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{\an8}♪♪
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{\an8}♪♪
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Dorsey: You don't dream...
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things that you can't imagine.
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I dreamed about just growing up
and being married
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and having a white house
with a white fence
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and staying in it and cooking,
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and I'm sure that came
from my "Dick and Jane" reader.
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In high school,
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I decided I really
wanted to be a secretary
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because I'd seen one someplace,
maybe in a magazine,
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and they they wore
church clothes every day
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and they didn't
have to chop cotton,
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they didn't have to pick cotton,
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they didn't have to be
in the hot sun.
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They set in a nice office
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and I saw pictures of them
talking on telephones,
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and I thought that was
an excellent job to have.
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It would be an excellent way
to spend your life
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if you didn't have the white
house and the picket fence
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and all of that stuff.
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Hayes: And I worked
for White folks every day.
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We'd leave school,
come home, change clothes,
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go to the White folks' place,
so we'd be around their kids.
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We get to fighting with them,
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get in arguments
about civil rights,
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get in arguments about
Black and White issues.
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And we would fight. I mean,
we'd literally bloody-up fight.
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I mean, it was anger,
serious anger.
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I don't remember fear,
but my family, I think,
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was trying to express
fear to us about it.
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You know, to be careful.
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And I remember that my sister,
who was very fat at the time,
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Mama had tried to get her
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to sweep under the bed
with the broom,
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and she always said, "Mama,
I cannot get down on my knees,
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and get under that bed
because I'm too fat."
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Well, one night, the police
came in front of our house.
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They let the dog bark
all night long just about,
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and Jean got down
and got under the bed.
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And Mama said to me,
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"Girl, hand that ol' girl
that broom
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since she already
under the bed," you know.
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So it wasn't all dark.
It was some light moments, too.
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{\an8}♪♪
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♪ Woke up this morning
with my mind ♪
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♪ Stayed on freedom, oh ♪
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♪ Woke up this morning
with my mind ♪
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♪ Stayed on freedom, oh ♪
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♪ Woke up this morning
with my mind ♪
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♪ Stayed on freedom ♪
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♪ Hallelu ♪
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♪ Hallelu ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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Narrator: A generation ago,
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Mississippi was a state
like no other.
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Its Blacks were free
in name only,
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00:03:00,638 --> 00:03:03,892
second-class citizens
in a system unchanged
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00:03:03,975 --> 00:03:06,019
since the turn of the century.
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Most lived without hope,
but a few fought back
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and others, Black and White,
joined with them.
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They were young with no
political power or experience.
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Within four short years,
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they would lead
their ragtag political army
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to the seat of national power.
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In the end, Mississippi
and our country
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would never be the same,
and neither would they.
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♪ Oh, I'm singin' and prayin'
with my mind ♪
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♪ Prayin' on ♪
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♪ Stayed on freedom ♪
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♪ Singin' and prayin'
with my mind ♪
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♪ Stayed on freedom ♪
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♪ Hallelu ♪
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♪ Hallelu ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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{\an8}♪♪
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{\an8}♪♪
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Dorsey:
I started chopping cotton,
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I think, when I was
about 6 or 7,
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and basically I was very happy.
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00:04:13,795 --> 00:04:17,257
{\an8}I mean, I didn't know
that we were poor
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{\an8}because everybody I knew
except the White folks,
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{\an8}which we all knew
lived differently,
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00:04:21,844 --> 00:04:23,304
{\an8}lived the same way we did.
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You know, I thought
we were fine.
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00:04:27,475 --> 00:04:31,646
My father was unable
to read and write.
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He'd never gone to school.
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He was convinced that education
was the only way Black people
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had to get out
of anything they were in.
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The straw boss, the agent,
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00:04:46,119 --> 00:04:48,955
the guy who was hired
to run the operation,
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00:04:49,038 --> 00:04:53,793
like a business manager, was
opposed to us going to school
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when there was work
to be done.
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And he had a rule.
He would go around and say,
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"These kids are too big
to be in school anyway,
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00:05:01,884 --> 00:05:03,344
and they need to be
in the field."
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00:05:03,428 --> 00:05:06,597
And my father was so adamant
about going to school
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00:05:06,681 --> 00:05:09,225
until he would walk us
to the bus stop
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with his gun every morning.
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{\an8}♪♪
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Like it or not, this
is a European civilization,
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{\an8}a White man civilization,
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{\an8}and it --
it should remain that,
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{\an8}with the Negroes considered
to be, more or less, guests.
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You knew you couldn't look
at White women,
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look at them in the eye
without getting in trouble.
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00:05:37,754 --> 00:05:40,089
Because you could be
lynched for our rape,
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00:05:40,173 --> 00:05:42,383
which was really something
that people believed in,
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that you were looking
at a woman
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in a way that indicated you had
bad intentions toward her.
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Man: We have --
we have in Greenwood,
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I think we have
wonderful relations
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with our colored people.
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It has been demonstrated
through the years
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in all of the businesses,
type of businesses.
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The colored people
are very happy, extremely happy
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00:06:03,071 --> 00:06:04,363
in Mississippi.
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00:06:04,447 --> 00:06:06,074
And I think they feel
just as warmly toward us.
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That's a fact.
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00:06:07,617 --> 00:06:10,328
Do you know anybody
that disagrees with that?
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Holland: I went to babysit
for this White family,
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and the White woman
called me upstairs.
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I went on upstairs
in a hurry
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00:06:22,048 --> 00:06:24,509
so as not to keep
the White woman waiting.
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She said, "Mr. Lars
wants to see you."
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And I looked in the bed,
Mr. Lars was laying there
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among the bedclothes.
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{\an8}They were so silky.
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{\an8}And I said, "Yessir, Mr. Lars,
what do you want with me?"
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{\an8}And he immediately pulled me
down into the bed
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{\an8}and had intercourse with me.
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It was -- I was 11 years old.
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That day was my birthday.
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There was no reason
for us to run
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and tell our mother
or our father
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because they couldn't
do anything about it
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00:06:52,161 --> 00:06:54,539
but get killed if they said
something about it.
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So many times, girls, we girls
would talk in the bathroom
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00:06:59,210 --> 00:07:02,004
about it, you know,
never telling our parents,
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00:07:02,088 --> 00:07:04,924
but it happened
very, very frequently.
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{\an8}♪♪
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But after I was raped at 11,
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I started having men
right and left, you know,
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so I was -- I was easy..
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and I walked sassy.
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And I would cuss.
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I could out-cuss a longshoremen.
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{\an8}And I hated it.
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{\an8}I hated it.
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{\an8}I had all kind of fantasies
about it.
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I was fascinated by people
like David and Goliath stories
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when I --
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These were my favorite
biblical characters,
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the cats who kicked folks' butt,
you know?
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You know, and like Moses,
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drowning everybody
in the Red Sea.
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I used to go in the woods.
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I used to go in the back woods
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and preach and scream,
"Fight 'em!"
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Run into bushes and kick trees
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and pretend
they was White folks.
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{\an8}♪♪
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Dorsey: So you learn how to --
how to negotiate your life
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with White folks.
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And I guess you also learn
the fear associated with them
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of -- of how much power
they actually held over you,
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00:08:26,756 --> 00:08:29,508
how they could determine
whether you continue to live
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or whether you die.
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[ Indistinct yelling ]
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{\an8}♪♪
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{\an8}♪♪
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{\an8}♪♪
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Two, four, six, eight,
we don't want to integrate.
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Two, four, six, eight,
we don't want to integrate.
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I'll say for the mothers to
keep their kids out of school.
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Altogether, we --
We are White people.
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00:09:00,122 --> 00:09:01,958
We don't want them to go
to school with niggers.
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00:09:02,041 --> 00:09:03,960
Narrator: The civil rights
movement changed forever
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00:09:04,043 --> 00:09:07,088
the old relationship
between Blacks and Whites.
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00:09:07,171 --> 00:09:12,218
It started in the '50s and
gathered new momentum in 1960,
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00:09:12,301 --> 00:09:14,053
when Black college students
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00:09:14,136 --> 00:09:16,847
began staging sit-ins
and freedom rides.
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00:09:16,931 --> 00:09:19,892
Their dramatic confrontations
at segregated lunch counters
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00:09:19,976 --> 00:09:22,895
and bus stations
stunned the nation
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00:09:22,979 --> 00:09:26,023
and galvanized Blacks
across the South.
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♪ Come all
of you freedom lovers ♪
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-Yeah!
-Yeah!
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♪ The news I have to tell ♪
189
00:09:32,738 --> 00:09:33,823
-Yeah!
-Yeah!
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♪ Of how
those freedom fighters ♪
191
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♪ Came to Mississippi
to dwell ♪
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♪ Oh, which side are you on,
boys ♪
193
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♪ Which side are you on ♪
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And I was really excited
about that.
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00:09:45,293 --> 00:09:47,503
I would run home
every -- every evening
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and listen to it.
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And every weekend
when the newspapers came,
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00:09:51,132 --> 00:09:54,051
we would read about it
in a newspaper.
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00:09:54,135 --> 00:09:57,179
And it was people saying,
"I'm taking this stuff anymore."
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00:09:57,263 --> 00:09:59,265
Who stood right up
and looked him in the eye
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00:09:59,348 --> 00:10:04,228
in a way that I had never seen
anybody do to White folk.
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00:10:04,312 --> 00:10:06,063
♪ Which side are you on ♪
203
00:10:06,147 --> 00:10:10,318
Gray Adams: These young people
were willing to take risks.
204
00:10:10,401 --> 00:10:11,610
They cared enough about
205
00:10:11,694 --> 00:10:13,446
what they thought
was important,
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00:10:13,529 --> 00:10:14,697
what was necessary
207
00:10:14,780 --> 00:10:16,615
to be willing
to do something about it.
208
00:10:16,699 --> 00:10:18,576
And that is what attracted me.
209
00:10:18,659 --> 00:10:21,162
{\an8}That is what attracted me
because
210
00:10:21,245 --> 00:10:24,290
{\an8}I was always out there trying
to do something about something.
211
00:10:24,373 --> 00:10:26,417
{\an8}But the support system
was never there.
212
00:10:26,500 --> 00:10:29,462
{\an8}There was such an enormous
feeling of pride
213
00:10:29,545 --> 00:10:32,798
{\an8}that we all felt in that
activity and that action.
214
00:10:32,882 --> 00:10:34,258
{\an8}It just kind of radiated
all over.
215
00:10:34,342 --> 00:10:36,802
{\an8}It gave you almost chills
to see people
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00:10:36,886 --> 00:10:39,639
actually hitting away at --
217
00:10:39,722 --> 00:10:42,933
at the system of segregation
that existed for so long
218
00:10:43,017 --> 00:10:45,853
and it was young people
a lot like ourselves
219
00:10:45,936 --> 00:10:47,813
and they looked so magnificent.
220
00:10:47,897 --> 00:10:51,150
I mean, both the men
and the women,
221
00:10:51,233 --> 00:10:52,943
and they were so nicely dressed
222
00:10:53,027 --> 00:10:55,071
and -- and that was
a part of it.
223
00:10:55,154 --> 00:10:58,074
I mean, they were all dressed up
and they just gave you
224
00:10:58,157 --> 00:11:01,452
just an overwhelming sense
of pride and accomplishment.
225
00:11:01,535 --> 00:11:03,871
Edwards: I became aware,
as we all were,
226
00:11:03,954 --> 00:11:05,498
that the Freedom Rides started.
227
00:11:05,581 --> 00:11:07,041
The busses were going South,
228
00:11:07,124 --> 00:11:10,461
and they refused to segregate
at the southern borders
229
00:11:10,544 --> 00:11:12,671
where the law would
kick in to police.
230
00:11:12,755 --> 00:11:14,924
{\an8}That is, if you went
from Tennessee to Mississippi,
231
00:11:15,007 --> 00:11:17,176
{\an8}you suddenly had to go
to the back of the bus.
232
00:11:17,259 --> 00:11:19,512
{\an8}Well, the freedom busses
were going down
233
00:11:19,595 --> 00:11:22,056
{\an8}to break the segregated South.
234
00:11:22,139 --> 00:11:23,516
But I don't know
they're Freedom Riders
235
00:11:23,599 --> 00:11:26,852
till the bus stopped in Jackson,
and they get off.
236
00:11:26,936 --> 00:11:29,480
And they go in the White side
and I'm looking at...
237
00:11:31,607 --> 00:11:33,859
Here, for once in my life,
238
00:11:33,943 --> 00:11:38,823
my fantasies were being
played out in real life for me.
239
00:11:38,906 --> 00:11:40,825
I had always wanted
to be in a position
240
00:11:40,908 --> 00:11:44,495
where I could fight
the White man and win.
241
00:11:44,578 --> 00:11:46,872
These people were winners.
I'm with them.
242
00:11:46,956 --> 00:11:50,709
Ganz: This was young people
that were challenging all this,
243
00:11:50,793 --> 00:11:54,171
{\an8}and it was ordinary people
that were challenging all this,
244
00:11:54,255 --> 00:11:57,299
{\an8}and it was like --
245
00:11:57,383 --> 00:11:59,593
{\an8}[ Sighs ]
It was the call.
246
00:11:59,677 --> 00:12:03,097
{\an8}It was the first time
I really heard the call,
247
00:12:03,180 --> 00:12:05,641
{\an8}which is what it was.
248
00:12:05,724 --> 00:12:07,101
Narrator: The students
249
00:12:07,184 --> 00:12:09,562
formed their own integrated
organization called SNCC.
250
00:12:09,645 --> 00:12:12,731
Their symbol -- Black
and White hands joined together.
251
00:12:12,815 --> 00:12:15,609
The Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee
252
00:12:15,693 --> 00:12:18,112
attracted young people
from around the country,
253
00:12:18,195 --> 00:12:22,158
including a young math teacher
from New York City, Bob Moses.
254
00:12:22,241 --> 00:12:24,702
Moses had grown up
in the Harlem projects,
255
00:12:24,785 --> 00:12:27,371
then attended all-White
Hamilton College.
256
00:12:27,455 --> 00:12:31,250
Moses: The sit-ins, when
they broke out, just grabbed me.
257
00:12:31,333 --> 00:12:35,421
The pictures
of the Southern students
258
00:12:35,504 --> 00:12:38,757
and what I became aware of
in looking at them
259
00:12:38,841 --> 00:12:42,761
was that they looked
how I felt,
260
00:12:42,845 --> 00:12:48,517
and I really responded
immediately to that.
261
00:12:48,601 --> 00:12:50,436
Narrator:
On a tour through the South,
262
00:12:50,519 --> 00:12:51,937
Moses met with leaders
263
00:12:52,021 --> 00:12:54,273
of Mississippi's underground
civil rights network --
264
00:12:54,356 --> 00:12:58,903
men like the NAACP's
Amzie Moore and Earl Steptoe.
265
00:12:58,986 --> 00:13:02,239
Moore wanted to take advantage
of the new student energy,
266
00:13:02,323 --> 00:13:03,949
and he persuaded Moses
to head up
267
00:13:04,033 --> 00:13:07,995
SNCC's first voting rights
project in McComb, Mississippi.
268
00:13:08,078 --> 00:13:12,249
There was a pull to go south,
and I discovered SNCC.
269
00:13:12,333 --> 00:13:19,757
{\an8}♪♪
270
00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:24,053
{\an8}♪♪
271
00:13:24,136 --> 00:13:25,804
I was traveling by bus.
272
00:13:25,888 --> 00:13:29,391
And a couple of youngsters
escorted me to the bus station
273
00:13:29,475 --> 00:13:31,685
and they were looking to see,
274
00:13:31,769 --> 00:13:34,396
"Now, where is this
representative of SNCC
275
00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:36,857
going to sit on the bus,"
you know.
276
00:13:36,941 --> 00:13:39,068
So I sat on the front.
277
00:13:39,151 --> 00:13:41,654
It wasn't a long ride,
278
00:13:41,737 --> 00:13:45,032
and there was no one else
on the bus, you know?
279
00:13:45,115 --> 00:13:47,993
So there was never
any confrontation.
280
00:13:48,077 --> 00:13:50,955
{\an8}♪♪
281
00:13:51,038 --> 00:13:52,164
♪ Beat down in ♪
282
00:13:52,248 --> 00:13:53,791
The rumors were going around.
283
00:13:53,874 --> 00:13:56,585
There were some
of these Freedom Riders
284
00:13:56,669 --> 00:13:59,672
who were invading,
you know, the town.
285
00:13:59,755 --> 00:14:01,382
Hayes: And these people
said they the same people
286
00:14:01,465 --> 00:14:05,052
who done beat up the White
folks down in Nashville
287
00:14:05,135 --> 00:14:06,929
and -- and made them submit
288
00:14:07,012 --> 00:14:09,181
to an integrated lunch counter
setup.
289
00:14:09,265 --> 00:14:10,599
And they the same folks
290
00:14:10,683 --> 00:14:12,393
who have been working
on the Freedom Ride.
291
00:14:12,476 --> 00:14:13,602
They're the same folks
292
00:14:13,686 --> 00:14:16,105
who work with Martin
and the boycotts.
293
00:14:16,188 --> 00:14:17,565
They're the same folks
294
00:14:17,648 --> 00:14:19,900
who had the sit-ins
in Greensboro, North Carolina,
295
00:14:19,984 --> 00:14:22,695
and we're here to make
a change in Mississippi.
296
00:14:22,778 --> 00:14:24,947
So I said,
"Goddamn, this is it."
297
00:14:25,030 --> 00:14:26,156
♪ Baby, honey ♪
298
00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:27,616
My sister, at church,
299
00:14:27,700 --> 00:14:31,036
said Martin Luther King's
brother was in McComb.
300
00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:32,621
And so we hits the road.
301
00:14:32,705 --> 00:14:34,707
And somewhere in that night,
we decide to go the next day
302
00:14:34,790 --> 00:14:37,334
and look for
Martin Luther King's brother,
303
00:14:37,418 --> 00:14:40,337
which turns out to be Bob Moses.
304
00:14:40,421 --> 00:14:43,215
Narrator: Moore convinced Moses
that the only way
305
00:14:43,299 --> 00:14:45,718
to crack Mississippi
was through the vote.
306
00:14:45,801 --> 00:14:47,219
The state had half
a million Blacks
307
00:14:47,303 --> 00:14:49,722
but would not allow them
to register.
308
00:14:49,805 --> 00:14:51,140
A voting campaign
309
00:14:51,223 --> 00:14:53,559
could turn the country's
attention to this injustice
310
00:14:53,642 --> 00:14:56,562
and pull the federal government
into their fight.
311
00:14:59,315 --> 00:15:04,486
Now, this strategy was explained
to the feds,
312
00:15:04,570 --> 00:15:06,322
to the Kennedy boys.
313
00:15:06,405 --> 00:15:07,698
They bought into that.
314
00:15:07,781 --> 00:15:10,826
{\an8}Because the Justice Department
believes
315
00:15:10,909 --> 00:15:14,496
{\an8}that if you could break
the caste system in voting
316
00:15:14,580 --> 00:15:18,876
{\an8}and that there was open
and free voting by all people,
317
00:15:18,959 --> 00:15:21,295
that that was the quickest
and best way
318
00:15:21,378 --> 00:15:23,672
to break
the entire caste system.
319
00:15:23,756 --> 00:15:25,257
When these boys
were coming to town,
320
00:15:25,341 --> 00:15:27,801
we'd sit and talk like
we sitting and talking here.
321
00:15:27,885 --> 00:15:29,219
When John Doar
would come to town,
322
00:15:29,303 --> 00:15:31,930
we'd sit and talk like this,
so...
323
00:15:32,014 --> 00:15:35,267
As we would talk about
this stuff within our midst,
324
00:15:35,351 --> 00:15:36,602
there was the understanding
325
00:15:36,685 --> 00:15:39,188
that we were all working
on the same agenda.
326
00:15:39,271 --> 00:15:41,273
{\an3}We want you to come down
to the courthouse tomorrow.
327
00:15:41,357 --> 00:15:44,526
{\an5}Why?
328
00:15:41,357 --> 00:15:44,526
We having a freedom day
for registration
329
00:15:44,610 --> 00:15:47,279
{\an3}and we want you to come down
tomorrow and register.
330
00:15:47,363 --> 00:15:49,948
Now, y'all ain't gonna march.
I can't march.
331
00:15:50,032 --> 00:15:51,325
No, ma'am,
we not gonna march.
332
00:15:51,408 --> 00:15:52,743
We just gonna go down
to the courthouse.
333
00:15:52,826 --> 00:15:54,828
{\an5}Because I ain't.
334
00:15:52,826 --> 00:15:54,828
Yes, ma'am, we understand.
335
00:15:54,912 --> 00:15:56,580
See, the strategy was
you'd go out
336
00:15:56,664 --> 00:15:58,582
and talk to people
about voter registration,
337
00:15:58,666 --> 00:15:59,917
bring them to the class,
338
00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:01,460
teach them how to interpret
the Constitution,
339
00:16:01,543 --> 00:16:03,962
take them to the registrar's
office the next day.
340
00:16:04,046 --> 00:16:05,756
And I really think
that this is something
341
00:16:05,839 --> 00:16:07,466
that I can do
the rest of my life
342
00:16:07,549 --> 00:16:10,636
and will still be something
here to be done in this area.
343
00:16:10,719 --> 00:16:14,765
Bob's focus was to try to
just hit all these little towns
344
00:16:14,848 --> 00:16:19,019
around McComb -- Tylertown,
Amite, Magnolia.
345
00:16:19,103 --> 00:16:20,813
I think we ended up
in Brookhaven,
346
00:16:20,896 --> 00:16:24,358
knocking on doors and trying to
get people to register to vote.
347
00:16:24,441 --> 00:16:27,361
I don't remember
a break from that day.
348
00:16:27,444 --> 00:16:30,155
For me, I think that was
the river of no return.
349
00:16:31,532 --> 00:16:33,826
President Kennedy:
A great change is at hand,
350
00:16:33,909 --> 00:16:38,539
{\an8}and our task, our obligation
is to make that revolution,
351
00:16:38,622 --> 00:16:42,626
{\an8}that change peaceful
and constructive for all.
352
00:16:42,710 --> 00:16:46,505
{\an8}Those who do nothing
are inviting shame
353
00:16:46,588 --> 00:16:48,340
{\an8}as well as violence.
354
00:16:48,424 --> 00:16:49,717
{\an8}Those who act boldly
355
00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:53,679
{\an8}are recognizing right
as well as reality.
356
00:16:53,762 --> 00:16:58,517
{\an8}Friends, I'm a Mississippi
segregationist,
357
00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:00,811
{\an8}and I am proud of it.
358
00:17:00,894 --> 00:17:02,855
{\an8}[ Applause ]
359
00:17:02,938 --> 00:17:04,231
Narrator: In 1960,
360
00:17:04,314 --> 00:17:06,984
the Democratic Party
became a house divided.
361
00:17:07,067 --> 00:17:09,361
John Kennedy occupied
the White House,
362
00:17:09,445 --> 00:17:13,157
but Democrats called Dixiecrats
ruled the South
363
00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:17,202
and resisted
any attempts at change.
