Original subtitles

I'm James Earl Jones.

When Vernon Johns saw a good fight,

he followed his father's advice,

and got in it.

Portraying him on the screen

is both challenging and rewarding.

And I invite you to join me

for The Vernon Johns Story.

In a time of intimidation, fear, and silence,

Vernon Johns fought back.

Last week, a white man was fined

for shooting a rabbit out of season.

But it's safe to murder Negros.

A rabbit is better off than a Negro,

because in Alabama,

niggers are always in season.

All that Vernon Johns wanted

was something better for his children.

You must have the courage.

Daddy, I'm not like you.

I'm afraid of dying.

A world premier movie for television.

James Earl Jones, Mary Alice, Cissy Houston,

Nicolle Rochelle, and Joe Seneca.

In the true story of a forgotten American hero.

The Vernon Johns Story.

Coming up next.

My father never stayed in one place for long.

He was a restless man,

and one of God's most angry and brilliant preachers.

He was the kind of man who said exactly what was on his mind,

no matter what the consequences.

And there was never a day that I didn't fear would bring news of his death.

In the summer of 1948,

it was the possibility of a good job,

so my father came south to join the family in Montgomery, Alabama.

Back then, Montgomery was a sleepy little Confederate town.

Mean in spirit.

He had arranged to meet the deacons of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church,

at the Montgomery Courthouse.

The deacons only knew of my father's reputation

as one of the great colored preachers at the time.

Other aspects of his reputation, however,

had not yet reached the good deacons of Dexter.

Deacon Wilkes?

Reverend Johns?

Well, I was expecting a

older man.

I'm Deacon Wilkes.

Deacon Wilkes, you are exactly as I expected.

Um...

The whole congregation is excited.

And I'm expecting a full house tomorrow.

This is Deacon Henderson.

Dr. Johns, I just wanna say that it's an honor to be in your presence.

Deacon Henderson, you flatter me.

Stop doing that. I don't like it.

How are you doing? I'm Deacon Hill.

Deacon Hill.

You look like you just stepped off from behind the plough.

I'm the football coach of Alabama State.

I'm the token roughneck on the Deacon Board.

Can I take your luggage, Dr. Johns?

You ever been in Montgomery before?

No, but my wife has told me stories about it.

What's your line of work, Deacon Wilkes?

I'm a mortician.

Business must be booming.

We pride ourselves on the great number of doctors,

lawyers, and educators that we got among our congregation.

Negro class in Montgomery is making big strides.

You couldn't have come at a more advantageous time.

These here are not Dexter folk.

We are only as great as the least of us.

Amen!

My father called me Baby Dee,

which was his way of saying "Baby dearest."

Mom!

Daddy's home.

My beautiful babies.

Jeanne.

Enid.

Baby Dee.

I thought you were never coming home.

Can you believe I kept myself away from this woman for six whole months?

Mm.

I smell Virginia hams,

collared greens and bakes yams.

Something that good must be coming from the neighbor's house.

Dr. Johns, if you don't mind my asking,

what will the text of your sermon be this Sunday?

You know what Jesus would say

if he were here

right now... in Montgomery, Alabama?

No, sir.

He'd say...

"I'm hungry. Let's eat."

I see you got moved in okay without me.

Yes, Vernon, we've become quite expert in that.

Is your teaching job at the Alabama State satisfactory?

Yes, Vernon.

You should have seen the look on their faces at church

when they learned Mama was married to the Vernon Johns.

They practically begged Mama to get you here for a guest sermon.

I guess they must be interested.

We want you to stay, Daddy.

Jeanne...

How many times have I told you not to lick your ice cream?

With your tongue sticking out like that, you look like a dog.

Bite your ice cream.

Go on. Bite it.

Don't lick your ice cream. Bite it.

He said I looked like a dog.

But you do look like a dog!

Bite it! Go on, bite it!

Girls, quiet.

Shh.

And if they like you, they'll ask for a second sermon.

And after that, they'll offer you the pulpit.

It's a good church, Vernon.

The people mean well.

They've been over a year without a pastor,

and they're looking for someone to lead them.

Vernon? Yes.

Now, you mustn't lose your temper.

You've got to give them a chance.

I know.

Charleston was a good pulpit and you walked away from them.

Bunch of blowhards and.

Vernon, please.

The girls need you here. I need you here.

Why, Enid and Jeanne barely know you.

Dee's found a place where she fits in,

but it's that time of her life when she needs her father.

She's 14 years old.

Who's 14?

Dee's 14? Yes.

It's time to stop moving from church to church,

from town to town.

How many pulpits have you lost?

I found it!

I found your hat!

Hold still, Daddy.

I didn't think you could look this good.

Oh, Vernon, you're not really gonna wear that nasty thing!

My, my, my!

Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?

I can't remember a crowd like this.

