S STYLE
AND DRAMATIC ACTIONS
CAPTURED THE ATTENTION
OF THE MEDIA.
YET THE PANTHERS OFTEN DISAGREED
WITH THE WAY
THEY WERE PORTRAYED.
THE EXAMINER MADE A REPORT BACK
HERE, THE LAST SUNDAY'S PAPER,
THAT WE WERE ANTI-WHITE,
THAT WE HOLD NO BONES
THIS IS A QUOTE PICK NO BONES
ABOUT BEING ANTI-WHITE.
THIS IS A BOLD-FACED LIE.
WE DON'T HATE NOBODY
BECAUSE OF THEIR COLOR.
WE HATE OPPRESSION.
WE HATE MURDER OF BLACK PEOPLE
IN OUR COMMUNITIES.
WE HATE THE GROSS UNEMPLOYMEN
THAT EXISTS IN OUR COMMUNITIES.
WE HATE BLACK MEN BEING TAKEN
OFF INTO THE MILITARY SERVICE
TO BE FIGHTING FOR A RACIST,
DECADENT AMERICA
PROMISING US FREEDOM.
Narrator:
TO PRESENT THEIR STORY AND THEIR
PROGRAM FOR SOCIAL CHANGE,
THE BLACK PANTHERS CREATED
A NATIONAL NEWSPAPER.
LANGUAGE AND ART WERE IMPORTAN
TOOLS OF THE NEW PARTY.
Newton:
I KNEW THAT IMAGES
HAD TO BE CHANGED.
I KNOW, SOCIOLOGICALLY,
THAT WORDS,
THE POWER OF THE WORD,
WORDS STIGMATIZE PEOPLE
AND WE FELT THAT THE POLICE
NEEDED A LABEL,
A LABEL OTHER THAN
THAT FEAR IMAGE
THAT THEY
CARRIED IN THE COMMUNITY.
SO WE USED THE PIG AS
A RATHER LOW-LIFED ANIMAL,
IN ORDER TO IDENTIFY THE POLICE
AND IT WORKED.
Narrator:
SOME FEARED THE REACTION
THAT THE PANTHERS' STANCE
MIGHT PROVOKE.
WE'LL JUST HAVE TO GET GUNS
AND BE THERE ♪
MY PARENTS OR THE NEIGHBORS
WERE KIND OF RELUCTANT,
KIND OF STANDOFFISH
IN THEIR ATTITUDES
TOWARDS THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY,
BECAUSE HERE YOU HAD A NEW,
DYNAMIC KIND OF ORGANIZATION
COMING OUT AND DOING THINGS
THAT NEVER HAD BEEN DONE
IN THE HISTORY
OF THIS COUNTRY BEFORE
CARRYING GUNS, STANDING UP
TO THE POLICE,
STANDING UP
TO THE POWER STRUCTURE.
Narrator:
ELDRIDGE CLEAVER,
WHO HAD GAINED FAME
FROM HIS WRITINGS IN PRISON,
WAS THE CHIEF SPOKESMAN
FOR THE PARTY.
AND WE FEEL THAT THE POLICE MUS
BE BROUGHT UNDER CONTROL
BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY,
INCLUDING THROUGH FORCE OF ARMS.
WE HAVE NEVER BIT OUR TONGUE
ABOUT THAT.
WE SAY IT NOW,
LOUD AND CLEAR.
WE WILL ALWAYS SAY IT;
WE'RE NOT AFRAID TO SAY IT
THAT THESE RACIST, GESTAPO PIGS
HAVE TO STOP BRUTALIZING
OUR COMMUNITY
OR WE'RE GONNA TAKE UP GUNS;
WE'RE GONNA DRIVE THEM OUT.
WE WERE ADVISED BY OUR SERGEANTS
AND LIEUTENANTS AND CAPTAINS
THAT THE PANTHERS
WERE ARMED AND VIOLEN
AND WERE GOING TO BE AGGRESSIVE
IN THEIR BEHAVIOR TOWARDS US.
WE WERE ADVISED
TO BE AWARE OF THAT.
Narrator:
AS THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY GREW,
SO DID TENSIONS WITH POLICE.
Newton:
GESTAPO TACTICS.
Narrator:
IN OCTOBER OF 1967, A YEAR
AFTER THE PARTY'S FORMATION,
HUEY NEWTON WAS SHO
IN THE STOMACH
IN A CONFRONTATION WITH POLICE.
POLICE OFFICER HERBERT HEANES
WAS ALSO SERIOUSLY WOUNDED.
OFFICER JOHN FREY
DIED FROM GUNSHOTS,
BELIEVED TO BE FROM
A POLICE REVOLVER.
WITH THE DEATH OF A POLICEMAN,
GOVERNMENT PRESSURES ON THE
YOUNG ORGANIZATION INTENSIFIED.
NEWTON WAS CHARGED
WITH FIRST DEGREE MURDER.
HE MAINTAINED
HE HAD BEEN FRAMED.
IN AMERICA, BLACK PEOPLE
ARE TREATED VERY MUCH
AS THE VIETNAMESE PEOPLE
OR ANY OTHER COLONIZED PEOPLE
BECAUSE WE'RE USED,
WE'RE BRUTALIZED;
THE POLICE IN OUR COMMUNITY
OCCUPY OUR AREA, OUR COMMUNITY,
AS A FOREIGN TROOP
OCCUPIES TERRITORY.
THE PANTHERS SEEMED TO BE
IN DELIBERATE, OPEN,
PROVOCATIVE CONFRONTATION
WITH THE POLICE DEPARTMENTS,
IN THEIR EARLY PERIODS.
THEY USED REVOLUTIONARY
LANGUAGE, PROVOCATIVE LANGUAGE,
AND SEEMED TO BE DELIBERATELY
SEEKING TO CONFRON
ESTABLISHED AUTHORITY
PARTICULARLY POLICE AUTHORITY.
BUT THEN WE OBSERVED THAT THEY
SEEMED TO HAVE A SOCIAL SIDE
A CONCEPT OF DOING SOMETHING
BEYOND THESE ANGRY
CONFRONTATIONS.
Narrator:
THE PANTHERS CALLED THEMSELVES
A REVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZATION
THE TEN POINT PROGRAM
WAS THEIR BLUEPRINT FOR CHANGE.
Seale:
AND WE WROTE OUT THIS PROGRAM:
WE WANT POWER TO DETERMINE
OUR OWN DESTINY
IN OUR OWN BLACK COMMUNITY.
IMMEDIATE END
TO POLICE BRUTALITY
AND MURDER OF BLACK PEOPLE
WAS POINT NUMBER SEVEN.
THE RIGHT TO HAVE JURIES
OF OUR PEERS IN THE COURTS,
WHAT HAVE YOU;
WE SUMMED IT UP:
WE WANTED LAND, BREAD, HOUSING,
EDUCATION, CLOTHING,
JUSTICE AND PEACE.
Narrator:
THE BLACK PANTHERS
DISTRIBUTED FREE FOOD
AND LATER DEVELOPED A FREE
BREAKFAST PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN.
Teacher:
GOOD MORNING!
Class:
GOOD MORNING.
Teacher:
I CAN'T HEAR YOU.
GOOD MORNING!
Class:
GOOD MORNING!
BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL ♪
FREE HUEY! ♪
SET OUR WARRIOR FREE ♪
FREE HUEY! ♪
BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL ♪
FREE HUEY! ♪
SET OUR WARRIOR FREE ♪
FREE HUEY! ♪
BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL ♪
FREE HUEY! ♪
THE IDEA WAS, OBVIOUSLY,
TWO-FOLD
FOR THE SPECIFIC PURPOSE OF
SERVING THOSE PEOPLE
WHO WERE DIRECTLY BENEFITED
BY OUR PROGRAMS
BUT ALSO, SECONDARILY,
TO INFLUENCE THE MINDS OF PEOPLE
TO UNDERSTAND NOT ONLY
THAT THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY
WAS PROVIDING THEM THIS BUT,
MORE IMPORTANTLY,
THAT IF THEY COULD GET FOOD,
THAT MAYBE
THEY WOULD WANT CLOTHING,
AND MAYBE THEY'D WANT HOUSING,
MAYBE THEY'D WANT LAND
AND MAYBE THEY WOULD
ULTIMATELY WAN
SOME ABSTRACT THING
CALLED "FREEDOM."
Narrator:
AROUND THE COUNTRY,
PARTICULARLY IN URBAN AREAS,
YOUNG BLACK MEN AND WOMEN
FORMED LOCAL CHAPTERS.
THE PARTY GREW MUCH TOO RAPIDLY
BECAUSE MANY OF THE YOUNG
PEOPLE WERE VERY ENTHUSIASTIC
ABOUT THE GUNS AND
ABOUT THE BERETS,
BUT THEY KNEW LITTLE
ABOUT THE COMMUNITY PROGRAMS
THAT REALLY ARE OUR
REASON FOR EXISTING.
Narrator:
THE GROWING PARTY
STILL FACED THE DILEMMA
OF HAVING ITS LEADER,
HUEY NEWTON, IN PRISON.
COURT PROCEEDINGS ATTRACTED
NATIONAL ATTENTION,
BRINGING SUPPORT TO THE PANTHERS
FROM AN ALLIANCE
OF WHITE AND BLACK
POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONS.
Reporter:
YOU'RE OBVIOUSLY IN
GOOD SPIRITS, HUEY. WHY?
BECAUSE I HAVE
THE PEOPLE BEHIND ME
AND THE PEOPLE ARE MY STRENGTH.
Cleaver:
HUEY'S MOTHER IS HERE
MRS. NEWTON.
(crowd cheering )
THIS IS THE BLACK MOTHER.
Narrator:
FEBRUARY 17, 1968
STOKELY CARMICHAEL,
JAMES FORMAN,
H. RAP BROWN
LEADERS OF THE STUDEN
NONVIOLEN
COORDINATING COMMITTEE,
NOW JOINED FORCES WITH
THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY
IN THEIR CALL FOR REVOLUTION.
AND SO, IN TALKING ABOU
BROTHER HUEY NEWTON TONIGHT,
WE HAVE TO TALK ABOU
THE STRUGGLE OF BLACK PEOPLE
NOT ONLY IN THE UNITED STATES,
BUT IN THE WORLD TODAY,
AND HOW HE BECOMES PAR
AND PARCEL OF THAT STRUGGLE;
HOW WE MOVE ON SO THAT OUR
PEOPLE WILL SURVIVE AMERICA.
(cheers and applause )
SEE, IT'S NO IN BETWEEN.
YOU'RE EITHER FREE
OR YOU'RE A SLAVE.
THERE'S NO SUCH THING
AS SECOND-CLASS CITIZENSHIP.
THE ONLY POLITICS
IN THIS COUNTRY
THAT'S RELEVANT TO
BLACK PEOPLE TODAY
IS THE POLITICS OF REVOLUTION
NONE OTHER.
Narrator:
APRIL 6, 1968 A GUN BATTLE
ON THE STREETS OF WEST OAKLAND.
FIVE MEN WERE WOUNDED
THREE POLICE OFFICERS
AND TWO PANTHERS.
A THIRD PANTHER, BOBBY HUTTON,
AGE 17, WAS SHOT TO DEATH.
BLACK PEOPLE ARE NOW
TO ORGANIZE IN A FASHION
WHERE WE HAVE MAXIMUM
RETALIATION AGAINST ALL FORMS
OF RACIST POLICE
BRUTALITY AND ATTACKS.
Reporter:
WHAT CHANGES HAVE THERE BEEN
IN THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY
SINCE THE GUNFIGH
LAST WEEKEND?
WHAT YOU MEAN, "WHAT CHANGES?"
WE HAVE A BLACK MAN THAT'S
DEAD, MURDERED BY PIGS.
THAT'S A CHANGE.
Brown:
HERE WERE MEN
WHO WERE SAYING,
"LISTEN, WE ARE WILLING TO TAKE
CHARGE OF OUR LIVES.
WE ARE WILLING TO STAND UP."
THERE WAS THE APPEAL THA
MALCOLM HAD IN MANY WAYS.
IT HAD A CERTAIN SUBJECTIVE
APPEAL TO MY PSYCHE
AND TO MY EMOTIONAL NEED TO SAY
YES, THERE WERE MEN IN THIS
WORLD WHO CARED BLACK MEN
WHO CARED ABOUT THE COMMUNITY
AND WANTED TO DO SOMETHING
AND WERE WILLING TO TAKE I
TO THE LAST DEGREE.
Narrator:
IN THE FALL OF 1968, TWO YEARS
AFTER THE PARTY'S FOUNDING,
HUEY NEWTON WAS CONVICTED
OF MANSLAUGHTER
IN THE DEATH OF
POLICE OFFICER FREY
A CONVICTION WHICH
WAS LATER OVERTURNED.
WITH CHAPTERS IN 25 CITIES,
GOVERNMENT SURVEILLANCE
WAS INCREASING.
THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE BLACK
PANTHER PARTY HAD REACHED
SEVERAL THOUSAND,
AND WAS GROWING.
FREE HUEY! ♪
BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL ♪
FREE HUEY! ♪
SET OUR WARRIOR FREE ♪
FREE HUEY! ♪
IT WAS A BATTLE,
IT WAS A STRUGGLE,
AND I THINK WE ROOTED OURSELVES
IN, IN THE SENSE THA
WE BEGAN TO GET MILLIONS
OF BLACK FOLKS TO REALLY LOOK
AT WHERE WE WERE COMING FROM
IN OUR STAND AGAINS
THE POWER STRUCTURE.
NOW, A LOT OF PEOPLE CALL
REVOLUTION A CONFRONTATION.
