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Oh, mercy.
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Five years ago and now.
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Well, we was just ordinary
housewives.
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We taught ourselves to drive.
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We didn’t go any place
that we didn’t take the kids
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which was just the grocery store
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and maybe to the laundromat.
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We wasn’t involved in anything.
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Not even PTA.
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We didn’t feel like
we could donate anything.
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We didn’t feel like there
was anything we could do.
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My house changed around
the Supreme Court decision.
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I remember my father saying,
"Well, that’s the supreme law
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of the land."
You know, it was like
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some thunder had spoken,
you know.
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Oh when Eisenhower
sent the 101st
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airborne division
into Little Rock, Arkansas
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my father said,
"He’s a fighting man.
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He’s not afraid
or he wouldn’t have sent
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them soldiers in there,
he means business you know."
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It was like this
thunderous time, you know.
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We were living in a time
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when we really could do
something.
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I knew there were people
who couldn’t read and write.
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I’d been knowing that
all my life.
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But I never felt
there was anything anybody
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could do about it.
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Like everything bad I’ve done,
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you know, it’s been
a first time around thing
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and you feel like a pine there.
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You’ve got nothing to go by.
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You’re just making it as you go.
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I’m going to just do what I can
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and hope that somebody else
picks up where I leave off.
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A lot of us avoid getting
into fighting with the system
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simply based on the fact
that we said we can’t win.
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I say we can win over the system
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and the majority of the people,
nameless people,
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faceless people
that vote will never know
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are the ones that make those
changes most of the time.
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We are marching
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We’re marching up to Zion
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The beautiful city of God
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We’ll be a marching
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We’re marching
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We’re marching up to Zion
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That beautiful city of God
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We are marching
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We’re marching up to Zion
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Dream of people
all together singing.
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Each singing a way to self.
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To realms on realms within.
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All singing their way
on out of self.
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Singing through to unity.
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That beautiful city of God
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There comes a moment, a turning,
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when people stop thinking about
what has happened to them
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and start thinking about what
they are going to make happen.
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That’s one of the gourds I grew.
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You just take those gourds and
cut a hole in it and hang it up.
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You’ve got...
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It’s up to the birds whether
they want to us it or not,
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you know,
you’ve done all you can do.
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They make the decision
from then on.
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It’s what they want
to do about it.
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They come back in the winter...
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In 1932, in the middle
of the Great Depression
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Myles Horton and a few
of his fellow southerners
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started
the Highlander Folk School
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in the mountains
of East Tennessee.
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It was a school for adults.
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For people out of work
and out of money
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but with the will
to make life better.
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Highlander was a place
for people to meet,
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to share with each other
their life experiences
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and to learn what they might
accomplish together.
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But the story
is not in this place.
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It’s in the people going back
to their communities
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with new information,
a sense of unity with others
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and the determination to bring
change to the world about them.
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(guitar music)
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You got to move
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You got to move
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You got to move, child
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You got to move
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But one and all
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Get ready
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You got to move
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(strumming music)
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I grew up in Charleston,
South Carolina
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and segregation
was a way of life.
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We didn’t question it,
we accepted that.
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But then I went away
to New York to find employment
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and when I returned in 1947
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I became aware, fully aware then
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of how segregated
Charleston really was.
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The only way we felt
we could bring about changes
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was through the vote and Blacks
weren’t allowed to vote
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in the primaries in
South Carolina and in Charleston
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and the primaries really
was the regular election
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because we didn’t have
but a one party state.
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Once the decision
was handed down
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that everybody could vote
in the primaries
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there was another block
that was placed in our way.
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We had to reach a section
of the South Carolina
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State Constitution
in order to be able to vote.
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Some people could read
and could pass the test
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but there were many,
many that couldn’t.
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I knew that something
had to be done
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but I didn’t know
I would be involved
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in getting anything done
because nothing had been done
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before that I knew of.
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You see and this is the problem
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because these things
aren’t passed down
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to know what
had really been done.
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I didn’t know
what my daddy had done
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until so late in life, you see.
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To make changes
in working conditions.
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So actually,
when I came back and I realized
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that this is where
I had to be for a while
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then I became involved
in everything and anything
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that would bring about
some changes.
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I came to Highlander in 1955
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because my cousin, (indistinct)
Clark,
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had been there the year before
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and she told me
about Blacks and Whites
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being at Highlander
and living together
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and working together
at the Highlander workshops.
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And in 1950 there weren’t many
places you could go
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where Blacks and White
could meet.
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So I was curious
to go and see for myself
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what she was talking about.
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We will overcome
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We will overcome
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We will overcome someday
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Oh, deep in my heart
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I do believe
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We shall overcome...
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It was the only place
in the south
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where Blacks and White
could really meet, you know
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and come to so
that we could know
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that we had allies out there.
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(bell ringing)
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The beautiful part
about Highlander
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is that you could be
washing dishes with somebody
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like Dr. King used to say,
who had a PhD or no Ds.
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Whatever was on your mind
you could say it.
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The whole workshop
was a demonstration
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of how you get people
to talking about
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what they think
is the most important thing
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they need to have done
in their community.
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Esau Jenkins from Johns Island
who came up with us
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00:09:02,834 --> 00:09:06,254
to the workshop said,
he spoke, he said
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"What’d I’d like to have
out there is a school
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to teach my people
how to read and write.
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So they could register to vote
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because that’s
our basic problem."
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You know and that turned
the whole workshop around.
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People from the north
wanted to know why
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we couldn’t register to vote.
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So then we started talking about
Charleston, Johns Island.
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Esau ran for the school board.
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He really ran to try to win
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00:09:31,196 --> 00:09:33,656
because we needed representation
on the school board.
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But he also ran in order
to ensure the people
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that if they were registered
to vote that they could win.
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There were three seats vacant
on the school board.
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He came in fourth.
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The ground work was set then
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00:09:46,669 --> 00:09:50,465
to getting citizenship classes
going.
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Many of the people on the island
worked long hours in the field
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00:09:53,593 --> 00:09:56,262
so the classes could only
be held during those months
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00:09:56,262 --> 00:09:58,973
which they called a laying by
season.
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00:09:58,973 --> 00:10:02,227
December, January and February.
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00:10:02,227 --> 00:10:05,313
Myles Horton of Highlander
said to Esau,
178
00:10:05,313 --> 00:10:09,442
"You find the place
and I’ll look for funding
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00:10:09,442 --> 00:10:11,402
for the classes."
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00:10:11,402 --> 00:10:15,532
They asked me
to teach the class.
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I said no.
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00:10:17,408 --> 00:10:20,703
I’ll help anybody
who is going to teach the class
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00:10:20,703 --> 00:10:23,456
but I’m not going to teach it.
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00:10:23,456 --> 00:10:25,291
Well, when they said
"Either you do it
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00:10:25,291 --> 00:10:26,793
or we won’t have a class."
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00:10:26,793 --> 00:10:29,379
Now of course,
I couldn’t turn it down.
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Firs thing I said to them
was that now,
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00:10:32,841 --> 00:10:36,594
"They say I’m your teacher
but I’m not a teacher
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00:10:36,594 --> 00:10:39,013
and we are going
to learn together.
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00:10:39,013 --> 00:10:40,640
You’re going to teach me
some things
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00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:42,308
and I am going to teach you
some things."
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00:10:42,308 --> 00:10:44,602
and I think that
one statement sort of
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00:10:44,602 --> 00:10:47,564
put everybody at ease.
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00:10:50,608 --> 00:10:55,321
Anna Vastine, I will never
forget Anna Vastine.
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She couldn’t read or write
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00:10:57,657 --> 00:10:59,409
and it was the greatest reward
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00:10:59,409 --> 00:11:02,495
when I had all the names
up on the board one night,
198
00:11:02,495 --> 00:11:05,248
in jumble fashion, you know.
199
00:11:05,248 --> 00:11:08,835
I asked them could
they pick their names out.
200
00:11:08,835 --> 00:11:13,006
Ms. Vastine said "I see my name"
and she took the ruler from me
201
00:11:13,006 --> 00:11:16,134
and she said "That’s Anna,
that’s my first name."
202
00:11:16,134 --> 00:11:18,386
Then she went over
on the other side up and down
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00:11:18,386 --> 00:11:19,929
till she found Vastine.
204
00:11:19,929 --> 00:11:22,640
She said
"That’s my name, V-A-S-T-I-N-E,
205
00:11:22,640 --> 00:11:24,309
Vastine."
206
00:11:24,309 --> 00:11:26,603
And goose pimples
just came out all over me
207
00:11:26,603 --> 00:11:27,896
because that woman
couldn’t read or write
208
00:11:27,896 --> 00:11:31,608
when she came in there,
she was 65 years old.
209
00:11:31,608 --> 00:11:33,651
We’ve got to move
210
00:11:33,651 --> 00:11:36,571
We’ve got to move
211
00:11:36,571 --> 00:11:39,407
We’ve got to move
212
00:11:39,407 --> 00:11:42,285
We’ve got to move
213
00:11:42,285 --> 00:11:44,746
But when the Lord
214
00:11:44,746 --> 00:11:47,540
Lord, get ready
215
00:11:47,540 --> 00:11:50,001
You got to move
216
00:11:50,001 --> 00:11:52,503
You may be rich
217
00:11:52,503 --> 00:11:55,089
You may be poor
218
00:11:55,089 --> 00:11:57,508
You may be hurt
219
00:11:57,508 --> 00:12:00,261
You may be lost
220
00:12:00,261 --> 00:12:02,972
But when the Lord
221
00:12:02,972 --> 00:12:06,142
Gets ready you’ve got to move
222
00:12:06,142 --> 00:12:10,688
Any community we went in
and operated citizenship classes
223
00:12:10,688 --> 00:12:13,441
if there was no particular
community organization
224
00:12:13,441 --> 00:12:17,612
in that area we would
organize that first class
225
00:12:17,612 --> 00:12:20,198
into an organization
so that they would have
226
00:12:20,198 --> 00:12:22,825
some ongoing influence
in the community
227
00:12:22,825 --> 00:12:26,621
and an ongoing learning process.
228
00:12:26,621 --> 00:12:30,333
They’d say, "Well, we don’t have
a leader in our community."
229
00:12:30,333 --> 00:12:33,836
And we said "Well, what about
you being the leader?"
230
00:12:33,836 --> 00:12:36,089
"Well no, I’m not a leader"
they would say.
231
00:12:36,089 --> 00:12:39,050
But we’d say
"You know the problem.
232
00:12:39,050 --> 00:12:41,719
If you know the problem,
you see the problem.
233
00:12:41,719 --> 00:12:44,514
You know what needs to be done
to solve their problem.
234
00:12:44,514 --> 00:12:49,686
Then you’re the one to have to
take the ball and run with it."
235
00:12:49,686 --> 00:12:52,063
My brother moves
236
00:12:52,063 --> 00:12:54,399
My brother moves
237
00:12:54,399 --> 00:12:56,776
My brother moves
238
00:12:56,776 --> 00:12:59,445
My brother moves
239
00:12:59,445 --> 00:13:02,448
It’s like light
coming into the darkness.
240
00:13:02,448 --> 00:13:04,409
Once they learn
how to read and write
241
00:13:04,409 --> 00:13:08,079
they always voted after that.
242
00:13:08,079 --> 00:13:09,539
You got to move
243
00:13:09,539 --> 00:13:11,541
You got to move
244
00:13:11,541 --> 00:13:13,918
You got to move
245
00:13:13,918 --> 00:13:20,466
Lord, get ready
246
00:13:20,466 --> 00:13:23,386
We started with the pilot
project of citizens at school
247
00:13:23,386 --> 00:13:27,473
and the results were such
that everybody wanted it.
248
00:13:27,473 --> 00:13:30,351
And it grew and it grew
and it grew and it grew
249
00:13:30,351 --> 00:13:33,062
and it was really
the basis of the entire
250
00:13:33,062 --> 00:13:35,189
Civil Rights Movement.
251
00:13:35,189 --> 00:13:36,441
So the sides
of the race movement
252
00:13:36,441 --> 00:13:40,695
we built on that base
because people became aware
253
00:13:40,695 --> 00:13:42,864
of the power
that was within them
254
00:13:42,864 --> 00:13:46,200
that they could use
to get things done.
255
00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:49,245
(crickets chirping)
256
00:13:50,538 --> 00:13:54,167
(dog barking)
257
00:13:54,167 --> 00:13:56,794
(car doors slamming)
258
00:14:01,299 --> 00:14:04,761
As the momentum of the Civil
Rights Movement was growing
259
00:14:04,761 --> 00:14:06,471
so was a concerted effort
to stop it
260
00:14:06,471 --> 00:14:09,140
on a part of all
the southern states.
261
00:14:09,140 --> 00:14:11,392
Highlander,
because it was a meeting place
262
00:14:11,392 --> 00:14:14,979
for people in the movement,
became the focus of attack
263
00:14:14,979 --> 00:14:18,066
by southern White resistance
to change.
264
00:14:18,066 --> 00:14:21,152
The State Attorney of Arkansas
started a south wide move
265
00:14:21,152 --> 00:14:23,071
to get Highlander closed
266
00:14:23,071 --> 00:14:25,406
which began with an illegal raid
267
00:14:25,406 --> 00:14:28,743
and culminated in a trial
against the school’s morals
268
00:14:28,743 --> 00:14:30,578
and ethics.
269
00:14:30,578 --> 00:14:33,122
May Justice,
a neighbor of Highlander,
270
00:14:33,122 --> 00:14:35,500
remembers the trial.
271
00:14:35,500 --> 00:14:37,001
They said--
272
00:14:37,001 --> 00:14:39,170
showed me a picture of this
273
00:14:39,170 --> 00:14:41,172
Black...
274
00:14:41,172 --> 00:14:43,466
woman dancing with a White man.
275
00:14:43,466 --> 00:14:45,009
"Mrs. Justice."
276
00:14:45,009 --> 00:14:50,014
Mrs. Justice, can you see this
simple picture right here
277
00:14:50,014 --> 00:14:52,558
where this colored man and woman
278
00:14:52,558 --> 00:14:54,852
are in the act
of dancing together?
279
00:14:54,852 --> 00:14:56,979
Yes sir, that’s square dancing
I suppose.
280
00:14:56,979 --> 00:15:00,983
Do you approve of this
kind of sociability?
281
00:15:00,983 --> 00:15:03,069
I see nothing immoral about it.
282
00:15:03,069 --> 00:15:04,779
It’s a square dance.
283
00:15:04,779 --> 00:15:06,155
I can look on television
any time
284
00:15:06,155 --> 00:15:07,949
and see worse things than that.
285
00:15:07,949 --> 00:15:09,992
That’s a colored man
and a White woman, isn’t it?
286
00:15:09,992 --> 00:15:11,619
Yes, sir.
287
00:15:11,619 --> 00:15:13,079
Don’t you know, Mrs. Justice,
288
00:15:13,079 --> 00:15:15,331
that the Tennessee law prohibits
289
00:15:15,331 --> 00:15:17,667
the marriage of colored people
and White people.
290
00:15:17,667 --> 00:15:18,835
Yes but I don’t regard
that as part
291
00:15:18,835 --> 00:15:20,920
of a marriage ceremony.
292
00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:23,923
(laughing)
293
00:15:26,008 --> 00:15:28,010
Just tell him what you know,
what you’ve seen there.
294
00:15:28,010 --> 00:15:31,139
Well, I can see that--
295
00:15:31,139 --> 00:15:33,724
Just what I already answered.
296
00:15:33,724 --> 00:15:36,686
So you’ve never seen men and
women in their cabins together?
297
00:15:36,686 --> 00:15:39,063
-No, I have not--
-In a compromising position?
298
00:15:39,063 --> 00:15:41,149
No, I have not seen that.
299
00:15:41,149 --> 00:15:44,152
Have you ever seen mister
horsing around with any of them?
300
00:15:44,152 --> 00:15:45,862
Well, I’ve seen Myles
go to the woods with them
301
00:15:45,862 --> 00:15:48,990
-time after time.
-Time after time.
302
00:15:48,990 --> 00:15:52,410
And what else did you see him
to do him while he was there?
303
00:15:52,410 --> 00:15:54,078
Well, really nothing
else to him.
304
00:15:54,078 --> 00:15:55,538
Well, would he kiss him?
305
00:15:55,538 --> 00:15:57,999
No but he would have
him arms around him.
306
00:15:57,999 --> 00:16:01,294
Do you know or think
you know the reputation
307
00:16:01,294 --> 00:16:04,255
in the community of this
Highlander Folk School?