No!

Vernon, go easy with them.

Unless you're regular members of this church,

you must remain outside.

You can hear the sermon out here.

I said, you must remain outside.

A young man

of little distinction

forced his way into the Dean's office

at Oberlin College.

He was angry

because his application for admittance

had been rejected.

The Dean said to the young man

who wore overalls with mud caked on his shoes,

"You have no credits."

The young man replied,

"Do you want a man with credits or brains?"

The Dean gave the young man a book

of Greek scriptures

and ordered him to translate it,

thinking it was an impossible task.

The young man not only translated it right on the spot,

but was admitted

and went on to graduate

valedictorian of his class.

A doctor of theology.

The first colored preacher...

Deacon Hill

what does a white man call a colored man with a doctorate?

I don't know, Dr. Johns.

Nigger.

Brothers and sisters

that man is here today.

The Reverend Dr. Vernon Johns.

You all know

Christ parable about Lazarus and Dives.

Dives was a rich man.

Lazarus was a beggar.

The rich man was clothed in purple Raymonds and fine linen.

Lazarus was clothed in rags.

The rich man dined sumptuously every day.

Lazarus was forced to live off the crumbs that fell

from the rich man's table.

When Dives took a walk in the cool of the evening,

Lazarus was compelled

to remove himself from the rich man's sight,

so as not to offend the man's delicate sensibilities.

The two men met a common fate.

Both of them died.

Dives was surprised to find himself

in one of the upper circles of Hell.

His shock was further compounded

when he looked up to Heaven and there,

seated at Abraham's side was the beggar Lazarus.

Lazarus not being a spiteful man,

looked down and smiled and said, "Hello, Boss."

And the fires of Hell tormented Dives.

It was agony.

He lifted his head toward Heaven and implored,

"Abraham, send Lazarus with drink to cool my parched tongue."

Abraham said,

"No!"

"You shall live in death as you did in life, apart,"

"because you have conditioned yourself to human inequality."

So it was not Dives' riches that condemned him to Hell.

What condemned Dives

was his acceptance and insistence

on human inequality.

The nastiest and deadliest sin in the world today

is the innate hatred between the races.

Here we have men hating other men

to the point of murder.

Legislating against children even before they are born.

Denying them any chance of a fulfilled life,

because of one thing,

the color of their skin.

And this inane and foolish hatred

threatens to devour civilization

like a moth caught in a Hell fire.

Proceed.

Rose...

Let's change things here. How about Go Down Moses?

I can only play what's on the printed order of service.

But I'm asking you to play Go Down Moses.

I'm sorry, Dr. Johns,

but spirituals are not played at Dexter.

We don't play sorrow songs.

Are you telling me that Go Down Moses is a sorrowful song?

It's undignified.

Proceed.

# I sing because I'm happy

# I sing because I'm free

# His eye is on the sparrow #

So there is something he can't do.

"Send Lazarus with drink to cool my parched tongue."

Daddy, I've never seen so many people in that church.

And when Rose wouldn't play that spiritual,

I was so proud of you for not arguing.

Daddy, can we go to the circus?

Or can we go on a picnic?

Yes, Vernon. The girls have been dying to have a picnic.

And I promise you...

Daddy?

Daddy?

This family will use nothing Jim Crow.

Nothing segregated, unless our lives depend on it.

No movie theaters, no drinking fountains,

and no buses.

How am I supposed to get to school?

You will walk.

Dr. Johns is known to be demanding on his congregation.

So, why shouldn't he be demanding?

It's his job.

They say he's a man who likes trouble.

Has anyone bothered to ask why Johns left his last pulpit

in Charleston, West Virginia?

I know that Charleston congregation.

They're not open to new, challenging ideas.

They couldn't understand a man like Dr. Johns.

And we can?

Let's put it to a vote.

Dr. Johns, will you come in, please?

Dr. Johns...

Normally, we would require a second ceremony.

But in this case,

we've decided it was quite unnecessary.

I... That is, we, the deacons here

of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church,

would like to offer you pastor ship.

What about you, Coach Hill?

To be candid,

I wonder if this congregation is ready for you, Dr. Johns.

How much does it pay?

One fourth?

Eat.

If I eat one more piece of apple,

I think I'm going to burst.

Burst. Now, eat.

It's how I learned fractions, Jeanie.

One time I ate too many apples I got sick.

But you learned.

One half?

Daddy!

Good morning.

Mrs. Rawlins, I

have, I now realize, neglected to dress.

Reverend Johns, it's my boy. He's dead.

I came to ask a special prayer for my boy, Reverend.

His name was Isaiah.

They stopped him for speeding.

And they killed him.

No, you stay. I want you to hear this.

They say he tried to resist arrest.

That boy is no fool.

He would never back talk a Montgomery Police officer.