REALLY, WHAT HUEY AND I MEAN
BY "REVOLUTION" WAS
A NEED TO REVOLVE MORE
POLITICAL POWER
AND ECONOMIC POWER BACK INTO
THE HANDS OF THE PEOPLE.
THAT'S REALLY WHA
A REVOLUTION IS.
Narrator:
THE BLACK PANTHERS
CONTINUED THEIR STRUGGLE,
WORKING OUTSIDE THE SYSTEM.
IN BROOKLYN, NEW YORK,
BLACK AND LATINO PARENTS
CHALLENGED
THE ESTABLISHED ORDER,
WORKING WITHIN THE SYSTEM.
THEY DEMANDED THE POWER TO RUN
THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS,
TO IMPROVE THEIR
CHILDREN'S FUTURE.
THE CHILDREN ARE READY TO WORK.
THEY COME TO SCHOOL TO WORK.
AND WHEN THEY GET TO SCHOOL,
THE TEACHERS,
THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO.
THEY FIRST THING THEY SAY,
"WE DON'T UNDERSTAND
THE CHILDREN."
WELL, IF THEY WOULD TRY
TO UNDERSTAND THE CHILDREN,
THESE PROBLEMS WOULDN'T EXIST.
THE CHILDREN AREN'T STUPID.
THEY KNOW WHEN THE TEACHERS
ARE THERE TO HELP THEM.
WELL, WHEN MY FAMILY MOVED
HERE FROM BIRMINGHAM IN 1965,
THEY CAME FROM TOTALLY
SEGREGATED SCHOOLS.
THE CHILDREN WERE ALL BLACK,
THE TEACHERS WERE ALL BLACK,
THE PRINCIPALS WERE ALL BLACK.
ONE OF MY SONS WAS ABOVE THE
NATIONAL AVERAGE IN MATHEMATICS,
BUT WHEN HE CAME TO THE
SCHOOLS HERE IN BROOKLYN,
WITHIN ONE YEAR,
HE WAS FLUNKING MATH.
AND I WENT TO THE SCHOOL
TO FIND OUT WHY.
THE TEACHER SAID
MY SON WAS DOING FINE.
I SAID, "HE'S NO
BRINGING HOME ASSIGNMENTS
"AND HE'S FLUNKING MATH.
"AND HE CAME HERE FROM ALABAMA,
"AND HE WAS AHEAD
OF THE NATIONAL AVERAGE.
"AND YOU'RE TELLING ME
HE'S DOING FINE.
SOMETHING IS WRONG."
Narrator:
IN NEW YORK CITY,
ONLY HALF OF THE CHILDREN
IN BLACK AND LATINO
NEIGHBORHOODS
FINISHED HIGH SCHOOL.
TO MAKE THE SCHOOLS WORK
FOR THEIR CHILDREN,
PARENTS IN THE
OCEAN HILL-BROWNSVILLE
SECTION OF BROOKLYN
PLANNED TO TAKE CHARGE.
IN THE BEGINNING,
CITY OFFICIALS WERE HOPEFUL.
THIS DECENTRALIZATION PLAN DOES
FOR OUR CITY SCHOOLS IN NEW YORK
EXACTLY WHAT ANY STABLE, GOOD
SCHOOL IN ANY SUBURB HAS
WHICH IS TO INVOLVE
THE PARENTS SUFFICIENTLY,
SO THEY HAVE A STAKE IN
THE WHOLE PROCESS OF SCHOOLS
AND THAT'S ALL WE SEEK TO DO.
Narrator:
IN 1967, WITH SUPPOR
FROM THE FORD FOUNDATION,
THE CITY MADE
OCEAN HILL-BROWNSVILLE
AN EXPERIMENTAL DISTRICT.
AN INTERRACIAL GOVERNING BOARD,
ELECTED BY THE COMMUNITY,
CHOSE EDUCATOR RHODY McCOY
TO LEAD THE EXPERIMENT.
HE BECAME THE FIRST BLACK
SUPERINTENDENT IN NEW YORK CITY.
THE BLACK PEOPLE IN THIS
COMMUNITY HAVE ASSUMED
THE RESPONSIBILITY
FOR THEIR SCHOOLS,
TO TRY TO IMPROVE
AND SET THE STAGE
FOR QUALITY EDUCATION
IN AN URBAN SETTING.
AND THIS IS WHAT THE EXPERIMEN
WAS DESIGNED TO DO,
AND THIS IS THE REASON THA
THE PARENTS BECAME INVOLVED.
IT WAS A JOY TO GO
TO A BOARD MEETING.
NOT ONLY WERE THE
BOARD MEMBERS PRESEN
BUT THE COMMUNITY FOLK
WERE SITTING AROUND,
AND THEY HAD AS MUCH
INPUT AS THE BOARD MEMBERS.
AND IT WAS ALWAYS
ON A POSITIVE NOTE
"HOW DO WE HELP THE YOUNGSTERS?"
Narrator:
BEFORE THE EXPERIMENT,
FOUR OUT OF FIVE TEACHERS
IN THE DISTRICT WERE WHITE.
NOW, YOUNGER TEACHERS,
A NUMBER OF THEM BLACK,
TRANSFERRED TO
OCEAN HILL-BROWNSVILLE.
THE STUDENTS, 95% BLACK
AND LATINO, RESPONDED.
YOU FELT MORE ACCEPTED.
YOU WEREN'T THE OUTSIDER
IN YOUR OWN SCHOOL.
THEY WERE PART OF
YOUR ENVIRONMENT
I MEAN, THEY WERE BLACK.
YOU CAN IDENTIFY WITH THEM
AND THEY CAN IDENTIFY WITH YOU.
IT'S AS SIMPLE AS THAT.
THERE'S NO BIG MYSTERY.
Narrator:
AT FIRST, THE NEWLY FORMED
TEACHERS' UNION,
THE UNITED
FEDERATION OF TEACHERS,
SUPPORTED THE EXPERIMENT.
BUT WITH ADMINISTRATIVE
DECISIONS
NOW BEING MADE BY THE COMMUNITY,
THE TEACHERS WERE WORRIED.
IT WAS SUPPOSED TO
BE AN EXPERIMEN
AND AN INVOLVEMENT OF
TEACHERS AND PARENTS.
AND, SUDDENLY, DECISIONS
STARTED TO GET MADE
AND NO ONE KNEW HOW THEY WERE
MADE OR WHERE THEY WERE MADE,
SO THERE WAS A LOT OF WARINESS
ON THE PART OF TEACHERS.
Narrator:
ALBERT SHANKER, THE U.F.T.
PRESIDENT, QUESTIONED
WHERE DECENTRALIZATION OF
THE SCHOOLS MIGHT LEAD.
UNDER THE NEW PROPOSAL,
TEACHERS AND SUPERVISORS
WOULD BE HIRED
ON THE BASIS OF INTERVIEW
BY LOCAL PEOPLE.
AND THIS WOULD MEAN THA
NEW YORK CITY WOULD BE FACED
WITH THE SAME PROBLEM
OTHER AREAS ARE
NAMELY, WHERE LOCAL PEOPLE
DON'T WANT WHITES,
THERE WON'T BE
ANY WHITES TEACHING;
WHERE THEY DON'T WAN
ANY BLACKS,
THERE WON'T BE ANY BLACKS;
AND WHERE THEY DON'T WANT JEWS,
OR ITALIANS
OR IRISH OR ANYBODY ELSE,
WE WILL ESSENTIALLY DEVELOP,
WITHIN NEW YORK CITY,
A SERIES OF SCHOOL SYSTEMS
THAT ARE MORE SEGREGATED
THAN THE SCHOOL SYSTEM IS
AT THE PRESENT TIME.
AND I SAY THAT IS THE BEGINNING
OF DESTRUCTION OF
OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM.
Narrator:
THROUGH THE 1967-1968 SCHOOL
YEAR, THE COMMUNITY BOARD WORKED
TO ASSEMBLE AN INTEGRATED
TEACHING STAFF.
SOME TENURED TEACHERS RESISTED
NEIGHBORHOOD CONTROL OF SCHOOLS.
THE COMMUNITY BOARD
FACED A DILEMMA.
IN MAY, THE LOCAL BOARD
HAD ITS REGULAR MEETING.
I GUESS WE WERE HAVING MEETINGS,
AT THAT POINT,
ABOUT EVERY TWO WEEKS.
AND ON THE AGENDA THAT NIGHT,
McCOY HAD PUT AN ITEM:
THE TRANSFER OF 13 TEACHERS AND
ALSO SOME ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS
I GUESS THERE WAS
FIVE OR SIX OF THEM.
AND WE SAT DOWN AND TALKED TO
THE GOVERNING BOARD MEMBERS
OF THE SCHOOL,
AND THE PRINCIPAL OF THE SCHOOL,
AND WE CAME TO THE CONCLUSION
THAT THESE PEOPLE WERE NOT GOING
TO WORK WELL IN THE SYSTEM.
AND THEY HAD ALSO DEMONSTRATED
THAT THEY WERE OPPOSED TO
THE EXPERIMENT.
WE WERE ASKING TEACHERS
TO MAKE AN EXTRA EFFOR
TO GET ALONG WITH OUR KIDS,
TO TEACH OUR KIDS.
IF THERE WAS ANY PROBLEM,
TO POSSIBLY VISIT IN THE HOMES.
WELL, THE UNION DIDN'T THIS
WASN'T IN THEIR CONTRACT.
THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO DO
ANY OF THESE THINGS.
THERE WAS DISCUSSION.
THERE WAS DISAGREEMENT.
THERE WAS A VOTE.
AND WE FINALLY CAME
TO A CONCLUSION THAT,
SO THAT WE COULD HAVE A
DEMONSTRATION DISTRICT
THIS IS LIKE EIGHT MONTHS
AFTER IT HAD BEGUN
THAT SOME OF THESE PEOPLE
WOULD HAVE TO BE TRAFERRED;
WOULD HAVE TO GO.
BUT, AGAIN
TRANSFERRING TEACHERS
FROM ONE DISTRICT TO ANOTHER,
WITH THE BOARD OF EDUCATION,
WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS
VERY ORDINARY.
IF A TEACHER WAS HAVING
PROBLEMS,
YOU WOULD SIMPLY CALL UP
THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
DOWN AT LIVINGSTON STREE
AND THE PERSON WOULD
BE TRANSFERRED.
NO QUESTIONS WERE ASKED.
BUT WHEN McCOY TRIED TO DO IT,
OF COURSE, THAT CREATED
THE SCENE OF THE CENTURY.
Narrator:
THE TEACHERS ARGUED THA
THE TRANSFERS WERE ILLEGAL.
THE CITY AGREED.
THE DISMISSED TEACHERS
ATTEMPTED TO RETURN
TO JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL 271,
BUT COMMUNITY MEMBERS
REFUSED TO LET THEM IN.
Woman:
GET OUT OF HERE, MR. GOLDBERG.
NOW WHAT YOU WANT HERE?
YOU RECEIVED A LETTER
FROM THE GOVERNING BOARD, RIGHT?
THIS IS THE PARENTS
AND THE COMMUNITY,
SO YOU LET YOUR ALBERT SHANKER
CONTINUE RUNNING YOUR LIFE,
AND KEEP ON MAKING IT!
YOU'RE NOT COMING
IN THIS SCHOOL!
WELL, THERE'S 19,
THERE ARE MANY MORE,
BUT WE FIGURED
WE'D START SLOWLY.
THESE 19 HAVE BEEN
KNOCKING THE PROGRAM
HAVE BEEN CAUSING TROUBLE
IN THE SCHOOLS.
WE HAVE PEOPLE THAT ARE
TELLING THE BLACK CHILDREN
THAT THE PUERTO RICANS
ARE AGAINST THEM,
AND THE PUERTO RICANS
ARE AGAINST THE BLACKS.
WE HAVE TO TAKE STEPS
TO KEEP THESE PEOPLE OUT;
TO MAKE SURE THESE
PEOPLE ARE NOT ALLOWED IN
TO MISEDUCATE OUR KIDS.
BECAUSE IF WE ALLOW THIS,
THEN WE'RE CONDONING I
BECAUSE WE'RE PAYING
THEIR SALARIES.
YOU'RE SABOTAGING
THE CLASSES.
NOW I TRIED TO FIND OU
WHAT SHE MEANT BY THAT, SIR.
DO YOU KNOW?
THOSE CHARGES THAT WAS MADE
PREVIOUSLY,
OR THE STATEMENT THAT'S BEEN
MADE PREVIOUSLY,
IS THAT WE'RE
SABOTAGING THE PROJECT.
NOW, IF THAT MEANS QUESTIONING
SOME OF THE ACTIONS
OF THE GOVERNING BOARD,
THEN WE MUST PLEAD GUILTY
FOR THIS.
WE HAVE NOT BEEN
IN COMPLETE AGREEMEN
WITH EVERYTHING THEY'VE DONE.
OBVIOUSLY,
WE'RE NOT IN AGREEMEN
WITH WHAT THEY'VE DONE NOW.
AT NO TIME HAD ANYBODY MENTIONED
THAT THERE WAS A PROBLEM
WITH MY SERVICE
OR, FOR THAT MATTER,
WITH ANY OF THE PEOPLE
WHO WERE NAMED
OR CERTAINLY
THE MAJORITY OF THEM.
I DIDN'T KNOW THEM ALL.
BUT HERE WAS THIS LETTER
THAT ORDERED ME OUT.
SO ALL I CAN SAY IS
I WAS DUMBFOUNDED.
Narrator:
350 UNION TEACHERS WALKED OUT OF
OCEAN HILL-BROWNSVILLE SCHOOLS
TO SUPPORT THE
DISMISSED TEACHERS.