364
00:17:17,286 --> 00:17:20,497
Man #2: Our forefathers did
not intend to share this country
365
00:17:20,581 --> 00:17:25,210
with the Japanese or the Eskimo
or the Negro as equals
366
00:17:25,294 --> 00:17:27,629
because civilization
and savagery
367
00:17:27,713 --> 00:17:29,298
can never be equal.
368
00:17:29,381 --> 00:17:30,883
Narrator: In Mississippi,
369
00:17:30,966 --> 00:17:33,010
segregation was written
into the bylaws
370
00:17:33,093 --> 00:17:35,179
of the state's
Democratic Party,
371
00:17:35,262 --> 00:17:38,891
and it was carried out by an
official alliance of lawmakers,
372
00:17:38,974 --> 00:17:43,353
police forces,
and White citizens' councils.
373
00:17:43,437 --> 00:17:46,398
The Magnolia state
would be the battleground
374
00:17:46,482 --> 00:17:48,650
for the South's last stand.
375
00:17:48,734 --> 00:17:51,445
[ "Dixie" playing ]
376
00:17:51,528 --> 00:17:54,490
Moses: From the governor
through the legislature,
377
00:17:54,573 --> 00:17:57,826
through the judiciary,
down through the sheriffs
378
00:17:57,910 --> 00:18:02,080
and all the counties
and the highway patrolmen,
379
00:18:02,164 --> 00:18:05,959
the whole state
was organized
380
00:18:06,043 --> 00:18:09,421
to promote and enforce racism.
381
00:18:09,505 --> 00:18:10,881
Right?
382
00:18:10,964 --> 00:18:15,010
And it was a kind of little
South African enclave
383
00:18:15,093 --> 00:18:16,845
within the United States.
384
00:18:16,929 --> 00:18:19,431
We have had experience
in the past
385
00:18:19,515 --> 00:18:22,392
with Negro political domination.
386
00:18:22,476 --> 00:18:25,020
It was known
as the Reconstruction.
387
00:18:25,103 --> 00:18:27,981
There are some who call
this present attempt
388
00:18:28,065 --> 00:18:30,275
to build up political power
389
00:18:30,359 --> 00:18:36,115
through the mass registration
of unqualified Negro voters
390
00:18:36,198 --> 00:18:37,866
the Second Reconstruction.
391
00:18:37,950 --> 00:18:41,245
They were very strict on that
voter registration question.
392
00:18:41,328 --> 00:18:44,122
It was like, "Y'all ain't
gonna register to vote, period."
393
00:18:44,206 --> 00:18:46,792
No, you didn't pass it.
You see there?
394
00:18:46,875 --> 00:18:48,126
You didn't fill out --
395
00:18:48,210 --> 00:18:50,087
You just filled out
that part.
396
00:18:50,170 --> 00:18:51,922
You didn't write
anything in there.
397
00:18:52,005 --> 00:18:53,257
You didn't pass it.
398
00:18:53,340 --> 00:18:57,010
{\an1}You have to fill it out
complete before you pass.
399
00:19:00,472 --> 00:19:02,307
They failed me and told me
400
00:19:02,391 --> 00:19:04,977
I was disqualified
to register.
401
00:19:05,060 --> 00:19:06,478
My son -- four years
in college,
402
00:19:06,562 --> 00:19:08,689
and he's the secretary
of the NAACP.
403
00:19:08,772 --> 00:19:10,232
And he didn't pass.
404
00:19:10,315 --> 00:19:13,193
Nobody asked me any question
except how old I was
405
00:19:13,277 --> 00:19:17,030
and didn't ask any
interpretation of anything.
406
00:19:17,114 --> 00:19:18,824
And I said,
"Well, I-I can't answer that."
407
00:19:18,907 --> 00:19:20,659
And then he laughed,
and he says,
408
00:19:20,742 --> 00:19:23,871
"Well, this is the question
that we give to some,"
409
00:19:23,954 --> 00:19:26,456
meaning that this was
the question that they give
410
00:19:26,540 --> 00:19:28,041
to many of the Negroes,
411
00:19:28,125 --> 00:19:31,420
a question that they knew
that they couldn't answer.
412
00:19:31,503 --> 00:19:34,173
Narrator: SNCC joined with other
civil rights groups like CORE
413
00:19:34,256 --> 00:19:36,884
and the NAACP to form COFO,
414
00:19:36,967 --> 00:19:39,845
the Council of
Federated Organizations.
415
00:19:39,928 --> 00:19:41,513
Word of their efforts
spread quickly
416
00:19:41,597 --> 00:19:45,183
through the surrounding counties
and local Whites responded,
417
00:19:45,267 --> 00:19:46,643
Mississippi style.
418
00:19:46,727 --> 00:19:49,980
♪ Well, you can count them
one by one ♪
419
00:19:50,063 --> 00:19:52,274
♪ It could be your son ♪
420
00:19:52,357 --> 00:19:54,735
♪ Count them two by two ♪
421
00:19:54,818 --> 00:19:56,862
♪ It could be me or you ♪
422
00:19:56,945 --> 00:19:59,531
♪ Count them three by three ♪
423
00:19:59,615 --> 00:20:03,076
Doar: Southwest Mississippi
was peculiar even for that area
424
00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:07,873
because it was like you
were back in the 17th century.
425
00:20:07,956 --> 00:20:09,917
It was very rural.
426
00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:13,128
It was isolated and it was.
427
00:20:13,211 --> 00:20:15,255
It was mean country.
428
00:20:15,339 --> 00:20:18,550
♪ Count them five by five ♪
429
00:20:18,634 --> 00:20:21,178
Man #3: Several of us
were actually beaten,
430
00:20:21,261 --> 00:20:24,765
and I was arrested also
in connection
431
00:20:24,848 --> 00:20:27,976
with taking people
to the registrar's office.
432
00:20:28,060 --> 00:20:30,771
♪ In Mississippi,
they got it fixed ♪
433
00:20:30,854 --> 00:20:33,815
Narrator: Less than three months
after Moses' arrival,
434
00:20:33,899 --> 00:20:36,902
a White state legislator
named E.H. Hurst
435
00:20:36,985 --> 00:20:38,487
{\an8}drew his revolver
on a Black man
436
00:20:38,570 --> 00:20:41,865
{\an8}involved in the voter
registration campaign.
437
00:20:41,949 --> 00:20:45,410
Herbert Lee, a member
of the NAACP,
438
00:20:45,494 --> 00:20:47,496
farmer and father of nine,
439
00:20:47,579 --> 00:20:50,123
was killed by a bullet
to the head.
440
00:20:50,207 --> 00:20:53,085
Hurst claimed self-defense
and was acquitted.
441
00:20:53,168 --> 00:20:54,836
Herbert Lee was one of the first
people to go down
442
00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:56,296
and register
to vote in Amite County
443
00:20:56,380 --> 00:20:59,549
that Bob had taken down.
444
00:20:59,633 --> 00:21:02,219
Moses:
Hurst and Lee knew each other,
445
00:21:02,302 --> 00:21:05,681
played together
when they were young.
446
00:21:05,764 --> 00:21:10,978
Even into their adult life
had helped each other,
447
00:21:11,061 --> 00:21:16,733
but Hurst was deeply affected
by Lee's involvement
448
00:21:16,817 --> 00:21:19,319
in this kind
of political activity.
449
00:21:19,403 --> 00:21:23,323
And he felt that it was
within his purveyance
450
00:21:23,407 --> 00:21:27,452
to actually --
to assassinate Lee.
451
00:21:27,536 --> 00:21:32,791
♪ We have walked through ♪
452
00:21:32,874 --> 00:21:37,045
♪ The shadows of death ♪
453
00:21:37,129 --> 00:21:41,216
Moses: We took it upon ourselves
to go out nightly
454
00:21:41,299 --> 00:21:47,014
searching for people who had
witnessed the killings.
455
00:21:47,097 --> 00:21:50,434
It was really very scary.
456
00:21:50,517 --> 00:21:53,228
You were afraid
of every headlight
457
00:21:53,311 --> 00:21:56,481
that came up either behind you
or passed you.
458
00:21:56,565 --> 00:22:00,235
♪ Turn back ♪
459
00:22:00,318 --> 00:22:01,862
I mean, it was terrible,
460
00:22:01,945 --> 00:22:05,323
but we -- we looked
to see what jurisdic--
461
00:22:05,407 --> 00:22:08,326
We tried to have --
We had an FBI investigation.
462
00:22:08,410 --> 00:22:11,663
We never were able to make
a criminal case out of that.
463
00:22:11,747 --> 00:22:13,665
That was our first encounter
with this.
464
00:22:13,749 --> 00:22:17,669
And in many ways,
I was directly involved
465
00:22:17,753 --> 00:22:21,298
and took -- felt
personal responsibility.
466
00:22:21,381 --> 00:22:24,593
Well...
467
00:22:24,676 --> 00:22:28,430
well, a problem there
is that many --
468
00:22:28,513 --> 00:22:31,349
I had to come to grips
with that problem
469
00:22:31,433 --> 00:22:32,434
a long time ago
470
00:22:32,517 --> 00:22:34,352
in terms in my own self.
471
00:22:34,436 --> 00:22:36,730
And there's
a real moral question
472
00:22:36,813 --> 00:22:39,649
in terms of involvement
of other people.
473
00:22:39,733 --> 00:22:41,526
Um...
474
00:22:41,610 --> 00:22:44,738
one way is that to --
to be very careful
475
00:22:44,821 --> 00:22:47,240
about telling people
about the risks involved
476
00:22:47,324 --> 00:22:48,533
so that there is no --
477
00:22:48,617 --> 00:22:51,119
So that they have their own
decision to make
478
00:22:51,203 --> 00:22:53,538
as to whether they're willing
to risk that --
479
00:22:53,622 --> 00:22:54,790
that kind of danger.
480
00:22:54,873 --> 00:22:58,335
And -- and the question
of personal fear
481
00:22:58,418 --> 00:23:01,588
just has to be
constantly fraught.
482
00:23:01,671 --> 00:23:05,425
I mean, it's just something
that's an inside question.
483
00:23:05,509 --> 00:23:08,887
{\an8}♪♪
484
00:23:08,970 --> 00:23:11,264
Man #4: To which
there's no easy answer.
485
00:23:11,348 --> 00:23:14,810
I-I don't know
if there's an answer at all.
486
00:23:14,893 --> 00:23:19,064
♪ Turn back ♪
487
00:23:19,147 --> 00:23:22,526
And I remember Bob just
devastated by what had happened.
488
00:23:22,609 --> 00:23:24,903
By this time, Bob is my --
489
00:23:24,986 --> 00:23:27,239
You know, he's my little Jesus,
you know what I'm saying?
490
00:23:27,322 --> 00:23:30,117
And I'm angry.
I mean, to see him sad was like,
491
00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:32,244
you know, that was enough for me
to go find the cat
492
00:23:32,327 --> 00:23:33,912
that killed Herbert Lee myself,
you know.
493
00:23:33,995 --> 00:23:39,459
That really sort of symbolized
signing over in blood,
494
00:23:39,543 --> 00:23:41,086
right, to this struggle.
495
00:23:41,169 --> 00:23:43,296
So that was clear now --
496
00:23:43,380 --> 00:23:47,425
"Well, they will have to kill us
to get us out of here."
497
00:23:47,509 --> 00:23:54,015
♪ Never turn back ♪
498
00:23:54,099 --> 00:23:58,603
Narrator: COFO set out to
organize the rest of the state.
499
00:23:58,687 --> 00:24:00,772
This was something
that we had not had,
500
00:24:00,856 --> 00:24:03,275
we had not really thought
about it a lot.
501
00:24:03,358 --> 00:24:04,442
Certainly I had not.
502
00:24:04,526 --> 00:24:05,694
It was just something
503
00:24:05,777 --> 00:24:07,195
you expected never
to participate in.
504
00:24:07,279 --> 00:24:09,030
And all of a sudden,
whatever had been going on
505
00:24:09,114 --> 00:24:11,283
in the rest of the world
was coming to Mississippi,
506
00:24:11,366 --> 00:24:14,202
and we were gonna
be part of it.
507
00:24:14,286 --> 00:24:16,037
We had heard about people
who have been beaten.
508
00:24:16,121 --> 00:24:18,248
We've known about the folks
who had been killed
509
00:24:18,331 --> 00:24:20,000
for trying to exercise
this privilege.
510
00:24:20,083 --> 00:24:21,793
When they got to Shelby,
we were ready.
511
00:24:21,877 --> 00:24:24,171
We were just, "Tell us what
to do and where to go."
512
00:24:24,254 --> 00:24:25,922
♪ Get your rights, Jack ♪
513
00:24:26,006 --> 00:24:30,135
♪ And don't be a 'Tom' no more,
no more, no more, no more ♪
514
00:24:30,218 --> 00:24:31,970
♪ Get your rights, Jack ♪
515
00:24:32,053 --> 00:24:35,849
♪ And don't be a 'Tom' no more ♪
516
00:24:35,932 --> 00:24:39,227
We'd go and we'd go to the
church and make up the flyers
517
00:24:39,311 --> 00:24:40,520
and pass them out
518
00:24:40,604 --> 00:24:42,898
and people come to church.
and we'd talk.
519
00:24:42,981 --> 00:24:46,693
And if somebody come tell us
we got to get out of town,
520
00:24:46,776 --> 00:24:48,486
we get on out of town
and go to the next town.
521
00:24:48,570 --> 00:24:51,489
♪ Oh, CORE, oh, CORE, don't
you treat me this way ♪
522
00:24:51,573 --> 00:24:54,284
♪ I'll take my freedom ride
someday ♪
523
00:24:54,367 --> 00:24:57,245
♪ Oh, no, you won't
'cause it's understood ♪
524
00:24:57,329 --> 00:25:00,332
♪ You're an Uncle Tom
and you're just no good ♪
525
00:25:00,415 --> 00:25:03,335
Dorsey: And we were eagerly
anticipating the folks
526
00:25:03,418 --> 00:25:05,837
coming to bring freedom
to Mississippi.
527
00:25:05,921 --> 00:25:07,214
♪ That's right ♪
528
00:25:07,297 --> 00:25:08,673
Hayes:
We'd load up in the car
529
00:25:08,757 --> 00:25:10,133
and we get over there
early in the morning.
530
00:25:10,217 --> 00:25:11,885
We stop at this big,
fat preacher's house
531
00:25:11,968 --> 00:25:14,012
and tell him
what we were there for.
532
00:25:14,095 --> 00:25:15,889
And he's so excited.
533
00:25:15,972 --> 00:25:18,433
And his wife starts
bringing out the sausage
534
00:25:18,516 --> 00:25:20,685
and the biscuits
and the molasses and the milk.
535
00:25:20,769 --> 00:25:22,687
And every time
we emptied the table,
536
00:25:22,771 --> 00:25:24,022
she'd bring out some more
537
00:25:24,105 --> 00:25:26,149
and we just eat ourselves
to death.
538
00:25:26,233 --> 00:25:28,944
♪ Oh, no, you won't
'cause it's understood ♪
539
00:25:29,027 --> 00:25:31,571
Holland: I heard there's some
outside agitators
540
00:25:31,655 --> 00:25:34,366
had come to town
to stir up trouble
541
00:25:34,449 --> 00:25:36,701
between the White
and the coloreds
542
00:25:36,785 --> 00:25:39,537
and that they weren't gonna
have anything to do with them.
543
00:25:39,621 --> 00:25:41,373
I immediately start
looking for them
544
00:25:41,456 --> 00:25:43,333
because if they was
new men in town,
545
00:25:43,416 --> 00:25:45,210
I wanted to turn
a trick with them.
546
00:25:45,293 --> 00:25:48,004
I figured maybe
they'd have some money.
547
00:25:48,088 --> 00:25:50,882
I was trying to walk behind them
and talk.
548
00:25:50,966 --> 00:25:53,635
"Hey, hey, there.
Hey, you." You know?
549
00:25:53,718 --> 00:25:56,638
He wasn't excited about me
and all he was interested in
550
00:25:56,721 --> 00:25:59,516
is getting me
into the office to work.
551
00:25:59,599 --> 00:26:01,935
So when he opened
the door to go inside,
552
00:26:02,018 --> 00:26:05,146
I looked inside
and I saw Emma Belle,
553
00:26:05,230 --> 00:26:08,733
who's a legend
in the civil rights movement.
554
00:26:08,817 --> 00:26:11,653
I saw her sitting
at a typewriter, typing,
555
00:26:11,736 --> 00:26:13,488
and I had never seen
a Black woman
556
00:26:13,571 --> 00:26:15,991
that could type
like this woman could type.
557
00:26:16,074 --> 00:26:17,742
You know, she was typing.
558
00:26:17,826 --> 00:26:20,245
She wasn't even looking down
at the paper.
559
00:26:20,328 --> 00:26:23,123
So I said to myself,
"Oh, she's -- she's typing
560
00:26:23,206 --> 00:26:24,916
a whole lot of P's and Q's.
561
00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:27,335
She don't know
what's she doing."
562
00:26:27,419 --> 00:26:29,587
And I went on
inside the office.
563
00:26:29,671 --> 00:26:33,008
I was scared to death
because Mama had told me,
564
00:26:33,091 --> 00:26:35,552
"Don't go down near there,
fooling with those folks"
565
00:26:35,635 --> 00:26:38,305
because she had to live
in this town.
566
00:26:38,388 --> 00:26:39,556
And I went on inside.
567
00:26:39,639 --> 00:26:41,766
The first thing I did
once I got inside
568
00:26:41,850 --> 00:26:43,935
was go look over
Emma Belle's shoulder
569
00:26:44,019 --> 00:26:45,979
and see what
she really was typing.
570
00:26:46,062 --> 00:26:47,480
She hadn't missed a word.
571
00:26:47,564 --> 00:26:51,067
The people had read
in the state newspapers,
572
00:26:51,151 --> 00:26:54,946
you know, the regular media
that these people are communist,
573
00:26:55,030 --> 00:26:56,948
these people are, et cetera.
574
00:26:57,032 --> 00:26:59,743
And the Black community
was about as afraid of them
575
00:26:59,826 --> 00:27:01,077
as anybody else, you know?
576
00:27:01,161 --> 00:27:03,788
My mother was dismayed.
577
00:27:03,872 --> 00:27:06,583
She was scared.
She was disgusted.
578
00:27:06,666 --> 00:27:10,462
She would always say to my other
sister and brothers,
579
00:27:10,545 --> 00:27:13,381
"When this old girl,
this child that I've had,
580
00:27:13,465 --> 00:27:15,633
she's the biggest fool
in the world.
581
00:27:15,717 --> 00:27:18,011
She'll run out there
and get involved
582
00:27:18,094 --> 00:27:19,554
against the White folk."
583
00:27:19,637 --> 00:27:21,931
And she would always tell me,
"Girl, don't you bring
584
00:27:22,015 --> 00:27:24,142
none of them Freedom Riders
here to my house."
585
00:27:24,225 --> 00:27:27,937
Not a single church would --
would -- would receive them.
586
00:27:28,021 --> 00:27:32,233
And so we opened St. John
to them in Palmers Crossing.
587
00:27:32,317 --> 00:27:37,405
We have been thinking that
the White people kept us down,
588
00:27:37,489 --> 00:27:39,324
but they didn't.
You know what did it?
589
00:27:39,407 --> 00:27:41,201
Our fear...
590
00:27:41,284 --> 00:27:43,787
of a jailhouse kept us down.
591
00:27:43,870 --> 00:27:45,497
[ Cheers and applause ]
592
00:27:45,580 --> 00:27:47,999
Hayes: We would quote
from the Bible sometimes.
593
00:27:48,083 --> 00:27:49,459
We'd make a subject and a text
594
00:27:49,542 --> 00:27:51,294
just like the preacher
would do it.
595
00:27:51,378 --> 00:27:52,879
You know, I remember
my favorite sermon
596
00:27:52,962 --> 00:27:55,840
was Moses and his stick
and the stick was the vote.
597
00:27:55,924 --> 00:27:57,342
Gray Adams:
And then they completed that
598
00:27:57,425 --> 00:27:59,010
by asking for a show of hands
599
00:27:59,094 --> 00:28:01,679
of people
who would be willing to go down
600
00:28:01,763 --> 00:28:03,264
to the courthouse tomorrow.
601
00:28:03,348 --> 00:28:05,809
I expected to see
lots of hands go up.
602
00:28:05,892 --> 00:28:09,020
They didn't,
so, you know, I...
603
00:28:09,104 --> 00:28:13,233
raised mine
and, uh, three men --
604
00:28:13,316 --> 00:28:16,861
bus drivers,
school-bus drivers,
605
00:28:16,945 --> 00:28:18,988
We were the ones
who committed
606
00:28:19,072 --> 00:28:21,866
to going to the courthouse.
607
00:28:21,950 --> 00:28:26,955
We went down today
and by...tonight,
608
00:28:27,038 --> 00:28:29,207
probably the bus drivers
didn't have a job,
609
00:28:29,290 --> 00:28:31,501
certainly not later
than the next day.
610
00:28:31,584 --> 00:28:33,211
All the bus drivers
had been fired.
611
00:28:33,294 --> 00:28:36,381
One day I was up
in North Bolivar County,
612
00:28:36,464 --> 00:28:38,925
someplace on a plantation,
613
00:28:39,008 --> 00:28:41,678
and I went up to this White man
and told him who I was
614
00:28:41,761 --> 00:28:45,140
and that I wanted to see
if he had any objection
615
00:28:45,223 --> 00:28:47,809
to me talking to his people
about registered to vote.
616
00:28:47,892 --> 00:28:49,978
And he was so nice.
He said, "No, I don't."
617
00:28:50,061 --> 00:28:51,980
I was saying, "Gee, this is
gonna be a piece of cake."
618
00:28:52,063 --> 00:28:54,566
And as I was walking away,
he called to me and said,
619
00:28:54,649 --> 00:28:58,403
"Oh, by the way, when you finish
registering them to vote,
620
00:28:58,486 --> 00:28:59,863
don't bring them back here.
621
00:28:59,946 --> 00:29:01,364
Take them to your house."
622
00:29:04,451 --> 00:29:05,869
And that just stopped me cold
623
00:29:05,952 --> 00:29:08,997
because I was living
in this condemned house myself
624
00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:11,791
that wasn't fit
for people to be living in.
625
00:29:11,875 --> 00:29:15,295
I had no place, I had no job.
626
00:29:15,378 --> 00:29:18,381
{\an8}♪♪
627
00:29:18,465 --> 00:29:22,385
You asking people to challenge
the system and traditions,
628
00:29:22,469 --> 00:29:25,180
and you had to be prepared
for the responsibility
629
00:29:25,263 --> 00:29:26,598
of what happened to those folks
630
00:29:26,681 --> 00:29:29,267
when -- when they followed
your instructions
631
00:29:29,350 --> 00:29:30,768
or listened to your pleadings
632
00:29:30,852 --> 00:29:33,521
or decide to join a movement
with you on the spot
633
00:29:33,605 --> 00:29:35,899
that you became responsible
for the folks
634
00:29:35,982 --> 00:29:38,776
and their families
and their welfare.
635
00:29:38,860 --> 00:29:45,992
{\an8}♪♪
636
00:29:46,075 --> 00:29:49,037
Hayes: The delta was
really a terrible sight
637
00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:50,288
during this period.