I can give you a hundred special prayers, sister.

But special prayers aren't what you need.

What you need is justice.

No, no. No, Reverend,

I don't wanna cause any more trouble.

All we want right now is to know that Isaiah's soul has gone to heaven.

Were there any witnesses?

Yes, sir.

Who were they?

I can't say.

Where are the wounds?

There were three.

He was shot in the back.

This wasn't resisting arrest.

This was a lynching.

Dr. Johns, we don't know that.

And please limit that kind of comment

to the confines of this room.

Charges must be brought against the police who did this.

Will bringing charges bring this boy back to life?

Or ease the grief of his loved ones?

What greater grief can there be than to know that your son has been murdered

for no reason but that his skin is black?

And the killers walk away scot-free.

Dr. Johns!

Nobody denies Isaiah's death was tragic.

But we are working closely with the city to improve the lot of the colored.

Montgomery is finally improving the colored public facilities.

There's even talk of a Negro representative in the City Council

to tell our side of things.

Don't rock the boat on this

and jeopardize our good work.

Allow the family their quiet dignity.

It's best at a time like this.

You all know the story of Moses once he got his hands

on those stone slabs.

But, Rose, did you know that Moses

was a Prince in the pharaoh's court?

Oh, yes.

A prince in the enemy's court.

So one beautiful day,

Moses went for a stroll.

And he came upon an Egyptian whipping his slave.

It was common practice to whip your slaves.

It was socially acceptable.

The slaves didn't like it,

but they accepted it.

But in a sudden and uncontrollable fury,

Moses grabbed his sword

and killed the cruel Egyptian.

And then, feeling a pang of guilt and remorse,

buried his body in the sand.

And God, looking down on him on high said,

"Who is that man?"

"I can use him"

"in my program."

Moses felt remorse,

because no matter how cruel the Egyptian,

he had no justification in killing him.

Besides, he threw away his entire future with the royal court.

So why did he act as he did?

Moses realized

that slavery

is a horror

even greater than murder.

That slavery

is an abomination!

I tell you this story

because a boy was killed.

A member of our congregation,

Isaiah Rawlins.

Shot in the back for allegedly

resisting arrest.

Were any of you there?

Who among us here today witnessed this killing

and refrained from coming forward?

Were you there?

No one?

And I don't suppose any of you were there

when the police shot Robert James three times,

killing him, because he was running away

after stealing a whole case of soda pop.

That was four days before Christmas.

No one.

Were you there on Spruce Row,

when the police beat poor Patrick?

They handcuffed him to a tree first.

No one.

Well, the papers reported that a large crowd

of colored was there.

One of you said to me recently,

that we shouldn't rock the boat.

Lynching like this,

we should let the family have their quiet grief.

It is best at a time like this.

Well, ladies and gentlemen,

I want to tell you,

that I... am... a boat rocker!

What do these murders have in common

besides their brutality?

They have in common

that the perpetrators acted with impunity,

knowing that not one of you would dare

come forward and say, "This will not stand."

And I say to you, in your silence

you have become accessories to murder.

Be ashamed to die

until you have won some victory

for mankind.

Dr. Johns!

I think you misunderstood me.

I wish that was so.

Dr. Johns, wait a minute.

Weren't you a little hard on us?

What did you expect the witnesses to do?

Tell the truth.

Coach Hill, my daddy always said to me,

"If you see a good fight, get in it."

But did your daddy have a fine piece of mind?

Hill, come with me.

Are you hungry, Deacon Hill?

How about a ham sandwich?

I don't wanna go in there. Why not?

I'm not hungry.

Don't lie to me, Hill.

Dr. Johns, we can't go in there.

It's whites only.

Do you know why they don't wanna sit next to us?

Do you accept that?

Doesn't it bother you that whatever their reasons,

they pass a law against it?

The truth is I'm no more comfortable eating with them

than they are with me.

Dr. Johns, I don't like being disrespectful to you.

But I truly believe you wanna join that Rawlins boy.

I truly wanna eat.

Now, this kind of behavior didn't go over to well

in Charleston, West Virginia, did it, Dr. Johns?

No, it didn't.

Smells good, Coach.

I want a ham sandwich and a lemonade.

Boy, you better get your black ass out of here.

After I get my ham sandwich

and my lemonade.

Another.

Here you go, Mr. Nigger.

Depending on my thirst,

that could get expensive.

Imagine

serving up a pistol with a ham sandwich.

As I left that fine establishment,

I gave the shortest blessing of my life

over that ham sandwich.

I said...

God damn it!

Huh.

All right, Rose.

I haven't asked you in a long time.

Go Down Moses.

I know you know the song, Rose.

Is that the way you all feel about it?

Nobody out there wants to hear Go Down Moses?

What's wrong with it?

These spirituals were sung by our slave ancestors.