THE COMMUNITY VOWED
TO KEEP THE SCHOOLS OPEN
AND MAINTAIN CONTROL.
SO, AT ONE POINT,
THE ISSUE WAS
JUST REMOVING THOSE
TEACHERS FROM OUR COMPLEX.
AND NOW, THE BASIC ISSUE
HAS TO DO WITH
TOTAL COMMUNITY CONTROL
OVER THE SCHOOLS.
Reporter:
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN, MR. McCOY?
IT MEANS CONTROL
OVER THE SCHOOLS:
PERSONNEL,
FINANCE, EVERYTHING.
Reporter:
HIRING, FIRING?
ABSOLUTELY.
Narrator:
SEPTEMBER, 1968:
A NEW SCHOOL YEAR.
THE LOCAL BOARD REFUSED TO TAKE
BACK THE DISMISSED TEACHERS.
THE TEACHERS UNION CALLED
A CITY-WIDE STRIKE.
IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK,
EDUCATION STOPPED FOR
ONE MILLION CHILDREN.
YOU HYPOCRITE!
(all yelling )
Narrator:
BUT IN OCEAN HILL-BROWNSVILLE,
MANY TEACHERS, BLACK AND WHITE,
CROSSED THE PICKET LINES
IN DEFIANCE OF THE UNION.
(yelling )
I CAME INTO THE DISTRIC
BECAUSE
I WANT TO BE ACCOUNTABLE
TO THE COMMUNITY.
IF I'M NOT DOING A JOB, THEN
I WANT THEM TO KICK ME OUT.
SEE, THIS IS THE ONLY WAY
THAT WE'RE GONNA
BRING ABOUT ANY CHANGE.
WE HAVE TO BE ACCOUNTABLE
TO SOMEONE.
IN THE NEW YORK CITY SCHOOL
SYSTEM,
THERE'S NO PROBLEM
NOBODY GETS FIRED.
Man:
WELL, THE STRIKE WAS A UNIFYING
FACTOR IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY.
GROUPS THAT HAD PREVIOUSLY
BEEN AT EACH OTHERS' THROAT,
FOUND THEMSELVES TOGETHER
AT RALLIES AND MEETINGS
SURROUNDING OCEAN HILL.
IT WAS AN ISSUE THAT,
WHETHER YOU WERE CORE
OR THE N.A.A.C.P.,
OR THE URBAN LEAGUE
OR THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY
OR THE REPUBLIC OF NEW AFRICA,
YOU COULD RALLY AROUND
THIS COMMUNITY ISSUE.
EVERYBODY UNDERSTOOD
THE IMPORTANCE
OF BLACK CHILDREN RECEIVING
A QUALITY EDUCATION.
DURING THE STRIKE OF 1968,
DURING THE FALL,
PROBABLY THE PLACE THA
I SPENT MOST OF MY TIME WAS
IN FRONT OF 271,
AND THE SCENE THA
I REMEMBER THERE MOST
AND I'VE OFTEN THOUGHT OF IT
IS A SCENE OF CHILDREN
COMING TO SCHOOL
WITH THEIR BOOKS, VERY INTENT.
AND I THINK THEY ALSO
UNDERSTOOD THE POLITICS
JUST WHAT WAS ALL GOING ON HERE.
Jordan:
WE CAME IN FROM
THE HOWARD AVENUE SIDE.
AND WE HAD TO GO THROUGH
BARRICADES TO GET TO THE SCHOOL
AND YOU'D LOOK UP
ON THE ROOFTOPS
ACROSS THE STREE
FROM THE SCHOOL
THE COPS WERE WITH
THE HELMET GEAR
AND THE PLAYGROUND WAS
CONVERTED INTO A PRECINC
AND WALKING UP TO THE SCHOOL,
YOU HAVE JUST MASS CONFUSION.
YOU HAVE THE COMMUNITY
PEOPLE OUT THERE.
YOU HAVE THE U.F.T.
YOU WERE JUST AMAZED.
YOU COULDN'T BELIEVE
THIS WAS HAPPENING, YOU KNOW?
AND YOU JUST WENT TO SCHOOL.
Narrator:
THE TEACHERS WHO REMAINED
IN THE CLASSROOM
LOOKED FOR NEW WAYS
TO TEACH THE BASIC SKILLS.
SOME ALSO BROUGH
A NEW CULTURAL AWARENESS.
Teacher:
TODAY WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOU
THE YORUBA CULTURE
OF WEST AFRICA.
WE CAN TRACE IF WE COULD TRACE
OUR ANCESTRAL LINE BACK,
MOST OF US WOULD GO BACK
TO THE YORUBA TRIBE.
(conga drum
playing lively rhythm )
Jordan:
WHAT THE BLACK
TEACHERS DID DO WAS
TO BROADEN US, OUR PERSPECTIVE
OF LOOKING AT THINGS.
WE WERE NO LONGER MEMBERS
OF A SMALL COMMUNITY
CALLED OCEAN HILL-BROWNSVILLE.
WE WERE BROADENED
TO W.E.B. DUBOIS, HIS READINGS;
LANGSTON HUGHES, MALCOLM X,
MARCUS GARVEY, H. RAP BROWN,
MAO TSE-TUNG, THE RED BOOK.
I MEAN, WE BECAME INTERNATIONAL,
AND IT WAS A GOOD THING
BECAUSE BLACK PEOPLE
ARE THE THIRD WORLD.
THE THIRD WORLD IS MUCH LARGER
THAN EUROPEAN HISTORY.
Narrator:
OUTSIDE OF NEW YORK CITY
SCHOOLS,
THE BATTLE WAS ESCALATING.
COMMUNITY MEMBERS QUESTIONED
THE UNION'S COMMITMEN
TO THE CHILDREN.
UNION LEADERS CHARGED EXTREMISTS
HAD TAKEN OVER THE EXPERIMENT.
I THINK THE PUBLIC SEES
WHAT'S GOING ON.
EVERY SINGLE PAREN
IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK
UNDERSTANDS THAT IF MR. McCOY
AND THE OCEAN HILL-BROWNSVILLE
GOVERNING BOARD SUCCEED,
THAT THEY WILL BE NEXT,
THAT THERE WILL BE
PEOPLE IN THEIR OWN COMMUNITIES
WHO WILL SEE THIS
AS A MODEL OF SUCCESS,
AND MOVE IN AND TAKE OVER
THESE INSTITUTIONS.
Narrator:
THE CITY ORDERED
THE COMMUNITY BOARD
TO ALLOW THE UNION
TEACHERS TO RETURN.
NEIGHBORHOOD LEADERS DECLARED
THE COMMUNITY WOULD DECIDE.
THE COMMUNITY HAS SAID I
ALREADY:
THEY DON'T WANT THEM THERE
SO THAT MEANS
THEY'RE NOT COMING IN.
Reporter:
IS THAT BECAUSE
THEY'RE WHITE?
I DON'T KNOW; YOU'D HAVE TO ASK
THE GOVERNMENT BOARD.
IF IT WAS LEFT UP TO ME,
THEY WOULDN'T BE LET IN
SIMPLY BECAUSE
THEY WERE WHITE; RIGHT.
YOU WOULD
KEEP THEM OUT.
RIGHT.
I CERTAINLY WOULD.
WHY?
BECAUSE I DON'T THINK THA
ANY WHITE PERSON IS INTERESTED
IN GIVING BLACK CHILDREN
AN EDUCATION.
THAT'S MY PARTICULAR FEELING.
WHAT IF THEY PERSIST IN
TRYING TO GET IN HERE?
WELL, UH, BY WHATEVER MEANS
NECESSARY,
THEY'RE GONNA BE KEPT OUT.
Narrator:
THE TEACHERS UNION ACCUSED
THE COMMUNITY
OF ANTI-SEMITISM.
IN A CITY WITH A JEWISH
POPULATION OF OVER ONE MILLION,
THE CHARGE CARRIED
ENORMOUS POLITICAL WEIGHT.
ALTHOUGH MANY JEWISH TEACHERS
CROSSED PICKET LINES
AND CONTINUED TO TEACH,
THE ACCUSATION THREATENED
CITY SUPPORT OF THE EXPERIMENT.
Man:
IT IS A WELL-KNOWN FACT THA
THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY
OF THE TEACHERS IN NEW YORK CITY
ARE OF THE JEWISH FAITH.
WE HAVE BECOME THE BUT
OF THEIR RESENTMENT.
AND IT IS, I THINK,
BUT ONE SIMPLE STEP
FROM RESENTING WHITE PEOPLE
TO RESENTING JEWISH PEOPLE,
SINCE MOST OF
THE TEACHERS ARE JEWISH.
I DIDN'T FEEL THEN
AND I DON'T FEEL NOW
THAT ANTI-SEMITISM WAS
A MAJOR PART OF THAT SITUATION.
IT WAS A BLACK-WHITE
CONFRONTATION.
A LOT OF THE TEACHERS INVOLVED
WERE JEWISH,
SO SOME PEOPLE DREW THA
CONCLUSION FROM THE START.
Reporter:
REVEREND OLIVER,
WHAT ABOU
THE BUSINESS OF
ANTI-SEMITISM?
WHAT KIND OF SCARS DO YOU THINK
THIS IS GOING TO LEAVE?
YES, THERE WILL BE
SCARS LEFT, IT SEEMS,
BECAUSE THERE HAVE BEEN SO
MANY UNTRUTHS FLOATING AROUND.
BUT, UH, PEOPLE MUST
THE TEACHERS MUST REALIZE
THAT THE COMMUNITIES
MUST BE HEARD.
THE PEOPLE OF THE
COMMUNITY MUST BE HEARD,
AND IT APPARENTLY DOES
NOT SIT WELL WITH THEM
TO HAVE TO RECKON WITH
THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES,
BUT THEY WILL HAVE TO.
AND IT'S UNFORTUNATE
THAT SCARS MUST COME,
BUT WE HAVE HAD
300 YEARS OF SCARS,
AND IT'S ABOUT TIME
THOSE SCARS WERE HEALING.
Narrator:
THE COMMUNITY BOARD
REFUSED TO GIVE UP
CONTROL OF THE CLASSROOMS.
ALL OF THE PEOPLE WHO
CARE ABOUT YOU ARE HERE.
THE TEACHERS ARE HERE
WHITE AND BLACK
TEACHERS ARE HERE.
THERE ARE SOME WHITE TEACHERS
WHO ARE SUPPORTING US.
WE ARE GRATEFUL TO ALL OF
OUR FRIENDS AND ALL PEOPLE
WHO BELIEVE IN FAIRNESS
TO BLACK AND WHITE PEOPLE.
COME IN, CHILDREN.
COME IN, CHILDREN.
Narrator:
OCTOBER, 1968
FEARING A CONTINUATION
OF THE CITY-WIDE STRIKES,
THE NEW YORK CITY BOARD
OF EDUCATION SUSPENDED
THE OCEAN HILL-BROWNSVILLE
COMMUNITY BOARD.
MR. McCOY HAS INDICATED
TO ME CLEARLY
THAT HE INTENDS TO OBEY
THE DIRECTIONS OF THE SUSPENDED
OCEAN HILL-BROWNSVILLE
SCHOOL BOARD,
AND NOT THOSE OF
THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
OR THE SUPERINTENDEN
OF SCHOOLS.
IT IS NECESSARY, THEREFORE,
FOR ME TO RELIEVE
MR. McCOY OF HIS DUTIES.
Narrator:
CONFRONTATIONS BROKE OUT IN
OTHER NEW YORK NEIGHBORHOODS
AS BLACKS AND LATINOS PROTESTED
THE CITY'S WITHDRAWAL OF SUPPOR
FOR COMMUNITY CONTROL
OF SCHOOLS.
WHY CAN'T YOU
PROTECT ME?!
YOUR MOTHER WAS BLACK.
YOUR WIFE IS BLACK,
IF YOU'VE GOT ONE.
WHY CAN'T YOU PROTECT ME?
THIS IS A STRUGGLE AGAINS
EDUCATIONAL COLONIALISM.
THEY TOOK OVER THE SCHOOL AGAIN.
WE WERE HERE!
HERE WITH OUR PEOPLE,
TRYING TO RUN OUR SCHOOLS.
NOW, IN DEFIANCE OF THAT,
THE WHITE COMMUNITY HAS SAID
"YOU GOTTA COOL IT, MAN
UNTIL WE CAN GIVE IT TO YOU."
THEY'RE NOT GOING
TO GIVE US A DARN THING.
WE'RE GOING TO TAKE
WHAT BELONGS TO US!
WE'RE GOING
TO TAKE WHAT BELONGS TO US!
Narrator:
THE CITY AND THE
TEACHERS UNION AGREED
THE EXPERIMENT MUST END.
THE COMMUNITY BOARD'S
POWER WAS TAKEN AWAY.
BUT IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS,
MANY WERE MOVED BY THE STRUGGLE
OF THE OCEAN HILL-BROWNSVILLE
COMMUNITY.
FROM NEW YORK'S FIVE BOROUGHS,
THOUSANDS MARCHED TO CITY HALL
IN SUPPORT OF COMMUNITY
CONTROL OF SCHOOLS.
THERE WAS A LOT OF
DISAPPOINTMEN
ON THE PARTS OF ALL US AND I
THINK WE FELT EXTREMELY BAD.
WE HAD PUT AN AWFUL LO
OF EFFORT INTO THIS.
BUT I THINK THIS WAS A PERIOD
THE '60s WAS SUCH AN
INCREDIBLY INTERESTING PERIOD
THAT I THINK WE REALIZED, ALSO,
THAT SOMETHING REALLY
GOOD HAD HAPPENED.
(crowd cheering
enthusiastically )
Crowd:
WE WANT RHODY!