308
00:16:04,255 --> 00:16:06,257
Well, it’s for colored folks.
309
00:16:06,257 --> 00:16:09,385
That’s the main issue.
310
00:16:09,385 --> 00:16:12,054
I don’t care what they teach.
311
00:16:12,054 --> 00:16:14,265
Be racial integration
or be it communism
312
00:16:14,265 --> 00:16:16,767
or be it whatever
they want to.
313
00:16:16,767 --> 00:16:21,063
(indistinct shouting)
314
00:16:25,776 --> 00:16:29,113
Mrs. Justice, you are a woman
315
00:16:29,113 --> 00:16:32,658
with a very fine reputation
in the community.
316
00:16:32,658 --> 00:16:34,410
Thank you.
317
00:16:34,410 --> 00:16:36,120
And you know that association
318
00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:39,707
with the school out there is
raising great suspicion.
319
00:16:39,707 --> 00:16:45,046
Sir, I believe
that a person must live
320
00:16:45,046 --> 00:16:47,256
by his Christian principles
regardless
321
00:16:47,256 --> 00:16:49,467
of the opinion of human beings.
322
00:16:49,467 --> 00:16:51,719
And as long as I can lie down
to sleep at night
323
00:16:51,719 --> 00:16:53,554
knowing that I have done right
324
00:16:53,554 --> 00:16:56,432
the world may think
what it will of me.
325
00:17:08,527 --> 00:17:10,363
They finally got us
out of the building
326
00:17:10,363 --> 00:17:12,698
and closed us down in Monteagle
327
00:17:12,698 --> 00:17:14,784
in the fall of ’61.
328
00:17:14,784 --> 00:17:16,827
Highlander moved over
to Knoxville
329
00:17:16,827 --> 00:17:18,955
and we set up over there.
330
00:17:18,955 --> 00:17:21,457
Kept right on with
what we were doing.
331
00:17:21,457 --> 00:17:24,752
(birds chirping)
332
00:17:32,885 --> 00:17:34,428
The trial we had of demands
333
00:17:34,428 --> 00:17:37,640
on the part of governors
from several southern states
334
00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:40,977
that something be done to put
Highlander out of business
335
00:17:40,977 --> 00:17:44,939
because they said it was
a cancer of communism spreading
336
00:17:44,939 --> 00:17:48,484
over the south.
337
00:17:48,484 --> 00:17:50,820
What they had reference to,
of course, was the idea
338
00:17:50,820 --> 00:17:55,074
that we were integrated and were
advocating social equality.
339
00:17:55,074 --> 00:17:57,952
They called Highlander
communists in the early days
340
00:17:57,952 --> 00:18:00,037
when we were working
with the unemployed.
341
00:18:00,037 --> 00:18:03,040
Later on, when we were working
with the trade unions.
342
00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:04,667
Where Blacks and Whites
were being organized
343
00:18:04,667 --> 00:18:06,836
in the same unions.
344
00:18:06,836 --> 00:18:08,754
During the Civil Rights
Movements
345
00:18:08,754 --> 00:18:10,923
the charge was constantly made
346
00:18:10,923 --> 00:18:13,217
that Civil Rights activities
347
00:18:13,217 --> 00:18:16,053
were communistic
and Highlander was labeled
348
00:18:16,053 --> 00:18:19,307
a communist training school.
349
00:18:19,307 --> 00:18:23,269
In the future, we get involved
in any situation
350
00:18:23,269 --> 00:18:26,731
where the people learn
that their own personal
351
00:18:26,731 --> 00:18:28,566
interests are linked
with the separate interests
352
00:18:28,566 --> 00:18:30,318
of other people.
353
00:18:30,318 --> 00:18:32,528
They get together to act.
354
00:18:32,528 --> 00:18:35,698
The group will be
called communists.
355
00:18:35,698 --> 00:18:38,659
It’s an effort on a part
of people in power.
356
00:18:38,659 --> 00:18:42,538
To discredit actions that
challenged the status quo.
357
00:18:42,538 --> 00:18:45,207
To grand efforts
on apart of people
358
00:18:45,207 --> 00:18:49,253
to make democracy work
for them is communism
359
00:18:49,253 --> 00:18:50,880
and people just
have to understand
360
00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:52,048
that will happen.
361
00:18:52,048 --> 00:18:56,093
(birds chirping)
362
00:18:56,093 --> 00:19:00,723
If you go back to the ’30s
when Myles Horton started it
363
00:19:00,723 --> 00:19:03,517
and they were working
with people with the unions
364
00:19:03,517 --> 00:19:06,020
you would’ve thought it
was a union education school
365
00:19:06,020 --> 00:19:08,147
for union organizing.
366
00:19:08,147 --> 00:19:13,361
And if you come to Highlander
during the late ’50s
367
00:19:13,361 --> 00:19:18,282
and the ’60s it was
a Civil Rights Movement school,
368
00:19:18,282 --> 00:19:22,453
training school and if you
came a little after that
369
00:19:22,453 --> 00:19:27,500
it was about strip mining
or nuclear--
370
00:19:27,500 --> 00:19:31,587
or waste dumps or whatever
371
00:19:31,587 --> 00:19:34,215
these people in the south
372
00:19:34,215 --> 00:19:37,385
were being pressed upon.
373
00:19:37,385 --> 00:19:40,012
That makes Highlander
special for me.
374
00:19:40,012 --> 00:19:44,517
The ability to move
through time.
375
00:19:44,517 --> 00:19:48,938
(indistinct singing)
376
00:19:54,568 --> 00:19:58,697
I see freedom
377
00:19:58,697 --> 00:20:04,078
In the air
378
00:20:04,078 --> 00:20:09,250
Over my head...
379
00:20:09,250 --> 00:20:12,545
The object is not to destroy
our White brothers.
380
00:20:12,545 --> 00:20:14,463
The object is to destroy
the system
381
00:20:14,463 --> 00:20:17,675
that enslaves both our
White brothers and ourselves.
382
00:20:17,675 --> 00:20:19,927
So when we go today
to the lunch counter
383
00:20:19,927 --> 00:20:21,929
and we go today to the park
384
00:20:21,929 --> 00:20:25,224
and we’re going about
our business quietly
385
00:20:25,224 --> 00:20:27,226
in a dignified matter
because we’ve realized
386
00:20:27,226 --> 00:20:29,353
that our actions
not only affect ourselves
387
00:20:29,353 --> 00:20:33,524
and our parents
but they affect Albany,
388
00:20:33,524 --> 00:20:35,234
the negro community.
389
00:20:35,234 --> 00:20:37,069
They affect the negro community
throughout this country
390
00:20:37,069 --> 00:20:40,197
and the best thinking
people in this country
391
00:20:40,197 --> 00:20:42,116
and the whole call to justice.
392
00:20:42,116 --> 00:20:46,412
There must be
393
00:20:46,412 --> 00:20:52,251
A god
394
00:20:52,251 --> 00:20:58,591
Somewhere
395
00:20:58,591 --> 00:21:01,760
In my early days
I was never in the front.
396
00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:04,430
I was not a leader.
397
00:21:04,430 --> 00:21:06,932
Now a leader couldn’t get
very far without me
398
00:21:06,932 --> 00:21:10,978
because I was a singer so
I could pull people together
399
00:21:10,978 --> 00:21:14,815
or I could create an atmosphere.
400
00:21:14,815 --> 00:21:18,944
So I was right behind
but I was not the radicals
401
00:21:18,944 --> 00:21:20,863
who broke through new ground
402
00:21:20,863 --> 00:21:22,281
and they generally scared me.
403
00:21:22,281 --> 00:21:24,200
I thought they were
sort of crazy
404
00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:25,993
but then I’d be
right behind them, you know,
405
00:21:25,993 --> 00:21:30,873
being in jail with them,
whatever.
406
00:21:30,873 --> 00:21:32,333
I went on
the first demonstration
407
00:21:32,333 --> 00:21:34,293
in Albany, Georgia.
408
00:21:34,293 --> 00:21:37,838
On November the 11th, 1961.
409
00:21:37,838 --> 00:21:40,841
The Interstate Commerce
Commission ruled
410
00:21:40,841 --> 00:21:43,135
that anything
that crosses a state line
411
00:21:43,135 --> 00:21:45,930
had to use the integrated
facilities.
412
00:21:45,930 --> 00:21:48,224
So we decided Thanksgiving
413
00:21:48,224 --> 00:21:50,017
we would test the facilities.
414
00:21:50,017 --> 00:21:54,063
And the second demonstration,
415
00:21:54,063 --> 00:21:56,941
I had the choice
of the second demonstration
416
00:21:56,941 --> 00:22:01,070
or going to test because
it was also final exams.
417
00:22:01,070 --> 00:22:03,197
I took my final exams
418
00:22:03,197 --> 00:22:07,368
and they arrested Annette,
who’s my best friend.
419
00:22:07,368 --> 00:22:09,119
She didn’t take her final exam.
420
00:22:09,119 --> 00:22:10,538
She went all out.
421
00:22:10,538 --> 00:22:12,706
Ugh.
422
00:22:12,706 --> 00:22:17,586
I mean, if it had been
the last march I would’ve died.
423
00:22:17,586 --> 00:22:21,006
All right, stop it right here.
424
00:22:21,006 --> 00:22:24,677
(indistinct chatter)
425
00:22:28,264 --> 00:22:30,182
You’re welcome to picket.
426
00:22:30,182 --> 00:22:33,102
This grouping up here
is going to stop.
427
00:22:33,102 --> 00:22:35,229
If we allow two here
on this block
428
00:22:35,229 --> 00:22:37,398
and the others will move out.
429
00:22:37,398 --> 00:22:40,526
We’ll allow two picketers
on this block.
430
00:22:40,526 --> 00:22:42,987
In front of the city hall
where you’re picketing.
431
00:22:42,987 --> 00:22:46,448
You can leave two here
or you can go.
432
00:22:46,448 --> 00:22:50,953
Others that don’t go and
continue you’ll be arrested.
433
00:22:50,953 --> 00:22:56,417
Let’s two in this area right
here where you’re picketed.
434
00:23:03,799 --> 00:23:05,968
Oh Pritchett
435
00:23:05,968 --> 00:23:08,470
Oh Kelly
436
00:23:08,470 --> 00:23:13,601
Oh Pritchett oh did say
437
00:23:13,601 --> 00:23:15,644
Oh Pritchett
438
00:23:15,644 --> 00:23:18,272
Oh Kelly
439
00:23:18,272 --> 00:23:23,736
Oh Pritchett oh did sell
440
00:23:23,736 --> 00:23:28,032
Freedom, freedom
441
00:23:28,032 --> 00:23:30,534
Freedom, freedom
442
00:23:30,534 --> 00:23:37,333
Freedom, freedom
443
00:23:37,333 --> 00:23:41,712
Freedom, angel
444
00:23:41,712 --> 00:23:44,882
Leading up to the demonstrations
445
00:23:44,882 --> 00:23:46,884
there had been
very strong signals
446
00:23:46,884 --> 00:23:49,094
that I was getting out of hand
447
00:23:49,094 --> 00:23:51,263
in terms of the usual recipe
448
00:23:51,263 --> 00:23:53,223
of a Black person
going to college,
449
00:23:53,223 --> 00:23:55,476
getting a degree,
that sort of thing.
450
00:23:55,476 --> 00:23:59,146
The student government had been
suspended the spring before.
451
00:23:59,146 --> 00:24:00,689
I was in the student government
452
00:24:00,689 --> 00:24:02,608
so I had been suspended
453
00:24:02,608 --> 00:24:06,654
and I was going to meetings and
workshops about the movement.
454
00:24:06,654 --> 00:24:10,032
(indistinct singing)
455
00:24:20,292 --> 00:24:22,419
I’m on my way
456
00:24:22,419 --> 00:24:24,088
I won’t turn around
457
00:24:24,088 --> 00:24:26,090
I won’t turn around
458
00:24:26,090 --> 00:24:28,008
I’m on my way
459
00:24:28,008 --> 00:24:29,802
I’m on my way
460
00:24:29,802 --> 00:24:31,970
And I won’t turn around
461
00:24:31,970 --> 00:24:34,014
I won’t turn around
462
00:24:34,014 --> 00:24:35,808
I’m on my way
463
00:24:35,808 --> 00:24:39,687
In mass meetings in jail they
would say Bernie sing a song
464
00:24:39,687 --> 00:24:42,731
and I got to the place
where I knew
465
00:24:42,731 --> 00:24:46,694
I had a contribution
to make with singing
466
00:24:46,694 --> 00:24:49,697
and the willingness
to go anywhere
467
00:24:49,697 --> 00:24:52,324
that the movement said go.
468
00:24:52,324 --> 00:24:56,495
(water rushing)
469
00:24:56,495 --> 00:24:59,373
I think about Diane Devil
talking about
470
00:24:59,373 --> 00:25:02,126
when she worked with the
Nashville city,
471
00:25:02,126 --> 00:25:05,713
the Freedom Riots
it was the safest time
472
00:25:05,713 --> 00:25:07,715
she had been in her life.
473
00:25:07,715 --> 00:25:11,510
She never felt safer
474
00:25:11,510 --> 00:25:15,514
and it was because of
who she was surrounded by.
475
00:25:15,514 --> 00:25:17,850
And it’s like,
when you get to a place
476
00:25:17,850 --> 00:25:20,310
where you can come together
with people
477
00:25:20,310 --> 00:25:22,938
who share the same experiences
478
00:25:22,938 --> 00:25:27,735
and you can just sort of work on
what your life should be about.
479
00:25:27,735 --> 00:25:31,071
It does not matter
what your opposition will try
480
00:25:31,071 --> 00:25:33,323
to do to you because
you’re already home
481
00:25:33,323 --> 00:25:34,742
and you’re safe.
482
00:25:34,742 --> 00:25:37,119
And Highlander
is like that space.
483
00:25:37,119 --> 00:25:38,662
How can a man be free?
484
00:25:38,662 --> 00:25:40,914
One man ain’t free, no man free.
485
00:25:40,914 --> 00:25:45,210
(inaudible).
486
00:25:45,210 --> 00:25:48,589
I really think what’s special
to me about Highlander
487
00:25:48,589 --> 00:25:53,469
is like, the risk where
they will trust people
488
00:25:53,469 --> 00:25:55,637
if you can give people
some space
489
00:25:55,637 --> 00:25:57,306
to talk about who they are
490
00:25:57,306 --> 00:25:59,808
then you have to respect
what they come up with
491
00:25:59,808 --> 00:26:04,146
and have to try to
figure out ways to help.
492
00:26:04,146 --> 00:26:08,776
And they will work out
what steps they can take
493
00:26:08,776 --> 00:26:11,028
in their lives to change.
494
00:26:11,028 --> 00:26:16,408
We shall go to jail
495
00:26:16,408 --> 00:26:21,622
We shall go to jail
496
00:26:21,622 --> 00:26:25,793
We shall go to jail
497
00:26:25,793 --> 00:26:31,882
Someday
498
00:26:31,882 --> 00:26:34,635
The Civil Rights Movement
was about this mix
499
00:26:34,635 --> 00:26:36,178
of the community.
500
00:26:36,178 --> 00:26:39,473
With students always
pulling the front line
501
00:26:39,473 --> 00:26:41,517
and the vanguard position.
502
00:26:41,517 --> 00:26:44,186
Pacing the change.
503
00:26:44,186 --> 00:26:47,022
They do it best when
there are a few older people
504
00:26:47,022 --> 00:26:49,775
who can understand
and they have a better chance
505
00:26:49,775 --> 00:26:52,027
of surviving
the pace that they set
506
00:26:52,027 --> 00:26:53,654
if they have some grandparents.
507
00:26:53,654 --> 00:26:55,823
And we did.
508
00:26:55,823 --> 00:26:59,409
(indistinct group singing)
509
00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:21,890
Now I can look at some
of the things we did
510
00:27:21,890 --> 00:27:25,519
and I said, "What in the world
came over us?" You know?
511
00:27:25,519 --> 00:27:28,981
But death had nothing
to do with what we were doing.
512
00:27:28,981 --> 00:27:31,316
If somebody shot us
we would be dead.
513
00:27:31,316 --> 00:27:33,485
And when people died we cried
514
00:27:33,485 --> 00:27:35,112
and we went to funerals
515
00:27:35,112 --> 00:27:39,408
and we went and did
the next thing the next day.