638
00:29:50,371 --> 00:29:52,290
I mean, you drive
through this plantation,
639
00:29:52,373 --> 00:29:57,962
a plantation shack was really
a one-room house falling down.
640
00:29:58,046 --> 00:30:01,758
That was the typical plantation
shack with pieces of lumber
641
00:30:01,841 --> 00:30:05,303
and tin and stuff flying
different directions
642
00:30:05,386 --> 00:30:08,556
and rotted porches
and hanging doors
643
00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:09,849
and busted-out windows.
644
00:30:09,933 --> 00:30:12,060
I mean, it was just
terrible conditions
645
00:30:12,143 --> 00:30:13,478
that people would be living in.
646
00:30:13,561 --> 00:30:18,816
{\an8}♪♪
647
00:30:18,900 --> 00:30:24,030
{\an8}♪♪
648
00:30:24,113 --> 00:30:26,324
Woman:
I've been tied a long time
649
00:30:26,407 --> 00:30:28,826
in the state of Mississippi,
650
00:30:28,910 --> 00:30:30,995
living in the county
651
00:30:31,079 --> 00:30:34,165
where James O. Eastland,
the senator,
652
00:30:34,249 --> 00:30:38,711
and Senator Stennis
can go to Washington
653
00:30:38,795 --> 00:30:41,297
and tell the people
that the people of Mississippi,
654
00:30:41,381 --> 00:30:46,177
the Negroes, are getting
along good and we are satisfied.
655
00:30:46,261 --> 00:30:49,305
But I want him to know this --
both of them --
656
00:30:49,389 --> 00:30:50,682
we are not satisfied,
657
00:30:50,765 --> 00:30:52,600
and we haven't
been satisfied a long time.
658
00:30:52,684 --> 00:30:54,477
♪ We're gonna walk, walk ♪
659
00:30:54,561 --> 00:30:56,396
♪ We're gonna walk, walk ♪
660
00:30:56,479 --> 00:30:58,523
♪ We're gonna walk, walk ♪
661
00:30:58,606 --> 00:31:01,109
♪ With your mind on freedom ♪
662
00:31:01,192 --> 00:31:04,654
There was this wonderful
woman on the bus there
663
00:31:04,737 --> 00:31:08,449
who sang every church song
that you can imagine.
664
00:31:08,533 --> 00:31:13,121
And she really sort of lit
up the bus with her spirit.
665
00:31:13,204 --> 00:31:15,915
♪ Let my people go ♪
666
00:31:15,999 --> 00:31:18,084
Moses: She was our mama
in the movement.
667
00:31:18,167 --> 00:31:19,794
I mean, she was, like,
668
00:31:19,877 --> 00:31:21,796
she represented
that spirit for us.
669
00:31:21,879 --> 00:31:24,882
♪ Over the hills
and everywhere ♪
670
00:31:24,966 --> 00:31:27,302
Moses: We were all children,
671
00:31:27,385 --> 00:31:29,762
and she was one of those
who came forward
672
00:31:29,846 --> 00:31:31,472
to tell us something.
673
00:31:31,556 --> 00:31:34,267
♪ Let my people go ♪
674
00:31:34,350 --> 00:31:37,562
Hamer:
You can pray until you faint.
675
00:31:37,645 --> 00:31:40,690
But if you don't get up
and try to do something,
676
00:31:40,773 --> 00:31:43,568
God is not gonna put it
in your lap.
677
00:31:43,651 --> 00:31:46,154
Narrator: Fannie Lou Hamer had
been a plantation timekeeper
678
00:31:46,237 --> 00:31:47,739
for 18 years.
679
00:31:47,822 --> 00:31:51,701
The day she registered to vote,
she was fired and evicted.
680
00:31:51,784 --> 00:31:55,121
She joined SNCC
as a full-time field secretary
681
00:31:55,204 --> 00:31:58,291
and became a powerful voice
in the civil rights movement.
682
00:31:58,374 --> 00:32:00,293
Hamer: We are not afraid.
683
00:32:00,376 --> 00:32:06,090
♪ We are not afraid ♪
684
00:32:06,174 --> 00:32:08,509
Moses: Mrs. Hamer was
an inspiration, I think,
685
00:32:08,593 --> 00:32:10,053
to everyone.
686
00:32:10,136 --> 00:32:13,681
She really represented
what everyone
687
00:32:13,765 --> 00:32:17,268
was trying to organize for
and struggle for,
688
00:32:17,352 --> 00:32:23,733
which was the transformation
from the bottom of the society,
689
00:32:23,816 --> 00:32:26,277
the people who were
sharecroppers
690
00:32:26,361 --> 00:32:31,074
living on those plantations,
the promise of their being able
691
00:32:31,157 --> 00:32:35,995
to find their inner spirit
and energy
692
00:32:36,079 --> 00:32:41,459
and put that to the service
of a great social movement.
693
00:32:41,542 --> 00:32:43,670
And Mrs. Hamer,
more than anyone else,
694
00:32:43,753 --> 00:32:46,881
came to symbolize
that transformation.
695
00:32:46,964 --> 00:32:51,302
You see, we are human beings,
and we are not stopping now
696
00:32:51,386 --> 00:32:53,596
till we get something
that's better.
697
00:32:53,680 --> 00:32:56,391
We worked all these years
for nothing.
698
00:32:56,474 --> 00:33:00,478
Women have gone to the field
and worked from 10 to 12 hours
699
00:33:00,561 --> 00:33:02,105
for $3 a day.
700
00:33:02,188 --> 00:33:04,524
And I know what it is to suffer.
701
00:33:04,607 --> 00:33:06,859
And I know what
it is to be hungry,
702
00:33:06,943 --> 00:33:09,112
and we are not going to stop
703
00:33:09,195 --> 00:33:11,447
even if I have
to give up my life.
704
00:33:11,531 --> 00:33:13,282
We'll make it better
for some child.
705
00:33:13,366 --> 00:33:17,662
♪ Oh, I've got the light
of freedom ♪
706
00:33:17,745 --> 00:33:20,289
♪ I'm gonna let it shine ♪
707
00:33:20,373 --> 00:33:23,543
♪ Oh, I've got the light
of freedom ♪
708
00:33:23,626 --> 00:33:25,503
So the excitement was --
709
00:33:25,586 --> 00:33:27,630
was -- was this feeling
of camaraderie,
710
00:33:27,714 --> 00:33:30,133
just knowing that you had
somebody with you
711
00:33:30,216 --> 00:33:32,427
that was putting their life
on the line
712
00:33:32,510 --> 00:33:35,638
just like you and a belief
that you are invincible,
713
00:33:35,722 --> 00:33:37,932
the belief
that your cause was right.
714
00:33:38,015 --> 00:33:39,809
♪ In the streets, Lord ♪
715
00:33:39,892 --> 00:33:41,728
♪ I'm gonna let it shine ♪
716
00:33:41,811 --> 00:33:43,521
♪ Oh, ho ho ♪
717
00:33:43,604 --> 00:33:45,982
All of a sudden,
for the first time in my life,
718
00:33:46,065 --> 00:33:48,192
I'm accepted.
I'm part of the family.
719
00:33:48,276 --> 00:33:50,278
I'm part of the community.
I'm treated as an equal.
720
00:33:50,361 --> 00:33:52,363
I'm treated as somebody
who can be listened to,
721
00:33:52,447 --> 00:33:55,366
who have ideas,
who have something contribute.
722
00:33:55,450 --> 00:33:57,660
♪ Let it shine, let it shine ♪
723
00:33:57,744 --> 00:33:59,829
♪ Let it shine ♪
724
00:33:59,912 --> 00:34:01,247
Alright.
725
00:34:01,330 --> 00:34:04,500
♪ Well, I woke up this morning
with my mind ♪
726
00:34:04,584 --> 00:34:07,044
Holland: The movement
was the beginning
727
00:34:07,128 --> 00:34:08,379
of me finding myself.
728
00:34:08,463 --> 00:34:09,714
I felt that the movement
729
00:34:09,797 --> 00:34:12,216
is the greatest thing
I've ever seen,
730
00:34:12,300 --> 00:34:16,596
and I had a respect for people
who started taken the stand
731
00:34:16,679 --> 00:34:19,932
and made me feel good
and people start looking at me.
732
00:34:20,016 --> 00:34:23,352
I would feel so proud
when I would go to Tougaloo
733
00:34:23,436 --> 00:34:25,396
and I slept
in Anne Moody's room.
734
00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:27,065
You know, I would feel like,
735
00:34:27,148 --> 00:34:29,442
"Well, one day I'm going
to be this great.
736
00:34:29,525 --> 00:34:31,861
I'm gonna be in college,
you know."
737
00:34:31,944 --> 00:34:34,572
I wanted to be like them.
I wanted to sound like them.
738
00:34:34,655 --> 00:34:38,576
I wanted to understand
what the movement was about.
739
00:34:38,659 --> 00:34:41,120
Chief:
This is an announcement.
740
00:34:41,204 --> 00:34:45,291
We will ask you firstwhat your intentions are.
741
00:34:45,374 --> 00:34:47,835
Woman #2: We are going
to the courthouse
742
00:34:47,919 --> 00:34:49,253
to register voters.
743
00:34:49,337 --> 00:34:51,756
Holland: Chief LaRue
was looked on with awe
744
00:34:51,839 --> 00:34:54,091
simply because he was
the chief of police
745
00:34:54,175 --> 00:34:57,261
and he had the last word
on everything.
746
00:34:57,345 --> 00:35:00,932
And as usual,
somebody pushed me forward.
747
00:35:01,015 --> 00:35:03,851
We would like to go on
to the courthouse.
748
00:35:03,935 --> 00:35:06,270
Because I saw the look
on his face.
749
00:35:06,354 --> 00:35:09,065
"Here is Ida Mae's girl
up here."
750
00:35:09,148 --> 00:35:12,193
He was just stunned.
He didn't know what to do.
751
00:35:12,276 --> 00:35:14,111
And for the first time
in my life,
752
00:35:14,195 --> 00:35:17,448
I saw indecision
in Chief LaRue's face
753
00:35:17,532 --> 00:35:20,159
and that made me feel so proud.
754
00:35:20,243 --> 00:35:23,871
People start looking up
into my face, into my eyes,
755
00:35:23,955 --> 00:35:26,624
say, "That cat is sure enough
tough, isn't she?"
756
00:35:26,707 --> 00:35:30,086
I wasn't so tough.
I was scared on every march.
757
00:35:30,169 --> 00:35:32,046
But I knew that
I couldn't turn back.
758
00:35:32,129 --> 00:35:34,257
Something just wouldn't
let me turn back.
759
00:35:34,340 --> 00:35:41,973
{\an8}♪♪
760
00:35:42,056 --> 00:35:44,684
It was so beautiful
to see people
761
00:35:44,767 --> 00:35:48,229
like Miss Lulabelle Johnson
and Miss McGee.
762
00:35:48,312 --> 00:35:51,274
They would be walking
with pride.
763
00:35:51,357 --> 00:35:54,110
And their titties would be
sticking out
764
00:35:54,193 --> 00:35:56,028
a whole, long way
in front of them,
765
00:35:56,112 --> 00:35:57,989
almost so you could see
their titties
766
00:35:58,072 --> 00:36:00,074
a block before you see them,
767
00:36:00,157 --> 00:36:02,535
but they'd be walking
with such pride
768
00:36:02,618 --> 00:36:04,412
and they'd be marching.
769
00:36:04,495 --> 00:36:06,831
And I remember myself
trying to walk
770
00:36:06,914 --> 00:36:09,166
with that heavy step
that they used.
771
00:36:09,250 --> 00:36:12,378
Looked like the earth
would catch their feet
772
00:36:12,461 --> 00:36:13,754
and hold them.
773
00:36:13,838 --> 00:36:18,217
♪ For the child ♪
774
00:36:18,301 --> 00:36:22,221
♪ That I love ♪
775
00:36:22,305 --> 00:36:24,640
♪ Lift me up ♪
-♪ Lift me up ♪
776
00:36:24,724 --> 00:36:27,059
-♪ Lift me up ♪
-♪ Lift me up ♪
777
00:36:27,143 --> 00:36:29,186
-♪ Lift me way up ♪
-♪ Lift me up ♪
778
00:36:29,270 --> 00:36:31,564
♪ Lift me on up ♪
779
00:36:31,647 --> 00:36:34,525
Holland: But these women would
walk their walk, you know,
780
00:36:34,609 --> 00:36:36,611
and then when they --
when they get up
781
00:36:36,694 --> 00:36:40,072
and they'd see the human
barricade of policing,
782
00:36:40,156 --> 00:36:42,992
they start talking that talk
and singing them songs,
783
00:36:43,075 --> 00:36:45,119
and saying,
"I ain't scared of your jail
784
00:36:45,202 --> 00:36:46,662
'cause I want my freedom.
785
00:36:46,746 --> 00:36:49,165
I ain't gonna let nobody
turn me around,
786
00:36:49,248 --> 00:36:50,708
gonna keep on marching."
787
00:36:50,791 --> 00:36:52,293
♪ ...turn me around ♪
788
00:36:52,376 --> 00:36:55,379
♪ I'm gonna keep on a-walkin',
keep on a-talkin' ♪
789
00:36:55,463 --> 00:36:57,590
♪ Marchin' up to freedom land ♪
790
00:36:57,673 --> 00:37:00,760
♪ Ain't gonna let nobody
turn me around ♪
791
00:37:00,843 --> 00:37:03,679
♪ Turn me around,
turn me around ♪
792
00:37:03,763 --> 00:37:06,933
♪ Ain't gonna let nobody
turn me around ♪
793
00:37:07,016 --> 00:37:09,560
♪ I'm gonna keep on a-walkin',
keep on a-talkin' ♪
794
00:37:09,644 --> 00:37:12,355
Moses: Well, I found out
that I could do it.
795
00:37:12,438 --> 00:37:15,858
I didn't think of it
so much about dying,
796
00:37:15,942 --> 00:37:17,360
about how are you gonna die?
797
00:37:17,443 --> 00:37:20,655
What the thing was, how are
you gonna live, right?
798
00:37:22,573 --> 00:37:25,242
Holland:
Bob was so gentle and so kind.
799
00:37:25,326 --> 00:37:27,078
You couldn't ask
for anybody better.
800
00:37:27,161 --> 00:37:29,080
He'd plan strategy.
801
00:37:29,163 --> 00:37:30,831
He got people out of jail.
802
00:37:30,915 --> 00:37:33,501
He calmed nerves.
He soothed feelings.
803
00:37:33,584 --> 00:37:37,004
He made everybody feel like
they had a part to play.
804
00:37:37,088 --> 00:37:39,340
I remember one time,
he pointed to me, he said,
805
00:37:39,423 --> 00:37:42,760
"Now, Ida, now, you've been
to jail before.
806
00:37:42,843 --> 00:37:44,136
You know how to go to jail."
807
00:37:44,220 --> 00:37:46,931
I was glad to say, "Yes, Bob.
I do know."
808
00:37:47,014 --> 00:37:49,308
I was glad to be used
for something.
809
00:37:49,392 --> 00:37:53,854
Where the whole town, to me,
was looking down its nose at me,
810
00:37:53,938 --> 00:37:57,942
the movement said to me,
I was somebody.
811
00:37:58,025 --> 00:37:59,860
I was somebody, they said.
812
00:37:59,944 --> 00:38:01,278
♪ ...let it shine ♪
813
00:38:01,362 --> 00:38:03,698
♪ Oh, light of freedom ♪
814
00:38:03,781 --> 00:38:06,951
Dorsey: The movement
exposed you to people
815
00:38:07,034 --> 00:38:08,452
who lived differently.
816
00:38:08,536 --> 00:38:12,415
I expose you to ideas
and interests and concerns
817
00:38:12,498 --> 00:38:14,417
and for the first time,
818
00:38:14,500 --> 00:38:17,211
introduce the possibility
of a different life
819
00:38:17,294 --> 00:38:19,839
than just picking
and chopping cotton.
820
00:38:19,922 --> 00:38:23,634
It unleashed yearnings in me.
821
00:38:23,718 --> 00:38:26,053
I felt like I had come home.
822
00:38:26,137 --> 00:38:29,765
All of my life,
I had felt kind of odd --
823
00:38:29,849 --> 00:38:32,893
the way I thought,
the way I felt,
824
00:38:32,977 --> 00:38:35,855
the things that
I was willing to do.
825
00:38:35,938 --> 00:38:39,608
And then here were some people
who talked my language,
826
00:38:39,692 --> 00:38:42,653
who apparently thought
the way I did
827
00:38:42,737 --> 00:38:45,656
and were really willing
to take risk.
828
00:38:45,740 --> 00:38:48,993
And I just felt like, "Ha.
Finally."
829
00:38:49,076 --> 00:38:51,537
I went looking
for Martin Luther King's brother
830
00:38:51,620 --> 00:38:53,831
to find my heroes
in the movement.
831
00:38:53,914 --> 00:38:59,170
And in addition to that,
I find also a family setting.
832
00:38:59,253 --> 00:39:02,840
I mean, this was
a turning point in my life.
833
00:39:05,092 --> 00:39:07,470
I was in heaven for a minute.
834
00:39:07,553 --> 00:39:11,849
[ Indistinct yelling ]
835
00:39:11,932 --> 00:39:13,851
Narrator: In June of 1963,
836
00:39:13,934 --> 00:39:17,480
President Kennedy sent the civil
rights bill to Congress.
837
00:39:17,563 --> 00:39:20,733
It banned discrimination
in public places.
838
00:39:20,816 --> 00:39:23,319
The South rose up to oppose it.
839
00:39:23,402 --> 00:39:26,906
...will give the niggers
special privilege
840
00:39:26,989 --> 00:39:28,991
and more rights
than us White people
841
00:39:29,075 --> 00:39:31,702
contrary to the United States
Constitution.
842
00:39:31,786 --> 00:39:34,121
-Alright!
-Alright!
843
00:39:34,205 --> 00:39:36,415
Narrator: Federal takeover
of civil rights enforcement
844
00:39:36,499 --> 00:39:38,042
appeared imminent.
845
00:39:38,125 --> 00:39:41,295
Local Whites,
afraid of losing control,
846
00:39:41,378 --> 00:39:43,464
took matters into
their own hands.
847
00:39:43,547 --> 00:39:47,885
♪ I've been in the storm ♪
848
00:39:47,968 --> 00:39:50,054
I don't know --
I don't know who set the bomb,
849
00:39:50,137 --> 00:39:51,764
but it was probably because
850
00:39:51,847 --> 00:39:53,933
of my activities
in the movement.
851
00:39:54,016 --> 00:39:56,685
You know, I don't know
who threw the fire,
852
00:39:56,769 --> 00:40:00,648
but there were some people
who saw an explosion,
853
00:40:00,731 --> 00:40:04,151
like somebody had thrown a bomb
into our house.
854
00:40:04,235 --> 00:40:06,195
And my mama was in there,
855
00:40:06,278 --> 00:40:09,990
and she was in a wheelchair,
you know, she couldn't walk.
856
00:40:10,074 --> 00:40:13,077
My mama died.
Mama died.
857
00:40:13,160 --> 00:40:15,121
I remember she died in the
Greenwood Leflore Hospital
858
00:40:15,204 --> 00:40:17,998
a few days later.
859
00:40:18,082 --> 00:40:21,961
And my -- my most vivid memory
of this time
860
00:40:22,044 --> 00:40:27,591
is the nurses, who I heard
one of them say, uh,
861
00:40:27,675 --> 00:40:32,638
"I don't want to take care of
that old, stinking Black woman."
862
00:40:32,721 --> 00:40:34,932
♪ Ohhhh ♪
863
00:40:35,015 --> 00:40:37,601
♪ Give me a little time ♪
864
00:40:37,685 --> 00:40:39,395
♪ To pray ♪
865
00:40:39,478 --> 00:40:41,605
I was trying to keep
as many licks
866
00:40:41,689 --> 00:40:43,149
off of that side as I could.
867
00:40:43,232 --> 00:40:46,068
Narrator: Returning from
a voter registration workshop,
868
00:40:46,152 --> 00:40:48,779
Fannie Lou Hamer and five
other women were arrested
869
00:40:48,863 --> 00:40:52,616
in the Whites-only section
of a Mississippi bus station.
870
00:40:52,700 --> 00:40:54,118
And I was beat.
871
00:40:54,201 --> 00:40:56,787
I was beat and I was screaming.
872
00:40:56,871 --> 00:40:59,832
Then one of the White men
that was sitting down,
873
00:40:59,915 --> 00:41:02,543
he got up and started
beating me in the head,
874
00:41:02,626 --> 00:41:04,712
but I couldn't keep
from screaming
875
00:41:04,795 --> 00:41:07,840
because it was horrible.
876
00:41:07,923 --> 00:41:09,341
Narrator: Three days later,
877
00:41:09,425 --> 00:41:12,928
the head of Mississippi's NAACP,
Medgar Evers,
878
00:41:13,012 --> 00:41:15,472
was murdered in the driveway
of his home,
879
00:41:15,556 --> 00:41:17,808
shot in the back
with a high-powered rifle.
880
00:41:17,892 --> 00:41:22,271
♪ But they laid Medgar Evers ♪
881
00:41:22,354 --> 00:41:25,941
♪ In his grave ♪
882
00:41:26,025 --> 00:41:29,653
It was like living
in a foreign country
883
00:41:29,737 --> 00:41:31,864
where you were challenging
the powers to be.
884
00:41:31,947 --> 00:41:33,532
And it was with no protection.
885
00:41:33,616 --> 00:41:36,493
There were no courts to concern
themselves about our lives.
886
00:41:36,577 --> 00:41:42,833
The FBI was not down to protect
us from a crime or violence.
887
00:41:42,917 --> 00:41:44,126
There were no law enforcement --
888
00:41:44,210 --> 00:41:45,669
local and state
law-enforcement officers
889
00:41:45,753 --> 00:41:47,004
that would protect us.
890
00:41:47,087 --> 00:41:49,381
So it was a very scary period.
891
00:41:49,465 --> 00:41:57,348
{\an8}♪♪
892
00:41:57,431 --> 00:42:03,020
Gray Adams: I understood clearly
that unless we found ways
893
00:42:03,103 --> 00:42:06,440
to focus national attention
894
00:42:06,523 --> 00:42:08,817
on what was happening
in Mississippi
895
00:42:08,901 --> 00:42:10,819
that they were gonna
wear us down...
896
00:42:10,903 --> 00:42:12,321
♪ Odinga ♪
897
00:42:12,404 --> 00:42:15,699
...shoot us out
or whatever was necessary
898
00:42:15,783 --> 00:42:16,867
to stop us.
899
00:42:16,951 --> 00:42:19,078
♪ To see your kingdom ♪
900
00:42:19,161 --> 00:42:22,248
Doar: They thought the Justice
Department should do more.
901
00:42:22,331 --> 00:42:25,584
And specifically, I told them
902
00:42:25,668 --> 00:42:29,046
that we could not
protect them...
903
00:42:29,129 --> 00:42:30,381
in Mississippi.