WE WANT RHODY!
WE WANT RHODY! WE WANT RHODY!
YOU'VE GOT TO UNDERSTAND
THAT THESE WERE COMMUNITY PEOPLE
WHO WERE DISENFRANCHISED
WITH THE SYSTEM,
WHO WERE NAMELESS AND FACELESS,
WHO HAD NEVER BEEN
INCORPORATED AND INCLUDED,
EVEN THOUGH THEIR CHILDREN
WERE MANDATED TO GO TO SCHOOL.
FOR THEM TO TAKE ON THA
RESPONSIBILITY WAS TREMENDOUS.
(crowd chanting )
Narrator:
THE DEMONSTRATORS THEN HEADED
ACROSS THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE
TO MARCH TO BOARD OF
EDUCATION HEADQUARTERS
IN SUPPORT OF THE COMMUNITY OF
OCEAN HILL-BROWNSVILLE.
Torres:
THERE WAS A LO
OF PEOPLE YELLING
"BLACK POWER, BLACK POWER,
POWER TO THE PEOPLE."
"POWER TO THE PEOPLE" I LIKED
BECAUSE I THINK THAT WHA
WE WERE GOING THROUGH
ANY POOR NEIGHBORHOOD,
REGARDLESS OF THE ETHNIC MAKEUP,
WAS GOING THROUGH
THE SAME THING.
SO I LIKED
"POWER TO THE PEOPLE."
PEOPLE REALLY NEEDED
TO HAVE SOME POWER
AND WE REALLY NEEDED, AS
A SCHOOL BOARD, TO HAVE POWER.
Narrator:
IT WAS 1968.
COMMUNITIES ACROSS AMERICA,
EACH CHOOSING DIFFERENT PATHS,
ORGANIZED IN THE
STRUGGLE FOR POWER.
"POWER TO THE PEOPLE" WAS A
PROMISE AS OLD AS THE NATION.
NOW, NEW VOICES DEMANDED
THAT THE PROMISE BE FULFILLED.
Captioned by
access.wgbh.org
THIS IS A SPECIAL PRESENTATION
OF AMERICAN EXPERIENCE.
MAJOR FUNDING FOR AMERICAN
EXPERIENCE with captioning
IS PROVIDED BY THE
ALFRED P. SLOAN FOUNDATION.
NATIONAL CORPORATE FUNDING
IS PROVIDED BY LIBERTY MUTUAL
AND THE SCOTTS COMPANY.
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
IS ALSO MADE POSSIBLE
BY THE CORPORATION
FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING
AND BY:
FUNDING FOR THE RE-RELEASE
OF EYES ON THE PRIZE
MADE POSSIBLE BY:
AND:
THIS IS A SPECIAL PRESENTATION
OF AMERICAN EXPERIENCE.
MAJOR FUNDING FOR AMERICAN
EXPERIENCE with captioning
IS PROVIDED BY THE
ALFRED P. SLOAN FOUNDATION.
NATIONAL CORPORATE FUNDING
IS PROVIDED BY LIBERTY MUTUAL
AND THE SCOTTS COMPANY.
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
IS ALSO MADE POSSIBLE
BY THE CORPORATION
FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING
AND BY:
FUNDING FOR THE RE-RELEASE
OF EYES ON THE PRIZE
MADE POSSIBLE BY:
AND:
I KNOW THE ONE THING
WE DID RIGHT ♪
WAS THE DAY
WE STARTED TO FIGHT ♪
KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE ♪
HOLD ON, HOLD ON ♪
KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE ♪
HOLD ON. ♪
WE READ ONE DAY
"WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS
TO BE SELF-EVIDENT,
"THAT ALL MEN
ARE CREATED EQUAL,
"THAT THEY ARE ENDOWED
BY THEIR CREATOR
"WITH CERTAIN
INALIENABLE RIGHTS,
"THAT AMONG THESE
ARE LIFE, LIBERTY
AND THE PURSUI
OF HAPPINESS."
BUT IF A MAN DOESN'
HAVE A JOB OR AN INCOME,
HE HAS NEITHER
LIFE NOR LIBERTY,
NOR THE POSSIBILITY FOR
THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS.
HE MERELY EXISTS.
(machine gunfire )
(bombs exploding )
King:
THE BOMBS IN VIETNAM
EXPLODE AT HOME.
THEY DESTROY THE DREAM
AND POSSIBILITY
FOR A DECENT AMERICA.
IT IS ESTIMATED
THAT WE SPEND $322,000
FOR EACH ENEMY
WE KILL IN VIETNAM.
WHILE WE SPEND IN THE SO-CALLED
WAR ON POVERTY IN AMERICA
ONLY ABOUT $53 FOR EACH
PERSON CLASSIFIED AS POOR.
Narrator:
BY 1967, AMERICA WAS DEEPLY
ENTRENCHED IN VIETNAM.
WAR OVERSEAS, POVERTY AT HOME.
FOR MARTIN LUTHER KING,
THE ISSUES WERE INSEPARABLE,
BUT HE SAW THAT PUBLICLY
OPPOSING THIS WAR
WOULD INVOLVE GREAT RISKS.
HE WOULD RISK THE ALLIANCE
BETWEEN THE MOVEMEN
AND THE GOVERNMENT.
HE WOULD RISK HIS STANDING
AS A NATIONAL LEADER.
HE WOULD RISK BEING
CALLED A TRAITOR.
(protesters shouting:)
HELL, NO, WE WON'T GO!
HELL, NO, WE WON'T GO!
Narrator:
SOME IN THE MOVEMEN
HAD ALREADY TAKEN THOSE RISKS.
THEY URGED KING TO JOIN THEM.
HE CALLED ME IN ATLANTA.
HE SAID, "WHATCHA DOING?"
HE SAID, "TOMORROW'S SUNDAY.
HE SAID "YOU GOING TO BE A GOOD
CHRISTIAN AND GO TO CHURCH?"
I SAID, "WELL,
LIKE A GOOD HEATHEN,
"I'M GOING TO WORK
FOR THE PEOPLE.
"I'VE GOT OFFICE PAPER WORK.
I'VE BEEN WORKING
SINCE 6:00 IN THE MORNING."
HE SAID, "WELL, I WANT YOU
TO COME TO CHURCH.
I SAID,
COME TO CHURCH? WHERE?"
HE SAID, "AT THE EBENEZER."
I SAID,
"WHAT'S HAPPENING THERE?"
HE SAID, "I'M PREACHING."
I SAID, "WELL, YOU KNOW, OKAY,
"I CAN ALWAYS COME
HEAR YOU PREACH, YOU KNOW,
"'CAUSE EVEN THOUGH I DON'
BELIEVE IN YOUR STUFF,
YOU MAKE ME TAP MY FEET,
YOU KNOW." WE JOKED.
AND HE SAID, "WELL, I REALLY
WANT YOU TO COME TOMORROW."
I SAID, "OKAY, I'LL COME."
HE SAID, "'CAUSE TOMORROW
I'M GOING TO MAKE MY STATEMEN
AGAINST THE WAR IN VIETNAM."
AND I THINK BETWEEN US
THERE MUST HAVE BEEN
35 SECONDS OF SILENCE.
AND THEN I SAID TO HIM,
"I'M GOING TO BE
ON THE FRONT SEA
OF YOUR CHURCH."
King:
THEY SEEM TO FORGET THAT BEFORE
I WAS A CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER,
I ANSWERED A CALL
WHICH LEFT THE SPIRI
OF THE LORD UPON ME,
AND ANOINTED ME
TO PREACH THE GOSPEL.
DURING THE EARLY DAYS
OF MY MINISTRY,
I READ THE APOSTLE PAUL SAYING,
"BE NOT CONFORMED TO THIS WORLD,
BUT BE YE TRANSFORMED
BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND."
AND I DECIDED THEN THA
I WAS GOING TO TELL THE TRUTH
AS GOD REVEALED IT TO ME.
I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU.
I AIN'T GOING
TO STUDY WAR NO MORE.
(applause )
Narrator:
PRESIDENT LYNDON JOHNSON
HAD FOUGHT FOR STRONG
CIVIL RIGHTS LEGISLATION.
IN 1964, HIS ADMINISTRATION
HAD DECLARED
AN UNPRECEDENTED WAR ON POVERTY.
BUT VIETNAM HAD UNDERMINED
THAT COMMITMENT,
AND PUT JOHNSON AND KING
ON A COLLISION COURSE.
HE KNEW THAT IF HE MADE
THE STATEMENT OF HOSTILITY
TO THE WAR, THAT HE WAS BREAKING
HIS TIES WITH LYNDON JOHNSON.
UH, THAT HE WOULD NO LONGER BE
WELCOME IN THE WHITE HOUSE.
JOHNSON DIDN'T, IN THIS PERIOD,
LET PEOPLE DO THAT.
HE DECIDED THA
HE HAD TO DO IT.
Narrator:
APRIL 4, 1967 NEW YORK CITY,
RIVERSIDE CHURCH.
KING HAD SPOKEN OU
ON THE WAR BEFORE.
BUT NOW, IN FRON
OF THE NATIONAL MEDIA,
HE BROKE PUBLICLY WITH JOHNSON.
I COME TO THIS MAGNIFICEN
HOUSE OF WORSHIP TONIGH
BECAUSE MY CONSCIENCE
LEAVES ME NO OTHER CHOICE.
A TIME COMES WHEN
SILENCE IS BETRAYAL,
AND THAT TIME HAS COME FOR US
IN RELATION TO VIETNAM.
(applause )
Man:
MARTIN GAVE
A BRILLIANT RATIONALE
FOR HIS POSITION
ON THE WAR IN VIETNAM.
AND AS A NOBEL PRIZE WINNER,
WE EXPECTED PEOPLE
TO TAKE IT SERIOUSLY,
AND NOT TO AGREE WITH IT,
BUT TO DISAGREE
WITH CERTAIN SPECIFICS.
WE DIDN'T GET THAT.
WE GOT, INSTEAD,
AN EMOTIONAL OUTBURS
ATTACKING HIS RIGH
TO HAVE AN OPINION.
IT WAS ALMOST, YOU KNOW,
"NIGGER, YOU OUGHT TO STAY
IN YOUR PLACE."
I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT THEY'RE
GOING TO PAY ANY ATTENTION
TO MARTIN LUTHER KING.
BUT DON'T BRUSH THIS ASIDE.
MARTIN LUTHER KING IS
A POWER IN THIS COUNTRY,
AND UNFORTUNATELY, HE AS OF NOW
HAS GOTTEN INTO BED WITH
SOME OF THE LESSER LIGHTS.
MY OBJECTION WITH WHA
DR. KING HAS DONE
AND AS I SAID, I DON'
QUESTION HIS MOTIVES,
I QUESTION HIS JUDGMENT
IN THAT IN TYING THE VIETNAM WAR
INTO THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT,
THAT HE IS DOING
IRREPARABLE HARM
TO THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT.
HE IS LOSING THOUSANDS
AND THOUSANDS OF ALLIES.
Narrator:
THE MOST POWERFUL ALLY
HAD BEEN PRESIDENT JOHNSON.
JOHNSON WAS, UH, WAS, UH,
BITTERLY DISAPPOINTED
WITH KING'S OPPOSITION
TO THE WAR.
AND HE WAS BEING TOLD BY HOOVER
THAT KING HAD LOTS
OF PRO-COMMUNIST FRIENDS
WHO WERE ADVISING HIM.
Narrator:
THE FBI WORKED
TO DISCREDIT KING,
AND CONTINUED ITS SURVEILLANCE
OF HIM AND HIS ASSOCIATES.
WE KNEW THAT EVERYTHING WE
WERE DOING DURING THIS PERIOD
WAS BEING MONITORED.
UH, WE WEREN'T ALWAYS SURE WHO.
WE TALKED ABOUT THAT CONSTANTLY,
SO THAT THERE WERE TIMES
WHEN WE SPOKE TO ONE ANOTHER
FROM "SAFE PHONES",
GIVEN WHAT THE NATURE
OF THE INFORMATION WAS
AND WHERE WE WOULD BE.
"FIND A SAFE PHONE,
GIVE ME THE NUMBER.
I'LL GO TO A SAFE PHONE
AND CALL YOU."
Narrator:
WITH HIS OPPOSITION NOW PUBLIC,
CONTRIBUTIONS
TO KING'S ORGANIZATION
THE SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN
LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
DROPPED SHARPLY.
THE PROMISES
OF THE GREAT SOCIETY
HAVE BEEN SHOT DOWN
ON THE BATTLEFIELDS OF VIETNAM,
MAKING THE POOR
WHITE AND NEGRO
BEAR THE HEAVIEST BURDEN
BOTH AT THE FRONT AND AT HOME.
YOU KNOW, IT WASN'
A THING HE HAD TO DO.
I THINK IT WAS
IT WAS NOT A POLITICAL THING,
BECAUSE AS IT TURNED OUT,
I THINK IT WAS KIND OF LIKE
A DEATH KNELL FOR HIM.
BUT IT WAS A VERY BRAVE
THING FOR HIM TO DO
BECAUSE HE WENT AGAINS
ALL THE PEOPLE, YOU KNOW,
WHO WE CONSIDERED REASONABLE.
OTHERS CAN DO
WHAT THEY WANT TO DO.
THAT'S THEIR BUSINESS.
IF OTHER CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS,
FOR VARIOUS REASONS
REFUSE OR CAN'T TAKE A STAND,
OR HAVE TO GO ALONG
WITH THE ADMINISTRATION,
THAT'S THEIR BUSINESS.
BUT I MUST SAY TONIGH
THAT I KNOW THA
JUSTICE IS INDIVISIBLE.