They belong in the church.

You act as if they will diminish your dignity.

You mistake dignity for vanity.

If I didn't know any better,

I'd say you were ashamed you came from slaves.

You're ashamed of what you are.

Well, I'm ashamed of what you've become.

They're a bunch of idiots!

Just because they're professionals,

they think that puts them above the rest of the people.

It only puts them in a position to leave.

And they're shirking their responsibilities.

Of all the congregations I've preached to,

this is the most placid and cowardly.

Do you have a mistress, Vernon?

What?

Do you have a mistress?

No!

Then why are you looking for a reason to leave us again?

I'm not looking for a reason to leave.

Well, from your actions today,

I would think that you hate the people at Dexter.

They're a bunch of educated fools.

It's not a church.

It's a fashion show.

If I hated them,

why would I waste my time on them?

Tell me. Tell me!

Daddy!

Look at this.

Have you seen sweeter Kansas City steaks in all your life?

Not an ounce of fat on them.

I couldn't believe it when I passed the butcher's store.

They called me my name.

Vernon! Tony and the girls

would love some steaks tonight.

Where's Dee?

Baby Dee!

Baby Dee.

Thank you for visiting me in my office.

What are you doing up?

I had a bad dream.

I dreamt that I heard all this laughing,

and ran towards the sound.

There was a crowd of people in a circle around something I couldn't see.

I was afraid, so I stood back.

But when a few men moved out of the way,

I saw what they were laughing at.

It was you, Daddy.

And you were lying in a pool of blood.

And the people around you were laughing,

'cause they were glad you were dead.

I was too frightened to run to you.

Why are you so angry at us?

Sometimes I think you wanna die.

That all you care about

is proving to every colored person in that church

that you aren't afraid.

It's all that matters to you.

And you don't care what will happen to us when you are gone.

It's because I care about you that I do what I do.

You must have the courage.

Daddy, I'm not like you.

I'm afraid of dying.

Sometimes I dream that I'm dead,

and I'm just lying in this casket.

It is dark.

There's nothing to do, no one to talk to.

That's the way it will be forever.

Sometimes I wake up so frightened...

I'll never leave you.

I'm not a child.

Don't make any promises you can't keep.

Come on, Enid, we'll be late for school.

My feet hurt.

I'm the only girl that's always late.

All the other girls take the bus.

Quit your complaining. If you walked fast you'd never be late.

I told you, my feet hurt.

I think I'm getting a blister.

All right. Come on.

What are we doing?

Come on, we're taking the bus.

But Daddy said... I know what Daddy said.

Now shut up. If we don't take the bus now, we'll never get to school.

Good. I don't recognize anybody.

If Daddy finds out...

Daddy's not going to find out.

Unless you tell him, you little rat.

# Go down, Moses

# Way down in Egypt land

# Tell old Pharaoh to

# Let my people go

# Thus spoke the Lord Bold Moses said

# Let my people go

# If not I'll smite Your firstborns dead

# Let my people go

# Go down, Moses

# Way down in Egypt land

# Tell old Pharaoh

# To let my people go #

Will you sing it that way on Sunday morning?

I'll sing it if Rose will play it.

That'll be a cold day in Hell, wouldn't it?

What are you doing here, Hill?

You've met my wife and three sons, have't you?

Yes, I have.

You have a beautiful family, Hill.

Dr. Johns, everything I do or don't do,

I have their welfare and concern to my mind.

I know what you're thinking right now is that I was

afraid to go into that coffee shop.

What I'm thinking right now is if I plant these seeds too deep,

they never break earth.

Plant them too shallow,

the birds will eat them.

Aren't you worried about your family?

Aren't you scared that one day somebody's gonna kill you?

Hill...

Segregation will continue

until we decide in our minds we'll no longer accept it,

no matter what the consequences.

If you haven't found a reason to die, you haven't found a reason to live.

I'm not asking you to die, Hill.

There are other things just as important.

Such as?

I wanna show you something.

We're not going back to that restaurant, are we?

No.

Brother Hill, what do you see?

I see a grocery store.

What do you see?

I see a whole mess of negro dollars

going into white pockets.

Look at that.

They'll take our money, but they despise us so much,

they will not touch our hands in the exchange.

Money is power, Brother Hill.

You ain't lying.

Why are we turning over our power

to people who despise us?

But Dr. Johns, the members of our congregation

are professional people.

They're not business oriented.

Yeah, and that's our biggest mistake.

Right now we are only consumers.

If we're only consumers, we're parasites.

Do you want a definition of perpetual motion?

Give the average negro a Cadillac,

and tell him to park it on some land that he owns.

If gold

was discovered in the hottest regions of Hell,

the whites would be there within a fortnight.

Mining it for all its wealth.

The colored will show up three weeks later,

offering their services as maids and butlers.

