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EDWARD GARDNER: That's why we're fighting. I'd say from time to time we are mad with white people because if Negroes [were showing up?] mean at heart there'd be more dead white people, but Negroes are not mean at heart. Negroes are [cooks?]. They cook in these kitchens. What is any faster way to kill a person through his stomach? When you eat, brother, that's it. I don't plan on (inaudible) by putting something down, but I'm scared (inaudible) getting something in me. That's right. When you get something in a man's stomach, you got it. That's right. They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, and the way to the grave is through his stomach. And all you may say tonight that white people have great confidence in Negroes. A white man will leave tonight and give his keys to another white man, tell him to guard his house while he’s gone. He will do that. But he will give him to a Negro and tell him, “Watch after things while I’m gone.” He watches you brother. And he will. When he comes back he’ll find his things just like he left. That’s right. So in a final analysis they will find out that the Negro is the white man's best friend for very few people can be treated like a Negro and still smile. He has a smile because down in his heart he believes there will be a better day. Now perhaps tonight as soon as I can make a telephone call to see whether or not the [barn man?] is over to the city jail, we may need some cars to transfer these people back to their various homes. And once (inaudible) tonight, if you have some relatives or anyone that you know whose temper is high, tell them don't get in this thing because it won't do the cause any good. Just tell them stay out and pray. For there are some men for war, and there's some for peace. So we don't want these warriors in here now, not time for that. I'm giving it to you like it is because you can't become violent and expect to win the battle. You can't do it. There now, you can't expect us to get you out of jail for fighting. So now I'm telling you tonight if you found fighting as your bond and find

00:04:01.000 - 00:09:00.000

your lawyer and tell you fighting about because what are you fighting for? But we don't have to fight, not like that. Ours is a peaceful walk. I think I wanted to tell you tonight that if your temper’s so high that you got to go to fighting you would be on the sidelines and stay back there. Now -- all right. There’s a substitute here. Where are the substitutes? All right. C. HERBERT OLIVER: This is a continuation of the April 17 mass meeting held at the church of Reverend A.D. King, First Baptist Church in in Ensley. [break in recording] EDWARD GARDNER: Now something’s wrong from here from this wooden home back down that back road. Something's wrong somewhere. You're either broke or something's wrong. (laughter) (inaudible) better than that. You're talking about where all the money? (applause) All right, God bless you. God bless you. At 8:00, so I’m giving the president back now two minutes of my time. I’m getting out of the way. FRED SHUTTLESWORTH: Thank you, Brother Vice President and citizens of Birmingham Alabama. Now I take pride in calling you citizens. Some people think we aren’t citizens, but we are. I always wondered who the segregationists are talking to when they say, “I’m going to protect the interests of the people of Alabama.” I wonder who they’re talking about because we certainly are people, aren’t we? As we look over the audience tonight we see quite a few people here. We’re seeing a number of young people. My, all the young folks in here center, let me see. I mean, when I say young about 21 and down, all of you, yeah. (applause) Stand up all the way, 21 and down, come on now. Everybody in here’s young, but just those under 21. Give them a big hand. (applause) Well I thought I had to rectify that because -- [break in recording] I had to rectify that -- [00:07:00] [break in recording] (laughter) I should have said the youngest people because all of us are young. Down here old folks around here remember the Uncle Tom’s in their day. (applause) And you know something else, there are not too many of them. We’re about to run all of them in the 5 crash now. Uncle Tom doesn’t have anybody to talk to. He used to talk to the white folks. He can’t talk to them. And he used to talk to the Negro, and he can’t talk to them now. So Uncle Tom is just about like that little song, little story I used to -- little poem I learned when we first were in school way back yonder, “The north wind shall blow, and we shall have snow. And what will poor Robin do?" And they show Robin with no feathers behind. (laughter) Uncle Tom doesn't have any more help, poor Tom. (laughter) It’s real good to see tonight. I feel good. I feel my cheerios. (laughter) I’d rather feel something, we going up before judge on contempt, Reverend A.D. King came over. (laughter) He said, “Yeah, several folks went down.” He said, “But we’ll just go get them.” He was laughing, and he went back toward the street, and I said, “Yeah, but Birmingham’s got you too.” (laughter) He was just laughing. All right, God bless you. But you know, children, when you can laugh despite discouragement,