INJUSTICE ANYWHERE IS A THREA
TO JUSTICE EVERYWHERE.
(applause )
IF YOU HAD A DIAMOND ♪
AND I HAD A DIME ♪
Narrator:
AS WAR RAGED IN VIETNAM,
THE GOVERNMENT'S WAR
ON POVERTY SUFFERED.
IN 1967,
ONE IN EVERY SEVEN AMERICANS
LIVED BELOW THE POVERTY LINE.
THE QUESTION WAS HOW TO REGAIN
THE NATION'S ATTENTION.
I FELT LIKE THE LOWES
THING ON EARTH
WHEN I WEN
TO THE WELFARE.
I FELT LIKE THEY WERE
ALL BETTER THAN ME,
THAT THEY COULD
WALK ALL OVER ME.
WHICH I GOT DOWN ON
MY KNEES TO THEM
AND BEGGED THEM
FOR COATS AND BOOTS
FOR THESE CHILDREN
AT WINTERTIME.
BASIC NEEDS ♪
AMEN ♪
FOOD ♪
AMEN. ♪
Narrator:
KING WAS SEARCHING
FOR NATIONAL SOLUTIONS.
GROUPS WERE ORGANIZING
AT THE GRASS-ROOTS LEVEL.
THE ISSUES WERE JOBS,
WELFARE, THE PRICE OF FOOD.
Woman:
'CAUSE WE'RE TRYING TO GE
EVERYONE TO STICK TOGETHER.
ONE PERSON JUST DON'T HAVE
TO FIGHT FOR THEMSELF.
ALL OF US FIGHT FOR EACH OTHER.
Narrator:
IN THE SOUTH, POVERTY
WAS EVEN MORE WIDESPREAD.
FIELD HANDS EARNED AS LITTLE
AS THREE DOLLARS A DAY.
CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS
LOOKED FOR ANSWERS.
A SENATE COMMITTEE WAS
INVITED TO MISSISSIPPI
BY A COLLEAGUE OF KING'S,
MARIAN WRIGHT.
Man:
GO TO SOME OTHER PAR
OF THE COUNTRY?
THEY'RE STARVING.
THEY'RE STARVING,
AND THOSE WHO CAN GE
THE BUS FARE TO GO NORTH
ARE TRYING TO GO NORTH
BUT THERE IS NOTHING
FOR THEM TO DO.
THERE IS NOWHERE TO GO.
AND SOMEBODY MUST BEGIN
TO RESPOND TO THEM.
WE WOULD THINK THAT ALL OF US
WOULD BE ABLE TO PROVIDE
FOR SOME OF OUR CITIZENS
LIVING IN THIS PAR
OF THE COUNTRY.
Wright:
I TRIED TO BRING THE SENATORS
DOWN TO MISSISSIPPI,
BECAUSE I WAS TRYING
TO FIGURE OUT WAYS
OF GETTING THE COUNTRY TO SEE.
I MEAN, WE WERE HAVING MAJOR
PROBLEMS OF HUNGER,
UM, EVEN STARVATION.
THERE WERE PEOPLE IN MISSISSIPPI
WHO HAD NO INCOME.
Narrator:
THE NEXT DAY, SENATOR KENNEDY
AND MARIAN WRIGH
TOURED THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA.
Wright:
SENATOR KENNEDY.
HOW ARE YOU?
I LIVE HERE.
HOW ARE YOU?
I'M DOING PRETTY GOOD.
YOU WANT TO GO RIGHT IN?
Wright:
WE WOULD JUST GO
FROM HOUSE TO HOUSE,
AND GO IN
AND TALK TO THE PEOPLE.
THESE WERE VERY RURAL,
VERY POOR PEOPLE.
AND WALK THOUGH THE HOUSE,
TALK TO THE INHABITANTS
GO IN THE KITCHEN,
LOOK IN THE REFRIGERATOR
ASK THEM WHAT THEY ATE
THE NIGHT BEFORE, UM
AND USUALLY YOU WOULD FIND
AWFULLY BARE CUPBOARDS
WHEN YOU OPENED THEM.
Kennedy:
WHAT DID YOU
HAVE FOR LUNCH?
WE HAVEN'
HAD LUNCH YET.
YOU HAVEN'
HAD LUNCH YET?
NO.
IF YOU'RE DOING REASONABLY WELL,
YOU DON'T RUN UP AGAINS
THIS KIND OF POVERTY,
AND CERTAINLY PEOPLE ELSEWHERE
HAVE VERY LITTLE
PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE
OR INFORMATION ABOUT IT.
Narrator:
THE NEED FOR SOLUTIONS
GREW MORE PRESSING.
AFTER THREE SUMMERS
OF URBAN VIOLENCE,
MANY FEARED
A NATIONAL CONFRONTATION
BETWEEN BLACKS AND WHITES.
IN THE SUMMER OF 1967,
THERE WERE RIOTS IN 100 CITIES.
80 PEOPLE DIED.
Man:
WE STAND ON THE EVE
OF A BLACK REVOLUTION, BROTHERS.
MASSES OF OUR PEOPLE
ARE IN THE STREETS.
THEY'RE FIGHTING TIT FOR TAT,
TOOTH FOR TOOTH,
AN EYE FOR AN EYE
AND A LIFE FOR A LIFE.
THE REBELLIONS THAT WE SEE
ARE MERELY DRESS REHEARSALS
FOR THE REVOLUTION
THAT'S TO COME.
(officer yelling commands )
King:
THE RIOT IS THE LANGUAGE
OF THE UNHEARD.
AND WHAT IS IT THAT AMERICA
HAS FAILED TO HEAR?
IT HAS FAILED TO HEAR
THAT THE PROMISES OF FREEDOM
AND JUSTICE HAVE NOT BEEN MET,
AND IT HAS FAILED TO HEAR THA
LARGE SEGMENTS OF WHITE SOCIETY
ARE MORE CONCERNED ABOU
TRANQUILLITY AND THE STATUS QUO
THAN ABOUT JUSTICE,
EQUALITY AND HUMANITY.
(distant gunfire and sirens )
Narrator:
EVENTS WERE DRIVING KING
TOWARD MORE RADICAL SOLUTIONS.
SOME PROPOSED MARCHING
THE POOR TO THE NATION'S CAPITAL
TO FORCE GOVERNMENT ACTION
ON THE PROBLEMS OF POVERTY.
IN AUGUST,
MARIAN WRIGHT TOOK THE IDEA
OF A POOR PEOPLE'S MARCH
ON WASHINGTON
TO HER FRIEND, MARTIN KING.
HE IMMEDIATELY UNDERSTOOD
THAT IT WAS RIGHT.
UM, AND WE CHATTED A BI
ABOUT HOW IT WOULD BE DONE.
BUT THERE WAS NEVER
ANY DISCUSSION
ABOUT WHETHER THAT WAS
THE RIGHT THING TO DO.
SO WHEN HE CAME HOME
THAT EVENING,
HE WAS REAL EXCITED, YOU KNOW,
ABOUT THIS IDEA
OF A POOR PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGN
STARTING IN MARKS, MISSISSIPPI,
WITH A MULE TRAIN,
AND GOING ALL THE WAY
TO WASHINGTON, D.C.
PICKING UP PEOPLE
ALONG THE WAY.
Narrator:
THE CAMPAIGN WOULD RECRUI
AMONG ALL RACES,
BRING THEM TO WASHINGTON,
COMMIT MASSIVE
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE,
FORCE THE GOVERNMEN
TO RESPOND
A NONVIOLENT ARMY OF THE POOR.
VERY FRANKLY, THIS IS A SEARCH
FOR AN ALTERNATIVE TO RIOTS,
AND, UH, IF THE NATION
DOESN'T RESPOND TO US
AS WE LABOR THAT TWO OR THREE
MONTHS, HOWEVER LONG IT TAKES,
GOD ONLY KNOWS WHAT WE WILL
FACE IN TERMS OF CHAOS.
THIS IS A KIND OF LAST,
DESPERATE DEMAND
FOR THE NATION TO RESPOND
TO NONVIOLENCE.
PART OF HIS GENIUS
WAS TO UNDERSTAND
THAT YOU COULD NOT HAVE
A MOVEMEN
SIMPLY BASED ON PROMISES
OF THE FUTURE,
THAT YOU HAD TO DELIVER.
AND HE HAD DELIVERED
ON VOTING RIGHTS,
HE HAD DELIVERED
ON PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS,
HE HAD DELIVERED ON
THE MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT,
AND ON SO MANY OTHER THINGS.
AND HE UNDERSTOOD NOW, ABOVE
ALL, WAS THE TIME TO DELIVER.
Narrator:
S.C.L.C. STAFF MEETING
THE EBENEZER BAPTIST CHURCH,
ATLANTA.
TALK ABOUT DR. KING,
YOU CAN TALK ABOUT US ALL ♪
THE LORD IS OUR LORD,
I'M GONNA GET MY FREEDOM ♪
IT'S ALL RIGHT,
OH, IT'S ALL RIGHT. ♪
LISTEN, I WAN
THIS MOVEMENT TO WORK.
Man:
WAIT A MINUTE, MARIAN.
Narrator:
KING'S CLOSES
AIDES WERE UNSURE
ABOUT THE POOR
PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGN.
WHAT COULD IT ACCOMPLISH?
COULD THEY MOBILIZE
A NATIONWIDE MOVEMENT?
WAS KING'S NONVIOLENCE PERCEIVED
AS BEING TOO CONSERVATIVE?
AND THAT'S WHY I SAY,
THE MOST RADICAL GUY
LIVING IN THE 20th CENTURY
IS MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
IT TOOK A RADICAL CAT
(audience murmuring )
LET ME SAY MY THING,
AND THEN I'LL LISTEN TO HIM.
I SAY THE MOST RADICAL CA
LIVING IN THE 20th CENTURY
WAS MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
IT TOOK A RADICAL CA
TO PUT 50,000 BLACK PEOPLE
IN ALABAMA OFF BUSES.
THE QUESTION,
AS I UNDERSTOOD IT,
WAS NOT THE FACE THA
DR. KING DIDN'T DO ANYTHING.
THAT WASN'T THE ISSUE.
THE ISSUE WAS,
IF WE'RE GOING TO TAKE PEOPLE
ON A GO-FOR-BROKE,
WHAT ARE WE GOING TO BE ABLE
TO RETURN BACK TO MISSISSIPPI
WITH IN OUR HANDS?
Man:
NOTHING.
WHAT ARE WE GOING TO BE ABLE
TO RETURN BACK TO CHICAGO WITH
IN OUR HANDS?
AND WHAT CARLOS,
AS I UNDERSTOOD, WAS SAYING
I'D LIKE YOU TO STATE
THAT IF WE'RE NOT,
THEN LET'S JUST SAY WE'RE
NOT GOING TO DO THA
AND THEN HE'LL KNOW,
AND IF WE ARE, SAY WE ARE.
Man:
CAN I SPEAK TO THA
THOUGH, BECAUSE NO
Man:
THIS IS NOT NONSENSE, OKAY?
IF THE THING BECOMES
THE DEMANDS,
AND THEN YOU DON'T COME BACK
WITH THE DEMANDS,
YOU'RE IN TROUBLE.
I DON'T THINK WE CAN
GIVE ANYBODY ANY GUARANTEES.
SEE, THAT WE'VE REACHED
A POINT WHERE WE'RE ALMOS
WHERE THE JEWS ARE
WHEN HITLER TOOK POWER.
THAT, ARE YOU GOING TO SIT BY
AND WAIT UNTIL YOU'RE PU
IN A CONCENTRATION CAMP,
OR ARE YOU GOING TO
ORGANIZE AND FIGHT?
NOW, I DON'T KNOW
WHETHER WE'RE GOING TO WIN
OR LOSE OR DRAW
OR WHAT WE GOING BRING BACK,
BUT I'M NOT GOING TO SIT BY
AND LET THE LIBERAL WING
OR THE PROGRESSIVE FORCES IN THE
NEGRO COMMUNITY GET CHOPPED UP.
I'M GOING TO FIGHT, AND IF WE
Young:
MARTIN USUALLY COULD
BRING US TOGETHER,
BUT HE ALWAYS LET US
FIGHT IT OUT FOR OURSELVES
FOR A LONG TIME.
THE ONLY TIME HE
REALLY GOT MAD WITH ME
WAS WHEN I WOULDN'
DISAGREE WITH EVERYBODY.
UH, HE SORT OF EXPECTED ME TO BE
THE CONSERVATIVE ONE, AND
BECAUSE A MOVEMENT NEEDED
WILD IDEAS AND RADICAL NOTIONS.
BUT IT ALSO NEEDED TO BE
PULLED BACK INTO PERSPECTIVE,
TO DO SOMETHING THAT WAS
ACTUALLY DOABLE AND ATTAINABLE.
AND I GOT TIRED OF BEING,
UH, THE, UH
YOU KNOW, THE REACTIONARY,
SO I JUST SAID,
"THAT'S RIGHT, THAT'S RIGHT.
THAT'S EXACTLY
WHAT WE OUGHT TO DO."
AND HE JUMPED UP AND GOT MAD.
HE SAID, "ANDY," HE SAID,
IF YOU DON'T EXPRESS"
HE SAID,
"IF YOU DON'T, YOU KNOW,
"END UP GIVING
THE CONSERVATIVE VIEW,
YOU DON'T LEAVE ME ANY ROOM
TO COME DOWN IN THE MIDDLE."
Man:
NOW, SOME FOLKS CELEBRATE
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
BUT WE'RE GOING TO CELEBRATE
MARTIN LUTHER KING'S DAY TODAY.
DON'T LET HIM OUT OF HERE.