516
00:27:39,408 --> 00:27:43,579
Cause it was really
beyond life and death.
517
00:27:43,579 --> 00:27:47,416
It was really like
sometimes you know
518
00:27:47,416 --> 00:27:49,167
what you’re supposed to be doing
519
00:27:49,167 --> 00:27:51,879
and when you know what
you’re supposed to be doing
520
00:27:51,879 --> 00:27:54,381
it’s somebody else’s job
to kill you.
521
00:27:54,381 --> 00:27:57,718
(indistinct group singing)
522
00:28:27,456 --> 00:28:30,000
The thing that
the movement was about
523
00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:33,670
which was like daring
to give people the belief
524
00:28:33,670 --> 00:28:36,506
that they could step out
on what they understood
525
00:28:36,506 --> 00:28:39,676
and do something
about it is really
526
00:28:39,676 --> 00:28:42,095
what I still run on.
527
00:28:42,095 --> 00:28:45,140
It’s not a calm,
everyday way of life
528
00:28:45,140 --> 00:28:46,850
in the society we live in.
529
00:28:46,850 --> 00:28:49,519
We are embattled.
530
00:28:49,519 --> 00:28:52,731
We are under attack.
531
00:28:52,731 --> 00:28:57,569
I think the only way
you can do is give in or fight.
532
00:28:57,569 --> 00:28:59,529
To say no, I do exist
533
00:28:59,529 --> 00:29:02,324
and this thing I feel is real.
534
00:29:02,324 --> 00:29:04,743
It’s not a dream.
535
00:29:04,743 --> 00:29:08,038
(birds chirping)
536
00:29:12,042 --> 00:29:14,378
Law can adjust to right.
537
00:29:14,378 --> 00:29:18,256
You don’t have
to adjust to laws.
538
00:29:18,256 --> 00:29:21,051
It’s against the law, as it was,
539
00:29:21,051 --> 00:29:23,470
to have Blacks and Whites
together at Highlander,
540
00:29:23,470 --> 00:29:25,931
you have to violate the law.
541
00:29:25,931 --> 00:29:29,101
It’s against the law to march
without a permit in Birmingham
542
00:29:29,101 --> 00:29:32,479
or in Selma
then you have to march.
543
00:29:32,479 --> 00:29:35,899
In other words, you have
to do what you need to do
544
00:29:35,899 --> 00:29:37,693
to do what’s right.
545
00:29:37,693 --> 00:29:40,237
(birds chirping)
546
00:29:40,237 --> 00:29:42,864
Law and order people
which is backed up by police
547
00:29:42,864 --> 00:29:46,034
and the police is backed up
by the army, you know,
548
00:29:46,034 --> 00:29:48,870
the force,
those people have all power
549
00:29:48,870 --> 00:29:52,416
until you declare your
independence from that power.
550
00:29:52,416 --> 00:29:54,209
Then they don’t have any.
551
00:29:54,209 --> 00:29:55,836
If you’re going to have
a system of law
552
00:29:55,836 --> 00:29:57,170
you’ve got to violate
the unjust laws
553
00:29:57,170 --> 00:30:01,216
and take your stance
and do it publically.
554
00:30:07,514 --> 00:30:10,892
(indistinct chanting)
555
00:30:20,652 --> 00:30:24,322
This used to be a real scary
road when I was a kid.
556
00:30:24,322 --> 00:30:27,951
We used to walk five,
six miles from here
557
00:30:27,951 --> 00:30:32,581
to see some girls
that live on this road.
558
00:30:32,581 --> 00:30:34,207
It was always okay
walking coming
559
00:30:34,207 --> 00:30:38,920
but going back
at one o’clock in the morning.
560
00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:42,424
These trees and everything
moves at night.
561
00:30:42,424 --> 00:30:47,095
The noise from
all the animals and insects
562
00:30:47,095 --> 00:30:49,890
can be very frightening.
563
00:30:49,890 --> 00:30:52,726
And of course,
I believe in ghosts also
564
00:30:52,726 --> 00:30:57,147
so that also adds to my fright.
565
00:30:59,399 --> 00:31:01,109
This is Johns Island,
South Carolina
566
00:31:01,109 --> 00:31:04,154
where Bernice Robinson
taught the first
567
00:31:04,154 --> 00:31:08,283
citizenship education classes.
568
00:31:08,283 --> 00:31:10,702
I’ve seen a lot of changes here
569
00:31:10,702 --> 00:31:13,747
and have been apart
of a lot of the changes.
570
00:31:13,747 --> 00:31:16,833
When I first started seeing
the racism really
571
00:31:16,833 --> 00:31:20,420
was recognizing the policeman
that we had on the island
572
00:31:20,420 --> 00:31:22,839
and the way that
he treated Black men
573
00:31:22,839 --> 00:31:25,842
and right in front of this
church where we are right now,
574
00:31:25,842 --> 00:31:29,346
when any time that they heard
this policeman come--
575
00:31:29,346 --> 00:31:33,350
men heard his car coming,
everybody ran for the bushes.
576
00:31:33,350 --> 00:31:36,436
They just ran and hide
while the policeman drove by.
577
00:31:36,436 --> 00:31:38,980
Simply because everybody
was afraid of him
578
00:31:38,980 --> 00:31:41,358
and he killed
so many Blacks already.
579
00:31:41,358 --> 00:31:43,652
And that’s, you know, you asked
me when we were talking earlier
580
00:31:43,652 --> 00:31:47,614
about religion and at about
11 I went to my grandmother
581
00:31:47,614 --> 00:31:49,699
that I was really upset.
582
00:31:49,699 --> 00:31:52,869
In terms of how men ran
away--Black men ran away
583
00:31:52,869 --> 00:31:57,207
from Chief Hennerson
and how I felt
584
00:31:57,207 --> 00:31:59,626
that if I ever grew up
or when I grew up
585
00:31:59,626 --> 00:32:03,338
I would kill him, these were my
exact words to my grandmother.
586
00:32:03,338 --> 00:32:06,091
My grandmother said,
"Son, what you do is
587
00:32:06,091 --> 00:32:07,634
you’ve got to leave people
like him
588
00:32:07,634 --> 00:32:09,719
in the hands of the Lord."
589
00:32:09,719 --> 00:32:12,139
That is something
that was so far out for me
590
00:32:12,139 --> 00:32:14,516
at that particular stage
in life.
591
00:32:14,516 --> 00:32:16,560
That’s when I was
at the age when I knew
592
00:32:16,560 --> 00:32:20,605
that old people had no sense.
593
00:32:20,605 --> 00:32:23,775
I decided to join
the army in 1951.
594
00:32:23,775 --> 00:32:26,027
Took my basic training in Hawaii
595
00:32:26,027 --> 00:32:28,405
and then we went
straight to Korea.
596
00:32:28,405 --> 00:32:32,159
That was the year
that the army was integrated.
597
00:32:32,159 --> 00:32:34,119
All the time,
being in Korea and Japan
598
00:32:34,119 --> 00:32:36,788
I felt basically as an American
599
00:32:36,788 --> 00:32:39,749
and then getting into
California camps
600
00:32:39,749 --> 00:32:43,211
where they separated us,
simply because Blacks and Whites
601
00:32:43,211 --> 00:32:44,754
could not ride
in the same and train
602
00:32:44,754 --> 00:32:46,965
on the same coach
across this country,
603
00:32:46,965 --> 00:32:48,550
I began to feel a little shaky.
604
00:32:48,550 --> 00:32:51,428
But getting on the train
my White buddies and I
605
00:32:51,428 --> 00:32:53,763
went to each other’s car
and we drank beer
606
00:32:53,763 --> 00:32:55,724
and played cards
and those kinds of things.
607
00:32:55,724 --> 00:32:58,685
Getting into Fort Jackson
and going into Columbia
608
00:32:58,685 --> 00:33:01,396
to the Greyhound Bus Station
to get a ticket home
609
00:33:01,396 --> 00:33:04,399
I was asked to leave
the Greyhound Bus Station
610
00:33:04,399 --> 00:33:07,110
by a policeman
because they said that I knew
611
00:33:07,110 --> 00:33:10,572
that Blacks did not have
any right in the bus station.
612
00:33:10,572 --> 00:33:13,366
I had to ask him,
"Well, where do I belong?"
613
00:33:13,366 --> 00:33:15,410
He showed me a hole
that was cut in the back
614
00:33:15,410 --> 00:33:19,080
of the bus station where
I would purchase my ticket.
615
00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:20,999
The White guys
that I was fighting with
616
00:33:20,999 --> 00:33:22,250
really were sort of embarrassed
617
00:33:22,250 --> 00:33:24,753
but they all just
lowered their heads
618
00:33:24,753 --> 00:33:27,088
when that happened to me.
619
00:33:27,088 --> 00:33:29,132
And that’s why I guess
during the ’60s
620
00:33:29,132 --> 00:33:31,009
I took the position
that all Whites
621
00:33:31,009 --> 00:33:34,054
that were over 30
or around 30 were racist.
622
00:33:34,054 --> 00:33:38,099
Simply because
when I was mistreated
623
00:33:38,099 --> 00:33:41,645
nobody stood up for me.
624
00:33:41,645 --> 00:33:43,772
That bitterness continued
625
00:33:43,772 --> 00:33:47,359
and when I went to Highlander
with Esau Jenkins in 1959
626
00:33:47,359 --> 00:33:49,861
I was totally discouraged
in terms
627
00:33:49,861 --> 00:33:54,491
of what could be done on
a broad scale to make changes.
628
00:33:54,491 --> 00:33:57,953
Meeting people at Highlander
that had been working
629
00:33:57,953 --> 00:34:01,623
for 25 and 30 years
attempting to make changes
630
00:34:01,623 --> 00:34:04,918
really gave me
the incentive that things
631
00:34:04,918 --> 00:34:06,544
will not change overnight,
632
00:34:06,544 --> 00:34:08,046
that you have to continue
to work at it
633
00:34:08,046 --> 00:34:11,132
very, very hard.
634
00:34:11,132 --> 00:34:13,927
Highlander had the agenda
of poor people.
635
00:34:13,927 --> 00:34:17,264
It was able to bring
all people together.
636
00:34:17,264 --> 00:34:19,557
People that did not
have the education.
637
00:34:19,557 --> 00:34:24,104
People that did not
have the motivation
638
00:34:24,104 --> 00:34:26,564
were able to go there
and have certain things
639
00:34:26,564 --> 00:34:30,527
about their own selves
articulated.
640
00:34:30,527 --> 00:34:32,821
There are people
that have gone to Highlander
641
00:34:32,821 --> 00:34:37,742
with their image down here and
they actually were up there.
642
00:34:37,742 --> 00:34:41,538
Because they didn’t have
a proper image of themselves.
643
00:34:41,538 --> 00:34:44,082
I think Rosa Parks was one
of the better examples of that.
644
00:34:44,082 --> 00:34:47,002
I think that the image
of herself was low
645
00:34:47,002 --> 00:34:49,879
until she left there
and decided that, you know,
646
00:34:49,879 --> 00:34:53,550
I’m really up here
and I’m going to do something
647
00:34:53,550 --> 00:34:56,136
about this situation,
I have the power.
648
00:34:56,136 --> 00:34:58,471
I can do it.
649
00:35:11,526 --> 00:35:13,069
After the Civil Rights Movements
650
00:35:13,069 --> 00:35:15,405
I’ve gotten to a point
where Black people
651
00:35:15,405 --> 00:35:17,490
had gotten the right to go
to Francis Marion Hotel
652
00:35:17,490 --> 00:35:18,950
in the city of Charleston.
653
00:35:18,950 --> 00:35:20,535
But we couldn’t afford
to go there
654
00:35:20,535 --> 00:35:22,495
simply because
we didn’t have the money.
655
00:35:22,495 --> 00:35:25,749
So the idea about
organizing union.
656
00:35:25,749 --> 00:35:29,669
The ideas from Highlander
about political involvement
657
00:35:29,669 --> 00:35:34,716
lead us into the Hospital
Workers Organization.
658
00:35:34,716 --> 00:35:37,177
We recognized for
a long time the plight
659
00:35:37,177 --> 00:35:40,055
of the hospital workers
and the low country newsletter
660
00:35:40,055 --> 00:35:43,141
we were doing
we were publishing articles
661
00:35:43,141 --> 00:35:45,977
about the hospital workers
and the injustices
662
00:35:45,977 --> 00:35:49,272
that were going on
at the hospitals.
663
00:35:49,272 --> 00:35:51,483
They were not paying
minimum wage.
664
00:35:51,483 --> 00:35:54,986
There were no differential
between a nurses aid
665
00:35:54,986 --> 00:35:58,323
and a licensed practical nurse
or registered nurse.
666
00:35:58,323 --> 00:36:02,786
People got fired at will if the
supervisions didn’t like them.
667
00:36:02,786 --> 00:36:05,288
So when three
of the nurses got fired
668
00:36:05,288 --> 00:36:07,665
one of the nurses
came to me and said,
669
00:36:07,665 --> 00:36:09,793
"You know,
three of my friends got fired.
670
00:36:09,793 --> 00:36:11,503
Can you help us?"
671
00:36:11,503 --> 00:36:14,923
So we said "Next Tuesday night
we want each one of you
672
00:36:14,923 --> 00:36:17,050
to bring one of your friends
from the hospital
673
00:36:17,050 --> 00:36:19,344
that you know
that you can trust."
674
00:36:19,344 --> 00:36:21,971
And the next week
they brought four more
675
00:36:21,971 --> 00:36:27,268
and we did that for four
until we got about 300.
676
00:36:27,268 --> 00:36:30,313
When we got through
about a year or so of that,
677
00:36:30,313 --> 00:36:33,358
I mean, people were really,
really proud.
678
00:36:33,358 --> 00:36:36,069
We wanted the president of
the medical university hospital
679
00:36:36,069 --> 00:36:38,571
to sit down with the workers
680
00:36:38,571 --> 00:36:41,116
and listen to their problems
681
00:36:41,116 --> 00:36:44,536
and he refused to do that.
682
00:36:44,536 --> 00:36:47,705
The Hospital Workers Recognizing
March of 1969
683
00:36:47,705 --> 00:36:49,874
that they had to unionize.
684
00:36:49,874 --> 00:36:54,295
1199 out of New York
and SCLC was called in.
685
00:36:54,295 --> 00:36:56,381
After that, the Hospital
Administration
686
00:36:56,381 --> 00:36:59,884
arbitrarily fired
12 of the workers
687
00:36:59,884 --> 00:37:04,848
and that in turn forced
a strike.
688
00:37:04,848 --> 00:37:08,518
I do not believe this is
a Civil Rights issue whatsoever.
689
00:37:08,518 --> 00:37:10,979
Why not?
690
00:37:14,858 --> 00:37:16,985
I just don’t believe
it’s a Civil Rights issue.
691
00:37:16,985 --> 00:37:22,490
They are working
for wages at jobs
692
00:37:22,490 --> 00:37:28,663
which have no relation
to race, creed,
693
00:37:28,663 --> 00:37:30,331
sex or anything else.
694
00:37:30,331 --> 00:37:32,542
When you’re working around
people who discriminate
695
00:37:32,542 --> 00:37:34,669
against you you just really
feel like, you know,
696
00:37:34,669 --> 00:37:38,131
fighting all the time
because you know,
697
00:37:38,131 --> 00:37:40,925
"hey girl" and they
had these nicknames.
698
00:37:40,925 --> 00:37:43,511
They call you like (indistinct
slurs) and all this
699
00:37:43,511 --> 00:37:48,516
carrying on, I think
all of us due to respect.
700
00:37:48,516 --> 00:37:51,644
When we first really start
picketing the hospitals
701
00:37:51,644 --> 00:37:53,229
somehow they start ordering
an injunction
702
00:37:53,229 --> 00:37:54,481
that you couldn’t picket.
703
00:37:54,481 --> 00:37:57,108
That’s when so many
of us got arrested.
704
00:37:57,108 --> 00:37:59,986
That’s when I realized
that we had to get
705
00:37:59,986 --> 00:38:02,238
the whole Black community
involved
706
00:38:02,238 --> 00:38:04,824
if we were going to
win this thing.
707
00:38:04,824 --> 00:38:08,077
We were women and we didn’t have
no weapons or nothing.
708
00:38:08,077 --> 00:38:09,746
I felt like they wouldn’t
hardly hit us
709
00:38:09,746 --> 00:38:12,081
with those big clubs and things.