904
00:42:30,464 --> 00:42:32,174
♪ Oooohhh ♪
905
00:42:32,258 --> 00:42:33,634
♪ Ha ♪
906
00:42:33,717 --> 00:42:38,639
♪ Oooh oooh ooooohh ♪
907
00:42:38,722 --> 00:42:39,932
♪ Ha ♪
908
00:42:40,015 --> 00:42:45,562
♪ Freedom now ♪
909
00:42:45,646 --> 00:42:46,814
♪ Ha ♪
910
00:42:46,897 --> 00:42:52,319
♪ Freedom now ♪
911
00:42:52,403 --> 00:42:53,612
♪ Ha ♪
912
00:42:53,696 --> 00:42:55,322
Narrator: The voter
registration campaign
913
00:42:55,406 --> 00:42:56,740
was stalled.
914
00:42:56,824 --> 00:42:58,075
In the county where COFO
915
00:42:58,158 --> 00:43:00,244
had concentrated
most of its efforts,
916
00:43:00,327 --> 00:43:03,497
less than 100 Blacks could vote.
917
00:43:03,580 --> 00:43:04,873
Although President
Lyndon Johnson
918
00:43:04,957 --> 00:43:07,126
would sign the Civil Rights Act
into law,
919
00:43:07,209 --> 00:43:09,920
it did not protect
Black voting rights,
920
00:43:10,004 --> 00:43:12,256
but it did alienate
the Dixiecrats.
921
00:43:12,339 --> 00:43:14,717
{\an8}Time has come for
Mississippi congressmen
922
00:43:14,800 --> 00:43:18,178
{\an8}and senators
to disassociate themselves
923
00:43:18,262 --> 00:43:19,596
{\an8}from this party
924
00:43:19,680 --> 00:43:21,932
{\an8}and join the conservative
White voters of this state
925
00:43:22,016 --> 00:43:26,854
in supporting Republican
electorate for Barry Goldwater.
926
00:43:26,937 --> 00:43:28,939
Narrator: The upcoming
presidential election
927
00:43:29,023 --> 00:43:32,151
gave COFO the chance
for a new strategy.
928
00:43:32,234 --> 00:43:34,111
At the Democratic
National Convention,
929
00:43:34,194 --> 00:43:36,113
scheduled for the end
of the summer,
930
00:43:36,196 --> 00:43:39,450
they could force a showdown
with Mississippi's Dixiecrats
931
00:43:39,533 --> 00:43:43,495
and expose the state's injustice
to the nation.
932
00:43:43,579 --> 00:43:46,248
But what we were after
was how do you make
933
00:43:46,332 --> 00:43:50,377
a real political change
in the state?
934
00:43:50,461 --> 00:43:54,381
And our one chance of doing
that was attacking the state
935
00:43:54,465 --> 00:43:56,050
where they were weak,
936
00:43:56,133 --> 00:43:58,969
and their weakest point
politically
937
00:43:59,053 --> 00:44:02,473
was at the National
Democratic Convention.
938
00:44:02,556 --> 00:44:04,016
Narrator:
To correct Mississippi,
939
00:44:04,099 --> 00:44:07,227
COFO needed to build
national support fast.
940
00:44:07,311 --> 00:44:09,938
They decided to bring volunteers
from across America
941
00:44:10,022 --> 00:44:11,440
into the state.
942
00:44:11,523 --> 00:44:15,486
We hope to send
into Mississippi
943
00:44:15,569 --> 00:44:21,617
this summer upwards of 1,000
teachers, ministers,
944
00:44:21,700 --> 00:44:26,205
lawyers, and students
from all around the country
945
00:44:26,288 --> 00:44:30,834
who will engage in what
we're calling freedom schools,
946
00:44:30,918 --> 00:44:35,798
community-center programs,
voter-registration activity.
947
00:44:35,881 --> 00:44:41,303
A program designed to open up
Mississippi to the country.
948
00:44:41,387 --> 00:44:43,430
♪ Well, I read in the paper ♪
949
00:44:43,514 --> 00:44:45,015
♪ Shoobe-doo-be-doo-be-doo ♪
950
00:44:45,099 --> 00:44:46,850
♪ Just the other day ♪
951
00:44:46,934 --> 00:44:48,519
♪ Shoobe-doo-be-doo-be-doo ♪
952
00:44:48,602 --> 00:44:50,521
♪ That Freedom Fighters ♪
953
00:44:50,604 --> 00:44:52,022
♪ Shoobe-doo-be-doo-be-doo ♪
954
00:44:52,106 --> 00:44:54,817
♪ Were on their way ♪
955
00:44:54,900 --> 00:44:56,777
Reporter:
Some 700 college students
956
00:44:56,860 --> 00:45:00,364
from as far away as Boston
and Southern California
957
00:45:00,447 --> 00:45:02,408
have come here to take part
in a program
958
00:45:02,491 --> 00:45:05,911
called Freedom --
Freedom for Mississippi.
959
00:45:05,994 --> 00:45:07,371
Marshall, what are
your motives
960
00:45:07,454 --> 00:45:09,623
for going down
to Mississippi this summer?
961
00:45:09,706 --> 00:45:12,793
Reading the papers
all last year,
962
00:45:12,876 --> 00:45:15,254
talking with people,
and hearing
963
00:45:15,337 --> 00:45:17,047
about what was happening
in Mississippi
964
00:45:17,131 --> 00:45:19,675
and in the South,
shooting of Medgar Evers
965
00:45:19,758 --> 00:45:22,177
and other events
like that
966
00:45:22,261 --> 00:45:26,723
generates such a feeling
of outrage and injustice
967
00:45:26,807 --> 00:45:28,892
that you feel
you must act.
968
00:45:28,976 --> 00:45:31,270
{\an8}Part of the whole idea
of the Summer Project
969
00:45:31,353 --> 00:45:34,064
{\an8}was -- was Bob's analysis
970
00:45:34,148 --> 00:45:37,568
that the law only covers
certain people in America
971
00:45:37,651 --> 00:45:40,237
and it doesn't cover
Southern Blacks.
972
00:45:40,320 --> 00:45:43,073
It covers Northern
Blacks a little bit,
973
00:45:43,157 --> 00:45:45,826
and it covers Northern Whites
a whole lot.
974
00:45:45,909 --> 00:45:48,078
And so that if you want
to bring the law to the South,
975
00:45:48,162 --> 00:45:51,165
you have to bring the people
who the law covers to the South.
976
00:45:51,248 --> 00:45:55,586
{\an8}The SNCC staff were smart
and a kind of smart
977
00:45:55,669 --> 00:45:57,004
{\an8}that wasn't just
from book learning,
978
00:45:57,087 --> 00:45:59,798
{\an8}but was from having lived
a certain kind of reality
979
00:45:59,882 --> 00:46:01,425
{\an8}and then interpreting it
and figuring out,
980
00:46:01,508 --> 00:46:02,968
{\an8}"Well, what can you do
about it?"
981
00:46:03,051 --> 00:46:04,470
{\an8}and really solving problems.
982
00:46:04,553 --> 00:46:06,763
{\an8}The people who organized
the Mississippi Summer Project
983
00:46:06,847 --> 00:46:10,350
{\an8}understood that if I went
to Mississippi,
984
00:46:10,434 --> 00:46:12,102
{\an8}my parents would care.
985
00:46:12,186 --> 00:46:13,896
{\an8}My brothers and my sister
would care
986
00:46:13,979 --> 00:46:17,357
and my grandparents would care,
my aunts and uncles would care.
987
00:46:17,441 --> 00:46:19,651
The people in
the community would care.
988
00:46:19,735 --> 00:46:24,907
And people did things
because someone they knew
989
00:46:24,990 --> 00:46:28,619
or at least someone from
their community was involved.
990
00:46:28,702 --> 00:46:30,662
If a young Black
from Mississippi
991
00:46:30,746 --> 00:46:33,790
were to get arrested,
put in jail,
992
00:46:33,874 --> 00:46:35,751
that'd be that.
993
00:46:35,834 --> 00:46:37,920
But if one of us got arrested
or put in jail,
994
00:46:38,003 --> 00:46:39,963
well, there'd be senator
so-and-so on the phone
995
00:46:40,047 --> 00:46:42,174
and Congressman
so-and-so on the phone.
996
00:46:42,257 --> 00:46:44,927
"The New York Times" calling,
and that's what it meant
997
00:46:45,010 --> 00:46:47,554
to really bring the law
to the South.
998
00:46:47,638 --> 00:46:50,599
And so there was a concern
on the part of people
999
00:46:50,682 --> 00:46:52,726
{\an8}that what does that say
to people,
1000
00:46:52,809 --> 00:46:56,230
{\an8}that you have to have
a White body
1001
00:46:56,313 --> 00:46:59,817
{\an8}to protect a Black person?
1002
00:46:59,900 --> 00:47:04,988
I mean, aren't human lives
worth the same?
1003
00:47:05,072 --> 00:47:06,990
So you raise in your mind,
1004
00:47:07,074 --> 00:47:11,036
"Does America have any
obligation to protect me
1005
00:47:11,119 --> 00:47:14,331
like they protect
one of the senator's sons
1006
00:47:14,414 --> 00:47:17,000
who come down
from Harvard or Yale?"
1007
00:47:17,084 --> 00:47:19,336
And, you know, that's --
that's -- that's an irony.
1008
00:47:19,419 --> 00:47:24,007
But the reality was,
was that I would be a statistic.
1009
00:47:24,091 --> 00:47:25,759
Man #5: Some nigger lovers
coming from the North.
1010
00:47:25,842 --> 00:47:27,135
Go home, Yankees.
1011
00:47:27,219 --> 00:47:28,762
You know, go home,
you Yankees, nigger lovers.
1012
00:47:28,846 --> 00:47:30,389
You want your daughter
to marry a nigger?
1013
00:47:30,472 --> 00:47:33,517
[ Indistinct yelling ]
1014
00:47:33,600 --> 00:47:37,396
Moses: Could you actually
get Black people,
1015
00:47:37,479 --> 00:47:40,065
who were the SNCC,
1016
00:47:40,148 --> 00:47:42,859
working with
these young White volunteers
1017
00:47:42,943 --> 00:47:46,572
in a way in which
everyone could survive, right,
1018
00:47:46,655 --> 00:47:49,616
and could again --
could flourish?
1019
00:47:49,700 --> 00:47:51,118
{\an8}Glasses.
1020
00:47:51,201 --> 00:47:54,621
{\an8}That was very good because you
all got carried away, see?
1021
00:47:54,705 --> 00:47:56,206
{\an8}I mean, you were just
supposed to yell
1022
00:47:56,290 --> 00:47:57,541
{\an8}and you start hitting us,
1023
00:47:57,624 --> 00:47:59,084
{\an8}so you got off
your frustrations, you know.
1024
00:47:59,167 --> 00:48:02,004
{\an8}Half of what happened
at Oxford was the staff
1025
00:48:02,087 --> 00:48:03,547
{\an8}trying to figure out
whether, in fact,
1026
00:48:03,630 --> 00:48:05,757
{\an8}they wanted this group
of volunteers to go down.
1027
00:48:05,841 --> 00:48:07,426
They were ambivalent
about it,
1028
00:48:07,509 --> 00:48:09,886
and the volunteers
trying to size the staff up.
1029
00:48:09,970 --> 00:48:12,889
And there was a big dance
taking place
1030
00:48:12,973 --> 00:48:14,224
in which they were
trying to decide
1031
00:48:14,308 --> 00:48:16,435
whether this was gonna
work or not.
1032
00:48:16,518 --> 00:48:19,313
{\an8}♪♪
1033
00:48:19,396 --> 00:48:21,607
Woman #3: Tuesday night,
we saw a movie describing
1034
00:48:21,690 --> 00:48:24,693
how the Negro was discriminated
against in Mississippi
1035
00:48:24,776 --> 00:48:26,320
with regard to voting.
1036
00:48:26,403 --> 00:48:30,240
CBS Reports. "Mississippiand the 15th Amendment."
1037
00:48:30,324 --> 00:48:33,869
Woman #4: As I started up
the steps to the courthouse,
1038
00:48:33,952 --> 00:48:36,121
I was a little afraid.
1039
00:48:36,204 --> 00:48:39,958
A registrar, Mr. Lann,
was on his way out.
1040
00:48:40,042 --> 00:48:45,297
I'm small, and he's
an extra-large man.
1041
00:48:45,380 --> 00:48:47,924
Woman #3: A big, fat, White
county registrar
1042
00:48:48,008 --> 00:48:49,760
prevents Negroes from voting.
1043
00:48:49,843 --> 00:48:52,929
We laughed because it was
so completely foreign to us.
1044
00:48:53,013 --> 00:48:56,099
Six of the staff members got up
and walked out of the movie
1045
00:48:56,183 --> 00:48:57,768
because it was so real to them.
1046
00:48:57,851 --> 00:49:02,105
And some of the staff began
to -- to take offense to that
1047
00:49:02,189 --> 00:49:06,652
because they didn't find that
to be particularly funny.
1048
00:49:06,735 --> 00:49:09,112
It marked an explosion point.
1049
00:49:09,196 --> 00:49:11,698
It was a flash point
for the staff
1050
00:49:11,782 --> 00:49:14,618
finally to let out
with all of their frustrations
1051
00:49:14,701 --> 00:49:18,914
they've had and the hostilities
they had towards the volunteers
1052
00:49:18,997 --> 00:49:20,832
over the previous few days.
1053
00:49:20,916 --> 00:49:23,460
Moses: What happened was
quite profound
1054
00:49:23,543 --> 00:49:26,088
because what
we were dealing with
1055
00:49:26,171 --> 00:49:30,926
was trying to sharpen
the volunteers'
1056
00:49:31,009 --> 00:49:33,303
sense of reality.
1057
00:49:33,387 --> 00:49:36,640
Ganz: The day before
we were going to leave Oxford
1058
00:49:36,723 --> 00:49:38,350
and go to Mississippi,
1059
00:49:38,433 --> 00:49:43,689
the word came that three civil
rights workers had disappeared.
1060
00:49:43,772 --> 00:49:45,524
Reporter #2: James Chaney,
Andrew Goodman,
1061
00:49:45,607 --> 00:49:47,359
and Michael Schwerner
went to Mississippi
1062
00:49:47,442 --> 00:49:49,569
to help register Negroes
as voters.
1063
00:49:49,653 --> 00:49:51,363
It had been stressed
at the training school
1064
00:49:51,446 --> 00:49:53,365
they had just completed
that the federal government
1065
00:49:53,448 --> 00:49:55,742
{\an8}could offer them
little protection.
1066
00:49:55,826 --> 00:49:58,662
{\an8}Narrator: A manhunt began
for a summer volunteer
1067
00:49:58,745 --> 00:50:01,039
{\an8}and two veteran
corps organizers,
1068
00:50:01,123 --> 00:50:04,126
last seen in
a rural Mississippi jail.
1069
00:50:04,209 --> 00:50:06,712
The FBI discovered
their empty car
1070
00:50:06,795 --> 00:50:08,964
but no sign of the men.
1071
00:50:09,047 --> 00:50:10,257
What do you think
of this?
1072
00:50:10,340 --> 00:50:11,717
I believe
them jokers planned
1073
00:50:11,800 --> 00:50:13,552
and sitting up there
in New York,
1074
00:50:13,635 --> 00:50:15,345
laughing at us
Mississippi folk.
1075
00:50:15,429 --> 00:50:17,264
{\an5}You think it was a hoax?
1076
00:50:15,429 --> 00:50:17,264
I think so.
1077
00:50:17,347 --> 00:50:19,891
If they did,
I feel like they asked for it.
1078
00:50:19,975 --> 00:50:22,018
They came here
looking for trouble.
1079
00:50:22,102 --> 00:50:26,773
It was very clear to me
that they were gone,
1080
00:50:26,857 --> 00:50:28,650
that they were dead,
1081
00:50:28,734 --> 00:50:31,027
and I knew that in my bones.
1082
00:50:31,111 --> 00:50:35,866
And now the problem was, was how
to convey that to the volunteers
1083
00:50:35,949 --> 00:50:39,536
so that they could understand
so they could have a choice
1084
00:50:39,619 --> 00:50:43,623
about going in
or not going in,
1085
00:50:43,707 --> 00:50:47,335
trying to -- to know
really what the conditions were
1086
00:50:47,419 --> 00:50:48,920
that they had to face,
1087
00:50:49,004 --> 00:50:52,132
that before they got there,
right,
1088
00:50:52,215 --> 00:50:56,344
the die was cast,
the stone was thrown, right?
1089
00:50:56,428 --> 00:50:59,806
It was very clear
what the stakes were.
1090
00:50:59,890 --> 00:51:01,975
We were all gathered
in this big auditorium.
1091
00:51:02,058 --> 00:51:05,020
I mean, there must've been
about 300 of us there.
1092
00:51:05,103 --> 00:51:10,067
And Bob was up front
speaking to us.
1093
00:51:10,150 --> 00:51:13,695
Bob spoke looking
at his feet,
1094
00:51:13,779 --> 00:51:17,491
and this was just --
This was -- This is one
1095
00:51:17,574 --> 00:51:21,912
of my most profound experiences
of leadership.
1096
00:51:21,995 --> 00:51:23,747
You know, this man stood up,
who was the head
1097
00:51:23,830 --> 00:51:26,958
of the Mississippi Freedom
Project -- Summer Project.
1098
00:51:27,042 --> 00:51:31,129
And he looked at his feet
and kind of shuffled his feet
1099
00:51:31,213 --> 00:51:33,715
and talked to us
about how he felt.
1100
00:51:33,799 --> 00:51:37,427
That job fell to me, right,
1101
00:51:37,511 --> 00:51:40,680
of penetrating through
1102
00:51:40,764 --> 00:51:43,183
that the kids were dead.
1103
00:51:43,266 --> 00:51:45,769
Do whatever you want.
1104
00:51:45,852 --> 00:51:49,564
You can't bring them back.
1105
00:51:49,648 --> 00:51:53,276
Now you have a problem.
1106
00:51:53,360 --> 00:51:56,613
You have got to reevaluate.
1107
00:51:56,696 --> 00:52:00,700
You are going to Mississippi
in the light of the knowledge
1108
00:52:00,784 --> 00:52:05,121
that some of your crew
are already dead
1109
00:52:05,205 --> 00:52:07,249
before you even get there.
1110
00:52:09,668 --> 00:52:13,547
He said, "Well,
all of you in this room,
1111
00:52:13,630 --> 00:52:17,717
probably some of you aren't
gonna survive the summer.
1112
00:52:17,801 --> 00:52:21,763
And you shouldn't feel
like you have to go.
1113
00:52:21,847 --> 00:52:24,516
I mean, anybody should feel
like they can just get up
1114
00:52:24,599 --> 00:52:26,059
and walk out of here
1115
00:52:26,142 --> 00:52:31,189
and not be thought as a coward
or anything. It's just...
1116
00:52:31,273 --> 00:52:34,734
But you need to go, too."
1117
00:52:36,444 --> 00:52:40,532
And for him, it was like,
1118
00:52:40,615 --> 00:52:44,911
"I don't want to put you
at risk this way.
1119
00:52:44,995 --> 00:52:47,664
But I have to put you at risk."
1120
00:52:47,747 --> 00:52:49,875
Chude Allen:
And he ended that,
1121
00:52:49,958 --> 00:52:53,587
standing up there, you know,
in overalls and T-shirt
1122
00:52:53,670 --> 00:52:55,922
and just looking at the floor,
just saying,
1123
00:52:56,006 --> 00:53:00,677
"All I can say
is I'll be there with you."
1124
00:53:00,760 --> 00:53:02,721
And I would have gone
anywhere.
1125
00:53:02,804 --> 00:53:04,723
I would have done anything
he asked me to do,
1126
00:53:04,806 --> 00:53:06,224
I trusted him so much.
1127
00:53:06,308 --> 00:53:10,520
It was..incredibly powerful.
1128
00:53:13,398 --> 00:53:16,192
And I left that meeting
1129
00:53:16,276 --> 00:53:19,112
Knowing not only was I
going down to Mississippi,
1130
00:53:19,195 --> 00:53:22,741
but that this would be the
course for the rest of my life.
1131
00:53:22,824 --> 00:53:26,453
And then there was just silence.
1132
00:53:26,536 --> 00:53:28,079
And the whole place
must have been silent
1133
00:53:28,163 --> 00:53:31,499
for about, I don't know,
five minutes.
1134
00:53:36,129 --> 00:53:40,383
In the back of the room, a woman
named Jean Wheeler stood up,
1135
00:53:40,467 --> 00:53:42,469
and she just started singing.
1136
00:53:42,552 --> 00:53:45,555
"They say that freedom
is a constant struggle.
1137
00:53:45,639 --> 00:53:48,934
They say that freedom
is a constant struggle.
1138
00:53:49,017 --> 00:53:51,061
Oh, Lord, we struggled so long.
1139
00:53:51,144 --> 00:53:52,896
We must be free."
1140
00:53:52,979 --> 00:53:55,065
♪ They say that freedom ♪
1141
00:53:55,148 --> 00:53:56,566
Ganz: Pretty soon,
everybody stood up
1142
00:53:56,650 --> 00:54:01,696
and just marched out
of the room behind Jean.
1143
00:54:01,780 --> 00:54:03,073
♪ They say ♪
1144
00:54:03,156 --> 00:54:04,699
The next day
we all went to Mississippi.
1145
00:54:04,783 --> 00:54:10,705
♪ ...that freedom
is a constant struggle ♪
1146
00:54:10,789 --> 00:54:19,756
♪ They say that freedom
is a constant struggle ♪
1147
00:54:19,839 --> 00:54:24,886
♪ Oh, Lord, we've been
struggling so long ♪
1148
00:54:24,970 --> 00:54:28,056
♪ That we must be free ♪
1149
00:54:28,139 --> 00:54:32,936
♪ We must be free ♪
1150
00:54:36,189 --> 00:54:43,154
{\an8}♪♪
1151
00:54:43,238 --> 00:54:46,408
{\an8}Johnson: If we allow
these invaders to succeed
1152
00:54:46,491 --> 00:54:49,202
{\an8}in their dastardly scheme,
1153
00:54:49,285 --> 00:54:53,081
we will be guilty
of a very costly error.
1154
00:54:53,164 --> 00:54:56,876
Red: The state will be invaded
by 50,000 people,
1155
00:54:56,960 --> 00:55:01,047
{\an3}and they were always
referred to as invaders.
1156
00:55:01,131 --> 00:55:02,966
I'm totally convinced
1157
00:55:03,049 --> 00:55:05,468
{\an8}that they would slant
the weather report
1158
00:55:05,552 --> 00:55:07,554
{\an8}if it preserved
segregation
1159
00:55:07,637 --> 00:55:09,639
{\an8}and Southern way
of life,
1160
00:55:09,723 --> 00:55:11,349
{\an8}whatever that was.
1161
00:55:11,433 --> 00:55:12,475
{\an8}Red used to say
the best way
1162
00:55:12,559 --> 00:55:13,810
{\an8}to get me up
and going in the morning
1163
00:55:13,893 --> 00:55:16,229
{\an1}was just to pitch me
the "Jackson Daily News."
1164
00:55:16,312 --> 00:55:17,397
I'd get so mad.