Thing to do is to get there first.

We don't think that way.

Just to show you

what can be done on a small parcel of land,

I grew these at the parsonage.

Left the roots and the tops on

to prove they are not store bought.

The Bible tells us

that a feast is made for laughter,

and wine maketh merry,

but money answereth all things.

Now what does that mean?

It means that whoever controls the money has all the answers.

You get control of the money by producing.

Negros need to own more businesses,

and Negros need to patronize those businesses.

By the way...

I noticed that some of you

were staring at my feet this morning,

because I had neglected to wear shoe strings.

I'll start wearing them

when Negro folks start producing them.

Deacon Wilkes... Mm-hmm.

You see what our famous preacher is up to now?

Shameful.

Stockings, pencils.

You need it, I got it.

Twenty-nine cents.

This at? Ten cents.

Now that's too much for that apple.

Morning, Abernathy.

Good day, Reverend Johns.

Look at all this.

But wholesale and sell retail.

Anybody can do it.

Eventually I plan to set up a

store at the basement of the church.

This is something my first Baptist congregation should be doing.

Reverend Abernathy, between you and me,

these nylon stockings are not big sellers among my congregation.

It's a matter of modesty,

the size of the thighs.

Well, I'm sure the question of size

would be a difficult question for the good women of Dexter.

But we ain't modest in my church.

I'll sell of of these nylons next Sunday.

We'll have the details later.

It's a great idea.

Wish I had thought of it.

Watermelons.

Sweet, juicy watermelons.

Oh, Lord.

What's wrong with selling watermelon?

Don't you be coy with me.

You know how it looks for their learned preacher

to be seen by Montgomery's whites

selling watermelon.

Why do you tease them like that?

It's their false pride.

Well...

Dee would never say it to you, but,

she's being teased by few of her friends at school.

Good. It builds character.

You are an irascible old man.

Looks like we may be getting a visit from

some of the good people of Montgomery.

I'll go say hello.

You sit still or I'll break your arm.

This is no game.

Have you seen how the whites are laughing at us?

It's embarrassing.

They're calling him "The Watermelon Man".

That may be so, but everything he sells

we put on our own tables.

And half the proceeds are going back to Dexter's coffers.

We needn't debase ourselves for a few pennies.

Every stereotype we've worked hard to rise above

is being thrown in our faces.

Can you argue with that, Deacon Hill?

No, it's embarrassing.

But I understand the point he's trying to make.

Perhaps it's not the best example.

Dr. Johns had forgotten that Dexter Avenue Baptist Church

is our church, not his.

Dr. Johns...

We request that you stop selling produce in front of the church.

It's undignified.

Was it undignified

that out savior Jesus Christ was a carpenter?

Gentlemen, I have a duty to provide you with the gospel.

But I have a right to provide you with food.

As far as I'm concerned, I would sell anything,

except whiskey and contraceptives.

Matter of fact I get 40 calls about beets and turnips

for every one I get about religion.

Good day, gentlemen.

Dr. Johns, there is another matter.

We understand that you have refused to do

the Macabee boy's funeral service in the church.

You mean that no good drunk who's always in and out of jail,

got killed in a juke joint knife fight?

The boy never set foot in the church.

He's not earned a church funeral.

Nevertheless, we have voted to extend to him a church burial service,

because of the good standing of his family in this church.

Because of the good standing of his daddy's money.

Well, as you preached, Dr. Johns,

money answereth all things.

John Macabee lived a trifling and worthless life.

He went around Montgomery daring somebody to cut his throat.

Last week, somebody obliged him.

He lived like a dog, he died like a dog.

Undertaker, take the body.

Choir, sing.

You know this always happens when you drink too much coffee.

Now think about something else.

Gloria, I've got to pee, and we're not gonna make it.

Now pull over there.

Pull over.

Boy, where do you think you're going?

Mister, I got to pee.

Well, you ain't gonna do it in there.

Go around back.

Dr. Johns...

I just wanna say if there's anything you'd like me to do,

any way I can help,

I'll do it.

Come on in.

Daddy, I'm gonna be late for my debate.

I'm the anchor this time.

Don't let me down. Baby Dee's getting impatient.

Daddy, I can't be late!

Well, I don't see any other way.

You're gonna have to take the bus.

Vernon!

It's not going to kill you.

Come on, boy, I ain't got all day.

"Boy"?

I'm old enough to be your father.

Hey, round the back.

Go on.

Hey, boy.

Colored section one row back.

The colored section starts right here.

Don't give me no sass, boy.

I ain't moving.

Then this bus ain't moving 'til you do.

Then this bus ain't moving.

Come on, let's go.

Daddy, please.

No, Baby Dee, it's the principle.

Come on now, mister. Move back.

How long will you all accept this kind of treatment?