(all singing):
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU ♪
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU ♪
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DR. KING ♪
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU. ♪
Woman:
WE KNOW HOW FOND YOU ARE OF OUR
PRESIDENT, LYNDON JOHNSON
(laughter )
AND WE KNOW HOW YOU SUPPORT HIM,
AND EVERYTHING.
I'VE GOT THIS LITTLE CUP FOR YOU
AND I WANT THIS BACK,
'CAUSE IT'S MINE.
AND IT SAYS LET ME READ IT.
IT SAYS, "WE ARE COOPERATING
WITH LYNDON JOHNSON'S
WAR ON POVERTY."
DROP COINS AND BILLS
IN THE CUP."
(laughter )
Narrator:
MARTIN LUTHER KING
WAS 39 YEARS OLD.
KING BEGAN TO RECRUIT VOLUNTEERS
AND RAISE MONEY
FOR THE NEW CAMPAIGN,
SCHEDULED TO STAR
IN LESS THAN TWO MONTHS.
OKAY, SEE YOU.
ALL RIGHT.
WE ORGANIZED THE POOR
PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGN
BY PUTTING OUT WHAT IS KNOWN
IN THE MOVEMENT AS "A CALL"
A CALL TO WORSHIP,
A CALL TO PARTICIPATE,
A CALL FOR CAMARADERIE,
AND SO ON.
WHOEVER HEARS YOUR CALL
WILL RESPOND.
WHEN I CALL YOU, IT MEANS
I NEED YOU AND YOU WILL COME.
(cheering )
THE OTHER THING I WANT YOU
TO UNDERSTAND IS THIS:
THAT IT DIDN'T COS
THE NATION ONE PENNY
TO INTEGRATE LUNCH COUNTERS.
IT DIDN'T COS
THE NATION ONE PENNY
TO GUARANTEE THE RIGHT TO VOTE.
BUT NOW WE ARE DEALING WITH
ISSUES THAT CANNOT BE SOLVED
WITHOUT THE NATION SPENDING
BILLIONS OF DOLLARS,
AND UNDERGOING
A RADICAL REDISTRIBUTION
OF ECONOMIC POWER.
GOOD MORNING,
GENTLEMEN.
MORNING.
WE HAD SUNSHINE
IN BIRMINGHAM.
Narrator:
BACK IN ATLANTA,
IN HIS PASTOR'S STUDY,
KING AND HIS AIDES PREPARED
FOR A LONG-TERM CAMPAIGN.
WALLS OF JERICHO, 7:10.
WELL, I FELT THA
THROUGHOUT THE CAMPAIGN
WE OUGHT IT OUGHT TO BE A
CONTINUING, MASSIVE LOBBY-IN.
Man:
THAT'S RIGHT.
NOW, NOT JUST ONE DAY.
EVERY TIME PEOPLE
COME IN THAT TOWN,
THEY OUGHT TO GO
STRAIGHT TO CAPITOL HILL,
TO THE DEPARTMENTS
OF GOVERNMENT
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT,
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE,
HEALTH, WELFARE
AND EDUCATION
THEY JUST GO DAY IN AND DAY OUT.
IF YOU GO TO ASK
FOR WHAT WE REALLY WANT,
YOU'VE GOT AS MUCH CHANCE
OF GETTING I
AS FLYING THROUGH THE TOP
OF THIS HOUSE.
I THINK WE'VE GOT TO PIT THE
PRESIDENT AGAINST THE CONGRESS.
I DON'T THINK WE OUGH
TO MAKE THIS
AN ANTI-LYNDON JOHNSON BATTLE.
Man:
I DON'T, I DON'T,
I DON'T
I REALLY THINK THAT WE OUGH
TO LEAVE LYNDON ALONE,
AND GO ON AND THROW ATTENTION
ON THE CONGRESS
AND HAVE LYNDON IN THE POSITION
WHERE HE'LL ALMOST BE FORCED
TO SUPPORT US.
Man:
I'M NOT SAYING
SPLIT THEM.
Narrator:
AT THAT MOMENT, JOHNSON'S
ATTENTION WAS ELSEWHERE.
HE WAS RUNNING FOR REELECTION
AND THE WAR IN VIETNAM
WAS TAKING A DECISIVE TURN.
THE ENEMY'S TET OFFENSIVE
DESTROYED U.S. ILLUSIONS
THAT THE END OF THE WAR
WAS IN SIGHT.
JOHNSON'S POPULARITY PLUMMETED.
JOHNSON ALMOST LOST THE NEW
HAMPSHIRE PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY
TO ANTI-WAR CANDIDATE
EUGENE McCARTHY.
FOUR DAYS LATER,
ROBERT KENNEDY ENTERED THE RACE.
BECAUSE I WAN
THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
Narrator:
GEORGE WALLACE, WHO HAD BUIL
HIS POLITICAL CAREER
BY DEFENDING RACIAL
SEGREGATION IN THE SOUTH,
WAS GAINING SUPPORT UP NORTH
FOR HIS THIRD-PARTY CANDIDACY.
IN THE NATIONAL
POLITICAL TURMOIL
FEW WERE PAYING ATTENTION TO
A LABOR CONFLICT IN TENNESSEE.
(blues playing )
MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE.
A BITTER STRIKE
OF BLACK GARBAGE WORKERS
ECHOED THE ISSUES
OF THE POOR PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGN
THE SAME ISSUES KING PLANNED
TO BRING TO WASHINGTON.
AND I HAD SEVEN KIDS IN SCHOOL,
TRYING TO EDUCATE MY KIDS,
TRYING TO BUY A HOME.
UH IT WAS JUST
IT WAS REALLY ROUGH.
BUT I KNOW THA
SOMETHING HAD TO HAPPEN,
THAT WE COULDN'T CONTINUE ON
MAKING $1.04 AN HOUR.
Narrator:
THE CITY REFUSED TO RECOGNIZE
THE LOCAL SANITATION
WORKERS' UNION.
IN LATE JANUARY, THE UNION
ACCUSED THE CITY OF RACIAL BIAS.
DAYS LATER,
TWO BLACK WORKERS WERE
ACCIDENTALLY KILLED ON THE JOB.
THEIR FAMILIES WERE NO
ENTITLED TO COMPENSATION.
THE WORKERS DECIDED
THEY HAD HAD ENOUGH.
SO WE DECIDED WE WERE GOING
TO BE MEN,
TO STAND UP AND BE MEN,
AND THAT'S WHAT WE DID.
THIRTEEN HUNDRED MEN
DECIDED THAT THEY WAS TIRED
AND WASN'T GOING
TO TAKE ANY MORE.
I SAY TO YOU THAT I WAS WITH YOU
FOR FOUR YEARS AND YOU KNOW ME,
AND THAT WHEN I TELL YOU
SOMETHING, YOU CAN BELIEVE IT.
WE ARE WORKING
Man:
MAYOR LOEB'S ATTITUDE
TOWARD THE STRIKERS
WAS THAT OF A FATHER WHOSE
CHILDREN HAD GONE ASTRAY.
HE SIMPLY DIDN'T UNDERSTAND
THAT INSTEAD
OF A GARBAGE STRIKE,
HE HAD A RACIAL PROBLEM,
AND HE NEVER DID
UNDERSTAND THAT.
Narrator:
THE MAYOR REFUSED
TO NEGOTIATE WITH THE UNION.
11 DAYS INTO THE STRIKE,
THE CITY'S BLACK LEADERS
MARCHED WITH THE WORKERS.
Man:
THE MARCH WENT FINE
FOR TWO OR THREE BLOCKS,
BUT AS WE APPROACHED, UH
UH MADISON STREET, I THINK
THE POLICEMEN BEGAN TO COME IN
AND TO MOVE US OVER FURTHER
AND FURTHER TO THE CURB.
Narrator:
TEMPERS FLARED.
POLICE MOVED IN
WITH NIGHTSTICKS AND MACE.
Smith:
THEY FIRED UPON US,
AND THAT WAS THE TURNING POINT.
AND IF THEY WOULD FIRE UPON US,
THEY WOULD FIRE UPON ANYBODY.
NOBODY WAS SAFE IN MEMPHIS.
(women singing gospel song )
Narrator:
THE STRIKE ENTERED
ITS SECOND MONTH.
STRIKE LEADER JAMES LAWSON
ASKED HIS FRIEND,
MARTIN LUTHER KING
TO COME TO MEMPHIS.
Young:
THE STAFF WAS REALLY DISTURBED
THAT MARTIN WOULD EVEN
CONSIDER GOING TO MEMPHIS.
WE WERE TRYING TO ORGANIZE
POOR WHITES, HISPANICS,
SOUTHERN BLACKS,
NORTHERN BLACKS.
I MEAN, THERE WAS JUS
A TREMENDOUS ORGANIZING JOB
AND I DIDN'T KNOW HOW YOU
COULD TAKE ON ANYTHING ELSE.
AND HE SAID, "WELL, JIM LAWSON
HAS BEEN AROUND FOR SO LONG
"AND HERE ARE GARBAGE
WORKERS ON STRIKE.
"HE JUST WANTS ME TO COME IN
AND MAKE A SPEECH,
"AND THEN LEAD A MARCH
IN THE MORNING,
AND I'LL BE RIGHT BACK."
THE ATTITUDE OF THE WHITE
COMMUNITY WAS ONE OF DREAD.
THERE'S NO OTHER WAY
TO DESCRIBE IT.
PLEASE BEAR IN MIND THA
ALL OF US WHO COULD READ
KNEW ABOUT WATTS
AND NEWARK AND DETROIT,
AND ALL OF THE TROUBLES
THAT WE'D HAD
IN OUR BIG CITY GHETTOS,
AND WE KNEW ABOUT THE MARCH
SELMA, ALABAMA,
AND MRS. MONTGOMERY
ROSA PARKS IN MONTGOMERY,
EXCUSE ME.
ALL THESE THINGS WE KNEW,
AND SOMEHOW OR OTHER, THE NAME
OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
WAS ASSOCIATED
WITH DEEP TROUBLE.
AND MEMPHIS DREADED
HIS APPROACH.
(cheering, whistles )
ALL LABOR HAS DIGNITY
Man:
YES!
BUT YOU ARE DOING ANOTHER THING.
YOU ARE REMINDING
NOT ONLY MEMPHIS
BUT YOU ARE REMINDING THE NATION
THAT IT IS A CRIME FOR PEOPLE
TO LIVE IN THIS RICH NATION
AND RECEIVE STARVATION WAGES.
(applause )
(all singing )
Narrator:
KING'S POOR PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGN
WAS SCHEDULED TO STAR
IN LESS THAN A MONTH,
BUT HE PROMISED
TO RETURN TO MEMPHIS.
THE NEXT MORNING,
IN MISSISSIPPI,
HE RESUMED HIS RECRUITING.
(choir singing gospel song )
Man:
WE WERE VERY EXCITED ABOU
THIS POOR PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGN
THAT HE SPOKE ABOUT.
THE FIRST TIME THA
THE CONCENTRATION
HAD BEEN ON POOR PEOPLES
AND THEIR LIVING CONDITIONS,
AND WE WANTED
TO BE A PART OF THAT.
THAT'S WHAT WE HAD BEEN
WORKING TOWARD, WE FEL
THROUGH VOTER REGISTRATION,
THAT POLITICAL POWER
WOULD BRING ECONOMIC POWER.
THEN WE WERE ABLE TO TURN
PEOPLE OUT TO HEAR HIM
THAT HAD NEVER BEEN
TO A MASS MEETING BEFORE.
I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE
THERE'S JUST SO MANY OF US
RIGHT AROUND THAT DON'T HAVE
CHILDREN DON'T HAVE SHOES,
CLOTHES TO GO AROUND.
THEY'S NAKED AND HUNGRY.
MOST TIMES YOU HAVE TO COOK
YOUR CHILDREN PINTO BEANS
MORNING, DINNER AND SUPPER.
THEY DON'T KNOW WHERE ELSE
TO GET A GOOD MEAL.
WE GO WORK IN MISS ANN'S
HOUSE FOR TWO DOLLARS A DAY.
IF YOU DON'T WANT TO DO THAT,
SHE TELL US,
"WELL, YOU GOT TO MOVE."
NOW, I WANT SOME OF YOU ALL
TO GO TO WASHINGTON WITH US,
EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO BRING
YOUR WHOLE FAMILY.
WE ARE GOING TO HAVE
IN WASHINGTON FACILITIES,
AND WE'RE GOING TO HAVE FOOD,
AND WE ARE GOING TO DEMAND
THAT THE GOVERNMENT DO SOMETHING
ABOUT THESE CONDITIONS.
RICK TELL JOSE
I HAVE TO RUSH OFF.
HELLO GIVE
ME SOME SUGAR.
Narrator:
DESPITE KING'S
PERSONAL POPULARITY
S.C.L.C. HAD TROUBLE
RECRUITING PEOPLE.
AS HE TRAVELED NORTH,
KING MET MORE INDIFFERENCE.
Man:
MARCH ON DOWN TO WASHINGTON
THE SOUTH IS A
DIFFERENT PLACE
THAN NEW YORK.
WELL, THAT'S TRUE.
YOU CAN'T TELL THE
YOU CAN'T TELL
THE YOUNG KIDS TODAY
THAT'S IN HARLEM THAT, UH
NONVIOLENCE.
YOU CAN'T
YOU CAN'T GET THROUGH TO THEM
WITH NONVIOLENCE TODAY.
YOU HAVE TO HAVE SOME TYPE
OF AN APPROACH WITH THEM,
AND I SAY THAT DR. KING'S
APPROACH IS A LITTLE OUTDATED
FOR HARLEM,
FOR BEDFORD-STUYVESAN
OR ANY PART OF NEW YORK.