1165
00:55:17,480 --> 00:55:20,358
She'd be so mad
before she got...
1166
00:55:20,442 --> 00:55:25,030
They literally armed themselves
1167
00:55:25,113 --> 00:55:29,492
for the coming of the volunteers
into the state that summer.
1168
00:55:29,576 --> 00:55:31,828
That -- that really sums it up.
1169
00:55:31,911 --> 00:55:33,163
It was an army as though
1170
00:55:33,246 --> 00:55:37,167
you were going to be invaded
by the enemy.
1171
00:55:37,250 --> 00:55:44,174
{\an8}♪♪
1172
00:55:44,257 --> 00:55:47,010
Ganz: We were housed right
in among the community,
1173
00:55:47,093 --> 00:55:51,222
and they had a welcome for us
and they put out a big spread
1174
00:55:51,306 --> 00:55:53,892
and they put us
in people's houses.
1175
00:55:53,975 --> 00:55:55,185
Oh, it was great.
1176
00:55:55,268 --> 00:55:58,271
I mean,
they were so welcoming to us,
1177
00:55:58,354 --> 00:56:01,441
and it made us feel secure,
you know,
1178
00:56:01,524 --> 00:56:03,026
until we sort of
eventually began
1179
00:56:03,109 --> 00:56:06,988
sort of poking our heads out
and beginning to do stuff.
1180
00:56:07,072 --> 00:56:09,783
{\an8}♪♪
1181
00:56:09,866 --> 00:56:11,451
Booth: And the first night,
1182
00:56:11,534 --> 00:56:13,328
there had been chiggers
in the bed,
1183
00:56:13,411 --> 00:56:17,373
which are little mite-sized,
you-can't-even-see-'em bugs,
1184
00:56:17,457 --> 00:56:18,708
and they got into my legs
1185
00:56:18,792 --> 00:56:21,836
and I was just filled
with chigger bites.
1186
00:56:21,920 --> 00:56:24,589
The way you treat them
is you have to put your legs
1187
00:56:24,672 --> 00:56:28,301
in turpentine and --
or gasoline,
1188
00:56:28,384 --> 00:56:31,554
and then they'll --
they'll fall off.
1189
00:56:31,638 --> 00:56:35,558
But just everything
was a new experience.
1190
00:56:35,642 --> 00:56:36,851
Ganz:
Then there was dealing
1191
00:56:36,935 --> 00:56:38,394
with the whole
White/Black business,
1192
00:56:38,478 --> 00:56:41,147
about, you know,
people 40 years your senior
1193
00:56:41,231 --> 00:56:43,399
calling you mister
and giving you their seat.
1194
00:56:43,483 --> 00:56:46,486
I still wasn't used
to calling White people
1195
00:56:46,569 --> 00:56:49,614
by their first name
without saying "Miss."
1196
00:56:49,697 --> 00:56:51,157
I mean, there it was.
1197
00:56:51,241 --> 00:56:54,244
You know, there's like 400 years
of oppression right there.
1198
00:56:54,327 --> 00:56:59,582
I-I could never, uh, let
that go -- that "Miss."
1199
00:56:59,666 --> 00:57:01,793
It was too ingrained
in me because, remember,
1200
00:57:01,876 --> 00:57:06,297
we had to even call White
children "Miss" and "Mister."
1201
00:57:06,381 --> 00:57:07,632
I mean, talk about
grappling things
1202
00:57:07,715 --> 00:57:09,008
at a very personal level.
1203
00:57:09,092 --> 00:57:11,719
I mean, that was like
always the sort of thing.
1204
00:57:11,803 --> 00:57:14,430
I mean, the system had been
so institutionalized
1205
00:57:14,514 --> 00:57:16,224
down to every
personal encounter.
1206
00:57:16,307 --> 00:57:18,852
Don't you ever give up
that gun.
1207
00:57:18,935 --> 00:57:20,478
That's all you got left
1208
00:57:20,562 --> 00:57:23,523
to protect that little baby
in that crib
1209
00:57:23,606 --> 00:57:27,110
because these dirty devils
will be in your home.
1210
00:57:27,193 --> 00:57:30,530
That's what they want.
They do not want equality.
1211
00:57:30,613 --> 00:57:33,449
You know
they don't want equality.
1212
00:57:33,533 --> 00:57:36,411
They don't want
something like you got.
1213
00:57:36,494 --> 00:57:39,581
They want what you've got --
your women.
1214
00:57:39,664 --> 00:57:41,457
[ Cheers and applause ]
1215
00:57:41,541 --> 00:57:43,418
Ganz: The role of sex
in the community --
1216
00:57:43,501 --> 00:57:47,130
the weirdness was the White
community's weirdness about it.
1217
00:57:47,213 --> 00:57:48,715
I mean, it made them nutty.
1218
00:57:48,798 --> 00:57:51,050
People were obsessed
with this question
1219
00:57:51,134 --> 00:57:55,054
of Black male,
White female sex.
1220
00:57:55,138 --> 00:57:56,347
It pervaded the project.
1221
00:57:56,431 --> 00:57:59,350
It was -- it was as if
I wasn't a person.
1222
00:57:59,434 --> 00:58:01,436
It was as if I was
a White woman.
1223
00:58:01,519 --> 00:58:04,939
That was my identity,
and it was very oppressive.
1224
00:58:05,023 --> 00:58:07,275
{\an8}♪♪
1225
00:58:07,358 --> 00:58:08,818
Hayes:
We're coming in an environment
1226
00:58:08,902 --> 00:58:10,987
where White women
are sitting down,
1227
00:58:11,070 --> 00:58:16,326
talking to you,
like an equal.
1228
00:58:16,409 --> 00:58:19,120
It was unheard of.
1229
00:58:19,204 --> 00:58:22,957
You know, and let alone
having sex with one.
1230
00:58:23,041 --> 00:58:25,668
Holland: Well, a lot of the
families were afraid to sit down
1231
00:58:25,752 --> 00:58:29,047
at the table with the people
that they were housing
1232
00:58:29,130 --> 00:58:30,924
because they were White.
1233
00:58:31,007 --> 00:58:34,385
We had never sat and eaten
with White folks before,
1234
00:58:34,469 --> 00:58:37,138
and we would --
They would fix all the pork
1235
00:58:37,222 --> 00:58:40,892
and all the pig feet
and all that, you know.
1236
00:58:40,975 --> 00:58:43,895
People -- And, you know,
and what was so funny
1237
00:58:43,978 --> 00:58:47,565
is the White students,
who had never eaten anything,
1238
00:58:47,649 --> 00:58:48,942
eating chitlings and all,
1239
00:58:49,025 --> 00:58:51,194
were just sitting there
eating like they were --
1240
00:58:51,277 --> 00:58:54,739
like they were very, very happy
to do so.
1241
00:58:54,822 --> 00:58:57,867
And the outhouses
that we had to use,
1242
00:58:57,951 --> 00:59:00,870
well, I was -- I was really
surprised because I said,
1243
00:59:00,954 --> 00:59:02,247
"Well, I know this White girl
1244
00:59:02,330 --> 00:59:04,040
ain't gonna go use
this outhouse,
1245
00:59:04,123 --> 00:59:06,084
you know,
like everybody else."
1246
00:59:06,167 --> 00:59:08,086
And the girl would use
the outhouse
1247
00:59:08,169 --> 00:59:10,046
like she was born to it,
you know,
1248
00:59:10,129 --> 00:59:11,547
and then that -- that made us
1249
00:59:11,631 --> 00:59:15,510
all sort of get gang around them
and gather around them.
1250
00:59:15,593 --> 00:59:24,894
{\an8}♪♪
1251
00:59:24,978 --> 00:59:26,562
Narrator: In Mississippi,
1252
00:59:26,646 --> 00:59:29,148
Whites did not socialize
with Blacks.
1253
00:59:29,232 --> 00:59:31,484
They did not worship
in Black churches,
1254
00:59:31,567 --> 00:59:35,363
teach in Black schools,
or live in Black homes.
1255
00:59:35,446 --> 00:59:38,074
Northern Whites were breaking
all the rules
1256
00:59:38,157 --> 00:59:40,702
and Southern Whites retaliated.
1257
00:59:40,785 --> 00:59:43,413
Freedom Summer triggered
1,000 arrests,
1258
00:59:43,496 --> 00:59:47,917
35 shootings and church burnings
and 80 beatings.
1259
00:59:48,001 --> 00:59:51,796
And any Southern Whites who
sympathized with the volunteers
1260
00:59:51,879 --> 00:59:55,174
were singled out for
their own form of punishment.
1261
00:59:57,176 --> 00:59:59,095
And there was
a hardening
1262
00:59:59,178 --> 01:00:01,264
of the political
atmosphere.
1263
01:00:01,347 --> 01:00:03,933
{\an3}It was -- There was
no soft edges at all.
1264
01:00:04,017 --> 01:00:07,228
It was just...
1265
01:00:07,312 --> 01:00:08,521
Absolutely segregation
1266
01:00:08,604 --> 01:00:11,107
and segregation
and segregation forever.
1267
01:00:11,190 --> 01:00:14,444
We decided on our own
that our White volunteers
1268
01:00:14,527 --> 01:00:16,696
would organize
in the White community.
1269
01:00:16,779 --> 01:00:20,908
It was just sort of like, "Well,
we should have a dialogue.
1270
01:00:20,992 --> 01:00:23,536
Can't we talk about
these things?
1271
01:00:23,619 --> 01:00:25,246
How can we avoid confrontation?"
1272
01:00:25,330 --> 01:00:28,875
It was a very, sort of
very moderate kind of exchange.
1273
01:00:28,958 --> 01:00:31,627
{\an1}So we sat around and talked
about different things,
1274
01:00:31,711 --> 01:00:35,173
and the house was
surrounded by these cars
1275
01:00:35,256 --> 01:00:39,844
and the lights were focused
on the front door.
1276
01:00:39,927 --> 01:00:42,305
And we were just amazed.
1277
01:00:42,388 --> 01:00:44,098
And we just --
"What in the world?"
1278
01:00:44,182 --> 01:00:45,975
Even then,
I was so secure
1279
01:00:46,059 --> 01:00:47,143
in my position
in the community,
1280
01:00:47,226 --> 01:00:48,478
I walked out there.
1281
01:00:48,561 --> 01:00:49,771
I wanted the damn fools
to see
1282
01:00:49,854 --> 01:00:51,189
that it was all right.
1283
01:00:51,272 --> 01:00:52,815
They were there with me.
1284
01:00:52,899 --> 01:00:55,485
It just was
beyond my conception
1285
01:00:55,568 --> 01:00:58,404
that I could be in any danger
in my own house.
1286
01:00:58,488 --> 01:01:00,656
They were more shocked
than anybody.
1287
01:01:00,740 --> 01:01:01,991
They were totally shocked.
1288
01:01:02,075 --> 01:01:04,035
They had no notion
that that community
1289
01:01:04,118 --> 01:01:05,661
in which they lived in
and done business in
1290
01:01:05,745 --> 01:01:08,748
and worked in would turn
on them like that.
1291
01:01:08,831 --> 01:01:09,999
And, boy, it did.
1292
01:01:10,083 --> 01:01:13,669
{\an1}People wouldn't even
speak to us on the street
1293
01:01:13,753 --> 01:01:16,506
{\an1}and would never call us
on the phone anymore,
1294
01:01:16,589 --> 01:01:18,758
never come to the house,
1295
01:01:18,841 --> 01:01:20,385
and he lost
his business.
1296
01:01:20,468 --> 01:01:24,430
He was asked to --
to give up his office.
1297
01:01:24,514 --> 01:01:27,558
And these things
were hitting us
1298
01:01:27,642 --> 01:01:30,937
just one right
after the other.
1299
01:01:31,020 --> 01:01:32,563
Following this thing,
1300
01:01:32,647 --> 01:01:34,524
and we were really
sort of groggy.
1301
01:01:34,607 --> 01:01:38,027
It just reinforced about, like,
how closed the White community
1302
01:01:38,111 --> 01:01:40,530
was at that point to -- to --
1303
01:01:40,613 --> 01:01:44,367
It was so fearful
and so under siege
1304
01:01:44,450 --> 01:01:49,539
that, you know, it would just
expel its own like that.
1305
01:01:49,622 --> 01:01:52,208
It was...
1306
01:01:52,291 --> 01:01:54,544
I just don't know --
The hurt.
1307
01:01:54,627 --> 01:01:57,588
There's no way
to describe the hurt.
1308
01:01:57,672 --> 01:01:58,965
It really...
1309
01:01:59,048 --> 01:02:00,466
When a family splits,
it's history.
1310
01:02:00,550 --> 01:02:01,968
Not only that,
but just the fact
1311
01:02:02,051 --> 01:02:06,139
{\an1}that you -- I had never
been put down in my life.
1312
01:02:06,222 --> 01:02:07,723
I've never been rejected
1313
01:02:07,807 --> 01:02:10,351
and over something
that I felt it
1314
01:02:10,435 --> 01:02:12,728
that was --
It just wasn't right.
1315
01:02:12,812 --> 01:02:17,567
And it was...
It was very painful.
1316
01:02:17,650 --> 01:02:26,451
{\an8}♪♪
1317
01:02:26,534 --> 01:02:27,785
Ganz: But, I mean, you also knew
1318
01:02:27,869 --> 01:02:29,287
that you were tapping
at something
1319
01:02:29,370 --> 01:02:31,205
that was right
at the heart of the whole way
1320
01:02:31,289 --> 01:02:34,417
in which they thought about
their culture and the world
1321
01:02:34,500 --> 01:02:36,085
and we were threatening that.
1322
01:02:36,169 --> 01:02:41,382
{\an8}♪♪
1323
01:02:41,466 --> 01:02:46,512
{\an8}♪♪
1324
01:02:46,596 --> 01:02:50,600
Okay, now we're holding
our precinct meeting
1325
01:02:50,683 --> 01:02:53,936
for the Mississippi Freedom
Democratic Party.
1326
01:02:54,020 --> 01:02:55,813
Narrator:
COFO drafted the students
1327
01:02:55,897 --> 01:02:58,858
into its overall strategy
of challenging the Dixiecrats
1328
01:02:58,941 --> 01:03:01,486
at the Democratic
National Convention.
1329
01:03:01,569 --> 01:03:02,862
The base for that attack
1330
01:03:02,945 --> 01:03:05,740
was the Mississippi
Freedom Democratic Party,
1331
01:03:05,823 --> 01:03:09,660
an alternative to the state's
all-White Democrats.
1332
01:03:09,744 --> 01:03:11,287
By summer's end,
1333
01:03:11,370 --> 01:03:15,166
the MFDP hoped to send its own
delegation to Atlantic City
1334
01:03:15,249 --> 01:03:17,502
as a rival
to the state's regulars
1335
01:03:17,585 --> 01:03:20,379
and demand to be seated
in their place.
1336
01:03:20,463 --> 01:03:22,632
It would be up
to the national party
1337
01:03:22,715 --> 01:03:26,135
to choose between them.
1338
01:03:26,219 --> 01:03:27,637
The self-styled
1339
01:03:27,720 --> 01:03:30,056
Mississippi Freedom
Democratic Party delegation
1340
01:03:30,139 --> 01:03:32,975
represents no one but itself.
1341
01:03:33,059 --> 01:03:36,562
And that we have
no other way of doing it
1342
01:03:36,646 --> 01:03:41,526
except through the Freedom
Democratic Party
1343
01:03:41,609 --> 01:03:44,487
since the state
of Mississippi denied us
1344
01:03:44,570 --> 01:03:49,700
the right to participate
in the regular Democratic Party.
1345
01:03:49,784 --> 01:03:52,828
Rauh: I was the moderator
of a panel there
1346
01:03:52,912 --> 01:03:54,997
on civil liberties.
1347
01:03:55,081 --> 01:03:57,124
And from the audience,
1348
01:03:57,208 --> 01:03:58,751
after the panelists
had finished,
1349
01:03:58,834 --> 01:04:01,087
the first question was,
1350
01:04:01,170 --> 01:04:06,759
{\an8}"What do you think if we bring
a delegation of loyal Democrats
1351
01:04:06,842 --> 01:04:09,303
{\an8}from Mississippi
to the convention
1352
01:04:09,387 --> 01:04:13,849
and challenge the regulars
who will be all-White
1353
01:04:13,933 --> 01:04:17,270
and will be all anti-Johnson?"
1354
01:04:17,353 --> 01:04:19,522
So I didn't have to hesitate.
1355
01:04:19,605 --> 01:04:21,983
I said, "I think
it's a wonderful idea.
1356
01:04:22,066 --> 01:04:23,609
I urge you to do it."
1357
01:04:23,693 --> 01:04:29,865
Joe was particularly placed
to be a pivotal person in this
1358
01:04:29,949 --> 01:04:34,870
because he was general counsel
for the United Auto Workers,
1359
01:04:34,954 --> 01:04:37,248
Walter Reuther's organization.
1360
01:04:37,331 --> 01:04:42,628
And then he was also heading up
the delegation from D.C.
1361
01:04:42,712 --> 01:04:45,214
So a few days later,
1362
01:04:45,298 --> 01:04:47,049
Bob comes into my office
and says,
1363
01:04:47,133 --> 01:04:49,135
"You thought that was such
a hell of a good idea,
1364
01:04:49,218 --> 01:04:51,137
will you be the lawyer for us?"
1365
01:04:51,220 --> 01:04:55,224
I said, "Yes,"
And that's how I got there.
1366
01:04:55,308 --> 01:04:57,143
It was people
taking on a system
1367
01:04:57,226 --> 01:04:58,227
at the highest level.
1368
01:04:58,311 --> 01:04:59,562
People taking on the folks
1369
01:04:59,645 --> 01:05:01,731
who allowed people
to be beaten to death
1370
01:05:01,814 --> 01:05:05,359
and shot to death and lynched
and work without pay
1371
01:05:05,443 --> 01:05:07,111
and living in ragged houses
1372
01:05:07,194 --> 01:05:08,946
at the point
where it could be dealt with.
1373
01:05:09,905 --> 01:05:12,908
♪ Which side are you on, boy ♪
1374
01:05:12,992 --> 01:05:15,036
♪ Which side are you on ♪
1375
01:05:15,119 --> 01:05:17,413
♪ Which side are you on ♪
1376
01:05:17,496 --> 01:05:22,752
Moses: What we needed was
some force within that party
1377
01:05:22,835 --> 01:05:25,004
to galvanize it and say,
1378
01:05:25,087 --> 01:05:29,592
"Look, don't go this way,
go this way.
1379
01:05:29,675 --> 01:05:31,427
What you need is not to pamper
1380
01:05:31,510 --> 01:05:38,601
to the White, Southern, racist
political power base
1381
01:05:38,684 --> 01:05:40,269
within the Democratic Party.
1382
01:05:40,353 --> 01:05:43,272
What you need is
to lay the foundation
1383
01:05:43,356 --> 01:05:46,692
for building another base."
1384
01:05:46,776 --> 01:05:48,444
The regular Democrats
had caucuses,
1385
01:05:48,527 --> 01:05:51,113
and so we had caucuses --
precinct caucuses
1386
01:05:51,197 --> 01:05:54,116
to elect delegates
to the convention
1387
01:05:54,200 --> 01:05:57,453
who would elect the delegates
to go to Atlantic City.
1388
01:05:57,536 --> 01:06:00,581
Gray Adams: It was heartwarming
to see these people
1389
01:06:00,665 --> 01:06:02,625
who had not
the slightest notion,
1390
01:06:02,708 --> 01:06:06,504
including myself,
of what the political arena
1391
01:06:06,587 --> 01:06:10,549
was like really out there
taking hold,
1392
01:06:10,633 --> 01:06:13,135
setting up
the precinct meetings,
1393
01:06:13,219 --> 01:06:14,679
setting up the county meeting,
1394
01:06:14,762 --> 01:06:16,597
setting up
the district meetings.
1395
01:06:16,681 --> 01:06:20,101
They, like us,
knew that every step
1396
01:06:20,184 --> 01:06:22,728
was taking us another step.
1397
01:06:22,812 --> 01:06:25,690
♪ You'll either be
a Freedom Fighter ♪
1398
01:06:25,773 --> 01:06:29,318
Holland:
So what Miss Hamer have me do
1399
01:06:29,402 --> 01:06:31,153
when I would go
from door to door
1400
01:06:31,237 --> 01:06:35,032
is to tell people that
if we stick together,
1401
01:06:35,116 --> 01:06:38,327
then we can take the seats
up there in Washington,
1402
01:06:38,411 --> 01:06:41,080
at the convention
in Atlantic City.
1403
01:06:41,163 --> 01:06:43,791
We can become great.
So this -- What this --
1404
01:06:43,874 --> 01:06:46,168
This is exactly what I would
tell the people
1405
01:06:46,252 --> 01:06:48,963
when I went to try to get them
to come to the meeting.
1406
01:06:49,046 --> 01:06:50,673
And I remember telling
Miss Hamer,
1407
01:06:50,756 --> 01:06:52,550
"They gonna seat you all,
Miss Hamer."
1408
01:06:52,633 --> 01:06:55,052
And she said,
"Oh, you think so, Ida?"
1409
01:06:55,136 --> 01:06:57,304
I said, "Yes, ma'am,
they gonna seat y'all."
1410
01:06:57,388 --> 01:06:59,014
♪ Oh, freedom ♪
1411
01:06:59,098 --> 01:07:00,641
Sellars:
They had an objective in mind
1412
01:07:00,725 --> 01:07:05,479
to throw out the Dixiecrats
and throw out those people
1413
01:07:05,563 --> 01:07:07,898
who are not loyal
to the Democratic Party
1414
01:07:07,982 --> 01:07:10,693
and to put themselves
into those positions.
1415
01:07:10,776 --> 01:07:14,989
I said if they told the story,
which I knew, they would appeal
1416
01:07:15,072 --> 01:07:17,074
to the consciousness
of almost everybody
1417
01:07:17,158 --> 01:07:20,911
who was a straight-thinking
American citizen.
1418
01:07:20,995 --> 01:07:22,580
What people were
really waiting for
1419
01:07:22,663 --> 01:07:27,334
is "What is gonna happen, right,
at the end of this summer?
1420
01:07:27,418 --> 01:07:31,630
What is the response
of the National Democratic Party
1421
01:07:31,714 --> 01:07:33,215
going to be?
1422
01:07:33,299 --> 01:07:36,802
Is there going
to be some attack
1423
01:07:36,886 --> 01:07:39,054
on the power base of racism?"
1424
01:07:39,138 --> 01:07:41,056
{\an8}♪♪
1425
01:07:41,140 --> 01:07:43,559
And, of course, what the
students brought with them
1426
01:07:43,642 --> 01:07:47,646
was the attention
and the pressure of the country.
1427
01:07:47,730 --> 01:07:49,398
Alright.
You -- Can you tell us
1428
01:07:49,482 --> 01:07:51,400
exactly what have you
learned here?
1429
01:07:51,484 --> 01:07:53,652
Ganz: The press was a critical
part of this struggle,
1430
01:07:53,736 --> 01:07:54,945
and they knew it.