710
00:38:12,081 --> 00:38:15,210
And we didn’t run out to fight
them, not with no fist fight
711
00:38:15,210 --> 00:38:16,961
We went out to fight them,
you know,
712
00:38:16,961 --> 00:38:19,255
with the law on our side.
713
00:38:19,255 --> 00:38:24,052
You know, to try
to win through the law.
714
00:38:24,052 --> 00:38:26,346
Doing all the organizing
and everything
715
00:38:26,346 --> 00:38:28,848
I had a full time job
and as a matter of fact,
716
00:38:28,848 --> 00:38:31,142
I was fortunate enough
that my employer
717
00:38:31,142 --> 00:38:34,187
put a private telephone
by my sewing machine
718
00:38:34,187 --> 00:38:37,232
so I could make my calls
and people could communicate
719
00:38:37,232 --> 00:38:39,817
with me during the day while
I was at the mattress factory.
720
00:38:39,817 --> 00:38:42,320
But I worked eight hours
at the mattress factory
721
00:38:42,320 --> 00:38:44,280
five and a half days a week
while we were doing
722
00:38:44,280 --> 00:38:46,533
all these other things.
723
00:38:46,533 --> 00:38:50,495
I went to pool rooms and bars
724
00:38:50,495 --> 00:38:52,413
and nightclubs and other places
725
00:38:52,413 --> 00:38:54,123
and met with people.
726
00:38:54,123 --> 00:38:56,334
With beauticians and barbers
727
00:38:56,334 --> 00:38:59,796
and Black restaurants who have
given strikers food free
728
00:38:59,796 --> 00:39:02,340
or doing their hair,
there was just so many things
729
00:39:02,340 --> 00:39:04,926
that were really a part of that.
730
00:39:04,926 --> 00:39:09,055
All of the organizing
was done from within.
731
00:39:09,055 --> 00:39:11,808
It’s like the gospel song Lucy
732
00:39:11,808 --> 00:39:13,685
that maybe I cannot sing
like angels
733
00:39:13,685 --> 00:39:15,228
or maybe I cannot preach
like Paul
734
00:39:15,228 --> 00:39:16,521
but I can tell this story.
735
00:39:16,521 --> 00:39:19,023
I can do this.
736
00:39:19,023 --> 00:39:20,817
Like nobody else can
737
00:39:20,817 --> 00:39:22,777
and that is the kind of
motivation that we did
738
00:39:22,777 --> 00:39:24,362
with the hospital workers,
we had guys
739
00:39:24,362 --> 00:39:26,864
who were just able
to tell stories,
740
00:39:26,864 --> 00:39:29,450
make people laugh
when we were in jail.
741
00:39:29,450 --> 00:39:31,452
There were people that did sing.
742
00:39:31,452 --> 00:39:33,079
There were people
that did stand up
743
00:39:33,079 --> 00:39:35,582
and look ugly and scared people.
744
00:39:35,582 --> 00:39:37,709
We were able to make sure
that they understood
745
00:39:37,709 --> 00:39:40,169
where they did
had a role to play
746
00:39:40,169 --> 00:39:42,005
and they felt good about it.
747
00:39:42,005 --> 00:39:44,632
(indistinct singing)
748
00:40:25,840 --> 00:40:28,468
And as that strike progressed
you’re talking about
749
00:40:28,468 --> 00:40:32,639
the city of Charleston
being closed down for 100 days.
750
00:40:32,639 --> 00:40:36,559
I mean, all of the hotels
in the city was empty.
751
00:40:36,559 --> 00:40:39,228
It began to bring the business
leadership together
752
00:40:39,228 --> 00:40:41,731
in Charleston to recognize
753
00:40:41,731 --> 00:40:44,525
that they were vulnerable
to poor people.
754
00:40:44,525 --> 00:40:46,736
Especially poor Black people.
755
00:40:46,736 --> 00:40:49,113
We are returning
to a new relationship
756
00:40:49,113 --> 00:40:51,532
with mutual respect and dignity
757
00:40:51,532 --> 00:40:53,993
to bring the workers,
the county counsel,
758
00:40:53,993 --> 00:40:57,872
the hospital administration
and the entire community.
759
00:40:57,872 --> 00:41:01,876
Ms. Simmons, what do you
think this strike accomplished?
760
00:41:01,876 --> 00:41:07,215
Well, we gained recognition
as human beings for one.
761
00:41:07,215 --> 00:41:13,304
We gained that recognition
as human beings.
762
00:41:13,304 --> 00:41:15,515
When we first got started
then when we got to about
763
00:41:15,515 --> 00:41:20,144
maybe 80 or 90 people
we had some Whites to come in
764
00:41:20,144 --> 00:41:22,897
and again, the Whites
really had problems
765
00:41:22,897 --> 00:41:25,191
because the Blacks
were suspicious
766
00:41:25,191 --> 00:41:28,611
of the Whites being there
and there were Black spies
767
00:41:28,611 --> 00:41:30,655
that were a part of the group
that went back
768
00:41:30,655 --> 00:41:33,491
and reported to
the head of the hospital
769
00:41:33,491 --> 00:41:35,618
that these Whites
were there so they suffered
770
00:41:35,618 --> 00:41:38,788
from both sides of it but it
was really an experience for me
771
00:41:38,788 --> 00:41:41,582
because again, I was able
to learn that there were
772
00:41:41,582 --> 00:41:45,378
Whites that were suffering
the same way the Blacks were,
773
00:41:45,378 --> 00:41:47,088
that relates to economics.
774
00:41:47,088 --> 00:41:49,382
Not having access
to all of the restrooms.
775
00:41:49,382 --> 00:41:50,967
Not getting into the lunch room.
776
00:41:50,967 --> 00:41:52,468
They didn’t have those problems.
777
00:41:52,468 --> 00:41:54,637
But actually,
they weren’t making any money
778
00:41:54,637 --> 00:41:56,472
and that’s where the problem
lies because any time
779
00:41:56,472 --> 00:41:58,307
a person is making enough money
780
00:41:58,307 --> 00:42:01,436
you can buy a lookout
for your own self.
781
00:42:01,436 --> 00:42:03,771
So I began to realize
more and more,
782
00:42:03,771 --> 00:42:06,566
although it was subconsciously,
783
00:42:06,566 --> 00:42:09,318
we live in a class system
in this country.
784
00:42:09,318 --> 00:42:12,363
There was a devise rule
785
00:42:12,363 --> 00:42:15,241
that keeps us separated.
786
00:42:15,241 --> 00:42:17,535
Although we’re both poor
it keeps us separated
787
00:42:17,535 --> 00:42:22,915
over some trivial things
that we don’t realize.
788
00:42:22,915 --> 00:42:26,502
(guitar music)
789
00:42:26,502 --> 00:42:29,505
I come from the mountain
790
00:42:29,505 --> 00:42:33,259
Kentucky’s my home
791
00:42:33,259 --> 00:42:36,220
Where the wild deer
and the black bears
792
00:42:36,220 --> 00:42:39,932
So lately did roam
793
00:42:39,932 --> 00:42:43,144
By the cool, rushing waterfall
794
00:42:43,144 --> 00:42:46,731
Wildflowers dream
795
00:42:46,731 --> 00:42:49,734
Through every green valley
796
00:42:49,734 --> 00:42:53,488
There runs a clear stream
797
00:42:53,488 --> 00:42:56,407
Now there’s scenes
of destruction
798
00:42:56,407 --> 00:43:00,661
On every hand
799
00:43:00,661 --> 00:43:03,164
And there’s only black water
800
00:43:03,164 --> 00:43:07,210
Runs down through the land
801
00:43:07,210 --> 00:43:10,171
Sad scenes of destruction
802
00:43:10,171 --> 00:43:14,008
On every hand
803
00:43:14,008 --> 00:43:16,928
Black water, black water
804
00:43:16,928 --> 00:43:21,140
Runs down through the land
805
00:43:25,478 --> 00:43:28,815
(indistinct) children were
almost killed that day.
806
00:43:28,815 --> 00:43:30,775
The water gets deeper
in the house,
807
00:43:30,775 --> 00:43:33,528
and I just panicked,
and took ’em in the mountains,
808
00:43:33,528 --> 00:43:37,490
and the men that rescued us
met side the mountain.
809
00:43:37,490 --> 00:43:42,620
Uh, we just crossed the bridge
and the bridge washed out.
810
00:43:42,620 --> 00:43:45,748
So, I guess mercy’s the Lord,
or we’d been dead.
811
00:43:45,748 --> 00:43:49,460
And what we found out
about Cranks Creek was,
812
00:43:49,460 --> 00:43:52,004
after this big hard rain
in April,
813
00:43:52,004 --> 00:43:55,341
it filled in these bottoms
in the creeks,
814
00:43:55,341 --> 00:43:57,677
and, uh, with less rainfall,
815
00:43:57,677 --> 00:44:00,847
we’s getting a lot more damage
from the strip mining,
816
00:44:00,847 --> 00:44:04,517
and, um, I think it wound up
we had seven floods here,
817
00:44:04,517 --> 00:44:07,270
like, three years, seven floods.
818
00:44:07,270 --> 00:44:09,939
It washes all the trees,
it’s loosed them,
819
00:44:09,939 --> 00:44:11,941
and, uh, the rocks and debris,
820
00:44:11,941 --> 00:44:14,735
and it just feels like
everything’s solid.
821
00:44:14,735 --> 00:44:16,988
The water ain’t got
nowhere to go,
822
00:44:16,988 --> 00:44:19,699
and, uh--
823
00:44:19,699 --> 00:44:21,409
you don’t hardly have to
look twice, you know,
824
00:44:21,409 --> 00:44:23,202
to see where it come from.
825
00:44:24,954 --> 00:44:27,290
(bird squawking)
826
00:44:27,290 --> 00:44:30,626
Between 1950 and 1977,
827
00:44:30,626 --> 00:44:33,588
Cranks Creek
in Harlan County, Kentucky,
828
00:44:33,588 --> 00:44:35,756
was one of the most heavily
strip-mined areas
829
00:44:35,756 --> 00:44:38,426
in the Appalachian region.
830
00:44:38,426 --> 00:44:41,053
In strip mining,
earth-moving machinery
831
00:44:41,053 --> 00:44:43,180
cuts into the side
of a mountain
832
00:44:43,180 --> 00:44:44,974
to reach a seam of coal
that may be
833
00:44:44,974 --> 00:44:48,394
as much as 200 feet
below the surface.
834
00:44:48,394 --> 00:44:50,897
The trees, the rocks,
and the earth
835
00:44:50,897 --> 00:44:53,065
that get displaced
in the process
836
00:44:53,065 --> 00:44:55,318
gradually move down
the mountainside,
837
00:44:55,318 --> 00:44:57,612
threatening the valleys
and hollows below
838
00:44:57,612 --> 00:44:59,447
where people live.
839
00:45:05,453 --> 00:45:07,163
There were some
state regulations
840
00:45:07,163 --> 00:45:10,583
on strip mining, but for years
these were not enforced.
841
00:45:13,002 --> 00:45:15,046
By the mid 1960s,
842
00:45:15,046 --> 00:45:17,381
protests by individuals
843
00:45:17,381 --> 00:45:20,009
grew into collective actions.
844
00:45:20,009 --> 00:45:21,636
This public pressure
resulted in
845
00:45:21,636 --> 00:45:25,097
a 1977 federal
strip-mining law,
846
00:45:25,097 --> 00:45:28,601
which made stronger provisions
for land reclamation.
847
00:45:28,601 --> 00:45:30,686
(indistinct remarks)
848
00:45:30,686 --> 00:45:34,148
But, it’s up to people
to see that laws are enforced.
849
00:45:34,148 --> 00:45:37,485
(overlapping remarks)
850
00:45:37,485 --> 00:45:39,904
(mellow music)
851
00:45:47,828 --> 00:45:52,208
Jenny’s hill got stripped away
852
00:45:52,208 --> 00:45:55,544
Jenny’s gone away
853
00:45:55,544 --> 00:45:59,423
Strip-mine operators
had their say
854
00:45:59,423 --> 00:46:02,802
I see all this damage.
855
00:46:02,802 --> 00:46:05,179
All of a sudden,
I had a big yearning.
856
00:46:05,179 --> 00:46:08,224
I wanted to do something.
857
00:46:08,224 --> 00:46:10,101
I went around at that point
and took down
858
00:46:10,101 --> 00:46:12,478
everything people had lost.
859
00:46:15,606 --> 00:46:17,316
It was all the way
from bulldozers
860
00:46:17,316 --> 00:46:20,820
down to the kids’ toys
on the porch.
861
00:46:23,572 --> 00:46:26,242
So, I convinced
something like 16 families
862
00:46:26,242 --> 00:46:28,786
that we had a right to sue.
863
00:46:28,786 --> 00:46:31,622
They had damaged us
and they owed us something.
864
00:46:34,125 --> 00:46:36,085
The first meeting
that we ever had
865
00:46:36,085 --> 00:46:38,254
with the legal aid attorneys,
866
00:46:38,254 --> 00:46:40,131
I got up and I says,
"We want more
867
00:46:40,131 --> 00:46:42,216
than getting back paid
for what we lost.
868
00:46:42,216 --> 00:46:44,010
We wanna get that
land reclaimed, you know?
869
00:46:44,010 --> 00:46:46,470
We gotta live with that
for the rest of our life."
870
00:46:48,472 --> 00:46:50,766
Right here in Harlan County,
most people,
871
00:46:50,766 --> 00:46:54,020
they’ve never heard of,
uh, reclamation work.
872
00:46:54,020 --> 00:46:56,397
I hadn’t neither
till a month before that,
873
00:46:56,397 --> 00:46:59,984
but it rung bells with me,
and I was gonna work for it.
874
00:47:02,737 --> 00:47:05,156
So, it was a long ways
to convince people
875
00:47:05,156 --> 00:47:06,866
that we could do it.
876
00:47:10,453 --> 00:47:13,539
I’m not out to get nobody
or shut nobody’s minds down,
877
00:47:13,539 --> 00:47:15,207
or anything like that.
878
00:47:15,207 --> 00:47:17,293
I just wanna see ’em
do it better,
879
00:47:17,293 --> 00:47:19,670
do it in a way
we can live with it.
880
00:47:19,670 --> 00:47:21,130
You know,
like people out of Virginia
881
00:47:21,130 --> 00:47:23,591
stripped this side
of the mountain,
882
00:47:23,591 --> 00:47:27,178
and, uh, Orphan Lane
can’t even reclaim it,
883
00:47:27,178 --> 00:47:30,806
because it’s up in
a lawsuit somewheres, you know?
884
00:47:30,806 --> 00:47:34,477
So, they aren’t being held
responsible for what they do.
885
00:47:34,477 --> 00:47:38,439
Through faith in my Savior
886
00:47:38,439 --> 00:47:42,359
And His wonderful love
887
00:47:42,359 --> 00:47:44,403
I could almost
888
00:47:44,403 --> 00:47:46,072
And I guess
it would’ve been ’78
889
00:47:46,072 --> 00:47:48,199
when I started coming here
890
00:47:48,199 --> 00:47:51,160
to the Highlander Center.
891
00:47:51,160 --> 00:47:54,246
At that time I didn’t have
no lifetime commitment
892
00:47:54,246 --> 00:47:55,664
to what I was doing.
893
00:47:55,664 --> 00:47:57,208
(chuckling)
894
00:47:57,208 --> 00:47:59,418
I think, you know like with me,
895
00:47:59,418 --> 00:48:02,797
you work up to
your full capacity,
896
00:48:02,797 --> 00:48:04,465
you gotta have something
to build you up
897
00:48:04,465 --> 00:48:07,968
before you can go any further.
898
00:48:07,968 --> 00:48:10,596
So, workshops
is the way to do that.
899
00:48:10,596 --> 00:48:12,973
Starfire has another roadblock
900
00:48:12,973 --> 00:48:15,559
on a road that they claim.
901
00:48:15,559 --> 00:48:19,188
I met a lot of good people
that was working with problems
902
00:48:19,188 --> 00:48:21,065
similar to what
I was trying to do,
903
00:48:21,065 --> 00:48:24,527
and sometimes I’ll sit around
for five, six hours
904
00:48:24,527 --> 00:48:26,529
just listening
to other people talk.
905
00:48:26,529 --> 00:48:28,072
I like that.
906
00:48:28,072 --> 00:48:29,448
You can learn a lot.
907
00:48:29,448 --> 00:48:30,825
They’ve got a contract
by the town here
908
00:48:30,825 --> 00:48:32,576
to take care of their waste.
