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We are not going to let these white people come into our neighborhood and kill us!

We are going to put every cracker in Atlanta on his knees!

[chanting] We want black power! We want black power!

We want black power! We want black power!

We have a power. - [man] Yeah.

Power that can't be found in Molotov cocktails.

But we do have a power.

A power that cannot be found in bullets and in guns.

But we have a power.

[man] Yeah. That's right.

It is a power as old as the insights of Jesus of Nazareth

and is modern as the techniques of Mohandas K. Gandhi.

This country has never cared about black people. [man] That's right.

They don't give two damns about us.

And all of us always turn around

worrying about, "What's good for America? What's good?"

Later for America.

What's good for black people? That's what we wanna know.

We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality,

tied in a single garment of destiny.

And whatever affects one directly

affects all indirectly.

For some strange reason, I can never be what I ought to be

until you are what you ought to be.

The rich man can never be what he ought to be

until the poor man is what he ought to be.

John Donne caught it years ago and placed it in graphic terms.

"No man is an island entire of itself.

Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main."

And then he goes on toward the end to say,

"Any man's death diminishes me

because I'm involved in mankind,

and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls.

It tolls for thee."

What I hate to see is one of these politicians running for office.

"I represent all of the people."

Well, hell, if I ever run,

I ain't representin' nobody but black folks!

The hell with all! All I'm interested in is black folks!

We must never forget

that there are some white people in the United States

just as determined to see us free as we ought to be free ourselves.

[cheering, applause]

We must never forget that there were two lads

by the name of Michael Schwerner and Andy Goodman from New York City--

White lads who died right here for our freedom.

[applause]

We must never forget that it was Reverend James Reeb,

a white Unitarian minister who died in Alabama for our freedom.

[applause]

We must never forget that it was Mrs. Viola Liuzzo

who died on Highway 8 in Alabama for our freedom.

[applause]

And so I say, together we must solve this problem.

The time for talking is over, brothers. We at war. - [woman] Right.

Get that thing on out of here.

This ain't no civil rights movement no more.

The civil rights movement is dead, and thank goodness.

That's your enemy out there.

That is your enemy. Don't you forget it. 'Cause I ain't, honky.

We are at war. - [man] Right.

Caught behind the enemy's lines.

You better get you some guns. Don't you forget it.

They scared of my rifle. Wait till I get me an atomic bomb.

Who has a victory of killing and lynching people

and throwing 'em in rivers?

It's our oppressors,

and now people are telling me to stoop down to that level.

Oh, no. [woman] Oh, no!

[crowd shouting]

[applause]

The reason that I will not do it

is that I'm not gonna allow anybody to pull me so low

as to use the very method

that has perpetuated evil throughout our civilization.

I'm sick and tired of violence.

I'm tired of the war in Vietnam. [man] Yes, sir!

I'm tired of war and conflict in the world.

I'm tired of shooting. I'm tired of hate.

I'm tired of selfishness.

I'm tired of evil.

I'm not gonna use violence, no matter who says it.

[applause]

Sometimes--

Yes. Sometimes the good Lord--

I say sometimes the good Lord accepts his own perfection

and closes his eyes

and goes ahead and takes his own good time,

and he makes himself a man.

Yes.

And sometimes that man gets hold of the idea

of what it is possible for him to do.

And that man lets that idea guide him

as he grows and struggles and stumbles in sorrows

until finally he comes into his own God-given shape

and achieves his own individual and lonely place in this world.

It doesn't happen very often.

Oh, no.

But when it does,

then even the stones will cry out in witness to his vision,

and the hills and towers will echo his words and deeds,

and his examples will live in the hearts of men forever.

The master doesn't make many like that,

because that kind of man is dangerous to the sloppy ways of the world.

That kind of man loves truth even more than he loves his life

or his wife or his children.

Because he's been designated and set aside

to do the hard tasks that have to be done.

That kind of man will do what he sees is justice,

even if the earth yawns and swallows him down.

And even then,

his deeds will persist in the land forever.

So you look at him.

You look at him a while,

and be thankful that the Lord let such a man touch our lives.

Even if it were for only a little while.

[King speaking] We are here this evening for serious business.

[speaking continues]

[applause]

[congregation singing]

It has been moved and seconded

that the resolution that was read will be received and adopted.

Are you ready for the question?

[cheering]

All in favor, let it be known by standing on your feet.

[cheering]

[King] That was the day

that we started a bus protest

which literally electrified the nation.

And that was the day when we decided

that we were not going to take segregated buses any longer.

And, you know, when we planned the bus boycott,

we said if we could just get about 50 or 60 percent

of the Negroes of Montgomery not to ride buses,

this would be an effective boycott.

I think that whole day

we found eight Negroes on the buses.

And from that day on,

that boycott was more than 99.9 percent effective.

For several weeks now,

we the Negro citizens of Montgomery

have been involved in a nonviolent protest

against the injustices which we have experienced on the buses

for a number of years.

We feel that we are right.

We have a legitimate gripe, a legitimate protest.

And we feel also that one of the great glories of American democracy

is that we have the right to protest for right.

We will do it in an orderly fashion.

This is a nonviolent protest.

We are depending on moral and spiritual forces,

using the method of passive resistance.

[woman] ♪ Way over yonder ♪

[congregation] ♪ Way over yonder ♪

♪ Way over yonder ♪ ♪ Way over yonder ♪

♪ I'm coming ♪

[singing continues]

[King] I remember that Monday morning

when I was subpoenaed to be in court.

[man] Well.

[King] The chief defender.

Many things ran through my mind.

And I started thinking about the people.

All day long, trying to think of something to say to the people.

Finally, I got to talk. - [man] Okay, Martin.

[King] My words were fumbling a bit.

Let us fight passionately and unrelentingly

for the goals of justice and peace.

Let's be sure that our hands are clean in this struggle.

Let us never fight with falsehood

and violence and hate and malice.

But always fight with love so that when the day comes

that the walls of segregation have completely crumbled in Montgomery

we will be able to live with people as their brothers and sisters.

[engine starting, revving]

We still advocate nonviolence with passive resistance

and still determine to use the weapon of love.

We are still insisting emphatically

that violence is self-defeating,

that he who lives by the sword will perish by the sword.

[man] Thank you, sir.

Are you gonna ride the bus again?

[all] No!

It is true that 115 of us

have been indicted by the grand jury.

Yet, our actions as of this day

have not as yet been found to be illegal.

The carpool and all we have done in this struggle continue.

[King] I say to you, my friends, rise up

and know that if you struggle for justice,

you do not struggle alone for God struggles with you.

Freedom is never given to anybody,

for the oppressor has you in domination

because he plans to keep you there,

and he never voluntarily gives it up.

And that is where the strong resistance comes.

We've got to keep on keeping on in order to gain freedom.

It is not done voluntarily,

but it is done through the pressure

that comes about from people who are oppressed.

Privileged classes never give up their privileges

without strong resistance.

They wanna throw white children and colored children

into the melting pot of integration

from out of which will come a conglomerated,

mulatto, mongrel class of people.

Both races will be destroyed in such a movement.

I, for one, under God, will die before I yield one inch

to that kind of a movement.

[explosion]

[wind whistling]

[King] I want young men and young women

who are not alive today but who will come into this world

with new privileges and new opportunities--

I want them to know and see that these new privileges and opportunities

did not come without somebody suffering and sacrificing for them.

The executive board of the Montgomery Improvement Association...

recommends that the 11 -month-old protest

against the city buses

will be called off,

and that the Negro citizens of Montgomery, Alabama,

will return to the buses on a nonsegregated basis.

[applause]

[cheering]

It is further recommended

that this return to the buses

will not take place

until the mandate from the United States Supreme Court

is turned over to the federal district court.

We have the assurance from authentic sources

that this mandate will come from Montgomery in a matter of just a few days.

For those three or four days,

we will continue to walk and share rides.

[cheering]

I hereby defy ruling handed down by the United States Supreme Court

ordering desegregation of public carriers.

Alabama state law requiring segregation of races on buses still stands.

As long as I am president

of the Alabama Public Service Commission,

I'm going to see that our segregation laws are upheld.

I have this day issued orders to the chief of police and the police department

to continue to make arrests in all violations

with reference to the segregation laws.

And as long as I am police commissioner of the city of Montgomery,

I intend to follow this course.

This morning the long-awaited mandate

from the United States Supreme Court concerning bus segregation

came to Montgomery.

This mandate expresses, in terms that are crystal clear,

that segregation in public transportation

is both legally and sociologically invalid.

In the light of this mandate

and the unanimous vote

rendered by the Montgomery Improvement Association about a month ago,

the year-old protest against city buses is officially called off,

and the Negro citizens of Montgomery

are urged to return to the buses tomorrow morning

on a nonsegregated basis. [cheering]

So don't go out thinking that all of the forces in the leadership of the South

will eventually work out this thing for Negroes.

"It's gonna work out. It's gonna roll in on the wheels of inevitability."

If we wait for it to work itself out,

it will never be worked out.

Freedom only comes through persistent revolt,

through persistent agitation,

through persistently rising up against the system of evil.

Buses are integrated in Montgomery,

but that is just the beginning.

Don't sit down and do nothing,

because if you stop now,

we will be in the dungeons of segregation and discrimination

for another hundred years,

and our children and our children's children

will suffer all of the bondage that we have lived under for years.

Thus out of small beginnings,

greater things have been produced by his hand that made all things of nothing

and gives being to all things of nothing

and gives being to all these that are.

And as one small candle may light a thousand,

so the light here kindled have shown under many,

yea, in some sort to our whole nation.

[King] It will be a long time before we forget the freedom rides.

We just decided to take a ride for freedom.

And as a result of this, we were able to end segregation

in interstate travel.

What these people have done is not just traveling through Alabama

in interstate commerce or interstate travel.