1431
01:07:55,029 --> 01:07:57,448
And they knew that
their telling the story
1432
01:07:57,531 --> 01:08:00,910
was a big part of making
the whole thing happen.
1433
01:08:00,993 --> 01:08:03,954
The Mississippi summer
was a media summer,
1434
01:08:04,038 --> 01:08:05,414
and I recognized that,
1435
01:08:05,498 --> 01:08:07,958
and I also recognized
that I was a media person.
1436
01:08:08,042 --> 01:08:10,669
That is to say,
many of them sought me out.
1437
01:08:10,753 --> 01:08:14,256
I think partly because
my father was in politics
1438
01:08:14,340 --> 01:08:17,259
and we recognized that we were
powerful people in the sense
1439
01:08:17,343 --> 01:08:18,761
that we'd come from families
1440
01:08:18,844 --> 01:08:21,931
and just being there
brought our families with us.
1441
01:08:22,014 --> 01:08:26,685
Just our appearance in the state
with a declared social agenda
1442
01:08:26,769 --> 01:08:30,606
was going to be
a major step all by itself.
1443
01:08:30,689 --> 01:08:33,692
And the media circus
that followed us
1444
01:08:33,776 --> 01:08:36,112
was probably going to have
the most major impact.
1445
01:08:36,195 --> 01:08:38,072
Our first step would be
to sign people up
1446
01:08:38,155 --> 01:08:40,324
to the Freedom Democratic Party.
1447
01:08:40,407 --> 01:08:43,953
Just that put them
at a certain level of risk.
1448
01:08:44,036 --> 01:08:47,122
Then there was getting people
to talk to you.
1449
01:08:47,206 --> 01:08:51,126
Holland: So then they started
using teams, Whites and Blacks,
1450
01:08:51,210 --> 01:08:53,963
because I think that the reason
they used the Whites
1451
01:08:54,046 --> 01:08:57,550
because Blacks had a hard time
saying no to White folk.
1452
01:08:57,633 --> 01:08:59,260
You don't care
what they were saying.
1453
01:08:59,343 --> 01:09:03,305
So they used the White women,
and we would go in teams
1454
01:09:03,389 --> 01:09:06,100
and we would try
to get people to go vote.
1455
01:09:06,183 --> 01:09:09,311
They would say,
"Yes, ma'am, I'm going.
1456
01:09:09,395 --> 01:09:12,148
Yes, ma'am, I'm going.
I'll be there tomorrow."
1457
01:09:12,231 --> 01:09:14,149
And by the time they left,
they go inside,
1458
01:09:14,233 --> 01:09:16,819
shut the door,
pull the curtains down,
1459
01:09:16,902 --> 01:09:19,154
and say,
"I ain't going nowhere."
1460
01:09:19,238 --> 01:09:20,489
And a little White girl --
1461
01:09:20,573 --> 01:09:22,157
"I can't understand
what happened."
1462
01:09:22,241 --> 01:09:25,953
All along, we'd be giggling
behind our hands, us Blacks,
1463
01:09:26,036 --> 01:09:28,122
'cause we understood
what had happened.
1464
01:09:28,205 --> 01:09:34,670
{\an8}♪♪
1465
01:09:34,753 --> 01:09:36,797
Dorsey: What I remember
about meeting White kids
1466
01:09:36,881 --> 01:09:38,507
the first time
who were movement kids --
1467
01:09:38,591 --> 01:09:42,344
young people in the movement --
was their demeanor,
1468
01:09:42,428 --> 01:09:44,221
how they --
how they treated us,
1469
01:09:44,305 --> 01:09:46,307
um, how they approached you,
1470
01:09:46,390 --> 01:09:48,934
how they were courteous
and polite,
1471
01:09:49,018 --> 01:09:51,562
and how they didn't
talk down to you.
1472
01:09:51,645 --> 01:09:54,023
And there was no fear
associated in talking to them.
1473
01:09:54,106 --> 01:09:57,818
There was no consciousness
of your place with them.
1474
01:09:57,902 --> 01:10:00,446
♪ Kumbaya ♪
1475
01:10:00,529 --> 01:10:03,449
Holland: These students
were all from colleges,
1476
01:10:03,532 --> 01:10:06,911
you know, major colleges
across the United States,
1477
01:10:06,994 --> 01:10:10,414
and they would help me
get my language together,
1478
01:10:10,497 --> 01:10:12,583
help me get my speech together.
1479
01:10:12,666 --> 01:10:15,044
Books was brought in
by the truckload
1480
01:10:15,127 --> 01:10:17,880
from various points
by people who understood
1481
01:10:17,963 --> 01:10:20,716
that there were still homes
in the Mississippi Delta
1482
01:10:20,799 --> 01:10:22,051
where there were no books
1483
01:10:22,134 --> 01:10:23,928
and there were people
eager to learn,
1484
01:10:24,011 --> 01:10:27,306
I mean, who just soaked up stuff
like sponges, you know?
1485
01:10:27,389 --> 01:10:34,188
♪ Ohhh, Lord ♪
1486
01:10:34,271 --> 01:10:37,900
{\an5}Chude Allen:
I taught what we called
Negro history in the morning.
1487
01:10:37,983 --> 01:10:39,860
That was my core class,
1488
01:10:39,944 --> 01:10:42,905
and I didn't know
this information myself.
1489
01:10:42,988 --> 01:10:44,740
I went to one of the best
liberal arts colleges
1490
01:10:44,823 --> 01:10:46,158
in the country,
1491
01:10:46,241 --> 01:10:49,244
and I did not know
this information.
1492
01:10:49,328 --> 01:10:51,956
And so there was this feeling --
1493
01:10:52,039 --> 01:10:53,832
a great feeling
of responsibility to go home,
1494
01:10:53,916 --> 01:10:57,086
go back to the dormitory
every night and to prepare,
1495
01:10:57,169 --> 01:11:00,714
because here were people
that -- that wanted it all.
1496
01:11:00,798 --> 01:11:02,549
♪ Ahhhhh ♪
1497
01:11:02,633 --> 01:11:05,594
Holland: People had sent
lots of books down
1498
01:11:05,678 --> 01:11:08,305
and the movement
had started a library.
1499
01:11:08,389 --> 01:11:10,432
And then I got
my first introduction
1500
01:11:10,516 --> 01:11:14,144
to a Black person who was
writing -- Richard Wright.
1501
01:11:14,228 --> 01:11:17,189
And as I read Richard Wright's
book, I kept thinking,
1502
01:11:17,273 --> 01:11:20,818
"Well, do you mean Black folk
can actually write books?"
1503
01:11:20,901 --> 01:11:24,947
Because I'd always been told
Blacks had done no great things.
1504
01:11:25,030 --> 01:11:26,281
They hadn't done anything.
1505
01:11:26,365 --> 01:11:29,785
We had nothing
that we could be proud of.
1506
01:11:29,868 --> 01:11:32,037
{\an8}♪♪
1507
01:11:32,121 --> 01:11:34,039
Dorsey: We all looked
into the things
1508
01:11:34,123 --> 01:11:36,542
because it was part
of the overcoming
1509
01:11:36,625 --> 01:11:37,960
the low self-esteem
1510
01:11:38,043 --> 01:11:40,087
that we'd been made
to feel about ourselves
1511
01:11:40,170 --> 01:11:42,089
and sort of reexamine
our practices
1512
01:11:42,172 --> 01:11:45,801
and our behavior
from positions of strength.
1513
01:11:46,885 --> 01:11:51,306
Hayes: I always felt inferior
to the northern students.
1514
01:11:51,390 --> 01:11:55,019
Personally, I thought
they were smarter than we were.
1515
01:11:55,102 --> 01:12:00,399
I thought -- And they thought
they were smarter than we were.
1516
01:12:00,482 --> 01:12:03,736
I knew we knew more about
Mississippi than they did,
1517
01:12:03,819 --> 01:12:07,656
but they had the ability
to carry out these long analyses
1518
01:12:07,740 --> 01:12:11,994
and intellectual discussions
about our environment,
1519
01:12:12,077 --> 01:12:16,623
and that seemed like
a foreign language to us.
1520
01:12:16,707 --> 01:12:18,625
Ganz:
There were cultural tensions
1521
01:12:18,709 --> 01:12:20,127
and leadership tensions,
1522
01:12:20,210 --> 01:12:22,588
and I mean, just all the things
that kind of go
1523
01:12:22,671 --> 01:12:26,675
with this encounter
of these very different,
1524
01:12:26,759 --> 01:12:29,386
very different cultures
and very different people.
1525
01:12:29,470 --> 01:12:32,681
I grew up believing that
the police were your friends.
1526
01:12:32,765 --> 01:12:35,684
They were the crossing guards
who helped you cross the street
1527
01:12:35,768 --> 01:12:40,105
and the place to call
if you ran into trouble.
1528
01:12:40,189 --> 01:12:41,815
And I said, "Well, dear,
1529
01:12:41,899 --> 01:12:46,070
I never, ever at any time
thought the police was my friend
1530
01:12:46,153 --> 01:12:48,864
because anytime the police
showed up in my community,
1531
01:12:48,947 --> 01:12:50,074
it meant trouble."
1532
01:12:50,157 --> 01:12:56,080
{\an8}♪♪
1533
01:12:56,163 --> 01:13:02,086
{\an8}♪♪
1534
01:13:02,169 --> 01:13:07,966
{\an8}♪♪
1535
01:13:08,050 --> 01:13:10,677
Ganz: The experience
of arbitrary power
1536
01:13:10,761 --> 01:13:13,222
being used against you
1537
01:13:13,305 --> 01:13:15,682
was something
that made me crazy.
1538
01:13:15,766 --> 01:13:21,688
The feeling of being able
to depend on only yourself
1539
01:13:21,772 --> 01:13:24,274
and those most immediately
close to you,
1540
01:13:24,358 --> 01:13:26,944
that the courts, the law,
the whole system
1541
01:13:27,027 --> 01:13:28,904
was not there to defend you,
1542
01:13:28,987 --> 01:13:30,781
but it was in fact
there to oppress you.
1543
01:13:30,864 --> 01:13:32,032
I mean, to do you in.
1544
01:13:32,116 --> 01:13:34,618
And there's no appeal
to rule of reason
1545
01:13:34,701 --> 01:13:36,078
or law or anything like that.
1546
01:13:36,161 --> 01:13:39,123
It's just, "Hey, that's --
He's got the power."
1547
01:13:39,206 --> 01:13:42,459
Whew! That's a real powerful,
emotional exp--
1548
01:13:42,543 --> 01:13:44,086
You grew up in a safe,
middle-class community,
1549
01:13:44,169 --> 01:13:45,754
you don't experience that.
1550
01:13:45,838 --> 01:13:49,258
And there was a combination
of a feeling of powerlessness
1551
01:13:49,341 --> 01:13:56,431
and rage together
that really, um...
1552
01:13:56,515 --> 01:14:01,728
makes you want to consider
almost any means
1553
01:14:01,812 --> 01:14:05,732
of dealing with that
because it totally takes away
1554
01:14:05,816 --> 01:14:08,944
your -- your humanity
and your dignity.
1555
01:14:09,027 --> 01:14:11,447
You know, I mean, for me,
I could get on a plane
1556
01:14:11,530 --> 01:14:12,948
and go back to Bakersfield.
1557
01:14:13,031 --> 01:14:16,785
And so, I mean,
I can never know
1558
01:14:16,869 --> 01:14:19,830
what it is to live with that
all my life.
1559
01:14:19,913 --> 01:14:21,665
For me, it was just a taste,
1560
01:14:21,748 --> 01:14:24,835
but that taste
was one that, uh...
1561
01:14:26,420 --> 01:14:27,963
Well, it changed my life.
1562
01:14:28,046 --> 01:14:35,679
{\an8}♪♪
1563
01:14:35,762 --> 01:14:43,228
{\an8}♪♪
1564
01:14:43,312 --> 01:14:45,397
There was a time when
many people in Mississippi
1565
01:14:45,480 --> 01:14:46,899
thought that the disappearance
1566
01:14:46,982 --> 01:14:49,318
of the three civil-rights
workers was a hoax.
1567
01:14:49,401 --> 01:14:52,112
But now that their murdered
bodies have been discovered,
1568
01:14:52,196 --> 01:14:54,698
confirming what many refuse
to believe,
1569
01:14:54,781 --> 01:14:57,326
the voices of doubt are still.
1570
01:14:57,409 --> 01:15:00,996
Narrator: On August 12, 1964,
the bodies of Goodman,
1571
01:15:01,079 --> 01:15:03,123
Schwerner, and Chaney
were found.
1572
01:15:03,207 --> 01:15:07,836
♪ We are not afraid ♪
1573
01:15:07,920 --> 01:15:12,507
♪ We are not afraid ♪
1574
01:15:12,591 --> 01:15:17,804
♪ Today ♪
1575
01:15:17,888 --> 01:15:25,646
♪ Oh, deep in my heart ♪
1576
01:15:25,729 --> 01:15:31,443
♪ I do believe ♪
1577
01:15:31,527 --> 01:15:36,740
♪ Oh, we shall overcome ♪
1578
01:15:36,823 --> 01:15:39,660
♪ Someday ♪
1579
01:15:39,743 --> 01:15:40,911
Narrator: Two days later,
1580
01:15:40,994 --> 01:15:43,121
the Freedom Party
began its convention.
1581
01:15:43,205 --> 01:15:45,540
The state convention
for the Freedom Democratic Party
1582
01:15:45,624 --> 01:15:46,959
is now in session.
1583
01:15:47,042 --> 01:15:50,045
[ Cheers and applause ]
1584
01:15:50,128 --> 01:15:54,174
{\an8}I consider this
an assemblage of people
1585
01:15:54,258 --> 01:15:58,887
{\an8}who, yes, have come through
the wilderness of tears,
1586
01:15:58,971 --> 01:16:02,849
who, yes, have come
through the beatings,
1587
01:16:02,933 --> 01:16:06,395
the harassment,
the brutalization,
1588
01:16:06,478 --> 01:16:12,693
and I consider this a convention
that speaks to the nation
1589
01:16:12,776 --> 01:16:14,820
and speaks to the world
1590
01:16:14,903 --> 01:16:19,908
and its voice is saying
that the day has come
1591
01:16:19,992 --> 01:16:23,161
when racism must be banished
1592
01:16:23,245 --> 01:16:28,667
from the political-body politic
of our country and people.
1593
01:16:28,750 --> 01:16:30,585
[ Cheers and applause ]
1594
01:16:30,669 --> 01:16:34,381
♪ Go tell it on the mountain ♪
1595
01:16:34,464 --> 01:16:37,551
I said,
"Politics is a tough game.
1596
01:16:37,634 --> 01:16:40,595
The president has more strength
than everybody else
1597
01:16:40,679 --> 01:16:44,933
put together at
his renomination convention.
1598
01:16:45,017 --> 01:16:49,271
But we've got such a wonderful
case against the other side."
1599
01:16:49,354 --> 01:16:51,189
I told them
they were gonna win.
1600
01:16:51,273 --> 01:16:53,817
♪ Let me people go ♪
1601
01:16:53,900 --> 01:16:57,988
Walking in to the hall
that Sunday morning
1602
01:16:58,071 --> 01:17:00,699
and -- and seeing
all of these people here
1603
01:17:00,782 --> 01:17:02,659
and how pleased they were
1604
01:17:02,743 --> 01:17:06,621
and how proud they were
with themselves and each other
1605
01:17:06,705 --> 01:17:08,915
was just one fantastic reward
1606
01:17:08,999 --> 01:17:12,961
for all of the risk that had
been taken up until that time.
1607
01:17:13,045 --> 01:17:15,881
They knew that we're
going to Atlantic City.
1608
01:17:15,964 --> 01:17:19,134
You know, the sharecroppers,
the maids,
1609
01:17:19,217 --> 01:17:21,345
the, you know, the people,
1610
01:17:21,428 --> 01:17:24,973
those who always looked
elsewhere for their leadership,
1611
01:17:25,057 --> 01:17:28,310
always looked to other people
for their leadership.
1612
01:17:28,393 --> 01:17:32,731
Narrator: The MFDP was
winning allies in the North.
1613
01:17:32,814 --> 01:17:36,234
9 Democratic delegations
and 25 congressmen
1614
01:17:36,318 --> 01:17:38,403
had decided
to back its challenge.
1615
01:17:38,487 --> 01:17:42,032
♪ Go tell it on the mountain ♪
1616
01:17:42,115 --> 01:17:45,994
♪ To let my people go ♪
1617
01:17:46,078 --> 01:17:48,330
And then you can begin to see
1618
01:17:48,413 --> 01:17:51,041
that maybe you are
stepping onto the --
1619
01:17:51,124 --> 01:17:52,834
onto the stage of history
1620
01:17:52,918 --> 01:17:55,003
because you could begin
to see this --
1621
01:17:55,087 --> 01:17:56,338
this mammoth thing unfold.
1622
01:17:56,421 --> 01:17:57,672
And it was much bigger
than life.
1623
01:17:57,756 --> 01:17:59,883
It was much bigger
than any one of us.
1624
01:17:59,966 --> 01:18:03,178
And it was through the efforts
of all that it came together.
1625
01:18:03,261 --> 01:18:06,014
♪ Nothing but freedom ♪
1626
01:18:06,098 --> 01:18:09,434
♪ Over me, over me ♪
1627
01:18:09,518 --> 01:18:12,062
We knew that we were,
you know,
1628
01:18:12,145 --> 01:18:14,481
the true representatives
of the people going,
1629
01:18:14,564 --> 01:18:16,858
so I think everybody was up.
1630
01:18:16,942 --> 01:18:20,320
♪ And go home to my Lord ♪
1631
01:18:20,404 --> 01:18:22,197
♪ And be free ♪
1632
01:18:22,280 --> 01:18:25,033
I felt that our argument
was strong enough
1633
01:18:25,117 --> 01:18:26,535
and certainly valid.
1634
01:18:26,618 --> 01:18:28,912
I had expectations that
they were gonna go up there
1635
01:18:28,995 --> 01:18:31,373
and really give
the Democratic Party fits.
1636
01:18:31,456 --> 01:18:33,792
♪ Oh, I'll be a slave ♪
1637
01:18:33,875 --> 01:18:36,920
♪ I'll be buried in my grave ♪
1638
01:18:37,003 --> 01:18:39,256
I think we thought
anything could happen,
1639
01:18:39,339 --> 01:18:41,716
that they might could
go up in and unseat people.
1640
01:18:41,800 --> 01:18:45,137
We had the kind of confidence
that the righteous have.
1641
01:18:45,220 --> 01:18:48,807
Nothing could happen
except success.
1642
01:18:48,890 --> 01:18:50,851
♪ No more moanin' ♪
1643
01:18:50,934 --> 01:18:52,728
Sellars:
We took up a number of people
1644
01:18:52,811 --> 01:18:54,646
who had never been
out of the state of Mississippi
1645
01:18:54,729 --> 01:18:56,148
in their lives.
1646
01:18:56,231 --> 01:18:58,733
Some had never been out of
the county that they grew up in.
1647
01:18:58,817 --> 01:19:02,237
And here they were, going north
to represent their families
1648
01:19:02,320 --> 01:19:03,989
and their friends
and their party
1649
01:19:04,072 --> 01:19:06,199
and their county
and their precinct.
1650
01:19:06,283 --> 01:19:08,702
And it was just a good
feeling that here we are.
1651
01:19:08,785 --> 01:19:10,912
We on the threshold
of bringing about change.
1652
01:19:10,996 --> 01:19:12,706
♪ Oh, freedom ♪
1653
01:19:12,789 --> 01:19:15,917
♪ Oh, freedom ♪
1654
01:19:16,001 --> 01:19:18,920
♪ Oh, freedom ♪♪
1655
01:19:19,004 --> 01:19:20,505
♪ Miss Dolly ♪
1656
01:19:20,589 --> 01:19:25,093
♪ It's so nice to have
you back where you belong ♪
1657
01:19:25,177 --> 01:19:27,971
♪ You're lookin' swell, Dolly ♪
1658
01:19:28,054 --> 01:19:30,599
♪ I can tell, Dolly ♪
1659
01:19:30,682 --> 01:19:33,351
♪ You're still glowin',
you're still crowin' ♪
1660
01:19:33,435 --> 01:19:35,896
♪ You're still goin' strong ♪
1661
01:19:35,979 --> 01:19:38,857
♪ I feel the room swayin' ♪
1662
01:19:38,940 --> 01:19:41,818
♪ While the band is playin' ♪
1663
01:19:41,902 --> 01:19:44,696
Rauh: I was certain that
the Democratic Party
1664
01:19:44,779 --> 01:19:48,325
would cast out the Dixiecrats
from Mississippi.
1665
01:19:48,408 --> 01:19:52,454
I had real hopes that we were
on the verge of a breakthrough.
1666
01:19:52,537 --> 01:19:56,166
♪ Dolly must never go away
again ♪
1667
01:19:56,249 --> 01:19:59,252
{\an8}♪♪
1668
01:19:59,336 --> 01:20:00,545
Narrator: To gain seats
1669
01:20:00,629 --> 01:20:02,547
as Mississippi delegates
to the convention,
1670
01:20:02,631 --> 01:20:04,883
the MFDP would first
need to testify
1671
01:20:04,966 --> 01:20:07,260
before the credentials
committee.
1672
01:20:07,344 --> 01:20:08,929
The delegates carried
with them evidence
1673
01:20:09,012 --> 01:20:12,098
they had been shut out
of the political system.
1674
01:20:12,182 --> 01:20:13,850
As challengers, they set out
1675
01:20:13,934 --> 01:20:16,478
to win the hearts
and minds of the nation.
1676
01:20:17,395 --> 01:20:19,523
Ganz: On the boardwalk across
from the convention center,
1677
01:20:19,606 --> 01:20:22,692
there was the picture of
Goodman, Chaney, and Schwerner.
1678
01:20:22,776 --> 01:20:24,945
And that was sort of our
encampment over there
1679
01:20:25,028 --> 01:20:27,405
and our vigil
that we were holding.
1680
01:20:27,489 --> 01:20:29,115
Sellars: We brought
the Freedom Singers out
1681
01:20:29,199 --> 01:20:32,452
and we sung freedom songs,
and we had the delegates out,
1682
01:20:32,536 --> 01:20:34,079
lobbying people on the boardwalk
1683
01:20:34,162 --> 01:20:36,957
and lobbying other delegates
and telling the story.
1684
01:20:37,040 --> 01:20:40,001
We did everything
that we could possibly do
1685
01:20:40,085 --> 01:20:41,503
to make the case
1686
01:20:41,586 --> 01:20:43,338
for the Mississippi
Freedom Democratic Party.
1687
01:20:43,421 --> 01:20:46,841
Go tell it on the mountain
1688
01:20:46,925 --> 01:20:49,261
♪ Over the hills... ♪
1689
01:20:49,344 --> 01:20:51,763
We had the burnt-out
Ford station wagon
1690
01:20:51,846 --> 01:20:54,099
that Goodman, Chaney,
and Schwerner were in.
1691
01:20:54,182 --> 01:20:56,851
We got the bell
from the church that burned.
1692
01:20:56,935 --> 01:20:58,853
We had anticipated
just appealing
1693
01:20:58,937 --> 01:21:00,730
to the consciousness
of America,
1694
01:21:00,814 --> 01:21:04,025
and America would stand up
and say, "No more, Mississippi."