909
00:48:32,576 --> 00:48:34,537
I don’t know if it means
that much to everybody,
910
00:48:34,537 --> 00:48:36,622
but you know, it has me.
911
00:48:36,622 --> 00:48:38,415
We’re not glad
you all got a problem,
912
00:48:38,415 --> 00:48:42,920
but it--you know, to know
that everybody has got it,
913
00:48:42,920 --> 00:48:45,214
and that we’re not
the only people in the world.
914
00:48:45,214 --> 00:48:46,841
Sometimes we feel like,
you know,
915
00:48:46,841 --> 00:48:48,175
we are the only people
in the world,
916
00:48:48,175 --> 00:48:50,553
and that we’re
fighting the world.
917
00:48:50,553 --> 00:48:53,639
Back there in ’77,
918
00:48:53,639 --> 00:48:56,058
uh, uh--
919
00:48:56,058 --> 00:48:58,060
they (indistinct mumbles)
the whole mountain,
920
00:48:58,060 --> 00:49:00,813
but it just pushed off
into the hollers and things,
921
00:49:00,813 --> 00:49:03,774
and any time that you do that,
you expect for
922
00:49:03,774 --> 00:49:05,693
your property to go down.
923
00:49:05,693 --> 00:49:08,654
All that silt and stuff come off
into the hollers and things,
924
00:49:08,654 --> 00:49:12,241
and from that, uh,
925
00:49:12,241 --> 00:49:15,202
if you talk with ’em,
nobody wanna buy the blame
926
00:49:15,202 --> 00:49:17,705
after it’s destroyed.
927
00:49:17,705 --> 00:49:20,583
The governor passed a law,
they set up a reclamation fund,
928
00:49:20,583 --> 00:49:22,209
and y’all were one community,
I know where the mountains
929
00:49:22,209 --> 00:49:24,211
-has won some of that.
-That was a million dollars
930
00:49:24,211 --> 00:49:26,255
to get dredging done with,
931
00:49:26,255 --> 00:49:28,799
and that was like
three years of hard work.
932
00:49:28,799 --> 00:49:32,553
You gotta convince the state,
then the federal.
933
00:49:32,553 --> 00:49:36,265
So, right now the only things
about it makes it bad
934
00:49:36,265 --> 00:49:38,517
is they’re saying
we’re not gonna get any more
935
00:49:38,517 --> 00:49:42,104
of this county work done
till the states gets primacy,
936
00:49:42,104 --> 00:49:45,065
which that could be never, see.
937
00:49:45,065 --> 00:49:47,943
Now that bothers me.
938
00:49:47,943 --> 00:49:49,695
So, you can’t get
any more of that federal money
939
00:49:49,695 --> 00:49:51,989
till the state
takes over control of the law.
940
00:49:51,989 --> 00:49:55,201
This is what states
would like for us to believe.
941
00:49:55,201 --> 00:49:58,204
’Course, I don’t think that, uh,
942
00:49:58,204 --> 00:50:02,541
probably they could hold down
something like this for long.
943
00:50:02,541 --> 00:50:06,128
My education was just like
a big black spot in my life.
944
00:50:06,128 --> 00:50:09,173
I couldn’t go beyond that,
I thought.
945
00:50:09,173 --> 00:50:12,218
Um, I thought probably
946
00:50:12,218 --> 00:50:14,011
if you tried to do things
like I do,
947
00:50:14,011 --> 00:50:17,890
you’d need need a--you know,
like a college degree.
948
00:50:17,890 --> 00:50:21,185
But, if you ain’t got it,
you have to go on without it.
949
00:50:21,185 --> 00:50:25,022
So, I found out, uh,
950
00:50:25,022 --> 00:50:27,024
you don’t have to
be educated, you know,
951
00:50:27,024 --> 00:50:29,485
to do what you have to do.
952
00:50:29,485 --> 00:50:31,904
(bluegrass music)
953
00:50:45,459 --> 00:50:49,046
That little center of ours
is very precious to me.
954
00:50:49,046 --> 00:50:51,715
We do some things
the Highlander don’t do,
955
00:50:51,715 --> 00:50:54,760
but as far as
educational purposes,
956
00:50:54,760 --> 00:50:57,972
I have used the Highlander
to (indistinct) there and back.
957
00:51:02,351 --> 00:51:05,521
People dreads us saying
something from the center,
958
00:51:05,521 --> 00:51:07,523
because there is a group of us,
959
00:51:07,523 --> 00:51:09,817
a lot more than they would
if it was said
960
00:51:09,817 --> 00:51:12,820
that Becky Simpson
was doing something.
961
00:51:12,820 --> 00:51:15,864
All of us can’t be wrong,
so it’s a source of power
962
00:51:15,864 --> 00:51:18,075
when you wanna
involve a lot of people
963
00:51:18,075 --> 00:51:20,077
in what you’re doing.
964
00:51:22,913 --> 00:51:25,332
(indistinct remarks)
965
00:51:33,382 --> 00:51:35,718
Well, I’ve learned
you can’t quit at one time.
966
00:51:35,718 --> 00:51:37,261
You know,
like some of the easements,
967
00:51:37,261 --> 00:51:39,221
I’ve tried to get
to have land worked on,
968
00:51:39,221 --> 00:51:41,724
I’ve had to go back
about 10 times.
969
00:51:41,724 --> 00:51:43,434
So, I’ve learned
you don’t just quit
970
00:51:43,434 --> 00:51:45,352
when you’re denied once.
971
00:51:45,352 --> 00:51:47,062
You go on to a different source,
972
00:51:47,062 --> 00:51:49,398
and, uh--and keep trying.
973
00:51:49,398 --> 00:51:51,358
You gotta keep trying.
974
00:51:51,358 --> 00:51:53,777
(birds chirping)
975
00:51:57,656 --> 00:51:59,908
I think a lot of times
people who struggle
976
00:51:59,908 --> 00:52:02,703
and have only limited success
977
00:52:02,703 --> 00:52:06,332
feel that they aren’t
making a contribution.
978
00:52:06,332 --> 00:52:08,792
But, the truth of the matter is
979
00:52:08,792 --> 00:52:11,003
that social movements
980
00:52:11,003 --> 00:52:13,756
and all basic changes
981
00:52:13,756 --> 00:52:15,799
are the outgrowth
982
00:52:15,799 --> 00:52:18,677
of a lot of people
doing a lot of things,
983
00:52:18,677 --> 00:52:20,179
and they’re laying
the groundwork.
984
00:52:20,179 --> 00:52:21,722
That’s one thing,
the other thing is
985
00:52:21,722 --> 00:52:24,516
that the quantity
of what takes place
986
00:52:24,516 --> 00:52:28,312
is being determined partially
by all these efforts
987
00:52:28,312 --> 00:52:31,023
that are getting
carried on today.
988
00:52:31,023 --> 00:52:32,566
So, people should understand
989
00:52:32,566 --> 00:52:34,026
that they’re making
a contribution
990
00:52:34,026 --> 00:52:36,779
that won’t be realized
991
00:52:36,779 --> 00:52:40,282
until a lot of people
come together,
992
00:52:40,282 --> 00:52:43,285
uh, and start putting
these building blocks
993
00:52:43,285 --> 00:52:45,371
into a structure.
994
00:52:51,126 --> 00:52:54,338
Way up in a mountain
995
00:52:54,338 --> 00:52:59,218
Where our friends
listen and beware
996
00:52:59,218 --> 00:53:03,055
When he’s calling
from the landfill
997
00:53:03,055 --> 00:53:06,892
There’s no peace
for people there
998
00:53:06,892 --> 00:53:11,438
They’re afraid for the children
999
00:53:11,438 --> 00:53:15,234
And the poison in the land
1000
00:53:15,234 --> 00:53:19,655
And they’re fearful
for the future
1001
00:53:19,655 --> 00:53:24,118
But together took a stand
1002
00:53:24,118 --> 00:53:27,413
From 1972 to 1979,
1003
00:53:27,413 --> 00:53:29,665
hazardous chemical wastes
were dropped through
1004
00:53:29,665 --> 00:53:32,501
the East Tennessee community
of Bumpass Cove,
1005
00:53:32,501 --> 00:53:35,879
and dumped in a landfill
at the end of the road.
1006
00:53:35,879 --> 00:53:37,631
The company
in charge of the dumping
1007
00:53:37,631 --> 00:53:41,051
claimed it was bringing in
ordinary wastes.
1008
00:53:41,051 --> 00:53:42,845
It was supposed to be
household garbage.
1009
00:53:42,845 --> 00:53:44,805
That’s what they told us,
1010
00:53:44,805 --> 00:53:47,641
and that was okay,
because we didn’t know nothing,
1011
00:53:47,641 --> 00:53:49,977
but we’d seen garbage dumps
around before.
1012
00:53:49,977 --> 00:53:52,271
They bury papers
and boxes and stuff,
1013
00:53:52,271 --> 00:53:54,106
and we didn’t think
it was wrong.
1014
00:53:54,106 --> 00:53:55,774
They give people jobs.
1015
00:53:55,774 --> 00:53:57,734
That’s the first thing they done
was come into the community
1016
00:53:57,734 --> 00:54:00,821
and give people jobs,
and God knows they needed it,
1017
00:54:00,821 --> 00:54:02,364
and they give my husband a job,
1018
00:54:02,364 --> 00:54:04,074
and they give
Mary Lee’s sister a job
1019
00:54:04,074 --> 00:54:05,993
as a secretary,
1020
00:54:05,993 --> 00:54:09,621
and, uh, we was really glad
for it to come in.
1021
00:54:09,621 --> 00:54:11,373
Well, then that washed a while,
1022
00:54:11,373 --> 00:54:14,460
just worked around
the landfill and stuff
1023
00:54:14,460 --> 00:54:16,795
till a truck driving job
come open, and then I started
1024
00:54:16,795 --> 00:54:19,339
driving the Dumpmaster for ’em.
1025
00:54:19,339 --> 00:54:22,634
-And what did you haul?
-Uh, mostly hauled garbage,
1026
00:54:22,634 --> 00:54:25,429
but I hauled some chemicals.
1027
00:54:25,429 --> 00:54:28,765
Uh, supposedly chemicals,
it was 55-gallon barrels.
1028
00:54:28,765 --> 00:54:31,143
Richard’s brother,
Hobert Story,
1029
00:54:31,143 --> 00:54:33,854
kept saying,
"There’s bad things in the dump.
1030
00:54:33,854 --> 00:54:35,814
They’re hauling stuff up
where they shouldn’t haul,"
1031
00:54:35,814 --> 00:54:38,692
but none of us would listen
to what Hobert was saying.
1032
00:54:38,692 --> 00:54:41,236
And even if I had known what was
happening,
1033
00:54:41,236 --> 00:54:43,405
I didn’t think there was
anything I could do.
1034
00:54:43,405 --> 00:54:47,326
I thought, "Well, the state’s
on top of the Health Department,
1035
00:54:47,326 --> 00:54:50,078
and they’ll take it out,
and if there’s anything,
1036
00:54:50,078 --> 00:54:52,372
you know, that’s that bad,
they’ll let us know,
1037
00:54:52,372 --> 00:54:53,707
or they’ll stop it,
they’re pretty well
1038
00:54:53,707 --> 00:54:56,168
on top of the situation."
1039
00:54:56,168 --> 00:54:58,504
Well,
1040
00:54:58,504 --> 00:55:01,715
but Hobert knew from--
1041
00:55:01,715 --> 00:55:04,760
from reading, apparently,
1042
00:55:04,760 --> 00:55:06,970
what was happening,
but he’s--he’d say,
1043
00:55:06,970 --> 00:55:08,639
"I get sick, you know,
1044
00:55:08,639 --> 00:55:09,890
when the stuff
would come by."
1045
00:55:09,890 --> 00:55:11,308
And you’d go out
and talk to him and say,
1046
00:55:11,308 --> 00:55:13,143
"What is it?
1047
00:55:13,143 --> 00:55:14,978
I wanna know what it is,
because the stuff’s about to
1048
00:55:14,978 --> 00:55:17,189
smother me to death when you
pass my house with it."
1049
00:55:17,189 --> 00:55:19,024
The companies would say,
"Well, what do you mean?
1050
00:55:19,024 --> 00:55:20,943
We don’t know
what you’re talking about."
1051
00:55:20,943 --> 00:55:23,403
So, he sensed that something
pretty quickly was going on
1052
00:55:23,403 --> 00:55:24,988
right from the beginning.
1053
00:55:24,988 --> 00:55:26,907
(whirring)
1054
00:55:26,907 --> 00:55:30,494
So, he started documenting
with his 8-millimeter camera.
1055
00:55:30,494 --> 00:55:32,704
(whirring)
1056
00:55:32,704 --> 00:55:34,373
He was trying
to keep a record
1057
00:55:34,373 --> 00:55:36,416
of what the trucks
were dumping,
1058
00:55:36,416 --> 00:55:41,213
noting the company name,
you know, on the trucks.
1059
00:55:41,213 --> 00:55:43,131
Find out
where it was coming from.
1060
00:55:43,131 --> 00:55:45,300
Talking around
and asking question.
1061
00:55:45,300 --> 00:55:47,719
Just knew
everything he knew.
1062
00:55:47,719 --> 00:55:50,138
(clicking)
1063
00:55:52,432 --> 00:55:54,017
Well, he went from
house to house,
1064
00:55:54,017 --> 00:55:55,811
and he tried to tell people,
1065
00:55:55,811 --> 00:55:57,688
but people just
didn’t believe you.
1066
00:55:57,688 --> 00:56:00,357
They thought he was crazy,
crackpot, trouble maker.
1067
00:56:02,818 --> 00:56:06,113
About 1:30 one morning,
he followed a truck in here.
1068
00:56:06,113 --> 00:56:08,907
It was marked, "Radioactive,"
1069
00:56:08,907 --> 00:56:11,159
and watched it go
in the landfill and dump it,
1070
00:56:11,159 --> 00:56:15,038
and we suspect that
them four spots over there is--
1071
00:56:15,038 --> 00:56:17,791
where the grass won’t grow
is where they dumped that stuff.
1072
00:56:17,791 --> 00:56:19,835
(insects chirping)
1073
00:56:19,835 --> 00:56:21,837
Guy that opened
this landfill up
1074
00:56:21,837 --> 00:56:23,630
worked for
the State Health Department
1075
00:56:23,630 --> 00:56:25,382
at the time,
1076
00:56:25,382 --> 00:56:27,634
and he went around
to all the counties,
1077
00:56:27,634 --> 00:56:30,637
condemned all the landfills,
closed them down.
1078
00:56:30,637 --> 00:56:32,931
Then, he quit the state,
and come up here
1079
00:56:32,931 --> 00:56:35,267
and opened this landfill up.
1080
00:56:35,267 --> 00:56:36,727
The scoundrel,
1081
00:56:36,727 --> 00:56:38,478
he just went around
and any place
1082
00:56:38,478 --> 00:56:40,272
that they had something
they couldn’t get rid of
1083
00:56:40,272 --> 00:56:42,274
anywhere else,
he’d take a contract
1084
00:56:42,274 --> 00:56:44,192
to get rid of it.
1085
00:56:44,192 --> 00:56:46,695
They came from
Arapahoe Chemical,
1086
00:56:46,695 --> 00:56:48,614
Tennessee Eastman,
Westinghouse,
1087
00:56:48,614 --> 00:56:51,199
General Electric, Vasocon,
1088
00:56:51,199 --> 00:56:53,243
from down Chattanooga way.
1089
00:56:53,243 --> 00:56:56,872
All industries in
Upper East Tennessee.
1090
00:56:56,872 --> 00:56:58,498
A lot, a lot of trucks.
1091
00:56:58,498 --> 00:57:01,043
30, 40 truckloads
a day sometimes
1092
00:57:01,043 --> 00:57:05,047
for 7 years went to and fro
this landfill.
1093
00:57:05,047 --> 00:57:06,882
(bird squawking)
1094
00:57:06,882 --> 00:57:09,134
There sure was a lot of it.
1095
00:57:11,386 --> 00:57:12,971
A lot of people
started getting sick,
1096
00:57:12,971 --> 00:57:15,098
and in fact we had
a couple of deaths
1097
00:57:15,098 --> 00:57:16,975
that wasn’t
related to something
1098
00:57:16,975 --> 00:57:19,061
like people was used to,
1099
00:57:19,061 --> 00:57:21,355
and they see
how it was wrapped.