They are buying tickets from town to town

and getting off in each town

and seeking, through mixed groups,

Negro men and white women,

to force themselves into situations

which tend to inflame the local people and incense them

by going into waiting rooms,

restaurants, cafés, lunch counters,

which are traditionally and, in many cases, required by city ordinance

to be segregated.

Now, the best thing for King to do is to get out of Alabama

as quickly as he can,

because he's a menace to the peace of this city.

We will not specify the exact time

that the ride will resume,

but it will continue.

[man] ♪ Now, I'm tired Of segregation ♪

♪ And I want my equal rights ♪

♪ Oh, well Respect the education ♪

♪ Oh, well I took to integration ♪

♪ That's why I'm fighting For my rights ♪

♪ I'm fighting for my rights ♪

♪ Yes, I'm fighting For my rights ♪

♪ In my cell I had no windows ♪

♪ So the air It couldn't come through ♪

♪ And I felt so hot and stuffy ♪

♪ That I didn't know What to do ♪

♪ Still I was fighting For my rights ♪

♪ Oh, I was fighting For my rights ♪

♪ I was fighting for my rights ♪

♪ That's why I'm fighting For my rights ♪

♪ Oh, I'm fighting For my rights ♪

♪ Yes, I'm fighting For my rights ♪

[explosion]

[man] Back it up! Back the fuck up!

It is a sin and a shame before God-- [congregation] Amen.

On a day like this

that these people who govern us

would let things come to such a sad state.

But God is not dead.

The most guilty man in this state tonight is Governor John Patterson.

In this situation, I want to make this announcement

that the city is now under martial law.

[applause] [continues, indistinct]

Now, we've had an ugly mob outside.

They have injured some of the federal marshals. [murmuring]

They've burned some automobiles.

But we-- we are not--

We are not giving in for what we are standing for.

And maybe it takes something like this

for the federal government to see

that Alabama is not going to place any limit upon itself.

It must be imposed from without.

[sirens blaring]

[group singing]

I looked and I saw that man they called the law.

He was coming down the street at me.

I had visions in my head of being laid out cold and dead,

or else murdered by the third degree.

I said, "Lord, if you can,

save me from that man.

Don't let him make a pulp out of me."

But the Lord, he was not quick.

The law raised up his stick

and beat the living hell out of me.

Now, I do not understand

why God don't protect a man from police brutality.

Being poor and black,

I have no weapon to strike back.

So who but the Lord can protect me?

We'll see.

You know, when I say, "Don't be afraid," you know what I really mean:

"Don't even be afraid to die."

[man] Lord! [man 2] Oh, yeah!

And I submit to you tonight...

no man is free if he fears death.

[man] Oh, yeah!

But the minute you conquer the fear of death,

at that moment, you are free.

You must say, somehow,

"I don't have much money.

I don't have much education.

I may not be able to read and write,

but I have the capacity to die."

[man] ♪ Ain't gonna let nobody ♪

♪ Turn me round ♪

♪ No, turn me round ♪

♪ Ain't gonna let nobody ♪

♪ Turn me round ♪

♪ We gonna keep on a-walkin' ♪

[King] It is an unhappy truth

that racism is a way of life

for the vast majority of white Americans.

And I can see nothing more urgent

than for America to work passionately and unrelentingly

to get rid of the disease of racism.

If I would seek to give you a blueprint

for our freedom in Birmingham tonight,

I would say first that at this moment,

we must decide that we will no longer spend our money

in businesses that discriminate against Negroes.

[woman] ♪ Ain't gonna let nobody ♪

♪ Turn me round ♪

♪ Turn me round ♪

♪ Ain't gonna let nobody ♪

♪ Turn me round ♪

♪ I'm walkin' Down that freedom ♪

♪ Talkin' down that freedom ♪

♪ Walkin' down That freedom road ♪

♪ Ain't gonna let nobody ♪

♪ Step on me ♪

♪ Step on me ♪

We don't wanna have to get none of y'all. Y'all been pretty good so far.

Y'all get back, every one of y'all.

Just stand by your wagon now.

Just stand there until they get through.

Got nothing over there he can do. [chuckles]

Get the wagon. That's what I want. Get it now.

Got a chance over there. Give him a chance.

I want 'em all to have the same chance.

You get back up against the wall.

Right back up against the wall.

Stand right there with the wall. That's right. You come with us.

You turn him loose. They're gonna take care of you.

Either way you like.

Move back here.

♪ We shall overcome ♪

♪ We shall overcome someday ♪ Bull, can we talk to you?

Somebody had something to ask me, and was gonna answer it now,

but I couldn't do it then.

Hey! Hey! Hey!

Hey!

[laughing]

Bring that blind nigger over here. Let's go.

Let's move back here.

I'm a man.

I was tryin' to be nice to you. You come down here and get in trouble.

I'm tryin' to be nice to you.

[continues, indistinct]

I will not rest

until we are able to make this kind of witness in this city

so that the power structure downtown

will have to say, "We can't stop this movement,

and the only way to deal with it

is to give these people what we owe them

and what their God-given rights

and their constitutional rights demand."

[man] ♪ Till that train ♪

♪ Jordan train a-comin' ♪

♪ Coming ♪

♪ Till that train ♪

♪ Jordan train a-comin' ♪

♪ Coming, coming ♪

♪ Till that train ♪

♪ Coming, coming ♪

♪ Jordan train a-comin' ♪

♪ Coming, coming ♪

♪ Let's get on board ♪

♪ Get on board ♪

Okay, we'll all live together!

Right here.

♪ There'll be nothing But freedom ♪

♪ Freedom, freedom ♪

♪ In that day ♪

♪ There'll be nothin' But freedom ♪

♪ Freedom, freedom ♪

Move that line there.

♪ In that day ♪

♪ There's nothing but freedom ♪

♪ Freedom, freedom ♪

♪ Let's get on board ♪

[song fades]

[bells tolling]

[King] My dear fellow clergyman,

while confined here in the Birmingham City Jail,

I came across your recent statement

calling my present activities unwise and untimely.

Since I feel that you are men of genuine goodwill

and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth,

I want to try to answer your statement

in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.

You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham,

but your statement, I'm sorry to say,

fails to express a similar concern

for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations.

Birmingham is probably the most thoroughly segregated city

in the United States.

Its ugly record of brutality is widely known.

There have been more unsolved bombings

of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham

than in any other city in the nation.

These are the hard, brutal facts of the case.

You may well ask,

"Why direct action?

Why sit-ins, marches and so forth?

Isn't negotiation a better path?"

Nonviolent, direct action

seeks to create such a crisis

and foster such a tension

that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate

is forced to confront the issue.

You speak of our activity in Birmingham as extreme.

Was not Jesus an extremist for love?

"Love your enemies. Bless them that curse you.

Do good to them that hate you

and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you."

Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice

or for the extension of justice?

When you have seen vicious mobs

lynch your mothers and fathers at will

and drown your sisters and brothers at whim...

When you have seen hate-filled policemen

curse, kick, and even kill your black brothers and sisters...

When you see the vast majority of your 20 million Negro brothers

smothering in an airtight cage of poverty

in the midst of an affluent society...

When you suddenly find your tongue twisted

and your speech stammering,

as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter

why she can't go to the public amusement park

and see her developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people...

When you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son

who is asking, "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?"

When you are humiliated day in and day out

by nagging signs reading "white" and "colored"...

When your first name becomes "Nigger,"

your middle name becomes "boy," however old you are,

and your last name becomes "John,"

and your wife and mother are never given the respected title "Mrs."

When you are harried by day and haunted by night

by the fact that you are a Negro,

living constantly at tiptoe stance,

never quite knowing what to expect next

and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments...

When you are forever fighting

a degrading and degenerating sense of nobodiness,

then you will understand

why we find it difficult to wait.

You assert that our actions, even though peaceful,

must be condemned

because they precipitate violence.

Isn't this like condemning Jesus

because his unique God-consciousness

and never-ceasing devotion to God's will

precipitated the evil act of crucifixion?

I have no despair about the future.

I have no fear about the outcome of our struggle in Birmingham,

even if our motives are at present misunderstood.

We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation,

because the goal of America is freedom.

We will win our freedom,

because the sacred heritage of our nation

and the eternal will of the Almighty God

are embodied in our echoing demands.

[woman] ♪ Ain't gonna let nobody ♪

♪ Turn me round ♪

♪ And I'm walkin' Down that freedom ♪

♪ Talkin' down that freedom ♪

♪ Walkin' down That freedom road ♪

♪ Ain't gonna let nobody ♪

♪ Step on me, yeah ♪

♪ Step on me, no ♪

♪ They can't step on me ♪

We have asked for four things,

and we are still holding out for all four:

the desegregation of all facilities

in the stores.

This includes restroom facilities,

the lunch counters and fitting rooms.

Number two:

upgrading in employment

in the stores

so that you have Negro clerks and Negro salesmen and women.

Number three:

the dropping of all of the charges

against the persons who have been unjustly arrested

for engaging in these peaceful nonviolent demonstrations

on the basis of the first and 14th Amendments of the Constitution.

Number five: Four.

I mean, number four:

the appointment of a biracial committee

to deal with the other problems of segregation that still exist

and the setting of a timetable

to solve the problems

such as school desegregation,

the reopening of the parks on an integrated basis

in compliance with the federal court order,

and a fair hiring policy in municipal agencies.

And this would also include Negro policemen.

You can never whip these birds

if you don't keep you and them separate.

You've got to keep the white and the black separate.

Let the law enforcement agencies--

That's what you've got them hired for--

And the governor of the state of Alabama handle this thing.

Now, George asked me to ask you to do that. Do him one favor.

Tell your friends when you leave here between now and Tuesday.

Don't go up there. Leave it alone.

They gonna handle this situation.

Just leave it alone.

You know, those Kennedys up there in Washington,

that little old Bobby socks and his brother, the president,

[laughter] they'd give anything in the world

if we had some trouble here.