1695
01:21:04,109 --> 01:21:05,694
♪ ...go ♪
1696
01:21:05,777 --> 01:21:08,780
♪ Children of the Israelites ♪
1697
01:21:08,863 --> 01:21:09,990
♪ Oh, let my people go ♪
1698
01:21:10,073 --> 01:21:11,533
Reporter #3:
With its special coverage
1699
01:21:11,616 --> 01:21:13,076
of the activities leading
to the opening
1700
01:21:13,159 --> 01:21:15,203
of the Democratic
National Convention.
1701
01:21:15,287 --> 01:21:18,415
The Credentials Committee
of the Democratic Convention
1702
01:21:18,498 --> 01:21:20,667
has now begun to deal
with the case
1703
01:21:20,750 --> 01:21:24,379
of the Mississippi
rival delegation...
1704
01:21:24,462 --> 01:21:25,839
Narrator:
As Mississippi's Dixiecrats
1705
01:21:25,922 --> 01:21:28,049
{\an8}fought against seating
the Freedom delegates,
1706
01:21:28,133 --> 01:21:31,761
{\an8}the MFDP brought its story
to national television.
1707
01:21:31,845 --> 01:21:34,723
{\an8}And what I want the credentials
committee to hear
1708
01:21:34,806 --> 01:21:38,226
{\an8}is the terror
which the regular party uses
1709
01:21:38,310 --> 01:21:39,686
{\an8}on the people of Mississippi,
1710
01:21:39,769 --> 01:21:42,105
which is what the next witness
will explain.
1711
01:21:42,188 --> 01:21:44,232
Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer.
1712
01:21:44,316 --> 01:21:48,403
{\an8}Moses: I remember being in back
of the Credentials Committee
1713
01:21:48,486 --> 01:21:51,573
when Mrs. Hamer was testifying.
1714
01:21:51,656 --> 01:21:56,578
It was the 31st of August
in 1962
1715
01:21:56,661 --> 01:22:00,081
that 18 of us traveled
26 miles
1716
01:22:00,165 --> 01:22:03,376
to the county courthouse
in Indianola
1717
01:22:03,460 --> 01:22:07,255
to try to register to become
first-class citizens.
1718
01:22:07,339 --> 01:22:12,761
{\an8}Moses: And that was a wonderful
charging experience,
1719
01:22:12,844 --> 01:22:16,806
{\an8}right, to hear her deliver
that testimony
1720
01:22:16,890 --> 01:22:20,727
in front of all those people
and to the whole country.
1721
01:22:20,810 --> 01:22:23,772
{\an5}...Indianola,
where the bus driver
1722
01:22:23,855 --> 01:22:25,398
was charged that day
1723
01:22:25,482 --> 01:22:28,568
with driving a bus
the wrong color.
1724
01:22:28,652 --> 01:22:31,404
Reporter #4: We will return to
this scene in Atlantic City,
1725
01:22:31,488 --> 01:22:33,782
but now we switch
to the White House
1726
01:22:33,865 --> 01:22:35,283
and NBC's Robert Goralski.
1727
01:22:35,367 --> 01:22:39,496
{\an8}Rauh: Johnson saw her
and blew his stack,
1728
01:22:39,579 --> 01:22:44,167
and he called a press conference
to get her off the air.
1729
01:22:44,250 --> 01:22:47,629
On this day nine months ago...
1730
01:22:47,712 --> 01:22:49,214
Moses: Here you had a story
1731
01:22:49,297 --> 01:22:51,591
that the country
really needed to hear,
1732
01:22:51,675 --> 01:22:54,969
and what you have is the
president of the United States
1733
01:22:55,053 --> 01:22:57,263
thwarting
the democratic process.
1734
01:22:57,347 --> 01:23:02,435
That night, the networks really
fixed Johnson's wagon.
1735
01:23:02,519 --> 01:23:06,773
They replayed
Fannie Lou Hamer in full.
1736
01:23:06,856 --> 01:23:11,361
If the Freedom Democratic
Party is not seated now,
1737
01:23:11,444 --> 01:23:13,321
I question America.
1738
01:23:13,405 --> 01:23:15,907
Is this America,
1739
01:23:15,990 --> 01:23:19,327
the land of the free
and the home of the brave,
1740
01:23:19,411 --> 01:23:24,666
where we have to sleep
with our telephones off the hook
1741
01:23:24,749 --> 01:23:28,002
because our lives
are being threatened daily
1742
01:23:28,086 --> 01:23:29,879
because we want to live
1743
01:23:29,963 --> 01:23:33,007
as decent human beings
in America?
1744
01:23:33,091 --> 01:23:35,385
Thank you.
1745
01:23:35,468 --> 01:23:36,678
[ Applause ]
1746
01:23:36,761 --> 01:23:41,266
Boy, after that,
it was just like we had it made.
1747
01:23:41,349 --> 01:23:44,686
Man #6: I am proud to report
to you as chairman
1748
01:23:44,769 --> 01:23:47,856
of the Oregon delegation
to this convention
1749
01:23:47,939 --> 01:23:51,818
that in a meeting
of the delegation this morning,
1750
01:23:51,901 --> 01:23:53,361
we voted 20 to nothing
1751
01:23:53,445 --> 01:23:56,698
to take this Mississippi issue
to the floor
1752
01:23:56,781 --> 01:23:58,158
of this convention.
1753
01:23:58,241 --> 01:23:59,784
[ Cheers and applause ]
1754
01:23:59,868 --> 01:24:02,787
{\an8}♪♪
1755
01:24:02,871 --> 01:24:06,583
♪ Let my people go ♪
1756
01:24:06,666 --> 01:24:11,004
♪ Look like the children
by Moses' land ♪
1757
01:24:11,087 --> 01:24:15,341
♪ Let my people go ♪
1758
01:24:15,425 --> 01:24:17,385
Dorsey:
I mean, we were charged up,
1759
01:24:17,469 --> 01:24:20,096
and we were right that
what these folk were doing
1760
01:24:20,180 --> 01:24:21,473
were wrong and immoral
1761
01:24:21,556 --> 01:24:24,559
and that they were not
playing by the rules,
1762
01:24:24,642 --> 01:24:25,977
which, in fact,
we've been taught
1763
01:24:26,060 --> 01:24:27,771
that the country
was supposed to go by.
1764
01:24:27,854 --> 01:24:31,232
And I don't think
that if this issue
1765
01:24:31,316 --> 01:24:34,027
gets to the floor
of that convention,
1766
01:24:34,110 --> 01:24:37,363
that they can
possibly turn them down.
1767
01:24:37,447 --> 01:24:39,908
I don't see how they
possibly can do it
1768
01:24:39,991 --> 01:24:42,744
if they really understand
what's at stake.
1769
01:24:44,871 --> 01:24:47,040
Dorsey: And we thought
that once we presented ourselves
1770
01:24:47,123 --> 01:24:49,042
in an organized fashion
1771
01:24:49,125 --> 01:24:51,127
where you would actually
confront people
1772
01:24:51,211 --> 01:24:53,671
with what they were doing
that was wrong
1773
01:24:53,755 --> 01:24:55,715
and remind them of what
they were supposed to be doing
1774
01:24:55,799 --> 01:24:57,801
and they would simply stop doing
what was wrong.
1775
01:24:57,884 --> 01:24:59,260
This is America.
1776
01:24:59,344 --> 01:25:02,096
I believe any man
should be able to rise.
1777
01:25:02,180 --> 01:25:03,765
{\an8}Narrator: Although
Mississippi's Dixiecrats
1778
01:25:03,848 --> 01:25:06,935
{\an8}threatened to campaign
for the Republican candidate,
1779
01:25:07,018 --> 01:25:10,104
they held one advantage
over the MFDP.
1780
01:25:10,188 --> 01:25:13,691
President Johnson feared
that seating a Black delegation
1781
01:25:13,775 --> 01:25:16,319
would lose him
the entire Southern vote.
1782
01:25:16,402 --> 01:25:18,822
Reporter #5: Delegates of
the Freedom Democratic Party.
1783
01:25:18,905 --> 01:25:22,408
These people who have,
in their convention in Jackson,
1784
01:25:22,492 --> 01:25:25,495
Mississippi,
turned themselves delegates.
1785
01:25:25,578 --> 01:25:27,580
Narrator:
Johnson gave Hubert Humphrey
1786
01:25:27,664 --> 01:25:30,208
the job of stopping
the MFDP's bid.
1787
01:25:30,291 --> 01:25:34,337
[ Chuckles ] Well, so then
Hubert Humphrey came to town
1788
01:25:34,420 --> 01:25:37,674
and, you know, Mr. Liberal.
1789
01:25:37,757 --> 01:25:40,093
And it turned out that
he'd been sent in by Johnson
1790
01:25:40,176 --> 01:25:41,427
as a hatchet man.
1791
01:25:41,511 --> 01:25:42,804
My only interest in this
1792
01:25:42,887 --> 01:25:46,015
is that it was an attempt
to try to bring about
1793
01:25:46,099 --> 01:25:48,226
a reconciliation of views
and the hopes
1794
01:25:48,309 --> 01:25:50,687
to keep our convention united.
1795
01:25:50,770 --> 01:25:52,063
Sellars:
If Humphrey wanted to be
1796
01:25:52,146 --> 01:25:54,983
the Democratic vice
president nominee,
1797
01:25:55,066 --> 01:25:59,195
then he would have to assist
in bringing about a compromise
1798
01:25:59,279 --> 01:26:03,408
because Lyndon did not
want to alienate
1799
01:26:03,491 --> 01:26:06,786
the Southern constituency,
the Southern Dixiecrats.
1800
01:26:06,870 --> 01:26:08,955
Johnson puts pressure
on everybody.
1801
01:26:09,038 --> 01:26:11,624
His pressure on me
was very simple.
1802
01:26:11,708 --> 01:26:13,877
He took the two people
who probably would have
1803
01:26:13,960 --> 01:26:17,547
had the most important part
in my life at that moment.
1804
01:26:17,630 --> 01:26:21,593
Hubert Humphrey,
my close political associate.
1805
01:26:21,676 --> 01:26:23,761
And Walter Reuther,
the head of UAW,
1806
01:26:23,845 --> 01:26:26,723
the autoworkers of which
I was the general counsel.
1807
01:26:26,806 --> 01:26:30,685
That was my best client.
So he's a genius at that.
1808
01:26:30,768 --> 01:26:32,437
I think he must have studied
at the foot
1809
01:26:32,520 --> 01:26:34,272
of a famous British politician
1810
01:26:34,355 --> 01:26:37,483
who said, "Every man
has his price."
1811
01:26:37,567 --> 01:26:41,195
All of a sudden, we started
getting all these reports back
1812
01:26:41,279 --> 01:26:44,282
that people
were having to change.
1813
01:26:44,365 --> 01:26:46,701
And I remember
very specifically a woman
1814
01:26:46,784 --> 01:26:48,494
from the California
delegation here
1815
01:26:48,578 --> 01:26:52,832
who -- who -- a Black woman
who broke down crying
1816
01:26:52,916 --> 01:26:54,042
after she'd been visited
1817
01:26:54,125 --> 01:26:56,336
by one of the Democratic
powers-that-be
1818
01:26:56,419 --> 01:26:58,880
told that, well, her husband
was up for a judgeship
1819
01:26:58,963 --> 01:27:00,548
and he could just forget it
if she voted
1820
01:27:00,632 --> 01:27:02,884
for the Freedom Delegation.
1821
01:27:02,967 --> 01:27:06,471
Well, welcome to the real world
of Democratic politics.
1822
01:27:06,554 --> 01:27:11,935
Tuesday afternoon
was the real crux of the fight.
1823
01:27:12,018 --> 01:27:13,978
Mondale:
It may not satisfy everybody...
1824
01:27:14,062 --> 01:27:16,397
Narrator: At the Credentials
Committee meeting,
1825
01:27:16,481 --> 01:27:18,900
Humphrey's protégé,
Walter Mondale,
1826
01:27:18,983 --> 01:27:22,153
offered a compromise solution
approved by Johnson.
1827
01:27:22,237 --> 01:27:25,239
At the same moment, away
from the committee hearing,
1828
01:27:25,323 --> 01:27:29,744
Humphrey requested a separate
meeting with MFDP leaders.
1829
01:27:29,827 --> 01:27:35,416
{\an8}They wanted to meet with
a few of us over at the hotel,
1830
01:27:35,500 --> 01:27:41,130
{\an8}and they began a discussion
of what the administration
1831
01:27:41,214 --> 01:27:43,758
{\an8}was willing to propose
to the delegation,
1832
01:27:43,841 --> 01:27:47,261
which was essentially an offer
for a symbolic power.
1833
01:27:47,345 --> 01:27:51,182
That wasn't what -- was anything
that we could accept.
1834
01:27:51,265 --> 01:27:54,060
Mondale: We recommend that
the convention adopt
1835
01:27:54,143 --> 01:27:55,979
the following resolution.
1836
01:27:56,062 --> 01:27:59,190
Rauh: Walter Mondale kept saying
it was now a fair compromise.
1837
01:27:59,273 --> 01:28:02,151
When I finally got the floor,
I said, "Look,
1838
01:28:02,235 --> 01:28:05,113
we have made progress,
but you've got to ask
1839
01:28:05,196 --> 01:28:07,615
Aaron Henry, the head
of the delegation,
1840
01:28:07,699 --> 01:28:08,616
what he thinks."
1841
01:28:08,700 --> 01:28:10,576
At that moment,
1842
01:28:10,660 --> 01:28:13,621
Aaron Henry and Bob
and all the others
1843
01:28:13,705 --> 01:28:15,415
were with Reuther and Humphrey.
1844
01:28:15,498 --> 01:28:19,419
I begged for an adjournment
for a couple of hours.
1845
01:28:19,502 --> 01:28:20,670
"Vote, vote, vote!"
1846
01:28:20,753 --> 01:28:23,172
You could hear it
like a legal lynching.
1847
01:28:23,256 --> 01:28:25,091
I did everything I could
at the time.
1848
01:28:25,174 --> 01:28:26,175
I tried to filibuster.
1849
01:28:26,259 --> 01:28:27,760
"Vote, vote, vote!"
1850
01:28:27,844 --> 01:28:32,640
I made a motion that we have
a roll call.
1851
01:28:32,724 --> 01:28:34,308
"Vote, vote, vote!"
1852
01:28:34,392 --> 01:28:36,019
Hopeless.
1853
01:28:36,102 --> 01:28:39,063
It was just decided to go ahead.
1854
01:28:39,147 --> 01:28:40,773
Reporter #6: If you've been out
to the movies
1855
01:28:40,857 --> 01:28:42,525
hear in a few seconds
1856
01:28:42,608 --> 01:28:45,611
what has happened so far
in the convention this evening.
1857
01:28:45,695 --> 01:28:50,033
The Credentials Committee,
after laborious work,
1858
01:28:50,116 --> 01:28:51,534
came up with a compromise
1859
01:28:51,617 --> 01:28:55,371
to accept the Mississippi
delegation from the one
1860
01:28:55,455 --> 01:28:57,123
that is mainly Negro
1861
01:28:57,206 --> 01:28:59,792
into the convention hall
as honored guests
1862
01:28:59,876 --> 01:29:03,921
and to let two of its members
cast votes
1863
01:29:04,005 --> 01:29:06,382
as delegates at large,
which is something
1864
01:29:06,466 --> 01:29:09,594
that has never been heard of
in a convention before.
1865
01:29:09,677 --> 01:29:10,845
Moses:
When we left the meeting,
1866
01:29:10,928 --> 01:29:13,681
we found a phalanx
of media people
1867
01:29:13,765 --> 01:29:19,312
with cameras out in the hallway,
and they were asking us,
1868
01:29:19,395 --> 01:29:21,898
What did we feel
about the compromise?
1869
01:29:21,981 --> 01:29:27,111
And it gradually dawned on us
that a decision had been reached
1870
01:29:27,195 --> 01:29:29,739
while we were
actually discussing
1871
01:29:29,822 --> 01:29:32,533
what the proposal would be.
1872
01:29:32,617 --> 01:29:35,953
{\an8}It was just complete,
you know,
1873
01:29:36,037 --> 01:29:38,206
manipulation and cynicism.
1874
01:29:38,289 --> 01:29:41,042
You feel the acceptance
of a compromise,
1875
01:29:41,125 --> 01:29:42,710
whether it was a victory
at this point?
1876
01:29:42,794 --> 01:29:44,087
Yes, I do.
1877
01:29:44,170 --> 01:29:46,798
I think it was a victory
for the forces of reason,
1878
01:29:46,881 --> 01:29:49,217
and I think it was a victory
for the Democrats.
1879
01:29:49,300 --> 01:29:51,385
I think it was a victory
for our country.
1880
01:29:51,469 --> 01:29:54,347
Moses: The next day,
then we had the big meeting
1881
01:29:54,430 --> 01:29:57,725
to discuss whether or not
the delegation wanted
1882
01:29:57,809 --> 01:30:00,728
to accept these
two symbolic seats.
1883
01:30:00,812 --> 01:30:06,526
They didn't just offer the
delegation two seats at large.
1884
01:30:06,609 --> 01:30:08,528
They offered the delegation
two seats
1885
01:30:08,611 --> 01:30:13,074
at large to be occupied
by Aaron Henry and Ed King,
1886
01:30:13,157 --> 01:30:16,911
the chairman of the delegation
and the national committeeman.
1887
01:30:16,994 --> 01:30:19,956
And we spent I don't know
how long there.
1888
01:30:20,039 --> 01:30:21,624
I know it was a long time
1889
01:30:21,707 --> 01:30:26,754
and people debated why we should
and why we shouldn't.
1890
01:30:26,838 --> 01:30:28,422
Sellars: Many of the people
who were coming in,
1891
01:30:28,506 --> 01:30:30,967
we thought were people
who were gonna be supportive
1892
01:30:31,050 --> 01:30:35,263
and encourage us to fight,
not to accept the compromise.
1893
01:30:35,346 --> 01:30:36,889
And what was happening
is that these people
1894
01:30:36,973 --> 01:30:39,600
were turning almost
in your -- in your face.
1895
01:30:39,684 --> 01:30:43,354
Almost every liberal
spokesperson of the time came.
1896
01:30:43,437 --> 01:30:45,773
I sat in the church. There was
the Freedom Delegation.
1897
01:30:45,857 --> 01:30:49,777
Edith Green, Wayne Morris,
Dr. King, Walter Reuther.
1898
01:30:49,861 --> 01:30:52,989
Everybody came through
that afternoon and made speeches
1899
01:30:53,072 --> 01:30:54,615
recommending
to the Freedom Delegation
1900
01:30:54,699 --> 01:30:56,284
that they accept
the compromise.
1901
01:30:56,367 --> 01:30:57,702
They thought, you know,
1902
01:30:57,785 --> 01:31:00,746
"Hey, this is something.
It's better than nothing."
1903
01:31:00,830 --> 01:31:05,501
But the fact of the matter
was it was nothing.
1904
01:31:05,585 --> 01:31:07,044
Sellars: And I think
it was Miss Hamer who said
1905
01:31:07,128 --> 01:31:09,130
that we have come too far.
We worked too hard.
1906
01:31:09,213 --> 01:31:11,382
We've suffered too much
to come up here
1907
01:31:11,465 --> 01:31:14,635
and not get anything
but a crumb of bread.
1908
01:31:14,719 --> 01:31:16,762
Moses:
It was very clear to them
1909
01:31:16,846 --> 01:31:20,683
that they were not being asked
to share power.
1910
01:31:20,766 --> 01:31:23,478
The question was called for,
the vote was taken.
1911
01:31:23,561 --> 01:31:26,898
And the answer was no,
we won't accept it.
1912
01:31:26,981 --> 01:31:31,402
And, uh, that was a pretty
sobering moment.
1913
01:31:33,321 --> 01:31:34,989
Narrator: The regular
Mississippi Democrats
1914
01:31:35,072 --> 01:31:37,074
also rejected the compromise.
1915
01:31:37,158 --> 01:31:39,493
They refused to honor its call
for a loyalty oath
1916
01:31:39,577 --> 01:31:43,247
to the Democratic ticket and
walked out of the convention.
1917
01:31:43,331 --> 01:31:45,917
In a last attempt
at symbolic recognition,
1918
01:31:46,000 --> 01:31:49,837
MFDP members tried to fill
the empty Mississippi seats.
1919
01:31:49,921 --> 01:31:51,172
Chancellor:
I'm now in the middle
1920
01:31:51,255 --> 01:31:52,965
{\an8}of the Mississippi Freedom
Democratic Party
1921
01:31:53,049 --> 01:31:54,258
{\an8}or what's left of it.
1922
01:31:54,342 --> 01:31:57,762
{\an8}They say all 68
or 69 delegates are here.
1923
01:31:57,845 --> 01:32:00,598
{\an8}They are starting
their march in the hall now.
1924
01:32:00,681 --> 01:32:03,267
{\an8}Ganz: We decided, "Well, we're
gonna just take this thing
1925
01:32:03,351 --> 01:32:06,479
the next step and get seated
on the floor anyway
1926
01:32:06,562 --> 01:32:08,689
in protest against
what was going on."
1927
01:32:08,773 --> 01:32:09,857
Reporter #7: One by one,
1928
01:32:09,941 --> 01:32:11,192
the members
of the Freedom Delegation
1929
01:32:11,275 --> 01:32:13,236
from Mississippi
are getting into the hall,
1930
01:32:13,319 --> 01:32:16,030
and they are doing it
by sending one in at a time
1931
01:32:16,113 --> 01:32:18,908
to borrow credentials
from those who are already in,
1932
01:32:18,991 --> 01:32:20,076
carry them out
of their pockets
1933
01:32:20,159 --> 01:32:21,536
and give it to somebody else.
1934
01:32:21,619 --> 01:32:23,496
This process is being repeated
1935
01:32:23,579 --> 01:32:26,707
and presumably soon
they will all be inside.
1936
01:32:26,791 --> 01:32:27,875
Reporter #8:
Could you tell us, sir,
1937
01:32:27,959 --> 01:32:29,293
did you walk in
with a ticket?
1938
01:32:29,377 --> 01:32:31,045
{\an8}Man #7: Yes, I have a ticket.
I walked in.
1939
01:32:31,128 --> 01:32:35,299
{\an8}Moses: What that convention was,
it was a huge classroom.
1940
01:32:35,383 --> 01:32:39,762
People were actually learning
the democratic process,
1941
01:32:39,845 --> 01:32:41,889
right, in the convention.
1942
01:32:41,973 --> 01:32:46,477
It was a great sort of theater
for empowerment.
1943
01:32:46,560 --> 01:32:48,396
Woman #5:
Before the eyes of the world,
1944
01:32:48,479 --> 01:32:50,731
they are peaceful and loving.
1945
01:32:50,815 --> 01:32:53,442
And when they get back
to Mississippi,
1946
01:32:53,526 --> 01:32:57,363
"Nigger, you can't come in here.
Nigger, you can't come in there.
1947
01:32:57,446 --> 01:32:58,739
Nigger, you get out!"