1100
00:57:21,355 --> 00:57:23,023
One time I actually
had to lay my head
1101
00:57:23,023 --> 00:57:24,399
in on the ice
in the refrigerator
1102
00:57:24,399 --> 00:57:26,526
to keep from passing out
while I was cooking
1103
00:57:26,526 --> 00:57:28,445
until I could go lay down,
1104
00:57:28,445 --> 00:57:30,781
and, uh, Pam,
one of my daughters,
1105
00:57:30,781 --> 00:57:32,532
she started taking
passing-out spells,
1106
00:57:32,532 --> 00:57:34,242
and she was just about
four years old,
1107
00:57:34,242 --> 00:57:35,494
and I always have to
work with her
1108
00:57:35,494 --> 00:57:37,788
to get her
till she could breathe.
1109
00:57:37,788 --> 00:57:39,706
And Angie, my other daughter,
she was having
1110
00:57:39,706 --> 00:57:44,044
real severe headaches,
and it scared me to death.
1111
00:57:44,044 --> 00:57:46,546
(solemn music)
1112
00:57:46,546 --> 00:57:48,965
(sloshing)
1113
00:58:00,727 --> 00:58:03,271
Finally one day
there was a flood,
1114
00:58:03,271 --> 00:58:05,732
and barrels washed out
from the landfill
1115
00:58:05,732 --> 00:58:07,984
down into the creek,
on into the river.
1116
00:58:11,655 --> 00:58:15,200
That day we decided that
something had to be done.
1117
00:58:15,200 --> 00:58:17,119
So, all the men got together,
they just said,
1118
00:58:17,119 --> 00:58:20,122
"Well, we’ll stop the trucks
in the morning at 5:00."
1119
00:58:20,122 --> 00:58:22,958
And at 6:00 in the morning,
there was 200 people
1120
00:58:22,958 --> 00:58:25,669
standing out in the road
to stop the truck,
1121
00:58:25,669 --> 00:58:27,963
and it started from
that point right there.
1122
00:59:24,311 --> 00:59:27,647
The way I was raised
is to tend to my business,
1123
00:59:27,647 --> 00:59:30,859
and let everybody else
tend to his own business.
1124
00:59:30,859 --> 00:59:33,361
But, the more I thought
about it, the more I seen
1125
00:59:33,361 --> 00:59:35,947
that it was gonna
interfere with my business
1126
00:59:35,947 --> 00:59:37,866
in, uh--in the future.
1127
00:59:37,866 --> 00:59:39,451
I didn’t know that
from that step
1128
00:59:39,451 --> 00:59:41,620
there was no going back.
1129
00:59:41,620 --> 00:59:43,330
I was just trying
to help a friend.
1130
00:59:43,330 --> 00:59:45,832
I was trying to help myself,
and--
1131
00:59:45,832 --> 00:59:47,375
We thought it would be
a one-day,
1132
00:59:47,375 --> 00:59:50,003
maybe three days at the most,
thing, you know,
1133
00:59:50,003 --> 00:59:51,546
and it would all be over.
1134
00:59:51,546 --> 00:59:55,008
We’d stop the trucks,
and that’d be it.
1135
00:59:55,008 --> 00:59:56,843
But, it’s never over.
1136
00:59:56,843 --> 00:59:58,637
We just go from day to day.
1137
01:00:00,722 --> 01:00:04,017
We have changed so much.
1138
01:00:04,017 --> 01:00:07,187
I didn’t like the way I was.
1139
01:00:07,187 --> 01:00:08,730
(sighing)
1140
01:00:08,730 --> 01:00:11,149
-Ignorant.
-A housewife.
1141
01:00:11,149 --> 01:00:12,818
A housewife.
1142
01:00:12,818 --> 01:00:16,029
Uh, we weren’t involved
in anything,
1143
01:00:16,029 --> 01:00:18,114
because we didn’t feel
like we know enough
1144
01:00:18,114 --> 01:00:19,908
to be involved in anything.
1145
01:00:19,908 --> 01:00:21,868
Felt like your education
was inadequate
1146
01:00:21,868 --> 01:00:24,746
up to--stand up,
and not worth facing
1147
01:00:24,746 --> 01:00:27,290
anybody else with your problems.
1148
01:00:27,290 --> 01:00:30,418
So, Mary Lee was already
working on the Saturday,
1149
01:00:30,418 --> 01:00:34,214
and she’d give me
an application to fill out.
1150
01:00:34,214 --> 01:00:36,216
I wanted to work
in education in some way,
1151
01:00:36,216 --> 01:00:38,927
but I knowed I needed training,
because I got married at 14
1152
01:00:38,927 --> 01:00:41,304
and I don’t have
that much education.
1153
01:00:41,304 --> 01:00:44,724
And, uh, when the woman
come to interview us,
1154
01:00:44,724 --> 01:00:46,935
well, I--there was nothing
I could say about me.
1155
01:00:46,935 --> 01:00:49,688
I told Mary Lee,
I said, "I’m nobody."
1156
01:00:49,688 --> 01:00:52,023
I ain’t anything
to write down.
1157
01:00:52,023 --> 01:00:54,609
-I was supposed to fill out a--
-Uh, autobiography.
1158
01:00:54,609 --> 01:00:57,320
Yeah, and there wasn’t
nothing to say, you know?
1159
01:00:57,320 --> 01:00:59,948
And, uh, when the lady
come to interview us,
1160
01:00:59,948 --> 01:01:02,450
she didn’t think
we would ever be anything.
1161
01:01:02,450 --> 01:01:04,119
Wait a minute, let me butt in,
I’m gonna explain to say
1162
01:01:04,119 --> 01:01:06,705
I wrote three pages about her.
1163
01:01:06,705 --> 01:01:09,291
No, but she wrote it,
see, I couldn’t.
1164
01:01:09,291 --> 01:01:12,210
She couldn’t think of anything
to say, that’s how--
1165
01:01:12,210 --> 01:01:14,504
-I felt.
-Yeah, she didn’t feel like
1166
01:01:14,504 --> 01:01:17,382
she was anybody, you know,
and I wrote three pages
1167
01:01:17,382 --> 01:01:18,842
about her, ’bout that.
1168
01:01:18,842 --> 01:01:20,969
-To me, that was good.
-But, uh--
1169
01:01:20,969 --> 01:01:22,762
How much you write
about yourself?
1170
01:01:22,762 --> 01:01:24,306
Page and a half.
1171
01:01:24,306 --> 01:01:26,349
The first workshop,
oh, Lord, I was so scared
1172
01:01:26,349 --> 01:01:28,184
when all these other people
were sitting around,
1173
01:01:28,184 --> 01:01:30,854
and they had, you know, even
like high-school education,
1174
01:01:30,854 --> 01:01:33,773
some of ’em had more,
and they was already involved,
1175
01:01:33,773 --> 01:01:35,442
and I was scared to death,
I thought, "Oh, Lord,
1176
01:01:35,442 --> 01:01:37,527
they don't hear anything
I’ve got to say."
1177
01:01:37,527 --> 01:01:40,071
But, gradually
I started talking,
1178
01:01:40,071 --> 01:01:43,366
and I found out they was
interested in what I had to say
1179
01:01:43,366 --> 01:01:45,744
and I had accomplished
some things
1180
01:01:45,744 --> 01:01:47,787
that they hadn’t thought about,
and we started sharing
1181
01:01:47,787 --> 01:01:50,332
with each other
things that we had learned,
1182
01:01:50,332 --> 01:01:53,043
and each workshop got better.
1183
01:01:53,043 --> 01:01:54,836
We had gone to
the Highlander Center before,
1184
01:01:54,836 --> 01:01:58,089
but we had just been there
for seminars and things.
1185
01:01:58,089 --> 01:01:59,841
Then, we got Juliette
to help us,
1186
01:01:59,841 --> 01:02:03,595
and we put together
a list of chemicals.
1187
01:02:03,595 --> 01:02:06,056
That helped us tremendously,
you wouldn’t believe.
1188
01:02:12,938 --> 01:02:14,564
We went to
the State Health Department.
1189
01:02:14,564 --> 01:02:16,566
We went through
all of UPSCO files.
1190
01:02:16,566 --> 01:02:20,362
Laid ’em all out on the table,
and went through the whole bit,
1191
01:02:20,362 --> 01:02:23,490
and there was a lot
that they did know about,
1192
01:02:23,490 --> 01:02:25,241
that they had told us
over and over
1193
01:02:25,241 --> 01:02:26,785
that they didn’t know about.
1194
01:02:26,785 --> 01:02:28,828
And when we put this together,
Tom Teasler,
1195
01:02:28,828 --> 01:02:31,623
he’s the Solid Waste Management,
1196
01:02:31,623 --> 01:02:34,542
he’s the head of that, I think.
1197
01:02:34,542 --> 01:02:37,629
And he--when he saw
the little booklet,
1198
01:02:37,629 --> 01:02:41,341
or what order we had it in,
1199
01:02:41,341 --> 01:02:43,009
and that you could tell
what it was,
1200
01:02:43,009 --> 01:02:44,719
and what the health effects was,
and the amount
1201
01:02:44,719 --> 01:02:46,638
that was put into landfill.
1202
01:02:54,521 --> 01:02:56,439
He said,
"Where did you get this?
1203
01:02:56,439 --> 01:02:58,441
How did you do this?
Who did this for you?"
1204
01:02:58,441 --> 01:03:01,152
You know, he was amazed
that we could get that
1205
01:03:01,152 --> 01:03:03,154
from his files,
and actually I’m amazed
1206
01:03:03,154 --> 01:03:04,906
that we could get it
from their files.
1207
01:03:04,906 --> 01:03:07,659
Some of my neighbors depend on
the state telling them when--
1208
01:03:07,659 --> 01:03:09,828
when to--
1209
01:03:09,828 --> 01:03:11,955
It’s a danger, the state’s
gonna come by and tell us,
1210
01:03:11,955 --> 01:03:13,623
but they’re not.
1211
01:03:13,623 --> 01:03:16,376
The State Health Department
is not.
1212
01:03:16,376 --> 01:03:18,461
It’s gotta be--it’s gotta be
1213
01:03:18,461 --> 01:03:21,548
peopled used to falling,
like, dead last
1214
01:03:21,548 --> 01:03:24,676
before they’ll ever do anything,
then they’ll call it serious.
1215
01:03:24,676 --> 01:03:26,928
Well, I’d like to do something
or see something done
1216
01:03:26,928 --> 01:03:29,597
before it gets to that point,
’cause I know, you know,
1217
01:03:29,597 --> 01:03:32,267
it will get to that point.
1218
01:03:32,267 --> 01:03:34,686
(birds chirping)
1219
01:03:38,857 --> 01:03:43,153
Long time ago,
me and my, uh, mom and dad
1220
01:03:43,153 --> 01:03:45,989
used to come down here
and fish all the time.
1221
01:03:45,989 --> 01:03:48,575
We’d catch fish
and eat ’em for supper.
1222
01:03:50,410 --> 01:03:53,079
We can’t do that no more.
1223
01:03:53,079 --> 01:03:54,789
So, why are you fishing?
1224
01:03:54,789 --> 01:03:57,250
Just so I can catch it
and throw it back.
1225
01:03:57,250 --> 01:04:00,253
Like the sport,
like to feel ’em pull mostly.
1226
01:04:10,472 --> 01:04:13,058
People that dumped ’em in here
lived off from here,
1227
01:04:13,058 --> 01:04:15,602
and they didn’t have to
live with the poison in here,
1228
01:04:15,602 --> 01:04:17,520
and they just didn’t care
about nobody else,
1229
01:04:17,520 --> 01:04:19,147
is my feeling about it.
1230
01:04:22,525 --> 01:04:24,527
I didn’t--I think that--
I think it
1231
01:04:24,527 --> 01:04:26,571
about the same way
he thought about it.
1232
01:04:26,571 --> 01:04:27,947
They didn’t have to
live in here.
1233
01:04:27,947 --> 01:04:30,825
They live a long ways
away from here,
1234
01:04:30,825 --> 01:04:33,912
and they don’t have to,
uh, be out and see--
1235
01:04:33,912 --> 01:04:35,622
they don’t have
to drink the water
1236
01:04:35,622 --> 01:04:37,373
from out of here.
1237
01:04:37,373 --> 01:04:40,627
Don’t have to, uh, eat any food
that comes out of the mountains
1238
01:04:40,627 --> 01:04:42,170
from around here.
1239
01:04:44,255 --> 01:04:46,174
Mad, makes me mad.
1240
01:04:52,013 --> 01:04:54,099
Was born and raised here.
1241
01:04:54,099 --> 01:04:57,352
From the top of that mountain
to way back in this section,
1242
01:04:57,352 --> 01:05:00,605
you can just mention, you know,
certain rocks or trees,
1243
01:05:00,605 --> 01:05:02,107
and we know
what you’re talking about
1244
01:05:02,107 --> 01:05:04,025
just the same
as people in the city
1245
01:05:04,025 --> 01:05:06,319
describing a street,
1246
01:05:06,319 --> 01:05:09,155
you know, or a pool hall.
1247
01:05:09,155 --> 01:05:11,157
We know it that well.
1248
01:05:11,157 --> 01:05:12,575
We’ve seen it all.
1249
01:05:15,036 --> 01:05:17,997
Since I was a little bitty boy,
and I’d come in in the mountain
1250
01:05:17,997 --> 01:05:21,918
with daddy, and he was born
and raised here also hisself,
1251
01:05:21,918 --> 01:05:23,837
you know.
1252
01:05:23,837 --> 01:05:25,255
I’ve had people say, "Well,
you know, if you’re afraid,
1253
01:05:25,255 --> 01:05:26,798
why don’t you just move out?"
1254
01:05:26,798 --> 01:05:28,424
It’s not something
you can get out of--
1255
01:05:28,424 --> 01:05:29,926
you can just slow down and say,
"Oh, heck with it,
1256
01:05:29,926 --> 01:05:31,344
you know, I’d rather be
somewhere else."
1257
01:05:33,888 --> 01:05:35,557
It goes deeper than that.
1258
01:05:37,851 --> 01:05:39,394
"To whom it may concern,
1259
01:05:39,394 --> 01:05:41,980
I am Gail Story,
and I would like to reply
1260
01:05:41,980 --> 01:05:44,107
to my neighbor’s accusations
1261
01:05:44,107 --> 01:05:46,609
that first of all
I am not communist,
1262
01:05:46,609 --> 01:05:49,863
and I have never been
approached by anyone
1263
01:05:49,863 --> 01:05:51,865
that claimed to be communist,
1264
01:05:51,865 --> 01:05:54,284
and Highlander is just
a name of a place
1265
01:05:54,284 --> 01:05:56,744
that has a library
and people like me
1266
01:05:56,744 --> 01:06:00,206
who can go there to learn things
that we should already know
1267
01:06:00,206 --> 01:06:03,585
about the schools
and the laws of our country,
1268
01:06:03,585 --> 01:06:06,004
things that we,
as people of the United States,
1269
01:06:06,004 --> 01:06:08,965
have a right to get,
such as information
1270
01:06:08,965 --> 01:06:11,092
that is of public record.
1271
01:06:11,092 --> 01:06:13,511
As for me,
I am proud to be American,
1272
01:06:13,511 --> 01:06:16,431
and I love God
and the United States,
1273
01:06:16,431 --> 01:06:19,475
and I am proud to be American,
and I would never do anything
1274
01:06:19,475 --> 01:06:21,227
to slander either one.
1275
01:06:23,062 --> 01:06:25,106
I’m the same person
I was 10 year ago.
1276
01:06:25,106 --> 01:06:27,817
-I mean, I’m more active.
-A better person.
1277
01:06:27,817 --> 01:06:30,695
But, I--
I’m a better person, right,
1278
01:06:30,695 --> 01:06:32,655
because I try
to do something now.
1279
01:06:32,655 --> 01:06:34,991
10 year ago,
I didn’t do anything.
1280
01:06:37,619 --> 01:06:39,454
Yeah, that’s not easy,
that’s hard.
1281
01:06:39,454 --> 01:06:43,833
That--that--this communist bit
hurt us a lot, it really did.
1282
01:06:43,833 --> 01:06:45,543
Why do you think
you were called communists
1283
01:06:45,543 --> 01:06:47,629
for fighting against
the landfill?
1284
01:06:47,629 --> 01:06:49,422
Well, at first, I didn’t know.