Narrator:
KING'S NONVIOLENT APPROACH
WOULD BE DIRECTLY CHALLENGED
WHEN HE RETURNED TO MEMPHIS.
ON THE MORNING OF MARCH 28,
A TENSE AND RESTLESS CROWD
WAITED TWO HOURS
BEFORE KING ARRIVED.
THE STRIKE WAS
IN ITS SEVENTH WEEK.
SOME YOUNGER SUPPORTERS
HAD GROWN IMPATIEN
WITH THE STRIKE LEADERS.
WHILE WE WERE MARCHING,
I WAS ABOUT IN THE FIRS
ONE-THIRD OF THE MARCH
AS I COULD TELL AT THAT POINT,
AND WE BEGAN TO HEAR
WINDOWS BREAKING.
WE BEGAN TO HEAR, YOU KNOW,
A LOUD RUSTLING,
AN UNEASINESS
AMONG THE MARCHERS,
AND THEN WE BEGAN
TO SEE INDIVIDUALS
WHO WERE STEPPING
OUT OF THE MARCH, UH
BLACK POWER! BLACK POWER!
Lucy:
AND THROWING THINGS
AT WINDOWS.
Rogers:
AND ALL THE GLASS
STARTED BREAKING
AND THE NOISE, AND THE POLICE
CARS WERE RUNNING THE SIRENS,
AND EVERYBODY WAS ALL CONFUSED
AND JUST RUNNING OVER
EACH OTHER.
(shouting, sirens wailing )
(crowd shouting, horn honking )
Narrator:
FEARING FOR KING'S SAFETY,
HIS AIDES COMMANDEERED
A PASSING CAR
AND DROVE HIM TO A NEARBY HOTEL.
(shouting and glass breaking)
(all yelling )
Man:
LET HIM ALONE, MAN,
LEAVE HIM ALONE!
GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HIM!
(horns honking )
(sirens wailing )
Narrator:
IT WAS THE FIRST TIME
KING HAD LED MARCHERS
WHO HAD TURNED TO VIOLENCE.
SECLUDED FOR THE NIGHT,
HE BRACED HIMSELF FOR CRITICISM.
IF HE COULDN'T CONTROL
A SINGLE MARCH IN MEMPHIS,
HOW COULD HE CONTROL
A MASS MOVEMENT OF POOR PEOPLE
IN THE NATION'S CAPITAL?
THE FBI, MONITORING
KING IN MEMPHIS,
USED ITS PRESS CONTACTS
TO CREATE DOUBTS ABOUT THE
UPCOMING CAMPAIGN IN WASHINGTON.
THE STRIKE CONTINUED.
S.C.L.C. STAFFERS WORKED
TO ENSURE NONVIOLENCE
AT THE NEXT MARCH.
A DISTRAUGHT KING AND HIS
CLOSEST AIDE, RALPH ABERNATHY,
LEFT FOR ATLANTA.
THAT EVENING WE WEN
TO THE ABERNATHYS FOR DINNER
AND WE SPENT THE EVENING
AT THEIR HOME.
AND, UH, UH
MARTIN, OF COURSE, LIKED TO EAT,
AND MRS. ABERNATHY HAD
SOME OF HIS FAVORITE FOOD,
AND EVEN HOMEMADE ICE CREAM.
AND WE DID NOT TALK
ABOUT MEMPHIS.
THE NEWS CAME ON
AND WHENEVER THERE WAS
A FLASH ON TV ABOUT IT,
HE GOT VERY QUIET,
AND HE WAS REALLY, REALLY
SORT OF DEPRESSED,
AND I THINK HE WAS MORE
DEPRESSED THAT NIGHT, I BELIEVE
THAN I'D EVER SEEN HIM,
BECAUSE THE VIOLENCE
REALLY GOT TO HIM.
Narrator:
VISIBLY EXHAUSTED,
KING CONTINUED HIS CAMPAIGN
FOR THE POOR.
SUNDAY, MARCH 31,
HE SPOKE AT THE NATIONAL
CATHEDRAL IN WASHINGTON.
THIS IS AMERICA'S OPPORTUNITY
TO HELP BRIDGE THE GULF BETWEEN
THE HAVES AND THE HAVE-NOTS,
AND THE QUESTION IS
WHETHER AMERICA WILL DO IT.
THERE IS NOTHING NEW
ABOUT POVERTY.
WHAT IS NEW IS THAT WE NOW HAVE
THE TECHNIQUES AND THE RESOURCES
TO GET RID OF POVERTY.
AND THE REAL QUESTION IS
WHETHER WE HAVE THE WILL.
Narrator:
ON APRIL 3,
KING RETURNED TO MEMPHIS
TO PROVE THAT NONVIOLENCE
COULD WORK.
S.C.L.C. PLANNED TO CHALLENGE
A COURT INJUNCTION
BLOCKING THE NEXT MARCH.
KING HOPED TO AVOID SPEAKING
AT THAT NIGHT'S RALLY,
AND TO REST INSTEAD
AT THE LORRAINE MOTEL.
THERE WAS A TORNADO WARNING
IN MEMPHIS THAT EVENING,
AND IT WAS RAINING, RAINING,
AND WIND WAS BLOWING EVERYWHERE.
I BELIEVE A LITTLE TORNADO
CAME TO MEMPHIS, ALSO.
AND HE KNEW THAT THERE
WOULD NOT BE A BIG CROWD,
AND HE SAID TO ME
IN THE MEETING WITH THE STAFF,
"RALPH, I WANT YOU TO GO
AND SPEAK THIS EVENING
AT THE MASS MEETING."
AND HE DIDN'T WANT TO GO
TO THAT MEETING THAT NIGHT.
HE SAID HE HAD SEN
REVEREND ABERNATHY OVER,
AND HE SAID, "BECAUSE
I JUST DIDN'T FEEL LIKE GOING,
"BUT IT'S THUNDERING
AND LIGHTNING HERE.
WE HAVE A THUNDERSTORM
TAKING PLACE."
HE SAID, "BUT, YOU KNOW,
RALPH HAS JUST CALLED
"AND SAID THAT I NEEDED
TO COME OVER.
"THE PEOPLE WERE WAITING FOR ME,
AND THEY REALLY DIDN'T WAN
ANYBODY ELSE TO SPEAK BUT ME."
SO HE SAID, "I GUESS
I'LL GO ON OVER THERE.
I'LL CALL YOU LATER."
HE SAID, "I'LL
CALL YOU TOMORROW NIGHT."
ALL WE SAY TO AMERICA IS BE TRUE
TO WHAT YOU SAID ON PAPER.
(enthusiastic applause)
IF I LIVED IN CHINA
OR EVEN RUSSIA
OR ANY TOTALITARIAN COUNTRY,
MAYBE I COULD UNDERSTAND SOME
OF THESE ILLEGAL INJUNCTIONS.
MAYBE I COULD UNDERSTAND
THE DENIAL OF CERTAIN BASIC
FIRST AMENDMENT PRIVILEGES
BECAUSE THEY HAVEN'T COMMITTED
THEMSELVES TO THAT OVER THERE.
BUT SOMEWHERE I READ
OF THE FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY.
SOMEWHERE I READ
OF THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH.
SOMEWHERE I READ
OF THE FREEDOM OF PRESS.
SOMEWHERE I READ
THAT THE GREATNESS OF AMERICA
IS THE RIGHT TO PROTES
FOR RIGHT!
(thunderous applause )
AND SO JUST AS I SAY
WE AREN'T GOING TO LET ANY DOGS
OR WATER HOSES TURN US AROUND,
WE AREN'T GOING TO LET ANY
INJUNCTION TURN US AROUND!
WELL, I DON'T KNOW
WHAT WILL HAPPEN NOW.
WE'VE GOT SOME
DIFFICULT DAYS AHEAD.
BUT IT REALLY DOESN'
MATTER WITH ME NOW,
BECAUSE I'VE BEEN
TO THE MOUNTAINTOP
(applause and cheering )
AND I DON'T MIND.
LIKE ANYBODY, I WOULD LIKE
TO LIVE A LONG LIFE.
LONGEVITY HAS ITS PLACE,
BUT I'M NOT CONCERNED
ABOUT THAT NOW.
I JUST WANT TO DO GOD'S WILL,
AND HE HAS ALLOWED ME
TO GO UP TO THE MOUNTAIN,
AND I HAVE LOOKED OVER, AND I
HAVE SEEN THE PROMISED LAND.
I MAY NOT GET THERE WITH YOU,
BUT I WANT YOU TO KNOW TONIGH
THAT WE AS A PEOPLE WILL
GET TO THE PROMISED LAND.
(applause)
SO I'M HAPPY TONIGHT.
I'M NOT WORRIED ABOUT ANYTHING.
I'M NOT FEARING ANY MAN.
MINE EYES HAVE SEEN THE GLORY
OF THE COMING OF THE LORD!
(applause and acclamation)
Young:
THE NEXT DAY, I WAS
IN THE FEDERAL COURT.
WE GOT THE INJUNCTION
THROWN OUT,
AND WE GOT OUR PERMISSION
TO MARCH,
AND I GUESS ABOUT 4:30 OR 5:00,
I CAME BACK
TO THE LORRAINE MOTEL,
AND I FOUND MARTIN
AND A.D. AND RALPH
AND EVERYBODY GATHERED THERE,
AND THEY'D BEEN EATING
AND HAD LUNCH,
AND WERE TALKING AND CLOWNING.
AND WHEN I CAME IN,
MARTIN JUST GRABBED ME
AND THREW ME DOWN ON THE BED
AND STARTED BEATING ME
WITH A PILLOW.
HE WAS LIKE A BIG KID.
AND HE WAS FUSSING BECAUSE
I HADN'T REPORTED TO HIM,
AND I TRIED TO TELL HIM
"I WAS ON THE WITNESS STAND,
I'M HERE IN THE FEDERAL COURT."
AND HE WAS, YOU KNOW,
JUST STANDING ON THE BED,
SWINGING THE PILLOW AT ME,
AND I'M TRYING TO DUCK,
WITH HIM SAYING,
"YOU HAVE TO LET ME KNOW
WHAT'S GOING ON," YOU KNOW,
AND FINALLY I SNATCHED A PILLOW
AND STARTED SWINGING BACK,
AND AND YOU KNOW, EVERYBODY
IT WAS SORT OF LIKE, YOU KNOW,
AFTER YOU MAKE A TOUCHDOWN
AND EVERYBODY
PILES ON EVERYBODY.
IT WAS JUST I MEAN, PEOPLE
JUST STARTED THROWING PILLOWS,
AND PILING ON TOP OF EVERYBODY,
AND LAUGHING AND GOING ON.
AND THEN HE STOPPED AND SAID:
"LET'S GO," YOU KNOW,
"WE'RE DUE AT DINNER AT 6:00."
AND IT WAS AT THA
TIME ABOUT 6:00.
AND HE WENT ON UP TO HIS ROOM,
UH, TO, YOU KNOW,
TO PUT ON A SHIRT AND TIE.
AND MARTIN CAME OUT AND ASKED,
"DO YOU THINK I NEED A COAT?"
AND WE SAID, "YEAH, IT'S PRETTY
COOL AND YOU'VE HAD A COLD."
YOU'D BETTER GO BACK
AND GET A COAT."
AND HE SAID, "I DON'T KNOW
WHETHER I NEED A COAT."
AND THE NEXT THING WE KNOW,
A SHOT
WELL, I THOUGHT IT WAS A CAR
BACKFIRING, OR A FIRECRACKER.
AND I JUMPED, NATURALLY.
AND I TURNED AND SAW
ONLY HIS FEET,
AND I RAN TO HIM
AND TOOK HIS HEAD INTO MY HANDS,
AND BEGIN TO PAT HIS CHEEK,
AND SAID,
"MARTIN, THIS IS RALPH,
THIS IS RALPH, THIS IS RALPH.
"IT WILL BE ALL RIGHT.
"EVERYTHING IS GOING
TO BE ALL RIGHT.
EVERYTHING IS GOING
TO BE ALL RIGHT, MARTIN."
Narrator:
AN HOUR AFTER HE WAS SHOT,
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., DIED.
THAT NIGHT,
AMERICA'S CITIES EXPLODED.
IT'S TOO LATE NOW.
WE ARE READY TO START,
AND WE'RE GOING TO
FINISH IT UP.
(distant sirens )
(sirens and crackle of flames)
Mourners singing:
WE SHALL OVERCOME ♪
WE SHALL OVERCOME ♪
WE SHALL OVERCOME
SOMEDAY ♪
I DON'T THINK AMERICANS SHOULD
MOURN MARTIN LUTHER KING
I THINK
THEY SHOULD MOURN THEMSELVES.
(organ playing )
(organ continues )
(piano playing )
Mahalia Jackson:
PRECIOUS LORD ♪
TAKE MY HAND ♪
LEAD ME ON ♪
LET ME STAND ♪
I AM TIRED ♪
I AM WEAK ♪
I AM WANDERING ♪
THROUGH THE STORM ♪
THROUGH THE NIGHT ♪
HEAR ME ALL ♪
THROUGH THE NIGHT ♪
TAKE MY HAND ♪
PRECIOUS LORD ♪
ASHES TO ASHES,
AND DUST TO DUST.
AND LEAD ME HOME. ♪
WE DIDN'T KNOW
WHERE WE WERE GOING.
EVERYTHING WAS
IN A STATE OF FLUX,
AND OUR LEADER WAS GONE,
AND WE FELT A GREAT VOID
AND A TERRIBLE, SICK EMPTINESS.
AND I THINK WE ALL FEL
WE JUST HAD TO DO SOMETHING
THAT WE HOPED
WOULD BE MEANINGFUL.