If we don't have any trouble, we can beat 'em at their own game.

[chanting] Freedom! Freedom!

Freedom! Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!

[man] Oh! Freedom! Freedom!

Freedom! Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!

All right!

[singing, indistinct]

Okay, hold it down, please.

All of you hear me?

You are in violation of section 1159 of the city code:

demonstrating and parading without a permit.

Also violating the traffic judge injunction against paradin'.

[singing continues]

[singing continues]

The activities which have taken place in Birmingham

over the last few days,

to my mind,

mark the nonviolent movement coming of age.

This is the first time

in the history of our struggle

that we have been able, literally, to fill the jails.

And in a real sense, this is a fulfillment of a dream,

for I've always felt

that if we could fill the jails in our witness for freedom,

it would be a magnificent expression of the determination of the Negro

and a marvelous way to lay the whole issue

before the conscience of the local and national community.

And I think in a real sense,

this Birmingham movement is one of the most inspiring developments

in the whole nonviolent struggle.

♪ Everybody go Freedom ♪

♪ Freedom ♪

♪ Freedom, freedom ♪

♪ Everybody go Freedom ♪

♪ Freedom ♪

♪ Freedom, freedom ♪

♪ Everybody go Freedom ♪

♪ Freedom ♪

♪ Freedom, freedom ♪

♪ Freedom ♪

♪ Freedom, freedom ♪

♪ Everybody go Freedom ♪

♪ Freedom ♪

♪ Freedom, freedom ♪

♪ Everybody go Freedom ♪

♪ Freedom ♪

Take 'em over to the jail for you. Don't worry.

[man speaking, indistinct]

I know. He wasn't out here yesterday.

Clear on back now!

♪ Freedom ♪

♪ Everybody go Freedom ♪

♪ Freedom, freedom ♪

♪ Everybody go Freedom ♪

♪ Freedom ♪

♪ Freedom, freedom ♪

[siren blaring]

♪ Over my head ♪

I see freedom in the air!

♪ I see freedom in the air ♪

♪ Over my head ♪

♪ I see freedom in the air ♪

♪ Over my head ♪

♪ I see freedom in the air ♪

♪ Over my head ♪

♪ I see freedom in the air ♪

[siren blaring]

[dogs barking]

[no audible dialogue]

[woman screams]

[screaming continues]

[yelling, screaming]

[screaming continues]

[King] We must say to our white brothers all over the South

who will try to keep us down,

"We will match your capacity to inflict suffering

with our capacity to endure suffering.

We will meet your physical force with soul force.

We will not hate you,

and yet we cannot in our good conscience obey your evil laws.

Do to us what you will.

Threaten our children, and we will still love you.

Come into our homes at the midnight hours of life

and take us out on some desolate highway and beat us and leave us there,

and we will still love you.

Run all around the continent and send your literature

and say that we aren't worthy of integration,

that we are too immoral, that we are too low, that we are too degraded,

and yet we will still love you.

Bomb our homes

and go by our churches early in the morning and bomb them, if you please,

and we will still love you.

But we will wear you down by our capacity to suffer.

In winning the victory,

we will not only win our freedom,

we will so appeal to your heart and your conscience

that we will win you in the process."

♪ Freedom ♪

♪ Freedom, freedom ♪

♪ Everybody go Freedom ♪

♪ Freedom ♪

♪ Freedom, freedom ♪

♪ Everybody go Freedom ♪

♪ Freedom ♪

We are very near a settlement,

and that includes all of the points.

We hope that in 24 hours, I think we can say definitely.

The agreement calls for the desegregation of lunch counters,

restrooms, fitting rooms,

and drinking fountains in planned stages

within the next 90 days.

Nothing has so stirred the conscience of this nation

as this Birmingham movement.

[man] All right!

I can think of nothing--

And I say that as one who has been in several struggles for freedom

over the last few years.

But I have never seen people as aroused

over any development that we've had.

And this is a great victory for justice in Birmingham.

We're moving on to freedom land.

♪ In the air ♪

[explosion]

[woman vocalizing]

[vocalizing continues]

[crying]

[vocalizing continues]

"Ye have heard that it hath been said...

'Thou shall love thy neighbor

and hate thine enemy.'

But I say unto you, love your enemies.

Bless them that curse you.

Pray for them...

that despitefully use you

and persecute you.

That ye may be...

the children of your Father...

which is in heaven."

And probably no admonition of Jesus

has been more difficult to follow

than the command

to love your enemies.

♪ In Gilead ♪

♪ To make ♪

♪ The wounded whole ♪

♪ There is a balm ♪

♪ In Gilead ♪

♪ To heal ♪

♪ A sin-sick soul ♪

[bell tolling]

[woman] Four little girls who went to Sunday school that day

and never came back home at all,

but left instead their blood upon the wall

with spattered flesh

and bloodied Sunday dress torn to shreds by dynamite

that China made eons ago.

Four tiny girls who left their blood upon that wall

in little graves today await the dynamite

that might ignite the fuse of centuries,

whose tomorrow sings a hymn the missionaries never taught

in Christian Sunday school

to implement the golden rule.

Four little girls might be awakened someday soon

by songs upon the breeze, [bell tolling]

as yet unfelt among magnolia trees.

When it is finally ours,

this freedom,

this liberty,

this beautiful and terrible thing,

needful to man as air,

usable as the earth.

When it belong at last to our children...

when it is truly instinct,

brain matter,

reflex action.

When it is finally won,

when it is more than the gaudy mumbo jumbo of politicians...

this man,

this Negro,

visioning a world where none is lonely,

none hunted,

alien.

This man,

superb in love and logic,

shall be remembered,

oh, not with statues' rhetoric,

not with legends and poems and wreaths of bronze alone...

but with the lives grown out of his life,

lives fleshing the dream

of this needful, beautiful thing.

[man] Buttons here! Get 'em while they last!

I got buttons here! Buttons here! Get 'em while they last!

[chattering]

♪ We shall overcome ♪

♪ Someday ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ Deep in my heart ♪

♪ I do believe ♪

♪ We shall overcome ♪

♪ Someday ♪

[woman] We're not afraid.

♪ We are not afraid ♪

♪ Today ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ Deep in my heart ♪

♪ I do believe ♪

♪ We shall overcome ♪

♪ Someday ♪

[woman] We shall overcome.

♪ We shall overcome ♪

♪ Someday ♪

♪ Oh, deep in my heart ♪

♪ I do believe ♪

♪ That we shall overcome ♪

♪ Someday ♪

[cheering]

[woman] ♪ How we got over ♪

♪ How did we even Make it over? ♪

♪ You know, our soul Look back and wonder ♪

♪ How we made it over ♪

♪ Tell me how we got over Lord, Lord, Lord ♪

♪ We had a mighty hard time ♪

♪ Coming on over ♪

♪ You know, my soul Look back and wonder ♪

♪ How did I make it over? ♪

♪ Well ♪

♪ Soon as I can see Jesus ♪

♪ The man that died for me ♪

♪ The man That bled and suffered ♪

♪ You know he hung on Calvary ♪

♪ And I'm gonna thank him ♪

♪ For how he brought me ♪

♪ And I'm gonna thank God ♪

♪ For how he taught me ♪

♪ Oh, thank God How he kept me ♪

♪ Oh, I'm gonna thank him 'Cause he never left me ♪

♪ Yes, I'm gonna thank him For old-time religion ♪

♪ Yes, I'm gonna thank God For giving me a vision ♪

♪ Yeah, I'm gonna join The heavenly choir ♪

♪ Yeah, I'm going to shout And never get tired ♪

♪ You know I'm gonna shout Somewhere round the altar ♪

♪ And I'm gonna sing "Glory hallelujah" ♪

♪ You know I'm gonna thank him ♪

♪ Thank him for being ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ God being so ♪

♪ Good to me, yeah ♪

[applause, cheering]

We demand that segregation be ended

in every school district in the year 1963.

[cheering]

We demand

that we have effective civil rights legislation,

no compromise,

no filibuster,

and that it include public accommodations,

decent housing, integrated education,

FEPC, and the right to vote.

What do you say?

[cheering]

We demand the withholding of federal funds

from all programs in which discrimination exists.

What do you say? [cheering]

At this time, I have the honor to present to you

the moral leader of our nation.

[cheering]

A great, dedicated man.

A philosopher of a nonviolent system of behavior

in seeking to bring about social change

for the advancement of justice and freedom

and human dignity.

I have the pleasure to present to you

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

[cheering]

I am happy to join with you today...

in what will go down in history...

as the greatest demonstration for freedom

in the history of our nation.

[cheering]

Five score years ago...

a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today...

signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

This momentous decree came

as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves

who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice.

It came as a joyous daybreak...

to end the long night of their captivity.

But 100 years later...

the Negro still is not free.

[woman] My Lord! [man] Yeah!

One hundred years later...

the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled

by the manacles of segregation

and the chains of discrimination.

One hundred years later,

the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty

in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.

One hundred years later-- [cheering]

The Negro is still languished in the corners of American society

and finds himself in exile in his own land.

We have also come to this hallowed spot...

to remind America of the fierce urgency of now.

Now is the time

to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation

to the sunlit path of racial justice.

Now is the time...

to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice

to the solid rock of brotherhood.

Now is the time...

[cheering]

To make justice a reality for all of God's children.

There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America

until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights.

[cheering]

We must forever conduct our struggle

on the high plane of dignity and discipline.

We must not allow our creative protest

to degenerate into physical violence.

Again and again,

we must rise to the majestic heights

of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy

which has engulfed the Negro community

must not lead us to a distrust of all white people,

for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today,

have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny.

So even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow...

I still have a dream.

[woman] Yes!

It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream

that one day

this nation will rise up

and live out the true meaning of its creed:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident

that all men are created equal." - [woman] Yeah!