You pay the same money as they do.

Why should you be treated any differently?

Most of the people on this bus are Negros.

You have the power to demand better treatment.

If you don't believe me,

just stop riding the bus.

Come on, Baby Dee.

We're getting off.

Daddy, my debate's important.

Get off the bus.

I borrowed Deacon Hill's car. Where's Dee?

You know it's too late, Vernon.

What would you have me do?

My understanding is that it's the law,

not the bus company, right?

Then the law has to be changed.

You gotta save this for another day.

What day is that?

What would have happened if every Negro on that bus had followed me off?

And word got out, and other Negros did the same?

You're talking about boycotting the entire bus system, right?

If all the Negros refused to ride the buses,

how would they get downtown to shop at the white stores?

The city would come crawling to us, begging us to return.

Oh, Vernon.

I'm not talking about the buses.

I'm talking about our daughter.

I know she's hurt.

But we have to make her understand.

Dee?

She's not here.

She was feeling so low,

I let her go to the picture show with some of her friends.

The picture show?

Yes.

Where the whites sit downstairs,

and their seats are soft and padded,

and they clean the aisles after ever show.

Up in the crow's nest, where they put the niggers,

the seats are hard and broken,

and it's never clean.

Well...

I couldn't say no to her

when she was feeling like that.

Just this once,

leave her alone.

There's a doctor lives right down the street here.

Treated a man with the yellow jaundice for nine years,

and found out he was a Jap.

Well, I use gas.

Well, gas or electric light,

I'd feel nervous to have you fool around me in the dark.

Oh, a dog bit me the other day.

He bit me right here.

Dog bit you? Yes.

It was a little dachshund.

It was a little tiny dog.

He sneaked right up behind me and bit me right there.

I was standing with my back to it...

Baby Dee...

You're rather fortunate it wasn't a Newfoundland dog that bit you.

Baby Dee...

Don't walk away from me.

Don't fall into the trap of accepting the way we're treated.

I'm counting on you

to help set a strong example.

Example?

Do you mean dressing up like a share cropper and selling vegetables?

- Do you want your children... - Shh!

Do you want your children

to suffer the same humiliations you and I have suffered?

I want you to go to the college of your choosing.

I want you to live where you want to.

I want you to stand up against separate but equal,

because it ain't equal.

Isn't equal.

I've been riding the bus to school.

And nothing's happened.

There's nothing wrong with it.

It doesn't matter where I sit, as long as I get where I'm going.

I'm old enough now that I can do what I want.

I don't have to do everything you tell me.

No, you don't.

And stop calling me Baby Dee.

Hold up.

My God, child What happened to you?

Two policemen raped me.

You and Dee take her to the hospital.

I'll stay here with the kids.

This girl has been beaten and raped.

Yeah, come with me.

Dr. Brewster...

We can't admit her.

What are you talking about?

Thelma is our colored nurse,

and she'd off for the evening.

The law states that she must be present

any time we can treat a colored patient.

I don't care about the law.

This woman needs a doctor.

You'll lose your license,

and this hospital could lose its certification,

and it'd be all your fault.

If somebody reports it.

That's right.

If somebody reports it.

You'll have to take her to Tuskegee.

I'm sorry.

Yeah.

Well, Goddamn you.

Hey, boy...

You know how fast you were driving?

There are no boys here.

Go ahead. Write the ticket.

Where's the fire... boy?

I'm on my way to Tuskegee.

This child needs a doctor.

She don't look sick.

The way she's laying there,

she just looks like an old lazy coon to me.

Hey, boy...

Are you a lazy coon?

I asked you a question.

Yes.

Yes, what?

Yes, sir.

Yes, sir, what?

Yes, sir, I am a lazy coon.

Say it like you mean it.

I'm a lazy coon.

Forty-five, boy.

Slow it down.

Sergeant...

What is it, boy?

We're here to report a rape.

The victim, Janet Cooke, 1-11 Elm Street.

She was raped two nights ago.

All right, who did it?

Who did it?

Two City of Montgomery policemen.

We're here to demand a line up.

I am within my rights to demand a police lineup.

But are you in your right mind?

Why don't you talk to her boyfriend?

That's the one who did it. Didn't he, girl?

Huh? Wasn't it your boyfriend?

Now, who did you say got raped?

Are you gonna press charges, boy?

You're probably wondering why I called you down here.

Judge Blake, I find that all things are eventually explained.

Good. Then, perhaps you can explain this.

Hmm.

This is my next Sunday's sermon.

I'm gonna recommend you not preach that sermon, Reverend Johns.

Is your recommendation backed up by force of law?

Only if I so choose,

but for the moment, I'm merely curious.

Why would you wanna preach such an inflammatory sermon?

The truth is often inflammatory.

I'm sure you wouldn't be happy

if your church was found in flames?