Narrator:
S.C.L.C. WAS IN SHOCK,
BUT COMMITTED ITSELF
TO CARRY OUT KING'S CAMPAIGN.
Marcher (chanting):
WE ARE ON FIRE ♪
Marchers:
OH, YEAH ♪
WAS-A ON THE WAY ♪
OH, YEAH ♪
OH, WELL,
THEY'RE COMING BY BUS ♪
OH, YEAH ♪
AND BY AIRPLANE, TOO ♪
OH, YEAH ♪
OH, WELL, THEY EVEN WALK ♪
Narrator:
FROM MISSISSIPPI,
FROM NEW MEXICO,
FROM NEW YORK,
THOUSANDS SET OU
FOR WASHINGTON.
Marcher:
I SAID, NAH, NAH,
NAH, NAH, NAH! ♪
Marchers:
NAH, NAH, NAH, NAH, NAH, NAH ♪
NAH, NAH, NAH, NAH ♪
I SAID, NAH, NAH,
NAH, NAH, NAH! ♪
NAH, NAH, NAH, NAH, NAH, NAH ♪
I WANT MY FREEDOM,
NAH, NAH, NAH, NAH, NAH! ♪
Narrator:
FIVE WEEKS AFTER KING'S DEATH,
HIS POOR PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGN
REACHED THE NATION'S CAPITAL.
FIVE YEARS AFTER
THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON,
HIS MOVEMENT BUILT A CITY
ON THE SAME GROUND.
I DECLARE THIS TO BE THE SITE
OF OUR NEW CITY,
RESURRECTION CITY, U.S.A.
OUR FIRST NAIL
People (chanting):
FREEDOM! FREEDOM! FREEDOM!
FREEDOM, FREEDOM, FREEDOM!
FREEDOM, FREEDOM, FREEDOM!
FREEDOM, FREEDOM, FREEDOM!
(guitar playing )
Man:
GOING TO WASHINGTON ANYHOW ♪
FEELING MIGHTY SAD ♪
THINKING 'BOUT AN INCOME
THAT I NEVER HAD ♪
EVERYBODY'S GO
A RIGHT TO LIVE ♪
EVERYBODY'S GO
A RIGHT TO LIVE ♪
AND BEFORE
THIS CAMPAIGN FAILS ♪
WE ALL GO DOWN IN JAIL ♪
EVERYBODY'S GO
A RIGHT TO LIVE ♪
YEAH ♪
WHITE MAN DUG THE DITCHES ♪
Rutherford:
THE PURPOSE AND THE GOAL
OF THE POOR PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGN
WAS T0 FOCUS THE ATTENTION
OF THE NATION AND THE WORLD
ON POVERTY.
THE TACTIC BEING USED WAS TO
GATHER THE POOREST OF THE POOR
IN THE NATION'S CAPITAL
IN THE HEART OF THE WEALTHIES
COUNTRY IN THE WORLD
TO CAMP THEM,
THESE HOMELESS, HUNGRY PEOPLE
IN THE HEART OF THIS CITY,
ON THIS FABULOUS MALL
SITUATED BETWEEN
THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL
AND THE WASHINGTON MEMORIAL.
Figgs:
WHEN WE GO
TO RESURRECTION CITY,
QUITE FRANKLY,
WE WERE SCARED AS HELL.
BEING IN WASHINGTON, D.C.,
AND BEING OU
ON THE U.S. GOVERNMENT TURF,
YOU COULDN'T HELP BUT THINK
IF SOMETHING HAPPENED,
DR. KING IS NOT HERE.
NOBODY KNOWS
THE TROUBLE I'VE SEEN ♪
AND NOBODY KNOWS
BUT MY JESUS ♪
ONE MORE TIME ♪
NOBODY KNOWS
THE TROUBLE I'VE SEEN ♪
I'M DOING MUCH BETTER
THAN I WAS DOING IN MISSISSIPPI,
AND I'M GOING TO STAY HERE
IF IT'S HIS WILL
UNTIL I RECEIVE WHAT I CAME FOR.
(singing continues )
Man:
AMEN! AMEN!
(chanting and singing )
Narrator:
IN THE FIRST WEEKS, THE POOR
PEOPLE DRAMATIZED THEIR DEMANDS
THROUGH DIRECT ACTION.
WE HAD TO MARCH FOR SOME FOOD,
SO WE DECIDED TO MARCH
TO THE AGRICULTURE DEPARTMEN
BECAUSE WE WERE FOCUSING
ON FEEDING AND NUTRITION.
SO WE WENT AND
GOOD FOOD AT THE
AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT.
IT'S TIME FOR HIM
TO GO TO SERVICE,
AND KNOWS WHERE HE IS
WHEN HE IS RELEASED.
Jackson:
HE'S GOT MORE THAN HE CAN EA
SITTING UP THERE GRINNING
WHILE PEOPLE ARE STARVING.
NOW, THIS IS THE AMERICA
THAT MR. FREEMAN KNOWS,
BUT THIS IS NOT THE AMERICA
THAT MRS. BROOKS KNOWS
OR 40 MILLION OTHER PEOPLE.
Man:
HE TOOK THEM DOWN
TO THE CAFETERIA.
THEY PICKED UP TRAYS,
AND WHEN THEY'D ALL
GONE THROUGH THE LINE,
JACKSON TOOK A MEGAPHONE,
AND HE ANNOUNCED TO EVERYBODY,
"OKAY," HE SAID,
"THIS GOVERNMENT OWES US A LOT,
AND THEY'VE JUST BEGIN TO PAY
A BIT OF IT WITH THIS LUNCH."
REMAIN DISCIPLINED,
AND NOT DISTURB THE OPERATION
Narrator:
HAVING MADE ITS POINT,
S.C.L.C. LATER PAID THE BILL.
Jackson:
SOUL POWER!
People:
SOUL POWER!
Jackson:
SOUL POWER!
People:
SOUL POWER!
Jackson:
I AM
People:
I AM
Jackson:
SOMEBODY!
People:
SOMEBODY!
Jackson:
I AM
People:
I AM
Jackson:
SOMEBODY!
People:
SOMEBODY!
Jackson:
I MAY BE
People:
I MAY BE
Jackson:
UNEDUCATED
People:
UNEDUCATED
Jackson:
BUT I AM
People:
BUT I AM
Jackson:
SOMEBODY!
People:
SOMEBODY!
Jackson:
I MAY BE
People:
I MAY BE
Jackson:
UNEMPLOYED
People:
UNEMPLOYED
Jackson:
BUT I AM
People:
BUT I AM
Jackson:
SOMEBODY!
People:
SOMEBODY!
Narrator:
RUNNING A CITY CONSUMED S.C.L.C.
NO TIME TO PLAN,
NO CLEAR AGENDA,
NO NEW GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS.
AND THEN IT BEGAN TO RAIN.
OH, IT RAINED AND RAINED
AND RAINED
LIKE, YOU KNOW,
ALL-NIGHT GEORGIA RAIN.
AND THE PLACE WHERE
WE HAD BUILT I
ENDED UP BEING LIKE
A SIX-INCH MUD PUDDLE.
I MEAN, I WAS CONSTANTLY
IN THE MUD.
Narrator:
PRESS COVERAGE OF THE MUD
AND DISCONTEN
OVERSHADOWED THE ISSUE
OF POVERTY IN AMERICA.
3,000 MILES AWAY,
ROBERT KENNEDY, ONE OF THE POOR
PEOPLE'S STRONGEST ALLIES,
CAMPAIGNED FOR THE DEMOCRATIC
PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION
WITH STRONG SUPPORT FROM
BLACK AND HISPANIC VOTERS.
Kennedy:
BUT I DON'T THINK ANY OF US
CAN BE SATISFIED
IN THE UNITED STATES
UNTIL THAT WAR IS BROUGH
TO AN HONORABLE END
AND AMERICAN SOLDIERS
ARE BROUGHT BACK HERE
TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
Narrator:
ON THE NIGHT OF JUNE 4,
KENNEDY WON A MAJOR VICTORY
IN THE CALIFORNIA PRIMARY.
MY THANKS TO ALL OF YOU
AND NOW IT'S ON TO CHICAGO
AND LET'S WIN THERE.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
(applause and whistles )
Narrator:
MOMENTS LATER, KENNEDY WAS SHOT.
(screams and uproar)
WOULD A DOCTOR
COME RIGHT HERE?
Man at microphone:
A DOCTOR. WE NEED A DOCTOR
RIGHT HERE
AT THE MICROPHONE,
PLEASE, IMMEDIATELY.
Narrator:
FOUR DAYS AFTER KENNEDY'S DEATH,
THE TRAIN CARRYING HIS BODY
MADE ITS WAY TO WASHINGTON.
Young:
ROBERT KENNEDY'S ASSASSINATION
JUST BROUGHT EVERYTHING
TO A HALT,
AND I THINK WE BEGAN
TO GRIEVE ABOUT MARTIN
IN THE CONTEXT OF BOBBY
KENNEDY'S ASSASSINATION.
BECAUSE BOBBY KENNEDY
HAD BEEN WITH US IN ATLANTA
AT MARTIN'S FUNERAL
AND MANY OF US BEGAN TO SEE
IN HIM A HOPE FOR THE FUTURE.
WE KIND OF TRANSFERRED
A LITTLE OF OUR LOYALTY,
A LITTLE OF OUR TRUS
AND A LITTLE OF OUR HOPE TO HIM
AND NOW HE WAS GONE, TOO.
(funeral march playing )
Narrator:
IN RECOGNITION OF THE POOR
PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGN
THE FUNERAL PROCESSION
WAS SCHEDULED TO STOP
AT RESURRECTION CITY.
Logan:
IT STARTED TO RAIN,
VERY LIGHT RAINFALL.
AT THE FOO
OF THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL,
THERE WAS A GROUP
OF SCHOOLCHILDREN.
THEY HAD ON MIDDY BLOUSES
AND SKIRTS, I REMEMBER,
AND THEY WERE SINGING
"BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC."
OH, BOY.
Children:
MINE EYES HAVE
SEEN THE GLORY ♪
Logan:
AND I LOOKED AND I SAW
THE HEARSE COMING ALONG
RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE FOO
OF THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL.
PEOPLE FROM RESURRECTION CITY
STARTED SINGING THE BATTLE HYMN.
People:
HIS TRUTH IS MARCHING ON. ♪
I LOOKED UP AND SAW
THE PIN-SPOT ON LINCOLN'S HEAD
AND ABOVE THAT WAS THE MOON
AND IT STOPPED RAINING.
People:
GLORY, GLORY HALLELUJAH ♪
GLORY, GLORY, HALLELUJAH ♪
AND THEY MARCHED OVER
THE BRIDGE INTO ARLINGTON.
IT WAS ONE OF THE MOST DRAMATIC,
PROFOUNDLY MOVING MOMENTS
I'VE EVER KNOWN IN MY LIFE.
I'LL NEVER FORGET IT.
Narrator:
PEOPLE BEGAN TO LEAVE.
THE FEW LEF
IN RESURRECTION CITY
TRIED TO KEEP
THE CAMPAIGN ALIVE.
SOME IN CONGRESS CALLED
TO CLOSE THE CITY DOWN.
Rutherford:
THE LAST DAYS
OF RESURRECTION CITY
WERE LIKE BEING IN THE CAMP
OF A DEFEATED ARMY.
I THINK THE SPIRI
WENT OUT OF PEOPLE.
THERE WERE PEOPLE THERE
WHO HAD NO PLACE TO GO
PEOPLE WHO HAD COME
TO RESURRECTION CITY
WITH A GREAT DEAL OF HOPE
AND WHO HAD NONE LEFT.
IT WAS LITERALLY THE END
OF A MAJOR BATTLE
THE BATTLE OF THE POOR
AND THEY'D LOST.
MAN:
LINE THEM UP!
Narrator:
JUST 81 DAYS AFTER
KING WAS KILLED,
RESURRECTION CITY WAS SHUT DOWN.
Edelman:
THE YEAR 1968 WAS AN
EXTRAORDINARILY DIFFICULT YEAR.
I MEAN WE LOST MARTIN,
WE LOST BOBBY,
AND FOR THOSE OF US
WHO WERE DETERMINED
TO CARRY ON THE LEGACY
OF MARTIN,
IT WAS A TIME TO REGROUP
AND RETHINK
AND GET UP AND FIGURE
OUT NEW STRATEGIES
TO BUILD NEW PATHS
TOWARD THE FUTURE
TO DEAL WITH THE ISSUES
OF POVERTY
AND DEAL
WITH THE ISSUES OF RACE
THAT WERE GONNA BE ONGOING
BUT CLEARLY MUCH MORE DIFFICULT.
King:
ONE DAY
WE WILL HAVE TO STAND
BEFORE THE GOD OF HISTORY.
AND WE WILL TALK IN TERMS
OF THINGS WE'VE DONE.
IT SEEMS THAT I CAN HEAR
THE GOD OF HISTORY SAYING
"THAT WAS NOT ENOUGH!
"BUT I WAS HUNGRY
AND YOU FED ME NOT."
AIN'T NO GRAVE ♪
CAN HOLD MY BODY DOWN ♪
AH-AH-AH, AH-AH-AH ♪
AIN'T NO GRAVE ♪
CAN HOLD MY BODY DOWN ♪
MY BODY DOWN ♪
IN THE BURST OF THE DAWN ♪
I'LL BE GETTING UP,
WALKING 'ROUND ♪
AIN'T NO GRAVE ♪
CAN HOLD MY BODY DOWN ♪
OH ♪
WELL, I HEARD OF
A BEAUTIFUL CITY ♪
(fading out):
WELL, ITS STREETS
WAS PAVED WITH GOLD ♪
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