[cheering]

I have a dream...

that one day on the red hills of Georgia,

the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners

will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day...

even the state of Mississippi,

a state sweltering with the heat of injustice,

sweltering with the heat of oppression,

will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream...

that my four little children...

will one day live in a nation

where they will not be judged by the color of their skin

but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day,

down in Alabama,

with its vicious racists,

with its governor having his lips dripping

with the words of interposition and nullification,

one day right there in Alabama,

little black boys and black girls

will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls

as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

[cheering]

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted

and every hill and mountain shall be made low,

the rough places will be made plain,

and the crooked places will be made straight,

and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed

and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope.

This is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith,

we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.

With this faith,

we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation

into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.

With this faith,

we will be able to work together, to pray together,

to struggle together, to go to jail together,

to stand up for freedom together,

knowing that we will be free one day.

I say to you today, my friends, let freedom ring

from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring

from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that,

let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi,

from every mountainside.

Let freedom ring, and when this happens--

When we allow freedom ring,

when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet,

from every state and every city,

we will be able to speed up that day

when all of God's children-- black men and white men,

Jews and Gentiles,

Protestants and Catholics--

Will be able to join hands

and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

"Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

[cheering]

♪ For he's a jolly good fellow ♪

♪ That nobody can deny ♪

♪ For he's a jolly good fellow ♪

♪ That nobody can deny ♪

♪ ML, we love you ♪

♪ We love you And we hope we never part ♪

♪ ML, we love you ♪

♪ We love you, MLK ♪

♪ ML, we love you ♪

♪ We love you And we hope we never part ♪

♪ ML, we love you ♪

♪ We love you, MLK ♪

[speaking foreign language]

I call upon you.

[applause]

[speaking, indistinct]

[applause continues]

I have the great honor.

[speaking foreign language]

To hand over to you

the insignia of the Nobel Peace Prize,

the diploma, and a gold medal.

Thank you very much. [applause]

We're saying, "We want what you said belongs to us.

You have a Constitution.

I'm a black man,

and you make me sit down in a black school

and take a test on the United States Constitution,

a Constitution that hasn't worked for anyone but you,

and you expect me to learn it from front to back.

So I learned it.

You made me stand up as a kid and sing 'God bless America'

and 'America the Beautiful'

and all those other songs the white kids were singing.

I Pledge Allegiance to the Flag..."

[man] It's amazing how we go to church every Sunday

and cry over the crucifixion of Christ.

But we don't cry over the things that are going on around and among us.

If he were here now and saw these things,

he would cry,

and he would take those nails again.

It so happened in his day and time

the big problem was religion.

Today...

it is the survival of us all.

What do you think would happen to Christ tonight

if he arrived here in Selma, Alabama,

a black man, and wanted to register to vote on Monday?

[man] Move back. Come on. Move back.

I'm gonna give you one minute to get off these steps.

You're blocking the steps.

You still got it blocked where I can't see.

Now, get off the steps.

You have 30 seconds to get off the steps.

You have ten seconds to get off the steps or we're gonna remove you.

Time's up. Now, move. Move. Move. Move.

Get off the sidewalk. Get off the sidewalk.

Clear the sidewalk.

Move back. Clear the sidewalk.

You're under arrest.

Get back or you're gonna be under arrest.

Move. Move. Move.

Get off the sidewalk.

Move.

As you know, we are assembled here today to...

reaffirm our determination...

to gain the right to vote

in Selma and Dallas County and all over the state of Alabama.

We're getting ready to move to the courthouse.

And we're all going together today.

We're going to walk together.

We're going to walk together

because we are not parading.

We will obey every traffic law.

Every traffic signal we will stop for.

We will not stand in the way of egress and ingress.

We will not do anything to block the orderly process

of movement in the community.

But we feel that we need to join together

and move on to the courthouse.

[chattering]

Go right on down the line, tellin' them they all under arrest.

O God, our Father, we thank thee for this marvelous witness,

and we do pray that thou will give us strength

to do that which is right and that which is pleasing in thy sight.

Each and everyone in this line

is under arrest for parading without a permit.

You are breaking the injunction

by not allowing these people to come inside this courthouse and wait.

That's up to the court, sir. This courthouse does not belong to Sheriff Clark.

This courthouse belongs to the people of Dallas County,

and these are the people of Dallas County,

and they have come to register.

And you know this within your own heart, Sheriff Clark.

You are not as evil a man as you act. You know in your heart what is right.

You just refuse to do it because you want these people behind you.

And as sheriff of this county, if you're deeply concerned,

you will go call the registrar rather than keep people from standing inside.

What you're really trying to do is intimidate these people,

and by making them stand in the rain, keep them from registering to vote.

And this is a kind of violation of the Constitution,

a violation of the court order,

the violation of decent citizenship.

You can turn your back on me, but you cannot turn your back upon the idea of justice.

You can turn your back now, and you can keep the club in your hand,

but you cannot beat down justice.

And we will register to vote, because as citizens of these United States,

we have the right to do it.

I'm looking down the line,

seeing all the people who've been in jail for felonies.

Precisely right, and if they're not fit to vote,

you'll be able to find that out.

But you'll not know it until they're on the registrar,

and many of those have the felony action

because Sheriff Clark made them a felony action,

not because they were rightfully issued.

[woman screams]

[chattering]

[man] if you want to arrest us, arrest us, but you don't have to beat us.

No, you don't have to beat us.

[man 2] Get out of here. You don't have to beat us. Arrest us.

Get up now. Get up. Arrest us if we're wrong. Don't beat us.

Get out. If we're wrong, arrest us,

but don't beat us.

Stand up. [man 3] Get up, get up.

[Clark] Now clear outta here. If we're wrong, arrest us.

[shouting]

If we're wrong, arrest us. Arrest us if we're wrong.

Move! Don't push us away. Arrest us if we're wrong.

[officers chattering]

Hey, keep moving. Go on.

[Vivian] People have the privilege to vote. - Go on.

You beat me in the side and then hide your blows.

- Well, go on. No, I don't need to leave.

We have come to register to vote.

You beat us but refuse to register us.

What kind of people are you? - Get back across the street.

If we're wrong, we're wrong, but don't beat us.

Walk on. Get outta here.

[man 4] Look, he's laughing.

[deputy] Stay out in front of the camera. Go on.

[Vivian] It's not a matter of being in front of the camera.

It's a matter of facing your sheriff and facing your judge.

We have the right to be in this courtroom.

Come on. Let's go. - We have a right to be in this courtroom.

Courtroom belongs to all us citizens of this county.

We have a right to be here.

[man humming "We Shall Overcome"]

[humming continues]

This march intends to keep off the highway.

We will be marching on the shoulder of the road

and will not in any way be interfering with the pursuit of traffic.

And we urge you to be careful to make sure that you don't get on the highway in any way.

[marchers singing]

[whistle blowing]

It'll be detrimental to your safety to continue this march,

and I'm saying that this is an unlawful assembly.

You have to disperse. You are ordered to disperse.

Go home or go to your church.

This march will not continue. [whistle blowing]

Troopers here, advance toward the group.

See that they disperse.

[shouting, screaming]

[loud bang] [whistle blowing]

[whooping]

[shouting]

[male marcher] You call yourselves men.

You're not men. This is typical of Southern justice.

You're nothing but a bunch of bullies.

[sirens wailing]

[man shouting]

[shouting]

[woman] Where's a patrolman? Where's a patrolman?

Can we have somebody take her down to a doctor?

[woman] ♪ Ain't gonna let nobody Turn me round ♪

- [loud bang] - [whistle blowing]

We have the right to walk the highway.

We have the right to walk to Montgomery if our feet can get us there.

We must let the nation know, and we must let the world know

that it is necessary to protest this threefold evil:

the problem of the denial of the right to vote to police brutality,

that we continue to face and faced in its most vicious form last Sunday.

And then the attempt to block First Amendment privileges.

[man] ♪ Ain't gonna let nobody ♪

[marchers] ♪ Turn me round Gonna keep on a-walkin' ♪

♪ Gonna keep on a-talkin' ♪

♪ Marchin' up to freedom land ♪

[man] ♪ Ain't gonna let no dogs Oh, Lord ♪

[marchers] ♪ Turn me round, oh, Lord Turn me round, oh, Lord ♪

♪ Turn me round ♪

♪ Ain't gonna turn me round ♪

♪ Gonna keep on a-walkin' Gonna keep on a-talkin' ♪

♪ Marchin' up to-- ♪

Words of prayer from Dr. Ralph Abernathy.

[Abernathy] Let us bow in prayer...

and pray that black and white people

will live together right here in Alabama

and in the Black Belt of brothers. Yes, sir.

And the lions will lie down with the lambs,

the calf and the tiger together.

Until that day comes, keep us restless and dissatisfied.

[men] Yes, sir!

Keep us working and walking

and fighting for freedom.

This prayer we ask in Jesus' name

and for his sake.

Amen.

You know, things happened here today,

and I want to reiterate what...

Reverend Reese has just said concerning the...

three Unitarian ministers

who were beaten about an hour or so ago.

I understand one was, uh, so brutally beaten

that he had to be rushed to the hospital in Birmingham...

with a possible brain concussion.

[congregants murmuring]

I wish for a moment that we would bow in a word of silent prayer...

for these brothers who came here to be with us today

and who marched with us across the Alabama River.

Who marched to witness for our freedom

and to witness

for their own personal dedication to the cause of justice.

We pause in prayer and ask for God's guidance

and ask that he will cast his long arm of protection

around these, our brothers.

I'm calling into federal service

selected units of the Alabama National Guard.

[Johnson] And also will have available

police units from the regular army

to help meet state responsibilities.

These forces should be adequate

to assure the rights of American citizens

pursuant to a federal court order

to walk peaceably and safely,

without injury or loss of life,

from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.