I would me more than very unhappy.

From all descriptions, you're a brilliant man.

But you're being ruled by anger rather than reason.

For the colored man,

the only alternative to rage is insanity.

I'd like to hear some of that sermon.

Right now. Be happy to oblige

if you would care to make a small offering.

Judge Blake,

everywhere I go in the south,

I find that the negro is forced to choose between his hide and his soul.

Next Sunday I'm gonna tell, him

his hide ain't worth it.

I'll tell you what I'm gonna do.

I'm gonna let you preach that sermon.

Nobody's gonna pay it any mind.

It'll raise more eyebrows if it were stopped.

That's all. You're free to go.

And when they are hungry, we cook for them.

And when their house is dirty,

we come running with bucket and mop.

And when the fires of their loins

begin to stir,

they take our daughters and they rape them.

Because we stand by and let them.

I couldn't have come up with this in a bad dream.

He preaches a sermon about a black child raped by white police officers,

then advertises it in front of the church.

Even if they did it, no one can prove it.

Why don't he leave it alone for heaven's sake?

Maybe next time it'll happen to your daughter.

Will you want us to leave it alone then?

My daughter doesn't walk around

on the streets of Montgomery in the middle of the night.

Oh!

Now you're telling me it was her fault she was raped?

Our priority has to be for the safety of this congregation.

Churches have been burned down for less.

He is talking about change.

Who asked him to change anything?

All we asked him to do was carry on the traditions of this church.

No, we also asked him to lead us,

to make Dexter a better place.

Oh, excuse me.

Is that what he was doing on Sunday?

I am so glad I have you here to explain things to me, Hill.

Seems to me he was asking us to put our heads on the chopping block.

That's not what he said at all.

I'd like to make a motion that we ask Dr. Johns for his resignation.

And I second it.

That requires a unanimous vote of this board.

And you don't have my vote.

Perhaps you'd rather wait for the service.

He'll look better then.

No.

I want to see him.

The police

say that they were trying to subdue some disorderly colored boy.

And when Deacon Hill

jumped in and tried to stop the beating,

when he resisted, they shot him.

He listened to you and got himself killed.

You're responsible for this. His blood is on your hands.

Is that what you wanted?

Well, I hope you're the kind of man who learns from his mistakes.

You've got to preach a conciliatory sermon

following a tragedy such as this.

I hope that's understood, because the members of our church

won't be receptive to any further provocation.

Hill was your friend.

He saw an injustice and

he tried to make it right.

I know he would thank you

for helping him find that courage.

It should've been me.

Oh!

I do not wish that.

I love you, Vernon Johns.

Send him in.

You don't really believe

it's safe to murder Negros in Montgomery, do you?

Of course not.

Then do something about it.

Judge Blake...

One of our deacons was killed Saturday night.

I know about your deacon and I'm truly sorry.

But if this sermon is preached Sunday,

no predicting what could happen.

Your minister has finally got the attention of the white community.

They will be difficult to control.

You could assign more police.

I'm not gonna do that.

The Church's fate is in your hands, Henry.

That's all. You can go.

Hello.

We're gonna lynch that nigger dad of yours

and string him up like a hog.

Dee, who was that?

Nobody.

Hello, Mr. Nigger.

I know you're listening.

Come on down to your church.

Stay here, lock the door. Open for no one.

Daddy, don't go. Stay here.

Which one of you believe in Jesus so strongly

that you burn a cross in front of my church?

Why don't you call the fire department, nigger?

You wanna call my house and talk to my wife and daughter about lynching me?

Well, here I am. Deal with me.

Don't tell somebody else you're gonna string me up.

Tell me.

Any one of you.

You better go home and look after your wife and children.

Tony! Dee!

Daddy!

Daddy...

I don't care if you start a war with your sermon.

Make it as bad as you know how.

As you all know,

Deacon Hill, Coach Hill,

whom we all knew and loved,

was killed this past week

by the Montgomery Police

when he suggested to them that they had beaten another man sufficiently.

Brother Hill was my friend.

He was your friend.

He was these three boys' father.

He was this woman's loving husband.

Brother Hill was a good man.

A courageous man.

You know, my grandfather, who was a slave,

was hanged for cutting his master in two with the scythe.

When they asked him on the gallows

if he had anything to say,

he said, "Yes."

"I'm just sorry"

"that I didn't do it 30 years earlier."

Then they dropped the trap door.

Last week brother Hill found a cause worth dying for.

I envy him.

Like Moses, he was a peaceful man

who saw something that so horrified him

that he was compelled to act.

They say he was interfering with the policemen

in the execution of his duties.

Well, I say

he was carrying out.

God's program.

I don't have to remind you

about the Ten Commandments.

Brother Hill knew that the simplest and the clearest

of those ten great commandments

was "Thou shalt not kill."