1948
01:32:58,823 --> 01:33:02,576
All we want is a chance
to be a part of America.
1949
01:33:02,660 --> 01:33:06,122
Ganz: The last night, Johnson
came out on the balcony,
1950
01:33:06,205 --> 01:33:07,415
across from our vigil
1951
01:33:07,498 --> 01:33:09,583
of Goodman, Chaney,
and Schwerner
1952
01:33:09,667 --> 01:33:12,169
and tried to speak,
and we tried to do everything
1953
01:33:12,253 --> 01:33:15,798
we can to let him know
that his actions spoke louder
1954
01:33:15,881 --> 01:33:18,467
than any words
he could possibly say.
1955
01:33:18,551 --> 01:33:21,554
And, uh...
1956
01:33:21,637 --> 01:33:26,017
we left Atlantic City with this
profound sense of betrayal.
1957
01:33:28,227 --> 01:33:33,441
{\an8}♪♪
1958
01:33:33,524 --> 01:33:38,612
{\an8}♪♪
1959
01:33:38,696 --> 01:33:42,533
It undermined for me
any faith in what --
1960
01:33:42,616 --> 01:33:45,703
what is called
the democratic process
1961
01:33:45,786 --> 01:33:47,121
in this country.
1962
01:33:47,204 --> 01:33:50,958
I mean, angry, wondering,
where do you go from here?
1963
01:33:51,042 --> 01:33:53,544
What is the next step
if you've done everything?
1964
01:33:53,627 --> 01:33:56,797
If the official
electoral process doesn't work
1965
01:33:56,881 --> 01:33:58,341
because Blacks were excluded
1966
01:33:58,424 --> 01:34:01,344
and you've done everything
you could with nonviolence,
1967
01:34:01,427 --> 01:34:03,346
then with organizing
1968
01:34:03,429 --> 01:34:05,723
and with talking with people
and being reasonable,
1969
01:34:05,806 --> 01:34:09,477
and if that doesn't work,
where do you go next?
1970
01:34:11,479 --> 01:34:15,816
My hopes and dreams
about being part
1971
01:34:15,900 --> 01:34:18,319
of the National
Democratic Party was dead.
1972
01:34:18,402 --> 01:34:22,615
♪ Beep beep, bang bang,
ungawa, black power ♪
1973
01:34:22,698 --> 01:34:26,327
♪ Beep beep, bang bang,
ungawa, black power ♪
1974
01:34:26,410 --> 01:34:31,040
Moses: You lost a group
of young Black people
1975
01:34:31,123 --> 01:34:35,086
who were looking to
that political process
1976
01:34:35,169 --> 01:34:36,670
as a legitimate process
1977
01:34:36,754 --> 01:34:41,634
for entering
into real power sharing.
1978
01:34:41,717 --> 01:34:44,845
And then you also
began to disillusion
1979
01:34:44,929 --> 01:34:47,890
a whole generation
of young White people.
1980
01:34:47,973 --> 01:34:52,520
[ Indistinct yelling ]
1981
01:34:52,603 --> 01:34:56,315
The Democratic Party
missed the chance
1982
01:34:56,399 --> 01:35:02,530
to capture the attention and
energy of the generation
1983
01:35:02,613 --> 01:35:07,535
that really set the tone
for the '60s.
1984
01:35:07,618 --> 01:35:11,872
{\an8}♪♪
1985
01:35:11,956 --> 01:35:13,707
Ganz: They were afraid
of young people,
1986
01:35:13,791 --> 01:35:15,376
they were afraid of change,
1987
01:35:15,459 --> 01:35:19,004
they were afraid of opening
the doors to all the new ideas
1988
01:35:19,088 --> 01:35:21,173
and fresh blood that wanted in.
1989
01:35:21,257 --> 01:35:23,050
And it's like
they had erected barriers
1990
01:35:23,134 --> 01:35:24,718
and wanted to keep us out.
1991
01:35:24,802 --> 01:35:29,348
And to their own ultimate,
um, uh...
1992
01:35:29,432 --> 01:35:31,892
Not just to their shame,
but to their --
1993
01:35:31,976 --> 01:35:33,018
to their undoing.
1994
01:35:33,102 --> 01:35:37,231
{\an8}♪♪
1995
01:35:37,314 --> 01:35:39,900
Moses: What happened there
in '64 symbolized
1996
01:35:39,984 --> 01:35:41,902
the situation
that we're in now,
1997
01:35:41,986 --> 01:35:45,281
that is the National
Democratic Party
1998
01:35:45,364 --> 01:35:47,616
and the political leadership
of that time said,
1999
01:35:47,700 --> 01:35:52,413
"Okay, there's room
for these kind of people."
2000
01:35:52,496 --> 01:35:54,039
Right?
2001
01:35:54,123 --> 01:35:57,626
And it was the professional
people within our group, right,
2002
01:35:57,710 --> 01:36:00,087
who were asked to become part
2003
01:36:00,171 --> 01:36:04,467
and actually did become part
of the Democratic Party.
2004
01:36:04,550 --> 01:36:06,510
But on the other hand,
they said,
2005
01:36:06,594 --> 01:36:09,096
"There isn't room
for these people."
2006
01:36:09,180 --> 01:36:11,807
Right? The grassroots people,
the sharecroppers,
2007
01:36:11,891 --> 01:36:15,895
the common workers,
the day workers, right?
2008
01:36:15,978 --> 01:36:20,483
There's room for them
as recipients of largesse.
2009
01:36:20,566 --> 01:36:24,361
Right?
Poverty programs and the like.
2010
01:36:24,445 --> 01:36:29,200
There isn't room for them as
participants in power sharing.
2011
01:36:31,494 --> 01:36:35,122
A different scenario that could
have worked its way out
2012
01:36:35,206 --> 01:36:39,668
would have been for empowering
the Freedom Democratic Party.
2013
01:36:39,752 --> 01:36:41,962
There would have been
a struggle,
2014
01:36:42,046 --> 01:36:46,926
right, and vicious struggle,
but not armed struggle.
2015
01:36:47,009 --> 01:36:48,886
At once it got
into armed struggle
2016
01:36:48,969 --> 01:36:53,474
and rioting and shooting and
calling in the National Guard,
2017
01:36:53,557 --> 01:36:55,351
then you got
into a polarization,
2018
01:36:55,434 --> 01:36:57,937
which we are not out of yet.
2019
01:36:58,020 --> 01:37:01,649
It's one of the great tragedies
of this country.
2020
01:37:01,732 --> 01:37:09,657
{\an8}♪♪
2021
01:37:09,740 --> 01:37:16,455
{\an8}♪♪
2022
01:37:16,539 --> 01:37:22,962
{\an8}♪♪
2023
01:37:23,045 --> 01:37:27,591
{\an5}Dorsey:
Economically, I think things
are worse in many ways.
2024
01:37:27,675 --> 01:37:30,511
I can take you to places
where people still live
2025
01:37:30,594 --> 01:37:33,180
under very oppressive poverty.
2026
01:37:33,264 --> 01:37:37,101
There are places like this
still in this state.
2027
01:37:37,184 --> 01:37:39,353
But the most significant thing
I think
2028
01:37:39,436 --> 01:37:42,356
that the movement gave to us
2029
01:37:42,439 --> 01:37:46,860
was it removed people
from fear.
2030
01:37:46,944 --> 01:37:52,157
The freedom from fear of being
dragged out of your house
2031
01:37:52,241 --> 01:37:53,701
in the middle of the night
for daring
2032
01:37:53,784 --> 01:37:57,288
to want to be
a part of the mainstream,
2033
01:37:57,371 --> 01:37:59,415
a want to dream,
a want to participate,
2034
01:37:59,498 --> 01:38:02,001
a want to have
that equal justice
2035
01:38:02,084 --> 01:38:03,294
and equal pay for equal work
2036
01:38:03,377 --> 01:38:05,588
that my father
used to talk about.
2037
01:38:05,671 --> 01:38:08,924
The generations since the
movement have not been taught
2038
01:38:09,008 --> 01:38:11,510
to stay in their place
or to understand
2039
01:38:11,594 --> 01:38:15,681
that there's a certain way
to walk and stand
2040
01:38:15,764 --> 01:38:18,475
and look at
and relate to White people.
2041
01:38:18,559 --> 01:38:20,686
And I think that is --
For Whites and Black,
2042
01:38:20,769 --> 01:38:23,564
I think that is the most
significant contribution
2043
01:38:23,647 --> 01:38:25,357
that it made to the people.
2044
01:38:25,441 --> 01:38:29,653
{\an8}♪♪
2045
01:38:29,737 --> 01:38:32,239
Narrator: SNCC won a major
battle in Mississippi.
2046
01:38:32,323 --> 01:38:34,491
One year after Atlantic City,
2047
01:38:34,575 --> 01:38:37,620
Congress passed
the Voting Rights Act,
2048
01:38:37,703 --> 01:38:40,456
guaranteeing for the first time
since Reconstruction,
2049
01:38:40,539 --> 01:38:43,500
federal supervision
of elections.
2050
01:38:44,835 --> 01:38:46,920
Hayes: And so we walk in
in 1961
2051
01:38:47,004 --> 01:38:50,674
with everything segregated,
no voters.
2052
01:38:50,758 --> 01:38:52,468
The first voter we take
to register to vote
2053
01:38:52,551 --> 01:38:55,137
is shot down and killed
by no less than a representative
2054
01:38:55,220 --> 01:38:57,765
of the state of Mississippi.
2055
01:38:57,848 --> 01:39:02,019
But by 1965, 4 years later,
2056
01:39:02,102 --> 01:39:04,396
the books were open for these
people to be registered to vote.
2057
01:39:04,480 --> 01:39:08,609
When I came back and we went
to a fast-food restaurant
2058
01:39:08,692 --> 01:39:12,112
and somebody said,
"Let's go on in here and order,"
2059
01:39:12,196 --> 01:39:14,406
I said, "Child, we can't go
in here, can we?"
2060
01:39:14,490 --> 01:39:16,951
They said, "Yeah,"
and we went to the counter
2061
01:39:17,034 --> 01:39:19,870
and a White man was behind
the counter and he said,
2062
01:39:19,953 --> 01:39:22,331
"May I help you, ma'am?"
2063
01:39:22,414 --> 01:39:23,624
And that's when I said --
2064
01:39:23,707 --> 01:39:26,627
And, girl, I bought
the hamburger,
2065
01:39:26,710 --> 01:39:28,962
the coffee, the French fries,
2066
01:39:29,046 --> 01:39:31,924
because every time he had
to say, "Ma'am" and "thank you."
2067
01:39:32,007 --> 01:39:34,677
And never before had
I heard a White man,
2068
01:39:34,760 --> 01:39:38,806
you know, a local White man
saying that kind of thing.
2069
01:39:38,889 --> 01:39:43,769
{\an8}♪♪
2070
01:39:43,852 --> 01:39:45,312
Hayes:
And I wish it were possible.
2071
01:39:45,396 --> 01:39:47,773
I wish it were possible
for young people now to --
2072
01:39:47,856 --> 01:39:50,067
Even if it was just for a day --
2073
01:39:50,150 --> 01:39:51,944
to experience
the kind of camaraderie
2074
01:39:52,027 --> 01:39:55,322
and the kind of commitment
that we were a part of.
2075
01:39:55,406 --> 01:39:59,576
I mean, to hear of someone
in danger
2076
01:39:59,660 --> 01:40:03,539
and see people run
to that danger as hunger --
2077
01:40:03,622 --> 01:40:06,500
As a hungry man would run
to food
2078
01:40:06,583 --> 01:40:08,460
to give a hand, to give help.
2079
01:40:08,544 --> 01:40:11,839
Um...
2080
01:40:11,922 --> 01:40:15,342
There are not words
truly to explain it. I mean...
2081
01:40:15,426 --> 01:40:20,013
{\an8}♪♪
2082
01:40:20,097 --> 01:40:22,307
I still struggle to have
that experience.
2083
01:40:22,391 --> 01:40:25,853
I still look for that commitment
to ideals
2084
01:40:25,936 --> 01:40:27,896
greater than the individual.
2085
01:40:27,980 --> 01:40:31,859
It speaks to the needs of
the whole community of humanity.
2086
01:40:31,942 --> 01:40:38,532
{\an8}♪♪
2087
01:40:38,615 --> 01:40:45,205
{\an8}♪♪
2088
01:40:45,289 --> 01:40:51,920
{\an8}♪♪
2089
01:40:52,004 --> 01:40:58,761
{\an8}♪♪
2090
01:41:00,929 --> 01:41:04,725
♪ Woke up this morning
with my mind ♪
2091
01:41:04,808 --> 01:41:08,228
♪ Stayed on freedom ♪
2092
01:41:08,312 --> 01:41:12,232
{\an8}♪ Oh, woke up this morning
with my mind ♪
2093
01:41:12,316 --> 01:41:15,903
{\an8}♪ Stayed on freedom ♪
2094
01:41:15,986 --> 01:41:19,948
{\an8}♪ Oh, woke up this morning
with my mind ♪
2095
01:41:20,032 --> 01:41:24,119
{\an8}"August 7, 1964,
Ruleville, Mississippi.
2096
01:41:24,203 --> 01:41:25,579
{\an8}Dear Ollie.
2097
01:41:25,662 --> 01:41:28,207
{\an8}Ollie, this is the greatest
experience of my life.
2098
01:41:28,290 --> 01:41:30,334
{\an8}I wonder what in the hell
I have been doing
2099
01:41:30,417 --> 01:41:31,919
{\an8}for the last 22 years
2100
01:41:32,002 --> 01:41:35,214
{\an8}before I came down here
and really lived."
2101
01:41:35,297 --> 01:41:38,884
{\an8}♪ Stayed on freedom ♪
2102
01:41:38,967 --> 01:41:42,221
{\an8}♪ Oh, walking and talking
with my mind ♪
2103
01:41:42,304 --> 01:41:46,099
{\an8}Because the core values that
were behind Mississippi Summer
2104
01:41:46,183 --> 01:41:50,229
{\an8}actually still believe
are broader than just 1964,
2105
01:41:50,312 --> 01:41:51,855
{\an8}broader than civil rights,
2106
01:41:51,939 --> 01:41:56,985
{\an8}but about remaking society.
2107
01:41:57,069 --> 01:41:58,111
{\an8}♪ Hallelu ♪
2108
01:41:58,195 --> 01:42:02,199
{\an8}♪ Hallelujah ♪
2109
01:42:02,282 --> 01:42:05,452
{\an8}It was an incredible high
2110
01:42:05,536 --> 01:42:08,747
{\an8}to all of a sudden
be with women
2111
01:42:08,831 --> 01:42:12,626
{\an8}and to hear women
talk about experiences
2112
01:42:12,709 --> 01:42:14,211
{\an8}that were similar to your own.
2113
01:42:14,294 --> 01:42:17,798
{\an8}And that's when it dawned on us
that it was not private.
2114
01:42:17,881 --> 01:42:21,301
{\an8}It was not personal.
It was political.
2115
01:42:21,385 --> 01:42:23,303
{\an8}And, you know, that was it.
2116
01:42:23,387 --> 01:42:25,639
{\an8}I started organizing women.
2117
01:42:25,722 --> 01:42:27,140
{\an8}♪ Hallelu ♪
2118
01:42:27,224 --> 01:42:29,142
{\an8}♪ Hallelu ♪
2119
01:42:29,226 --> 01:42:32,145
{\an8}♪ Hallelujah ♪
2120
01:42:32,229 --> 01:42:33,772
{\an8}♪ Let's walk!
Come on and walk ♪
2121
01:42:33,856 --> 01:42:35,816
{\an8}Sellars: You think about
all the creative kinds of things
2122
01:42:35,899 --> 01:42:37,109
{\an8}that we did.
2123
01:42:37,192 --> 01:42:39,152
{\an8}When you look at
all the new organizations,
2124
01:42:39,236 --> 01:42:41,321
{\an8}you began to see
that things have changed.
2125
01:42:41,405 --> 01:42:43,365
{\an8}They're not what they --
what they used to be
2126
01:42:43,448 --> 01:42:45,784
{\an8}and they're certainly not
the best that they could be.
2127
01:42:45,868 --> 01:42:47,119
{\an8}But they have changed.
2128
01:42:47,202 --> 01:42:50,622
{\an8}♪ Walk, walk,
we're gonna walk ♪
2129
01:42:50,706 --> 01:42:53,458
{\an8}Malva: To know that
we were not alone,
2130
01:42:53,542 --> 01:42:56,837
{\an8}that we were free,
you might say,
2131
01:42:56,920 --> 01:42:59,089
{\an8}we almost felt like
we could just...
2132
01:42:59,172 --> 01:43:01,550
{\an9}And we quite literally
didn't have to avoid
2133
01:43:01,633 --> 01:43:03,802
{\an8}certain subjects anymore
2134
01:43:03,886 --> 01:43:07,139
{\an8}There we stood,
and to hell with you.
2135
01:43:07,222 --> 01:43:09,016
{\an8}♪ Ahhh ♪
2136
01:43:09,099 --> 01:43:12,311
{\an8}♪ Stayed on freedom ♪
2137
01:43:12,394 --> 01:43:14,730
{\an8}I think one reason
why a lot of us
2138
01:43:14,813 --> 01:43:17,733
{\an8}who went through that experience
are still at it
2139
01:43:17,816 --> 01:43:21,528
{\an8}in one way or another
is because it gave us hope.
2140
01:43:21,612 --> 01:43:24,072
{\an8}In other words, we didn't
experience being defeated.
2141
01:43:24,156 --> 01:43:25,574
{\an8}Yes, we had reverses.
2142
01:43:25,657 --> 01:43:28,702
{\an8}Yeah, the Democratic convention,
this, that and the other.
2143
01:43:28,785 --> 01:43:31,455
{\an8}But we -- we kept
moving forward.
2144
01:43:31,538 --> 01:43:33,498
{\an8}And that's what
keeps people hanging in there,
2145
01:43:33,582 --> 01:43:35,167
{\an8}is hope.
2146
01:43:35,250 --> 01:43:41,340
{\an8}♪♪
2147
01:43:41,423 --> 01:43:45,469
{\an8}Holland: I'm -- First of all,
I'm Dr. Endesha Ida Mae Holland,
2148
01:43:45,552 --> 01:43:46,845
{\an8}and nobody forget that.
2149
01:43:46,929 --> 01:43:48,221
{\an8}[ Laughing ]
2150
01:43:48,305 --> 01:43:50,766
{\an8}That's the funniest thing
and it's the grandest
2151
01:43:50,849 --> 01:43:53,060
{\an8}and the glorious thing
I've ever heard of.
2152
01:43:53,143 --> 01:43:56,939
{\an8}Just think --
little cat from Greenwood
2153
01:43:57,022 --> 01:43:58,315
{\an8}could achieve that.
2154
01:43:58,398 --> 01:44:02,361
{\an8}So that's who I am,
and I'm also a writer.
2155
01:44:02,444 --> 01:44:05,447
{\an8}I write plays.
2156
01:44:05,530 --> 01:44:07,324
{\an8}I write plays that deals
2157
01:44:07,407 --> 01:44:10,911
{\an8}with the history of people
here in Mississippi.
2158
01:44:10,994 --> 01:44:17,167
{\an8}♪♪
2159
01:44:17,250 --> 01:44:19,044
{\an8}We now have more
elected officials in the state
2160
01:44:19,127 --> 01:44:22,047
{\an8}of Mississippi than we have
in any other state in the Union,
2161
01:44:22,130 --> 01:44:24,007
{\an8}who are Black
or African-Americans.
2162
01:44:24,091 --> 01:44:32,474
{\an8}♪♪
2163
01:44:32,557 --> 01:44:34,810
{\an8}Dorsey: If you go look
at the registration book
2164
01:44:34,893 --> 01:44:38,772
{\an8}and you'll find that it's signed
Lula Clara Warren Dorsey,
2165
01:44:38,855 --> 01:44:40,899
{\an8}and maybe even with a Mrs.
2166
01:44:40,983 --> 01:44:43,944
{\an8}because part of
the registration thing,
2167
01:44:44,027 --> 01:44:45,570
{\an8}it also gave us
our courtesy titles.
2168
01:44:45,654 --> 01:44:47,614
{\an8}We were no longer girl and boy.
2169
01:44:47,698 --> 01:44:49,116
{\an8}We were real people.
2170
01:44:49,199 --> 01:44:55,038
{\an8}♪♪
2171
01:44:55,122 --> 01:44:58,208
{\an8}Wherever you find one picture
of one individual
2172
01:44:58,291 --> 01:45:01,211
{\an8}who was associated with
this movement in Mississippi,
2173
01:45:01,294 --> 01:45:04,006
{\an8}you find somebody
doing something different
2174
01:45:04,089 --> 01:45:05,924
{\an8}all the way down
to little people like me
2175
01:45:06,008 --> 01:45:08,677
{\an8}buying a sewing machine
for a group of five ladies
2176
01:45:08,760 --> 01:45:10,637
{\an8}to make African clothes.
2177
01:45:10,721 --> 01:45:14,558
{\an8}That one sewing machine
will employ 20 people in Africa.
2178
01:45:14,641 --> 01:45:17,602
{\an8}And that, to me,
is still SNCC in Africa.
2179
01:45:17,686 --> 01:45:24,109
{\an8}♪♪
2180
01:45:24,192 --> 01:45:26,069
{\an8}Moses: How is a country
2181
01:45:26,153 --> 01:45:29,114
{\an8}which is increasingly
pluralistic
2182
01:45:29,197 --> 01:45:34,327
{\an8}with a lot of nationalities,
cultures, right,
2183
01:45:34,411 --> 01:45:39,624
{\an8}languages, right,
which must all work together,
2184
01:45:39,708 --> 01:45:44,212
{\an8}how does it find something
which can drive everybody
2185
01:45:44,296 --> 01:45:47,132
{\an8}towards the common good
for everyone?
2186
01:45:47,215 --> 01:45:56,016
{\an8}♪♪
2187
01:45:56,099 --> 01:46:04,691
{\an8}♪♪
2188
01:46:04,775 --> 01:46:12,908
{\an8}♪♪
2189
01:46:12,991 --> 01:46:21,041
{\an8}♪♪
2190
01:46:21,124 --> 01:46:29,257
{\an8}♪♪
2191
01:46:29,341 --> 01:46:38,183
{\an8}♪♪
2192
01:46:38,266 --> 01:46:46,399
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2193
01:46:46,483 --> 01:46:54,199
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2194
01:46:54,282 --> 01:47:02,707
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2195
01:47:02,791 --> 01:47:10,590
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2196
01:47:10,674 --> 01:47:18,431
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2197
01:47:18,515 --> 01:47:26,815
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2198
01:47:26,898 --> 01:47:35,740
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2199
01:47:35,824 --> 01:47:44,249
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2200
01:47:44,332 --> 01:47:52,257
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2201
01:47:52,340 --> 01:48:00,265
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2202
01:48:00,348 --> 01:48:08,273
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2203
01:48:08,356 --> 01:48:16,323
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2204
01:48:16,406 --> 01:48:24,331
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2205
01:48:24,414 --> 01:48:32,339
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2206
01:48:32,422 --> 01:48:40,430
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174642
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