[man] ♪ Pick 'em up and lay 'em down ♪

♪ Right, right ♪

♪ Pick 'em up and lay 'em down ♪

♪ Right, right ♪

♪ Pick 'em up and lay 'em down ♪

♪ Right, right ♪

♪ All the way from Selma town ♪

♪ Right, right ♪

♪ Oh, the mud sure was deep ♪

♪ Right, right ♪

♪ Oh, the hill sure was steep ♪

♪ Right, right ♪

♪ Lord, I didn't get Much sleep ♪

♪ Right, right ♪

♪ That's why we're movin' In a creep ♪

♪ Right, right ♪

♪ We made some level ground ♪

♪ Right, right ♪

♪ Now we're movin' on down ♪

♪ Right, right ♪

♪ Did the rain come down? ♪

♪ Right, right ♪

♪ Lord, I thought I woulda drowned ♪

♪ Right, right ♪

♪ But I thought of Sheriff Jim ♪

♪ Right, right ♪

♪ Lord, I thought of Sheriff Jim ♪

- [man] Walk that road. - [man 2] All right, come on. Put it down.

- It's a rebel flag. - You wanna see, niggers?

[man] Sheriff Clark,

are you heaving a sigh of relief today

that all of this is moving out of your county?

I hope it's over, but I doubt it.

I think when Martin Luther King has used us as much as he wants to, then he'll move out.

What about the people who are left behind?

Are they gonna settle down again?

I'm sure that the local people will.

Do you think it's all been due to outsiders?

I think it's definitely been due to outsiders.

I noticed yesterday in the, uh, in the march,

a group of my friends and I stood there,

and we were able to count five local nig-- uh, Negroes in the whole, uh, march.

Do you think there are many communists in this procession?

I think it's possibly made up of three--

One-fourth communist and one-half pro-communist.

I'm from Kansas City, Missouri,

and I've answered a call for the interracial council there in Kansas City

to join the march here.

These ideals that have been expressed here by all the people

have been mine for a long time.

I've got an opportunity to do something about it now.

[people singing, lyrics indistinct]

How do you feel about the protection being given you on this march?

I think this is a real demonstration

of the commitment of the federal government

uh, to protect the constitutional rights of Negro citizens.

Uh, the protection has been very thorough, as you can see,

and, uh, the men are working

uh, under the guidance and, certainly,

uh, under the power and influence of the federal government

to see that things are carried out

uh, in an orderly manner.

So I think that everybody has to recognize

that this symbolizes, uh, a new commitment

and a new determination on the part of the federal government

to take the kind of vigorous line

that will assure the rights of the Negro citizens of this nation.

[helicopter whirring]

[people clapping in rhythm]

[marchers] ♪ Which side are you on, boy? Which side are you on? ♪

♪ Everybody ♪

♪ Which side are you on, boy? Which side are you on? ♪

♪ All you freedom lovers ♪

♪ Now lift your voices And sing ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ You follow our leader man ♪

♪ Martin Luther King ♪

Dr. King, how are things shaping up now for tomorrow?

Things are shaping up beautifully.

We have people coming in from all over the country.

I suspect that we will have

representatives from almost every state in the union,

and, naturally, a large number of people from the state of Alabama.

And we hope to see and we plan to see

the greatest witness for freedom ever taken place--

That has ever taken place on the steps of a capital of any state in the South,

and this whole march adds drama to this total thrust.

[man humming "We Shall Overcome"]

[people cheering, applauding]

I just want to say to you how much we are indebted...

to my dear and abiding friend, Harry Belafonte--

[applause, cheers]

And to all of the other distinguished...

and famous artists and entertainers

who have taken time out of their very busy schedules

to be with us here in Montgomery, Alabama,

as we march on the state capital tomorrow morning.

I know that our thanks

will go out to them and will abide with them for years and years to come.

[cheering, applause]

♪ Sad to say I'm on my way ♪

♪ Won't be back for many a day ♪

♪ My heart is down My head is turning around ♪

♪ I had to leave a little girl In Kingston town ♪

♪ If your time to you ls worth savin' ♪

♪ Then you better start swimmin' Or you'll sink like a stone ♪

♪ For the times ♪

♪ They are a-changin' ♪

It's gonna be the first all-colored western.

Both sides gonna be colored. We're taking no chances.

[crowd laughing]

Yes, sir, our show is cowboys and West Indians.

[cheering]

♪ Everybody knows about Mississippi goddam ♪

♪ Can't you see it? ♪

♪ Can't you feel it? ♪

♪ It's all in the air ♪

♪ I can't stand The pressure much longer ♪

♪ Somebody say a prayer ♪

♪ Alabama's gotten me so upset ♪

♪ Selma made me lose my rest ♪

♪ And everybody knows about Mississippi goddam ♪

[crowd applauding]

Western Union? Yes.

This is Governor Wallace. Just a moment.

Governor Wallace?

That's right.

Can you spell "Governor"?

No.

[crowd laughing]

Yes. And to whom is the telegram going?

It's going to the president of the United States,

Lyndon B. Johnson.

Lyndon B. Johnson? That's right.

Is that Miss or Missus?

[laughing]

Mr. Lyndon B. Johnson.

That's right. I have that.

Here's the message. Yes?

Mr. President, Mr. President,

I will do anything I can to keep law and order,

I will do anything I can to keep law and order,

but I simply cannot afford to call the National Guard.

Cannot afford to call the National Guard.

Why not? It only costs a dime, you know.

[crowd laughing]

Well, you know, I'm not made of money.

Yes, sir. I didn't mean to get personal.

It costs a lot of money to keep all those people in jail.

Costs a lot of money to keep all those people in jail.

Not to mention the upkeep on the billy clubs...

Billy clubs,

and the cattle prodders...

cattle prodders,

and the bullwhip.

Bullwhip.

Bullwhipped is right.

Is that two words or one for "bullwhip"?

[crowd laughing] That's one.

One word. Yes?

And the police themselves cost a lot of money-- Police cost money.

Even though some of them take very little and just do it for the sheer love of the work.

[crowd laughing] Sheer love of the work.

[cheering, applauding]

♪ And now I know Just where I'm goin' ♪

♪ No more doubt or fear ♪

♪ I found my way ♪

♪ 'Cause love came Just in time ♪

♪ I found you just in time ♪

♪ And then you changed My lonely life ♪

♪ That lovely day ♪

♪ You changed my lonely life ♪

♪ That lovely day ♪

[helicopter whirring]

[marchers singing, lyrics indistinct]

[singing continues]

[crowd roaring]

[King] Last Sunday, more than 8,000 of us

started on a mighty walk from Selma, Alabama.

They told us we wouldn't get here.

There were those who said that we would get here

only over their dead bodies.

Well-- Talk, talk. Yes, sir.

But all the world today knows that we are here,

and we are standing before the forces of power in the state of Alabama

saying, "We ain't gonna let nobody turn us around."

- Yes, sir! - [crowd roaring]

Today I want to tell the city of Selma--

Tell them, Doctor.

Today I want to say to the state of Alabama--

Yes, sir.

Today I want to say to the people of America

and the nations of the world

that we are not about to turn around.

Yes, sir.

We on the move now.

Yes, sir.

Yes, we on the move,

and no wave of racism can stop us.

Yes, sir.

The burning of our churches

will not deter us. - Yes, sir!

The bombing of our homes will not dissuade us.

-Yes, sir! The beating and killing of our clergymen and young people

will not divert us.

Tell it, tell it.

The wanton release of their known murderers

will not discourage us.

We on the move now.

Yes, sir!

Like an idea whose time has come.

Yes, sir! Yes, sir!

Not even the marching of mighty armies can hold us.

- Yes, sir. We are moving to the land of freedom.

[men] Yes, sir.

I know you're asking today, "How long will it take?"

Preach, sir.

[King] Somebody's asking,

"How long will prejudice blind the visions of men?"

I come to say to you this afternoon,

however difficult the moment-- - Yes, sir.

However frustrating the hour,

it will not be long.

- No, sir. Because "truth crushed to earth will rise again."

Yes, sir.

How long? Not long. - Yes, sir.

Because "no lie can live forever." - Yes, sir.

How long? Not long.

How long? - Preach, sir.

Because you shall reap what you sow.

Yes, sir. Preach, sir.

How long? Not long.

How long?

"Truth forever on the scaffold,

wrong forever on the throne,

Yet that scaffold sways the future,

and behind the dim unknown

standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own."

How long? Not long.

- Preach, sir. Because the arc of the moral universe is long,

but it bends toward justice.

How long? Not long! Not long.

'Cause "mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

- Yes, sir. He's trampling out the vintage

where the grapes of wrath are stored."

Yes, sir. Yeah!

"He has loosed the fateful lightning

of his terrible swift sword.

His truth is marchin' on." - Yes, sir.

"He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat."

- Speak, sir. "He is sifting out the hearts of men

before his judgment seat." - Yes.

"O, be swift, my soul, to answer him.

Be jubilant, my feet.

Our God is marching on.

Glory, hallelujah.

His truth is marching on."

[crowd roaring]

[Johnson] Today is a triumph for freedom

as huge as any victory

that's ever been won on any battlefield.

This law covers many pages.

But the heart of the act is plain.

Wherever, by clear and objective standards,

states and counties are using regulations, or laws, or tests

to deny the right to vote,

then they will be struck down.

If it is clear that state officials still intend to discriminate,

then federal examiners will be sent in

to register all eligible voters.

This good Congress, the 89th Congress,

acted swiftly in passing this act.

I intend to act with equal dispatch

in enforcing this act.

[King] I think the greatest victory of this period

was not in terms of an external factor

or an external development, but it was something internal.

The real victory was

what this period did to the psyche of the black man.

The greatness of this period

was that we armed ourselves with dignity and self-respect.

[man humming "We Shall Overcome"]

[King] The greatness of this period was

that we straightened our backs up.

And a man can't ride your back unless it's bent.

[humming continues]

The world has never had a good definition of the word "liberty,"

and the American people just now are much in want of one.

We all declare for liberty,

but in using the same word, we do not mean the same thing.