God never said,

"Thou shall not kill, unless you are a police officer."

He most certainly did not say, "Thou shall not kill unless you are white."

Last week, a white man was fined

for shooting a rabbit out of season.

But it's safe to murder Negros.

A rabbit is better off than a Negro,

because in Alabama,

niggers are always in season.

I'll tell you why

it's safe to murder Negros.

Because Negros stand by and let it happen.

When the Klan burns a cross,

it is a message.

The next step will be a lynching.

As I watched the cross burning outside the church

last night, it occurred to me that

the crucifixion was just that.

A lynching.

And isn't it ironic

that everything we worship

was made possible

by a lynching?

Because at the ultimate moment of death,

Jesus spoke the words that transformed

a lynching into a crucifixion

that made Jesus not a condemner,

but a redeemer.

He said...

"Father, forgive them"

"for they know not what they do."

But the white policemen who are free day after day

to murder Negros know what they do.

And you know what you do

when you stand by

and watch your brothers and sisters being lynched.

It is as if you stood by

while Christ was being crucified.

Woe onto you,

scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites.

That's what you are.

Because you sit here every Sunday morning,

praising Jesus,

while you know that every Saturday night

your brothers and sisters are being murdered,

and you say nothing, you do nothing.

Is it fear?

Are you afraid that

if you speak too loudly

or protest too strongly

you'll be killed like Brother Hill?

You well may be.

He who takes not this cross and follows me,

is not worthy of me.

Are you worthy of Jesus Christ?

Or are you only worthy of the State of Alabama?

# When Israel was in Egypt's land

# Let my people go

# Oppressed so hard They could not stand

# Let my people go

# Go down, Moses

# Way down in Egypt land

# Tell old pharaoh

# To let my people go

# Thus spake the Lord Moses said

# Let my people go

# If not I'll smite Your firstborns dead

# Let my people go

# Go down, Moses

# Way down in Egypt land

# Tell old pharaoh

# To let my people go #

Deacon Henderson,

regarding the motion for the removal of Dr. Vernon Johns

as pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church,

how do you vote?

In favor.

Deacon Jamesbury?

In favor.

Smith?

In favor.

Carl? - In favor.

Our paths cross again.

You want me to make you a martyr.

That won't be necessary.

I've spoken to Deacon Wilkes and he's assured me

you will no longer be a problem here.

He's free to go.

Dr. Johns?

"A unanimous votes of the Board of Deacons"

"of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church."

"According to Article 9,"

"regarding suitable conduct befitting our pastor,"

"you are hereby relieved of your pastor ship."

You should have enough food so we won't have to stop till you get to Virginia.

I'll stay on and finish up here.

It'll take me a while. After that I'll

get on the road.

Meanwhile, I'll send you money as always.

Vernon, another pulpit will come.

When I see you next, I wanna hear you've been reading books,

and not those cheap dime store romances.

Okay, Daddy. Okay, Daddy.

Baby Dee...

Dee.

You take care of yourself.

What we need is a more traditional pastor.

Someone who's brilliant as Dr. Johns, to be sure.

But someone who's more conventional

in dress.

And behavior.

And I think I know just the man.

He's only 26.

But we can raise him up,

we can train him up in the way he should go.

And later on, he won't depart from it.

Vernon, come on in.

I'm glad you could come.

I have somebody here that I'd like you to meet.

Abernathy, when invitation to your house include dinner,

there's no distance I won't travel.

I smell Juanita's chicken.

Juanita? JUANITA: Uh-huh.

To describe your feats in the kitchen as cooking,

would be to sadly diminish your artistry.

Come on, Vernon!

Come with me. Remember, I told you there's someone I want you to meet.

Vernon, this is the young man who's taken over the pastor ship

in Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. Johns.

Are you old enough to have a pulpit?

I certainly hope so.

I thought you might be able to give Dr. King some tips

on how to handle those Dexter deacons.

Purchase a sledgehammer.

When I say to you, "Don't be afraid," you know what I really mean.

Don't even be afraid to die.

For I submit to you tonight,

that no man is free

if he fears death.

But the minute you conquer the fear of death,

at that moment,

you are free.

You must say somehow,

"I don't have much money."

"I don't have the correct education."

"I may not be able to read and write."

"But I have the capacity to die."

And I'll say

to all the members of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church,

the man that will not die for something,

is not fit to live.

Soon after my father left Montgomery,

Martin Lither King led a boycott against the bus system.

And the Dexter congregation played a major role in that historic protest.

The Civil Rights Movement was born.

My father was never again offered a full time pulpit.

He continued to travel from church to church

as a guest preacher,

until his death in 1965.

On my desk is a plaque that I inscribed with something

I must have heard my father say a thousand times.

"If you see a good fight,"

"get in it."