1285
01:06:49,422 --> 01:06:51,424
I had never been
attacked like this
1286
01:06:51,424 --> 01:06:53,509
by anyone before,
and I, honest to God,
1287
01:06:53,509 --> 01:06:56,930
didn’t know, that’s why
it scared me so bad.
1288
01:06:56,930 --> 01:06:59,641
And then, later on,
I--we realized
1289
01:06:59,641 --> 01:07:02,310
that it was because
that we had organized,
1290
01:07:02,310 --> 01:07:04,812
because we was a active group,
1291
01:07:04,812 --> 01:07:07,190
and what other way
to separate us up
1292
01:07:07,190 --> 01:07:09,317
if they could get us
arguing between each other,
1293
01:07:09,317 --> 01:07:11,486
or suspicious of each other.
1294
01:07:11,486 --> 01:07:13,821
And in a community like this
where they--
1295
01:07:13,821 --> 01:07:15,949
people goes to church
and they do love God
1296
01:07:15,949 --> 01:07:18,076
and the United States,
what else would you call ’em?
1297
01:07:18,076 --> 01:07:19,577
And they call ’em communists.
1298
01:07:19,577 --> 01:07:21,621
And how could you prove
that you’re not?
1299
01:07:21,621 --> 01:07:24,999
And the only way that we knowed
how to work against this
1300
01:07:24,999 --> 01:07:26,876
was just keep working.
1301
01:07:26,876 --> 01:07:29,879
Just keep being strong,
keep doing what we was doing,
1302
01:07:29,879 --> 01:07:33,007
and that people would--
that knowed us all of our lives
1303
01:07:33,007 --> 01:07:34,384
would see that
we hadn’t changed,
1304
01:07:34,384 --> 01:07:36,469
that we was doing
what was right,
1305
01:07:36,469 --> 01:07:40,348
and I’m still innocent enough
to believe truth will win.
1306
01:07:40,348 --> 01:07:42,934
Mr. Robert Story
will be followed by
1307
01:07:42,934 --> 01:07:44,644
Mr. Raymond Williams.
1308
01:07:44,644 --> 01:07:46,396
They go ahead
and they decide to have
1309
01:07:46,396 --> 01:07:49,607
the closure of the landfill.
1310
01:07:49,607 --> 01:07:51,985
And really nothing that we said
or nothing we done
1311
01:07:51,985 --> 01:07:53,778
had took any part in it.
1312
01:07:53,778 --> 01:07:56,739
They didn’t listen to nothing
that we had to say.
1313
01:07:56,739 --> 01:07:59,784
I brought up the question
about the clay.
1314
01:07:59,784 --> 01:08:01,744
They made fun of me.
1315
01:08:01,744 --> 01:08:04,580
All right, now it’s come up
they can’t cover the landfill
1316
01:08:04,580 --> 01:08:07,333
with our clay
because it hadn’t been tested,
1317
01:08:07,333 --> 01:08:09,585
and they tested it
after I asked the question,
1318
01:08:09,585 --> 01:08:11,337
and it don’t work,
the clay ain’t gonna
1319
01:08:11,337 --> 01:08:13,172
hold the chemicals back.
1320
01:08:13,172 --> 01:08:16,009
And at whose expense
is it better
1321
01:08:16,009 --> 01:08:17,343
to leave it in this mountain?
1322
01:08:17,343 --> 01:08:18,803
Is it better for the company?
1323
01:08:18,803 --> 01:08:20,138
Is it better
for the Health Department,
1324
01:08:20,138 --> 01:08:21,389
or is it better for us?
1325
01:08:21,389 --> 01:08:23,516
Because we’re being left
with the poison.
1326
01:08:23,516 --> 01:08:25,935
(insects chirping)
1327
01:08:30,898 --> 01:08:32,775
Hobert’s last trip
to the landfill
1328
01:08:32,775 --> 01:08:35,236
was just a couple of weeks
before he died.
1329
01:08:35,236 --> 01:08:39,282
Me and Richard was with him
when he collapsed.
1330
01:08:39,282 --> 01:08:41,701
Hobert was only 57 years old.
1331
01:08:41,701 --> 01:08:43,411
Well, I’m convinced
1332
01:08:43,411 --> 01:08:45,830
that the landfill’s
what killed Hobert.
1333
01:08:49,584 --> 01:08:51,544
Now as much as Hobert
knew and realized
1334
01:08:51,544 --> 01:08:53,504
about these things,
1335
01:08:53,504 --> 01:08:55,715
his brother said to me,
"Uh, do you think
1336
01:08:55,715 --> 01:08:58,134
that something’s gonna happen
up on that landfill
1337
01:08:58,134 --> 01:09:00,595
and come all the way down
this far and hurt you
1338
01:09:00,595 --> 01:09:04,098
all the way down the road
two or three miles away?"
1339
01:09:04,098 --> 01:09:07,185
Now, he just
don’t understand.
1340
01:09:07,185 --> 01:09:11,356
He don’t--he don’t realize
what’s happening.
1341
01:09:11,356 --> 01:09:13,649
Then, I ask him, "Well,
1342
01:09:13,649 --> 01:09:16,152
what about the future?
1343
01:09:16,152 --> 01:09:17,653
Have you ever
thought about that?"
1344
01:09:17,653 --> 01:09:21,449
He said, "Well, you know,
I’m 55 years old,
1345
01:09:21,449 --> 01:09:24,035
and I’m not gonna live no,
you know,
1346
01:09:24,035 --> 01:09:27,080
another 30 years."
1347
01:09:27,080 --> 01:09:31,000
And, uh, I said, "Well,
what about your grandkids?"
1348
01:09:31,000 --> 01:09:32,377
He said, "Well, I don’t have
any of ’em live here."
1349
01:09:32,377 --> 01:09:33,628
And I said,
"What about mine, don’t you have
1350
01:09:33,628 --> 01:09:35,797
any feeling for them?"
1351
01:09:35,797 --> 01:09:37,715
And that sort of stumped him,
you know?
1352
01:09:37,715 --> 01:09:40,343
But, his thoughts
never did go farther
1353
01:09:40,343 --> 01:09:42,387
than just hisself.
1354
01:09:42,387 --> 01:09:45,556
And one other old guy
that just died here
1355
01:09:45,556 --> 01:09:47,266
a couple of weeks ago,
1356
01:09:47,266 --> 01:09:51,145
I heard him say, "Hell,
it ain’t ever gonna hurt me."
1357
01:09:51,145 --> 01:09:54,107
And, uh, I reckon
he thinks the world
1358
01:09:54,107 --> 01:09:56,484
was just gonna stop
when he died,
1359
01:09:56,484 --> 01:09:59,487
or he wasn’t concerned about it
any farther than that.
1360
01:09:59,487 --> 01:10:02,698
But, It’s time that
people does give thought to--
1361
01:10:02,698 --> 01:10:06,577
to people in the next
10, 20, 50 years,
1362
01:10:06,577 --> 01:10:09,497
100 years, even 200,
if you last that long.
1363
01:10:11,999 --> 01:10:15,503
Oh
1364
01:10:15,503 --> 01:10:19,841
Freedom
1365
01:10:19,841 --> 01:10:24,720
Oh
1366
01:10:24,720 --> 01:10:29,392
Freedom
1367
01:10:29,392 --> 01:10:34,021
Oh
1368
01:10:34,021 --> 01:10:36,357
Freedom
1369
01:10:36,357 --> 01:10:41,279
Over me
1370
01:10:44,949 --> 01:10:48,494
And before
1371
01:10:48,494 --> 01:10:53,332
I’ll be a slave
1372
01:10:53,332 --> 01:10:57,795
I’ll be buried
1373
01:10:57,795 --> 01:11:02,300
In my grave
1374
01:11:02,300 --> 01:11:06,679
And go home
1375
01:11:06,679 --> 01:11:10,975
To my Lord
1376
01:11:10,975 --> 01:11:16,022
And be free
1377
01:11:16,022 --> 01:11:18,900
I understand this song
as a Black song
1378
01:11:18,900 --> 01:11:20,943
about Black oppression.
1379
01:11:20,943 --> 01:11:24,113
But, everybody who is alive
have to find
1380
01:11:24,113 --> 01:11:27,617
that space
and that part of yourself
1381
01:11:27,617 --> 01:11:30,828
for which you can
offer your life.
1382
01:11:30,828 --> 01:11:33,748
A lot of times if you put
your life on the line,
1383
01:11:33,748 --> 01:11:36,375
they will not take it.
1384
01:11:36,375 --> 01:11:40,630
You will not get killed for
fighting for what you believe.
1385
01:11:40,630 --> 01:11:42,465
Sometimes you will.
1386
01:11:42,465 --> 01:11:44,342
(applauding)
1387
01:11:44,342 --> 01:11:47,553
But, you cannot wait
for the guarantee of life
1388
01:11:47,553 --> 01:11:48,930
before you will fight.
1389
01:11:48,930 --> 01:11:52,433
You must offer your life
for what you believe,
1390
01:11:52,433 --> 01:11:54,727
and that’s what this song says,
1391
01:11:54,727 --> 01:11:57,772
and sometimes you will
survive the battle
1392
01:11:57,772 --> 01:11:59,941
and enjoy the fruits.
1393
01:11:59,941 --> 01:12:03,361
Oh
1394
01:12:03,361 --> 01:12:05,363
Freedom
1395
01:12:05,363 --> 01:12:07,657
And you sing it for yourself.
1396
01:12:07,657 --> 01:12:12,119
Oh
1397
01:12:12,119 --> 01:12:16,249
Freedom
1398
01:12:16,249 --> 01:12:20,336
Oh
1399
01:12:20,336 --> 01:12:22,505
Freedom
1400
01:12:22,505 --> 01:12:29,136
Over me
1401
01:12:30,847 --> 01:12:34,016
And before
1402
01:12:34,016 --> 01:12:38,980
I’ll be a slave
1403
01:12:38,980 --> 01:12:42,942
I’ll be buried
1404
01:12:42,942 --> 01:12:47,029
In my grave
1405
01:12:47,029 --> 01:12:51,117
I’ll go home
1406
01:12:51,117 --> 01:12:55,121
To my Lord
1407
01:12:55,121 --> 01:13:02,128
And be free
1408
01:13:05,381 --> 01:13:11,095
No more mourning
1409
01:13:13,222 --> 01:13:19,145
No more mourning
1410
01:13:21,397 --> 01:13:27,486
No more mourning
1411
01:13:27,486 --> 01:13:32,450
Over me
1412
01:13:32,450 --> 01:13:35,369
Oh yeah
1413
01:13:35,369 --> 01:13:38,998
And before
1414
01:13:38,998 --> 01:13:41,959
I’ll be a slave
1415
01:13:41,959 --> 01:13:46,839
-Oh, God
-I’ll be buried
1416
01:13:46,839 --> 01:13:49,550
In my grave
1417
01:13:49,550 --> 01:13:52,053
Let God come right down
1418
01:13:52,053 --> 01:13:54,972
We know that
what we do at Highlander
1419
01:13:54,972 --> 01:13:59,060
is done in many ways
by many people,
1420
01:13:59,060 --> 01:14:00,645
some of whom
have been in Highlander,
1421
01:14:00,645 --> 01:14:02,313
some of whom haven’t,
and they’re doing
1422
01:14:02,313 --> 01:14:04,190
the same thing
in their own way,
1423
01:14:04,190 --> 01:14:07,443
so we’re just part of a process
1424
01:14:07,443 --> 01:14:10,571
of democratizing society
1425
01:14:10,571 --> 01:14:13,282
in the hopes of eventually
having a just society
1426
01:14:13,282 --> 01:14:14,742
for everybody.
1427
01:14:14,742 --> 01:14:18,871
Oh freedom
1428
01:14:18,871 --> 01:14:21,248
Oh
1429
01:14:21,248 --> 01:14:22,750
We have the faith--
our faith, I don’t think
1430
01:14:22,750 --> 01:14:24,502
it was a blind faith,
I think it was a--
1431
01:14:24,502 --> 01:14:26,462
it’s it’s a sound faith
1432
01:14:26,462 --> 01:14:31,217
in the idea that
it can be a true democracy
1433
01:14:31,217 --> 01:14:32,885
somehow worked out by people
1434
01:14:32,885 --> 01:14:37,056
where people will
control their lives,
1435
01:14:37,056 --> 01:14:39,684
and will not be exploited
for the benefit
1436
01:14:39,684 --> 01:14:42,937
of someone else.
1437
01:14:42,937 --> 01:14:45,731
And it is becoming
increasingly clear that...
1438
01:14:48,985 --> 01:14:53,155
...we can’t have democracy
if we don’t realize
1439
01:14:53,155 --> 01:14:56,534
that there’s a--there’s
a kind of a natural twin
1440
01:14:56,534 --> 01:15:01,205
to political democracy,
that’s economic democracy,
1441
01:15:01,205 --> 01:15:03,499
and political democracy
is shackled
1442
01:15:03,499 --> 01:15:07,044
if the economic democracy
1443
01:15:07,044 --> 01:15:10,965
doesn’t develop along with
the political democracy.
1444
01:15:10,965 --> 01:15:14,635
I think the future is
1445
01:15:14,635 --> 01:15:17,304
is, uh--
1446
01:15:17,304 --> 01:15:19,682
Well, as somebody said one time
when I said it,
1447
01:15:19,682 --> 01:15:23,436
they said, "It’s out there."
1448
01:15:23,436 --> 01:15:25,604
It’s not only out there,
but it’s
1449
01:15:25,604 --> 01:15:28,274
it’s ready to be changed.
1450
01:15:28,274 --> 01:15:30,860
It’s, uh--
1451
01:15:30,860 --> 01:15:32,445
It’s malleable.
1452
01:15:32,445 --> 01:15:36,741
Uh, and there’s, uh--
there’s nothing fixed
1453
01:15:36,741 --> 01:15:39,118
that you can’t unfix.
1454
01:15:39,118 --> 01:15:41,078
But, to unfix things
1455
01:15:41,078 --> 01:15:44,373
that appear to be fixed,
1456
01:15:44,373 --> 01:15:47,168
you have to be,
not only creative
1457
01:15:47,168 --> 01:15:50,588
and imaginative,
1458
01:15:50,588 --> 01:15:52,298
but courageously dedicated
1459
01:15:54,258 --> 01:15:57,094
for the long haul.
1460
01:15:57,094 --> 01:15:59,138
We face this all the time,
the people--don’t look for
1461
01:15:59,138 --> 01:16:01,932
anybody else to be a leader.
1462
01:16:01,932 --> 01:16:04,518
You start doing it yourself.
1463
01:16:04,518 --> 01:16:06,395
You’re as good as anybody else
in doing it
1464
01:16:06,395 --> 01:16:08,230
because you know
what the problem is.
1465
01:16:08,230 --> 01:16:11,108
You know what your--the way
you like things to be,
1466
01:16:11,108 --> 01:16:13,819
so why not work on
making it that way?
1467
01:16:13,819 --> 01:16:17,281
Well, the tables
was turned on me, you know.
1468
01:16:17,281 --> 01:16:20,075
I was in this teaching process,
I was teaching people this,
1469
01:16:20,075 --> 01:16:22,369
and everywhere we went
we did it.
1470
01:16:22,369 --> 01:16:24,705
You know, and, um,
1471
01:16:24,705 --> 01:16:27,333
then in 1972,
1472
01:16:27,333 --> 01:16:29,835
my minister said to me,
"Bernice, why don’t you run
1473
01:16:29,835 --> 01:16:31,545
for the House
of Representatives?"
1474
01:16:31,545 --> 01:16:35,549
I said, "Oh, no, not me,
I--I’ll support anybody else."
1475
01:16:35,549 --> 01:16:39,053
And he said, "Well, no,
it’s time a woman run."
1476
01:16:39,053 --> 01:16:41,305
You know, I came home
and I thought about it,
1477
01:16:41,305 --> 01:16:43,599
I said, "Ah, the tables
have been turned on me."
1478
01:16:43,599 --> 01:16:45,559
I often tell everybody,
"Why look elsewhere
1479
01:16:45,559 --> 01:16:49,396
for a leader? Why not
step out yourself and do it?"
1480
01:16:49,396 --> 01:16:51,816
You know, so I said,
"Now how can I say no,
1481
01:16:51,816 --> 01:16:53,359
that I’m not gonna do it?"
1482
01:16:53,359 --> 01:16:55,986
I’ve got to accept the challenge
to go ahead and do it.
1483
01:16:55,986 --> 01:16:57,446
So, I did.