With some, the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself.

While with others, the same word

may mean for some men to do as they please with other men.

Here are two not only different but incompatible things

called by the same name: liberty.

And it follows that each of the things

is by the respective parties called by two different and incompatible names:

liberty and tyranny.

[train clattering]

[jazz playing]

[no audible dialogue]

[jazz continues]

[no audible dialogue]

[singers vocalizing]

[no audible dialogue]

[jazz, vocalizing continue]

[no audible dialogue]

After touring this city

in two whirlwind days of activity,

I must report

that Chicago is far from being the promised land.

[cheering, applause]

Say it.

That is no Jerusalem on Lake Michigan.

[laughter, applause]

But I must also say

that confused, confounded, and corrupt though she is,

Chicago is no Sodom doomed to an imminent destruction.

[man] - Preach it now. No, Chicago is more like Athens,

a city of both tremendous shame and shining glory.

Fix it now. - And we are here to issue the call to conscience

Yes. - that Chicago might forsake her shame

and rise to the challenge of our age

and creatively pursue the paths of glory.

[shouting]

[jazz playing]

[siren wailing]

[shouting]

[sirens wailing]

[shouting]

[children screaming]

[siren wailing]

[siren blaring]

[angry shouting]

[siren blaring]

[shouting]

[officer] Get out of there!

[woman shouting, screaming]

[siren blaring]

[officer on radio, indistinct] [gunshot]

[officer on radio] Get in there in the back.

Come to the front, and we'll meet. [gunfire]

[police radio chatter]

[gunshot]

[police radio chatter continues]

[sirens wailing]

[fire engine bell clanging]

[siren wailing]

[chattering]

[boy talking, indistinct]

[flames crackling]

[siren wailing] [man] Hey, mister.

Apparently the opening incident that, uh,

caused the disorder was an argument between the police and the young citizenry

over the open fire hydrants.

They're persistently opening the hydrants.

The... police had closed them, and some arrests were effected.

Some rumors spread, and, uh,

from then on, why, we had, uh,

some sporadic attacks on property, uh, throughout the area.

[male reporter] Will you consider this a personal embarrassment

because you are considered a moderate voice?

I told Mayor Daley the other day

that if you do not help me win victories, and if you don't make concessions,

you are opening the door for the violent forces to take over.

So it won't be an embarrassment to me other than my moral concern.

It would be a much greater embarrassment to this nation.

[woman] ♪ We need freedom, my Lord ♪

♪ Come by here ♪

♪ We need freedom, Lord ♪

♪ Come by here ♪

♪ We need housing, Lord ♪

♪ Come by here ♪

♪ Oh, Lord ♪

♪ Come by here ♪

[shouting, indistinct]

"The Star-Spangled Banner."

Anyone here, can you get off your knees

and sing the first stanza from "The Star-Spangled Banner"?

[man] Ma'am, shut up! [woman continues shouting]

[humming "Kumbaya"]

Do you wanna work for three dollars an hour?

[man answers, indistinct]

I don't care if you're working for a living or not.

You wanna clean third floors like me?

You wanna climb second to third to third to third?

Relax, relax, relax, relax. Huh?

Anybody wants a job, I got one.

Hey, where's that little man? Come on!

Hey, come here, little man. Lady.

Please get 'em outta here.

♪ Come by here ♪

♪ Oh, Lord, come by here ♪

All you people that are [indistinct]

should turn around and go back.

You are violating-- [crowd shouting]

All right, get out of the street here.

[continues, indistinct]

Yeah, well, their goddamn neighborhood, they made 'em slums.

They wanna make this slums?

We work too hard in this neighborhood to keep it clean

without making it slums.

Okay!

[all shouting]

[man] Back to the jungle, you guys! Back to the jungle!

[indistinct]

[engine revving]

[woman] Back to the [indistinct] Back to the [indistinct]

[chattering]

[siren wailing]

[crowd] Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!

Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!

Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!

Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!

[Mahalia Jackson] ♪ Oh, Joshua fit The battle of Jericho ♪

♪ Jericho, Jericho ♪

♪ Joshua fit The battle of Jericho ♪

♪ The walls came tumbling down ♪

♪ Hallelujah ♪

♪ Joshua fit The battle of Jericho ♪

♪ Jericho, Jericho ♪

♪ Joshua fit The battle of Jericho ♪

♪ And the walls Came tumbling down ♪

♪ They blow, yeah ♪

♪ Joshua fit The battle of Jericho ♪

♪ Jericho, Jericho ♪

♪ Joshua fit The battle of Jericho ♪

♪ And the walls Came tumbling down ♪

♪ You may talk about The men of Gideon ♪

♪ Talk about the men of Saul ♪

♪ None of them Was good as Joshua ♪

♪ At the battle of Jericho ♪

♪ Hallelujah ♪

♪ Joshua fit The battle of Jericho ♪

♪ Jericho, Jericho ♪

♪ Joshua fit The battle of Jericho ♪

♪ And the walls Came tumbling down ♪

♪ Whoo, up to The walls of Jericho ♪

♪ Sword drawn in his hand ♪

♪ "Oh, blow them horns" Cried Joshua ♪

♪ The battle is in your hands ♪

♪ Hallelujah ♪

♪ Joshua fit The battle of Jericho ♪

♪ Jericho, Jericho ♪

♪ Joshua fit The battle of Jericho ♪

♪ And the walls Came tumbling down ♪

[Mahalia Jackson] ♪ Walls ♪

♪ Came ♪

♪ Tumbling ♪

♪ Down ♪

[cheering]

[song ends]

[applause continues]

I think I can say,

concerning this great gospel singer in our midst,

our dear friend,

my great friend, Mahalia Jackson,

that a voice like this comes only once in a millennium.

[audience applauding]

If there is any doubt in anybody's mind

concerning whether we have a movement here in Chicago,

you ought to be in this church tonight.

[cheering, applause]

We have some challenging days ahead.

[man] Amen.

Some great and noble opportunities

to make this beautiful city that sits on the banks of Lake Michigan

the beautiful city of brotherhood

that it is called to be.

[man] Amen.

I say sincerely that the white persons

who believe in justice,

who believe in humanity,

are gonna stay with this movement.

Yeah. Yes, sir.

As I've said before, they're gonna stay with it

because it's just and right.

[shouts of assent]

If my Jewish brothers and sisters

said to me amid anti-Semitism anywhere,

"We don't need your support.

We have enough Jewish power to deal with this problem ourselves."

I would still take a stand against anti-Semitism

because it's wrong, it's unjust, and it's evil.

If my Catholic brothers and sisters said to me,

amid bigotry toward Catholics,

"We don't need your support in this,

because we have enough Catholic power to deal with it,"

I would still take a stand against bigotry toward Catholics

because it is wrong, it is evil, and it is unjust.

Tomorrow, let us march.

Let us march in dignity, let us march in discipline.

So don't despair.

Don't give up.

But in one great outpouring

with the gentle signs and the glad thunders of the ages,

all of us can begin to sing,

"Glory, hallelujah.

Glory, hallelujah.

Glory, hallelujah, our God is marching on!"

[cheering, applause]

♪ Glory, glory, hallelujah ♪

[angry shouting]

...no goddamn broken windows!

[man] Back to the jungle, you guys! Back to the jungle!

[officer] Let's go. Keep moving there.

Keep 'em moving.

[shouting]

Nigger, go away! Damn nigger, go home!

- Let's move it. Come on. - Let's move it.

[officer] Use your good sense instead of your emotions.

[man] Where's their good sense? Let 'em go in their own neighborhood.

[man 2] Yeah, we're protecting our neighborhood! Get outta here!

[officer] All you're gonna do is help ruin your own.

That's the way you're going right now.

I've seen this happen many times.

[officer] Why don't you go home and act like adult people.

[jeering]

[marchers] ♪ We shall live in peace ♪

[woman] Hey, get out of here!

[men shouting] Go home! Go home! Go home!

- [man] We want dago power! - [people cheering]

Get out! Come on over here!

Hey, you want to be next to the white people? Come over here!

Hey, back to the jungle, you guys! Back to the jungle! Go, will ya?

[marchers continue singing]

[angry shouting]

[man] Hey! Keep walking, guys!

Hey! Nigger go home!

[locals shouting angrily]

[marchers continue singing]

Hey, you want to be next to the white people? Come over here!

[shouting]

[angry shouting]

♪ We shall overcome ♪

♪ Someday ♪

[angry shouting continues]

[officer on loudspeaker] Take your children home.

[man] Why don't you tell the niggers to go home!

[crowd chanting] White power! White power! White power! White power! White power!

All you're doing is aggravate our problem. Off the streets.

Come on!

[horn honking]

Watch it!

[shouting]

[shouting]

You didn't tell me nothing!

Get outta here!

I live in here! Get outta here!

I live here! Those fucking niggers don't live here!

[shouting, indistinct]

Tell them fucking niggers to go home!

[crowd jeering, booing]

[King] They were saying to us yesterday, "Don't march."

I listened to 'em.

I said to myself,

"Our marching feet have done too much now to give up."

If you want us to stop marching,

make justice a reality.

I don't mind saying to Chicago or to anybody,

"I'm tired of marching.

Tired of marching for something

that should have been mine at birth."

[marchers] ♪ Deep in my heart ♪

♪ And I do believe ♪

[King] If you want a moratorium on demonstration,

put a moratorium on injustice.

If you want us to end our moves into communities,

open these communities.

[woman] Yeah! Yeah! I don't mind saying to you,

"I'm tired of the tension surrounding our day."

I don't mind saying to you, "I'm tired of living every day under the threat of death."

I have no martyr complex.

I want to live as long as anybody in this building,

and sometimes I begin to doubt whether I'm gonna make it through.

I must confess, I'm tired!

[crowd cheering]

Yes, I'm tired of going to jail.

I'm tired of all of the surging murmur of life's lesson at sea.

So I'll tell anybody, "I'm willing to stop marching.

I don't march because I like it.

I march because I must and because I'm a man

and because I'm a child of God!"

[man] Let's move it. Come on. Let's move it.

[man] You see him? [man 2] Yeah.

[man 3] Yeah, threw the rock.

[loud bang]

[shouting, chattering]

[loud bang]

[people cheering]

[King aide] Let's get moving.

[King aide 2] Right, let's move.

[chattering]

They'd like if we'd move.

Let's go back toward our--

[man] Did you change the road coming up?

[Young] No, we got separated,

and we couldn't get through the mob back there.

So we'll wait-- No, we have to go all the way around the park

and come back in. Come up the back?

[reporter] Dr. King, did you get hit? I'm glad you slowed it up.

What did you get hit with, sir?

You get hit with rocks? I've been hit so many times,

I'm immune to it.

[chattering]

How do you feel about this reception, sir?

Well, this is a terrible thing.

I've been in many demonstrations all across the South,

but I can say that I have never seen--

Even in Mississippi and Alabama--

Mobs as hostile and as hate-filled

as I've seen here in Chicago.

But the march will go on anyway? Oh, very definitely.

We can't stop the march. We're going on in a few minutes.

[gunshot]

Do you feel you're in a closed society, Dr. King,

here in the southwest side of Chicago? Oh, yes.

It's definitely a closed society, and we're gonna make it an open society.

And we feel that we have to do it this way

in order to bring the evil out into the open

so that this community will be forced to deal with it.

[reporter 2] Dr. King, will there be any marches this weekend?

Yes, there will be. We'll be announcing that a little later.

[reporter speaking, indistinct]

I don't know yet.

[Young] Can you move back so we can get it started?

You wanna move 'em out to the left?

[man] Hey! [loud bang]

[crowd booing]

[angry shouting]

[gunshot]

[officer] Get 'em back!

[King] We aren't gonna march with any Molotov cocktails.

That isn't our movement.

We aren't gonna march with any weapons. That isn't our movement.

[shouting]

We aren't gonna march with bricks and bottles.

We are gonna march with something much more powerful than all of that.

We are gonna march with the force of our souls,

mobilize bodies in concern for justice.

Somehow we are gonna step up.

We are gonna take the ammunition of determination.

We are gonna move out

with the weapons of courage.

We're gonna put on the breastplate of righteousness

and the whole armor of God, and we're gonna march!

The face of war is my face.

The face of war is your face.

What color is the face of war?

Brown? Black? White?

Your face and my face.

Death is the broom I take in my hands to sweep the world clean.

I sweep and I sweep and mop and I mop.

I dip my broom in blood, my mop in blood,

and blame you for this, because you are there, enemy.

It's hard to blame me because I am here.

So I kill you, and you kill me.

My name, like your name, is war.

[King] Let no one claim there is a consensus for this war.

No flag-waving.

No smug satisfaction with territorial conquest.

No denunciation of the enemy can obscure the truth

that millions of patriotic Americans

repudiate this war

and refuse to take moral responsibility for it.

- [explosion] - [shouting]

- [machine gun firing] - [shouting continues]

[soldier screams]

I speak out against this war

not in anger

but with anxiety and sorrow in my heart,

and above all, with a passionate desire

to see our beloved country

stand as the moral example of the world.

I speak out against this war

because I am disappointed with America,

and there can be no great disappointment

where there is no great love.

[officer] All right, check. Second platoon, throw those people back!

[gunfire]

[King] Negroes and white boys will fight in brutal solidarity

on the battlefields of Vietnam,

but when they get back home, it's doubtful that their children

will be able to sit together in the same classroom,

because most of the schools of this country are segregated.

Negro soldiers will die in Vietnam.

Sometime they'll come back home

to be buried in Wetumpka, Alabama,

and can't even be buried there.

It's time to set our own house in order.

For those who say to me, "Stick to civil rights,"

I have another answer.

And that is that I've fought too long and too hard now...

against segregated public accommodations

to end up segregating my moral concern.

I'm not gonna do that.

[crowd applauding]

Others can do what they want to do!

That's their business.

If other civil rights leaders, for various reasons,

refuse or can't take a stand or have to go along with the administration,

that's their business!

But I must say tonight--

[applauding]

That I know that justice...

is indivisible.

Injustice anywhere

is a threat to justice everywhere.

If people bring so much courage to this world,

the world has to kill them to break them.

So, of course, it kills them.

The world breaks everyone,

and afterward, many are strong at the broken places.

But those it will not break, it kills.

It kills the very good and the very gentle

and the very brave, impartially.

If you are none of these,

you can be sure that it will kill you too.

But there will be no special hurry.

♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

♪ Happy birthday, Dr. King ♪

♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

We know that you really don't need much,

but we thought there are some things you ought to have.

So we searched around, and knowing what's coming up for you,

we thought you'd be strung out on a shoestring, so when you go to jail,

here's some shoestring potatoes.

[applause] And we know how fond you are

of our president, Lyndon Johnson, and--

[laughter]

And we know how you support him.

I got this cup for you-- and I want this back, 'cause it's mine--

And it says, "We are cooperating

with Lyndon Johnson's war on poverty.

Drop coins and bills in the cup."

[laughing]

[woman speaking, indistinct]

Now, there's a picture of Dr. King.

He's in deep thought.

You've seen that picture many times.

But it takes on new meaning here, and it says,

"Caption: 'But seriously, President Johnson,

if the pill won't work, then we're going to need Dr. Spock."'

[laughing]

[applause]

And you get a free gift certificate to the Atlanta Boys, okay?

All right. And this is a special gift from me. A real one.

[laughing]

[indistinct]

Thank you very much.

I'm just getting older, that's all.

Dr. King. - Franklin, how you doin'? Good to see you.

Uh, are you gonna stop somewhere for a bite to eat?

We're gonna eat in Marks, I believe. Somebody reminded me of it.

[car horn honks] See y'all.

[boy] Let me touch you. You all just took off from school, huh?

[teenagers] Yeah. [laughing] All right.

See ya later, hear? Bye.

All right, bye-bye. [giggling]

Now there's how to shake his hand, huh? - Wonderful.

Get to shake it.

We want y'all to come on to Washington when you get out of school.

Yes, sir. - We're gonna have a big time in Washington.

Yes, sir. Good luck, hear?

Thanks. - Bye-bye.

Bye. [boy] Bye.

Hosea's still inside.

Greg. Tell Hosea and Ralph to rush on.

We-- [indistinct]

Hello. Give me some sugar. - [woman] Where we stopping?

Ah, that a girl. - Where we stopping?

Where we stopping? Is there some town between here and Marks?

He said something about we had a stop, but he didn't say where. Why?

How you doing? Fine. How you been?

All right. Fine. Glad to see you.

Yeah. How you doing? Fine. How are you?

[woman] Hello. How are you? Fine. How you feelin'?

Glad to see. You said somewhere about we gonna stop on the way.

[engine starts]

Okay, Rev. See ya, yeah?

In Chicago, on the day that we marched through that narrow street--

And we marched about 4,000 or 5,000 people that day--

But they were in trees.

[pilot] That's correct. Change frequencies.

It was the most serious--

I guess we marched about five miles, didn't we?

But they had at least 10,000 whites assemble on us.

And there must have been about 4,000 police...

trying to protect us.

But every minute almost, somebody's nose got broken.

And you got everywhere you turn.

And we went through this narrow street with all these trees,

and the policemen were going ahead,

and they were finding people in these trees.

They were holding up, "Come out of the trees."

'Cause they were in these trees to shoot or anything.

And they were throwing so many rocks and things

that I saw the policemen duck at least--

One time, you remember, looked like you could see 4,000 policemen duck.

They all went down. It was-- That's a fact.

Now, that, to me,

and Philadelphia, Mississippi, were the most, uh--

I just gave up.

I wouldn't say I was so afraid as--

That I had yielded to the real possibility

of the inevitability of death.

I mean, I had concluded--

I concluded--

That day in Philadelphia, when I was speaking--

[man on radio] Radar identification. Turn to right-hand--

And Rainey was behind me, you remember?

And all those others, and I started saying,

"The murderers are probably around,"

and some man behind me said, "You're damn right. They're right behind you right now."

That was Rainey. Rainey said it.

"Yeah, I'm right behind you." Said, "Yeah"--

And, brother--

And I was here speaking. They all standin' behind me.

And I just knew

they had never seen--

Well, did-did I pray, or did Ralph pray?

[man] Ralph prayed.

Yeah, Ralph prayed that day.

And, uh, we had to close our eyes.

And I just knew then that they were gonna drop us.

[man laughing] Ralph never did! From then on--

You-- [laughing] [laughing]

You didn't know that? No, sirree.

Ralph says he prayed with his open.

[laughing]

But I closed my eyes. I really did.

This is a new beginning on the economic front.

We've dealt with the social crisis of legal segregation

to a great degree,

and we've dealt with the political problem,

the right to vote, to its great extent.

Now we are making a beginning on the economic. - Right.

We assemble here together today

with common problems,

uh, bringing together ethnic groups

that maybe have not been together

in this type of meeting in the past.

I know I haven't been in a meeting like this,

and it's been one of my dreams that we would come together

and realize our common problems.

And I do want to express my deep personal gratitude

and the appreciation of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference

to each of you.

And power for poor people will really mean

having the ability, the togetherness,

the assertiveness and the aggressiveness

to make the power structure of this nation say "yes"

when they may be desirous of saying "no."

And it is my hope that

we will get together and be together

and really stand up to gain power for poor people.

Black people, Mexican-Americans, American Indians,

Puerto Ricans, Appalachian whites,

all working together

to solve the problem of poverty.

[crowd applauding]

We're getting ready to deal with the economic issue.

We're getting ready to demand jobs and income.

We are tired of working

full-time jobs for part-time income.

Yeah. All right, all right.