1484
01:16:57,446 --> 01:16:59,532
Sometimes I feel like
Martin Luther King,
1485
01:16:59,532 --> 01:17:01,909
you know, I’ve got a dream, too.
1486
01:17:01,909 --> 01:17:04,370
I know he had a dream,
I’ve got a dream, well.
1487
01:17:06,622 --> 01:17:09,083
It’s just the injustice,
I think, you know,
1488
01:17:09,083 --> 01:17:10,960
of like Black people
ain’t had justice,
1489
01:17:10,960 --> 01:17:13,587
poor people ain’t had justice.
1490
01:17:13,587 --> 01:17:16,841
Um, it’s just injustice
in the world.
1491
01:17:18,467 --> 01:17:20,511
Let ’em know we’re hear
and that we care,
1492
01:17:20,511 --> 01:17:22,805
and they should care about us.
1493
01:17:28,602 --> 01:17:32,565
I go from the way I felt
1494
01:17:32,565 --> 01:17:36,360
in Albany, Georgia,
when I walked in the street,
1495
01:17:36,360 --> 01:17:39,822
and if I feel that way
in a position I hold,
1496
01:17:39,822 --> 01:17:43,492
then I know I’m doing my work,
1497
01:17:43,492 --> 01:17:47,204
and where that has taken me
is taking stands,
1498
01:17:47,204 --> 01:17:49,582
uh, against the Vietnam War,
1499
01:17:49,582 --> 01:17:51,792
taking stands
for homosexual rights,
1500
01:17:51,792 --> 01:17:54,378
taking stands
with Native Americans,
1501
01:17:54,378 --> 01:17:56,547
taking stands on women’s issues,
1502
01:17:56,547 --> 01:18:00,009
taking stands against,
uh, militarism,
1503
01:18:00,009 --> 01:18:04,555
against the draft,
taking stand against toxic waste
1504
01:18:04,555 --> 01:18:06,390
for the environment.
1505
01:18:06,390 --> 01:18:08,392
Now all of those things,
a lot of times
1506
01:18:08,392 --> 01:18:09,935
when people talk
about those things,
1507
01:18:09,935 --> 01:18:12,021
they’re like separate movements.
1508
01:18:12,021 --> 01:18:15,024
For me, that’s the stance I took
1509
01:18:15,024 --> 01:18:17,818
when I walked on the street
in Albany, Georgia.
1510
01:18:17,818 --> 01:18:20,696
Any time that they feel
that you’re too much
1511
01:18:20,696 --> 01:18:25,159
politically out of where
they feel like you should be,
1512
01:18:25,159 --> 01:18:27,745
then that’s when,
well, one is destroyed.
1513
01:18:27,745 --> 01:18:30,998
I think that Martin Luther King
was one of the better examples,
1514
01:18:30,998 --> 01:18:34,126
and Martin was very good,
as long as he was talking about
1515
01:18:34,126 --> 01:18:36,211
segregation in the South.
1516
01:18:36,211 --> 01:18:39,882
But, when he started talking
about the problem in Vietnam,
1517
01:18:39,882 --> 01:18:43,928
he really got against, um,
Hoover and everybody else.
1518
01:18:43,928 --> 01:18:45,763
And there’s some of us that are
gonna end up being destroyed
1519
01:18:45,763 --> 01:18:49,308
by the thing as it relates
in Nicaragua and El Salvador,
1520
01:18:49,308 --> 01:18:51,810
because people just
don’t want you to discuss
1521
01:18:51,810 --> 01:18:53,979
those kinds of things,
that you should not care
1522
01:18:53,979 --> 01:18:56,065
anything about those people.
1523
01:18:56,065 --> 01:18:58,317
And I don’t see
how you can be a caring person
1524
01:18:58,317 --> 01:19:00,569
and not care about
what’s going on in Nicaragua,
1525
01:19:00,569 --> 01:19:02,988
not care what’s going on
in El Salvador.
1526
01:19:04,323 --> 01:19:06,575
-We met one guy from Guatemala.
-Yeah?
1527
01:19:06,575 --> 01:19:09,578
And he’s got a problem,
his whole generation
1528
01:19:09,578 --> 01:19:12,206
-has got the problem.
-Yeah.
1529
01:19:12,206 --> 01:19:15,209
And it is a chemical
that America banned,
1530
01:19:15,209 --> 01:19:17,002
and they took there, you know.
1531
01:19:17,002 --> 01:19:19,171
But, that’s important
to getting the word out,
1532
01:19:19,171 --> 01:19:20,589
-because we didn’t know that.
-Right.
1533
01:19:20,589 --> 01:19:22,716
As much as we have
been into this,
1534
01:19:22,716 --> 01:19:24,301
as much as we have
taught ourselves,
1535
01:19:24,301 --> 01:19:26,720
we didn’t know that
the United States
1536
01:19:26,720 --> 01:19:28,722
was banning the chemicals
that are bad for us
1537
01:19:28,722 --> 01:19:31,141
and sent ’em to other countries,
and then sent ’em back
1538
01:19:31,141 --> 01:19:32,643
to us through food,
I didn’t know
1539
01:19:32,643 --> 01:19:34,353
that it was dangerous
for my little girl
1540
01:19:34,353 --> 01:19:35,980
to eat a banana
that she just picked up
1541
01:19:35,980 --> 01:19:37,690
out of the grocery store.
1542
01:19:37,690 --> 01:19:41,860
Now they’re talking about we can
survive through a nuclear war,
1543
01:19:41,860 --> 01:19:44,697
which is ridiculous
because they can’t take care
1544
01:19:44,697 --> 01:19:47,908
of small disasters
that’s happening to us now,
1545
01:19:47,908 --> 01:19:49,618
and frankly I don’t wanna die.
1546
01:19:49,618 --> 01:19:51,328
I don’t want my children to die.
1547
01:19:51,328 --> 01:19:54,456
I want to leave ’em with
clean mountains and fresh air,
1548
01:19:54,456 --> 01:19:57,084
and these rivers, I want ’em
to know all these things
1549
01:19:57,084 --> 01:19:58,794
that we’ve growed up knowing.
1550
01:19:58,794 --> 01:20:00,713
And if people don’t realize
that these are the things
1551
01:20:00,713 --> 01:20:02,673
that are happening to us now,
we’re losing it,
1552
01:20:02,673 --> 01:20:04,883
we’re losing it so fast,
1553
01:20:04,883 --> 01:20:08,095
and we’ve gotta save it,
and we can’t
1554
01:20:08,095 --> 01:20:10,097
leave it up to
somebody else to save it.
1555
01:20:10,097 --> 01:20:12,891
We’ve got to,
we’ve gotta say, "No more.
1556
01:20:12,891 --> 01:20:14,643
We don’t want nuclear war,
1557
01:20:14,643 --> 01:20:17,104
or we don’t want
no more bombs built,
1558
01:20:17,104 --> 01:20:19,648
we don’t want no more waste
dumped in the mountains
1559
01:20:19,648 --> 01:20:22,693
and the hollers, we don’t want
no more streams polluted."
1560
01:20:22,693 --> 01:20:25,112
I don’t wanna see fish die.
1561
01:20:25,112 --> 01:20:27,781
And it’s got to be stopped,
it has got to be stopped now,
1562
01:20:27,781 --> 01:20:29,575
it’s gotta be stopped
in our lifetime.
1563
01:20:29,575 --> 01:20:31,910
We’ve gotta stop it
so our children
1564
01:20:31,910 --> 01:20:33,746
will have a lifetime.
1565
01:20:37,332 --> 01:20:41,253
I’m gonna lay down
my burden down by
1566
01:20:41,253 --> 01:20:43,422
Down by the riverside
1567
01:20:43,422 --> 01:20:46,550
-Down by
-Down by the riverside
1568
01:20:46,550 --> 01:20:49,470
-Down by
-Down by the riverside
1569
01:20:49,470 --> 01:20:52,389
I’m gonna lay down my burden
1570
01:20:52,389 --> 01:20:55,309
-Down by
-Down by the riverside
1571
01:20:55,309 --> 01:20:59,146
Ain’t gonna study war no more
1572
01:20:59,146 --> 01:21:02,399
No, I ain’t gonna
study war no more
1573
01:21:02,399 --> 01:21:04,943
I ain’t gonna study war no more
1574
01:21:04,943 --> 01:21:10,532
I ain’t gonna study war no more
1575
01:21:10,532 --> 01:21:13,786
No, I ain’t gonna
study war no more
1576
01:21:13,786 --> 01:21:16,872
No, we ain’t gonna
study war no more
1577
01:21:16,872 --> 01:21:22,378
I ain’t gonna study war no more
1578
01:21:22,378 --> 01:21:25,464
I’m gonna put on
my long white robe
1579
01:21:25,464 --> 01:21:28,801
-Down by
-Down by the riverside
1580
01:21:28,801 --> 01:21:31,303
Down by the riverside
1581
01:21:31,303 --> 01:21:34,181
-Down by
-Down by the riverside
1582
01:21:34,181 --> 01:21:37,184
I’m gonna put on
my long white robe
1583
01:21:37,184 --> 01:21:39,645
-Down by
-Down by the riverside
1584
01:21:39,645 --> 01:21:43,440
Ain’t gonna
study war no more
1585
01:21:43,440 --> 01:21:46,443
No, I ain’t gonna
study war no more
1586
01:21:46,443 --> 01:21:49,363
No, I ain’t gonna
study war no more
1587
01:21:49,363 --> 01:21:55,369
No, I ain’t gonna
study war no more
1588
01:21:55,369 --> 01:21:57,913
No, I ain’t gonna
study war no more
1589
01:21:57,913 --> 01:22:00,833
No, I ain’t gonna
study war no more
1590
01:22:00,833 --> 01:22:06,505
No, I ain’t gonna
study war no more
1591
01:22:06,505 --> 01:22:09,591
I’m gonna lay down
my golden shoe
1592
01:22:09,591 --> 01:22:12,302
-Down by
-Down by the riverside
1593
01:22:12,302 --> 01:22:15,139
-Down by
-Down by the riverside
1594
01:22:15,139 --> 01:22:18,016
-Down by
-Down by the riverside
1595
01:22:18,016 --> 01:22:20,936
I’m gonna lay down
my golden shoe
1596
01:22:20,936 --> 01:22:23,438
-Down by
-Down by the riverside
1597
01:22:23,438 --> 01:22:26,984
I ain’t gonna study war no more
1598
01:22:26,984 --> 01:22:30,070
No, I ain’t gonna
study war no more
1599
01:22:30,070 --> 01:22:33,073
I ain’t gonna study war no more
1600
01:22:33,073 --> 01:22:38,829
I ain’t gonna study war no more
1601
01:22:38,829 --> 01:22:41,456
I ain’t gonna study war no more
1602
01:22:41,456 --> 01:22:44,418
No, I ain’t gonna
study war no more
1603
01:22:44,418 --> 01:22:50,132
I ain’t gonna study war no more
1604
01:22:50,132 --> 01:22:53,010
I’m gonna put on
my golden shoes
1605
01:22:53,010 --> 01:22:55,721
-Down by
-Down by the riverside
1606
01:22:55,721 --> 01:22:58,432
-Down by
-Down by the riverside
1607
01:22:58,432 --> 01:23:01,185
-Down by
-Down by the riverside
1608
01:23:01,185 --> 01:23:04,188
I’m gonna put on
my golden shoes
1609
01:23:04,188 --> 01:23:06,982
-Down by
-Down by the riverside
1610
01:23:06,982 --> 01:23:10,986
To study the war no more
1611
01:23:10,986 --> 01:23:13,197
I ain’t gonna study war no more
1612
01:23:13,197 --> 01:23:16,533
I ain’t gonna study war no more
1613
01:23:16,533 --> 01:23:21,955
Ain’t gonna study war no more
1614
01:23:21,955 --> 01:23:24,791
I ain’t gonna study war no more
1615
01:23:24,791 --> 01:23:27,669
Ain’t gonna study war no more
1616
01:23:27,669 --> 01:23:32,799
Ain’t gonna study war no more
1617
01:23:32,799 --> 01:23:35,385
I’m gonna lay down
my golden sword and shield
1618
01:23:35,385 --> 01:23:38,263
-Down by
-Down by the riverside
1619
01:23:38,263 --> 01:23:41,016
-Down by
-Down by the riverside
1620
01:23:41,016 --> 01:23:43,852
-Down by
-Down by the riverside
1621
01:23:43,852 --> 01:23:46,647
I’m gonna lay down
my golden sword and shield
1622
01:23:46,647 --> 01:23:49,441
-Down by
-Down by the riverside
1623
01:23:49,441 --> 01:23:53,362
To study war no more
1624
01:23:53,362 --> 01:23:55,614
Ain’t gonna study war no more
1625
01:23:55,614 --> 01:23:58,367
I ain’t gonna study war no more
1626
01:23:58,367 --> 01:24:03,872
I ain’t gonna study war no more
1627
01:24:03,872 --> 01:24:06,667
I ain’t gonna study war no more
1628
01:24:06,667 --> 01:24:09,461
No, I ain’t gonna
study war no more
1629
01:24:09,461 --> 01:24:14,883
I ain’t gonna study war no more
1630
01:24:14,883 --> 01:24:17,761
I’m gonna lay down my burden
1631
01:24:17,761 --> 01:24:20,681
-Down by
-Down by the riverside
1632
01:24:20,681 --> 01:24:23,183
-Down by
-Down by the riverside
1633
01:24:23,183 --> 01:24:26,061
-Down by
-Down by the riverside
1634
01:24:26,061 --> 01:24:28,855
I’m gonna lay down my burden
1635
01:24:28,855 --> 01:24:31,608
-Down by
-Down by the riverside
1636
01:24:31,608 --> 01:24:35,779
To study war no more
1637
01:24:35,779 --> 01:24:38,115
I ain’t gonna study war no more
1638
01:24:38,115 --> 01:24:40,951
No, I ain’t gonna
study war no more
1639
01:24:40,951 --> 01:24:46,498
No, I ain’t gonna
study war no more
1640
01:24:46,498 --> 01:24:49,167
I ain’t gonna study war no more
1641
01:24:49,167 --> 01:24:52,129
No, I ain’t gonna
study war no more
1642
01:24:52,129 --> 01:24:57,175
No, I ain’t gonna
study war no more
1643
01:24:57,175 --> 01:25:00,220
I'm gonna ban all
them nuclear bombs
1644
01:25:00,220 --> 01:25:02,764
-Down by
-Down by the riverside
1645
01:25:02,764 --> 01:25:05,392
-Down by
-Down by the riverside
1646
01:25:05,392 --> 01:25:08,353
-Down by
-Down by the riverside
1647
01:25:08,353 --> 01:25:11,189
Gonna ban all
them nuclear bombs
1648
01:25:11,189 --> 01:25:13,859
-Down by
-Down by the riverside
1649
01:25:13,859 --> 01:25:17,612
To study war no more
1650
01:25:17,612 --> 01:25:20,115
No, I ain’t gonna
study war no more
1651
01:25:20,115 --> 01:25:23,118
No, I ain’t gonna
study war no more
1652
01:25:23,118 --> 01:25:28,457
No, I ain’t gonna
study war no more
1653
01:25:28,457 --> 01:25:31,251
No, I ain’t gonna
study war no more
1654
01:25:31,251 --> 01:25:34,087
No, I ain’t gonna
study war no more
1655
01:25:34,087 --> 01:25:39,593
No, I ain’t gonna
study war no more
1656
01:25:39,593 --> 01:25:42,262
I don’t want no more
chemical stuff
1657
01:25:42,262 --> 01:25:45,140
-Down by
-Down by the riverside
1658
01:25:45,140 --> 01:25:47,893
-Down by
-Down by the riverside
1659
01:25:47,893 --> 01:25:50,812
-Down by
-Down by the riverside
1660
01:25:50,812 --> 01:25:53,690
I don’t want no more
chemical stuff
1661
01:25:53,690 --> 01:25:56,443
-Down by
-Down by the riverside
1662
01:25:56,443 --> 01:26:00,238
To study war no more
1663
01:26:00,238 --> 01:26:02,657
I ain’t gonna study war no more
1664
01:26:02,657 --> 01:26:05,535
I ain’t gonna study war no more
1665
01:26:05,535 --> 01:26:11,208
I ain’t gonna study war no more
1666
01:26:11,208 --> 01:26:13,877
I ain’t gonna study war no more
1667
01:26:13,877 --> 01:26:17,130
No, I ain’t gonna
study war no more