We are tired of living in run-down,

dilapidated, rat-infested shacks and slums.

[murmuring in agreement]

We are tired of our children--

[man] All right.

Having to attend overcrowded, inferior schools.

[man] Make it plain.

And we are tired

of our men not being able to be men

because they can't find work.

[King] One thousand three hundred sanitation workers are on strike,

and Memphis is not being fair to them.

The issue is the refusal of Memphis...

to be fair and honest

in its dealings with its public servants

who happen to be sanitation workers.

Now, we've gotta keep attention on that.

We've got to march again...

in order to put the issue

where it is supposed to be.

Force everybody to see that there are

1,300 of God's children here suffering,

sometimes going hungry,

going through dark and dreary nights,

wondering how this thing is gonna come out.

That's the issue.

We've got to say to the nation, "We know how it's coming out."

When people get caught up with that which is right,

and they are willing to sacrifice for it,

there is no stopping point short of victory.

We have this illegal, unconstitutional injunction.

All we say to America is, "Be true to what you said on paper."

[shouts of agreement]

[applause]

[clamoring]

If I lived in China or even Russia,

maybe I could understand

some of these illegal injunctions.

Maybe I could understand

the denial of certain basic First Amendment privileges

because they haven't committed themselves to that over there.

But somewhere I read

of the freedom of assembly.

Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech.

Yeah! - Somewhere I read

of the freedom of press.

Somewhere I read

that the greatness of America

is the right to protest for a right.

[cheering, applause]

And so just as I say we aren't going to let any dogs or water hoses turn us around,

we aren't going to let any injunction turn us around!

[cheering]

[motorcycle engines revving]

All right, we're ready. Let's go! Let's go!

[chattering]

Stay with the group. Stay with the group. Together now.

Get back in line.

Black power!

Black power! This is power!

Black power! [shouting]

Black power! This is power!

[shouting]

[shouting] [whistle blowing]

[siren wailing]

[officer shouting] [glass breaking]

[explosion] [shouting]

Get off the street! Get off the street!

[sirens wailing]

[explosion]

[explosions] [shouting]

[shouting]

Look out! Look out! [glass breaking]

We've got some difficult days ahead.

Some began to talk about

the threats that were out.

[man] Yeah.

What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers.

[clamoring]

Well, I don't know what will happen now.

But it really doesn't matter with me now,

because I've been to the mountaintop.

[crowd] Yeah! [applause]

And I don't mind.

Like anybody, I would like to live... a long life.

Longevity has its place.

But I'm not concerned about that now.

I just want to do God's will.

[crowd] Yeah.

And he's allowed me to go up to the mountain.

And I've looked over,

and I've seen the promised land.

Yeah!

I may not get there with you,

but I want you to know tonight

[shouting] that we as a people will get to the promised land!

[shouting, applause]

[man] Go ahead. Go ahead.

So I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything!

I'm not fearing any man!

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!

[cheering, applause]

♪ Going forth with weeping ♪

♪ Sowing for the Master ♪

♪ Tho' the loss sustained ♪

♪ Our spirit often grieves ♪

♪ When our weeping's over ♪

♪ He will bid us welcome ♪

♪ We shall come rejoicing ♪

♪ Bringing in the sheaves ♪

My name is Robert Moseley, the producer of this show.

At 7:10 this evening, Martin Luther King was shot--

[audience gasps] in Tennessee.

This was to be a gala occasion for a little Negro college from Mississippi

appearing in Carnegie Hall with the great Duke Ellington.

Martin Luther King 20 minutes ago died.

[audience gasping]

[bell tolling]

[woman] ♪ Glory, glory ♪ [tolling continues]

♪ Hallelujah ♪

♪ When I laid my ♪

♪ Burden down ♪

♪ Glory, glory ♪

♪ Hallelujah ♪

♪ When I laid my ♪

♪ Burden down ♪

♪ I'm gonna need my ♪

♪ Dear old mother ♪

♪ When I lay my ♪

♪ Burden down ♪

♪ I'm gonna need my ♪

♪ Dear old mother ♪

♪ When I lay my ♪

♪ Burden down ♪

♪ Glory, glory ♪

♪ Hallelujah ♪

♪ When I laid my ♪

♪ Burden down ♪

♪ Glory, glory ♪

♪ Hallelujah ♪

♪ When I laid my ♪

♪ Burden down ♪

♪ Glory, glory ♪

♪ Hallelujah ♪

♪ When I laid my ♪

♪ Burden down, mm-hmm ♪

♪ Glory, glory ♪

♪ Hallelujah ♪

♪ When I laid my ♪

♪ Burden down ♪

♪ I'm gonna need my ♪

♪ Dear old mother ♪

♪ When I lay my ♪

♪ Burden down ♪

♪ I'm gonna need my ♪

♪ Dear old mother ♪

♪ When I lay my ♪

♪ Burden down ♪

[organ playing]

[organ continues]

[man] Please be seated.

We gather here this morning in one of the darkest hours...

in the history...

of the black people of this nation,

and in one of the darkest hours...

in the history...

of all mankind.

For Martin Luther King,

a 20th-century prophet,

who was imbued with the philosophy...

of nonviolence,

sent forth as a Moses in the wilderness...

of this sick nation of ours...

to lift his voice and cry out to the pharaohs...

to let my people go,

was assassinated...

on last Thursday evening...

in Memphis, Tennessee.

We come to the church where...

he was dedicated

and blessed as a baby;

where he was baptized as a Christian;

where he was licensed...

to preach the gospel;

where he was ordained...

to spread good tidings

of joy to all people.

The church where his pas-- where his father...

has pastored for many years,

and the church which he has served...

in such a marvelous way...

as co-pastor...

for eight years.

Mrs. King has requested that...

we have the tape of his last sermon...

played to us now.

[King on tape] if any of you are around when I have to meet my day,

I don't want a long funeral.

And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy,

tell them not to talk too long.

[man] Yes. - Every now and then I wonder what I want them to say.

Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize.

That isn't important.

Tell them not to mention that I have 300 or 400 other awards.

That's not important. Tell them not to mention where I went to school.

I'd like somebody to mention that day

that Martin Luther King, Jr.

Tried to give his life serving others!

I'd like for somebody to say that day

that Martin Luther King, Jr. tried to love somebody!

Yeah. - I want you to say that day

that I tried to be right on the war question.

[man] Yes, yes. - I want you to be able to say that day

that I did try to feed the hungry.

Yes! - And I want you to be able to say that day

that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked.

Yes! - I want you to say on that day

that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison.

Lord, yes! - I want you to say

that I tried to love and serve humanity.

Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major,

say that I was a drum major for justice.

Say that I was a drum major for peace.

I was a drum major for righteousness.

And all of the other shallow things will not matter.

I won't have any money to leave behind.

I won't have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind,

but I just want to leave a committed life behind.

[man] Amen! - And that's all I want to say.

"If I can help somebody as I pass along,

If I can cheer somebody with a word or song,

If I can show somebody he's traveling wrong,

Then my living will not be in vain!

[man] Yes! - If I can do my duty as a Christian ought,

If I can bring salvation to a world once wrought,

if I can spread the message as the Master taught,

Then my living will not be in vain."

[piano intro]

♪ Once upon this planet Earth ♪

♪ Lived a man of humble birth ♪

♪ Preaching love and freedom ♪

♪ For his fellow man ♪

♪ He was dreaming of the day ♪

♪ Peace would come to Earth To stay ♪

♪ And he spread this message ♪

♪ All across the land ♪

♪ Turn the other cheek He'd plead ♪

♪ Love thy neighbor Was his creed ♪

♪ Pain, humiliation, death ♪

♪ He did not dread ♪

♪ With his Bible at his side ♪

♪ Hmm ♪

♪ From his foes He did not hide ♪

♪ It's hard to think ♪

♪ That this great man ♪

♪ Is dead ♪

♪ Oh, yes ♪

♪ Will the murders Never cease? ♪

♪ Are they men Or are they beasts? ♪

♪ What do they ever hope ♪

♪ Ever hope to gain? ♪

♪ Will my country ♪

♪ Fall ♪

♪ Stand or fall? ♪

♪ Is it too late for us all? ♪

♪ And did Martin Luther King ♪

♪ Just die in vain? ♪

♪ 'Cause he'd seen The mountaintop ♪

[chuckles]

♪ And he knew He could not stop ♪

♪ Always living ♪

♪ With the threat of death Ahead ♪

♪ Folks, you'd better ♪

♪ Stop and think ♪

♪ 'Cause we're headed For the brink ♪

♪ What will happen now ♪

♪ That he is dead? ♪

♪ He was for equality ♪

♪ For all people You and me ♪

♪ Full of love and goodwill ♪

♪ Hate was not his way ♪

♪ He was not a violent man ♪

♪ Tell me, folks, if you can ♪

♪ Just why ♪

♪ Why was he shot down The other day? ♪

♪ Well, see, he'd seen The mountaintop ♪

♪ And he knew He could not stop ♪

♪ Always living ♪

♪ With the threat of death Ahead ♪

♪ Folks, you'd better stop And think ♪

♪ And feel again ♪

♪ For we're headed For the brink ♪

♪ What's gonna happen ♪

♪ Now that the king of love ♪

♪ ls dead? ♪

♪ He was for equality ♪

♪ For all people You and me ♪

♪ Full of love and goodwill ♪

♪ Hate was not his way ♪

♪ He was not a violent man ♪

♪ Tell me, folks, if you can ♪

♪ Just why ♪

♪ Why was he shot down The other day? ♪

♪ Well, see, he'd seen The mountaintop ♪

♪ And he knew He could not stop ♪

♪ Always living ♪

♪ With the threat of death Ahead ♪

♪ Folks, you'd better stop And think ♪

♪ And feel again ♪

♪ For we're headed For the brink ♪

♪ What's gonna happen ♪

♪ Now that the king of love ♪

♪ ls dead? ♪