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that's one virtue that the Negro citizens [for centuries?] that I hope we'll never lose. We can laugh. We can be joyful. [break in recording] 6 Joyful, people can have the iron heal or pressure of boot can be pressing down upon us, and we can be flat down on our stomachs laughing because we know that God will change things after a while. And I think tonight before they go -- I don’t know whether they sung it already, if you haven’t I want to sing it -- ‘I Know the Lord Will Make a Way Yet.” Now I want a service tonight because I think we ought to know that we are reaching a critical point in our drive for freedom. I have long said that in Alabama they had three methods of stopping the Negro: their mobs, but the Kennedy boys dealt with the mobs, so we don't have to worry about them anymore. See, ever since the Kennedy boys took the marshals in you haven't heard any more about the mob. So we have discovered that marshals are the answers for mobs. And I have another saying that we've just about found out how to deal with, that's the police. They say the mobs don't stop Negroes. The police can. But Bull found out he couldn't stop us. So he had to -- and they said, if the police can't, then the state, the courts will. So that's what we're facing now. You see, Bull has found out that -- well, actually they thought that we just couldn’t amount an offensive in Birmingham. They 7 said, “Well, them Niggers divided, and ain’t nobody (inaudible) Shuttlesworth.” Well everybody in Birmingham now just about named Shuttlesworth. (applause) I think Bull looked around and said, "Where in the hell are them Shuttlesworth folks?" (applause) The old folks Shuttlesworth. The young folks Shuttlesworth. The middle age Shuttlesworth. The poor folks Shuttlesworth. The middle class Shuttlesworth. The upper class. He said, “my God, it’s about time for me, Mama, to come on home to you because Shuttlesworth is taking over town.” (laughter) Well, we are glad to know that, and of course his detectives been [peddling?] ever since [’58?]. He said, “Bull, you ought to stop talking to that deputy. Too many Negroes [following?] that man in.” He’s been going to meetings and all that stuff, and he still put it out. So now when we got the direct actions stuff he just quit hollering about Shuttlesworth, “Come here, state, come here! Come here, court! Come help me!” (laughter) And really I'm not going to be long, but one of the detectives said, "Do you know what? I'm getting done Saturday." (laughter) Well, segregation makes its upholders look bad, doesn't it? I think we ought to say that it's coming to a point. Always when I'm laughing I'm coming to a point. Even though the policeman has to uphold segregation, you have to be careful, and if you put your hand on a policeman, they call that interfering with an officer. So I know that a lot of Negroes want to hit white people. We have suffered. We have suffered so much from them. And if it were not for segregation we’ve got some people in here now

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who would have been working in the state house and in city hall and county court house. But segregation says you just can't be. No matter how good you are on the insider, the outside messes you up. That's why we are fighting. They can't understand. One of these fine bishops with his ecclesiastical collar and a big cross on was sitting up talking to me the other day, and he was worried. He couldn't understand it. I said, "Well you never been a Negro. That's why." I said, "When you could be a Negro seven minutes you'd go back and be glad to be a white man again." Because you see, you don’t want to be white. You just want to be a good black. That’s all we want to be. (applause) The Negro has something to be proud of, and I’m real, real proud of our movement, real proud of the discipline that has been displayed these -- this is the 13th day (inaudible)? The 14th day, and over, what, over 200 people in this -- over 300 persons have made their witness. Don't you know that says something? And Martin Luther King wouldn't have to come to Birmingham. I wouldn't have stood up and preach. I can't make anybody go in jail. But they act like -- and these doctors’ wives and lawyers’ wives and folks who got good sense going in with those who may think they got good sense, but my God, what in the world does it take to prove to these folks that everybody now is waking up but them? (applause) And so we’re going to have to carry on. Now, I don’t think there’s enough policemen in town, as good as that blue uniform looks, to keep the downtown merchants in business. (applause) And I think if the black folks, and when I said black folks I mean black black folks, all of us, all of us are black. You can't be white, so you might as well be with us. But if all of us, whatever the [temperature?], the color of our skin will stick together and keep our money in our pockets, and see how those white folks act like they don't like you. After a while they'll be glad to say, "Welcome back, children. We're glad to help." (applause) And no matter what the judge says to me Monday, I still want the Negro to watch who’s going downtown and see who’s still the Uncle Tom’s and Aunt Jane’s among us. You see Uncle Tom and Aunt Jane, it has already been determined that the status of the Negro has arisen above that of Uncle Tom and Aunt Jane. Uncle Tom can't any longer speak for the Negro. Uncle Tom can be a preacher, and he still can't speak for the Negro. Uncle Tom can be a [zoo keeper?], and he can't speak for the Negro. The Negroes want somebody who wants freedom. (applause; inaudible) in our graves and go home to God and be free. And these folks going to jail, they mean business. Now, some of our best preachers been to jail. Some of our best teachers and best doctors and lawyers been to jail. Some of our young people, students aspiring for what America has promised have been to jail. Others are going. In fact, the young folks are getting ready now to put on a mammoth [drive?].

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You see, some of these [tired?] folk, ain't no old folks, but some of these (inaudible) are scared, but these youngsters aren't scared of that. (applause) They're meeting 4:30 -- when is it? -- 4:30 Friday because these youngsters are -- they want to augment what the elders are doing. And I love that. It's just good to see them here, all among this this thing. If Bull could see this tonight. Of course Bull and I are getting on better. So if you know one thing -- I’m going to say it, and I’m going on. Did you know this morning I walked up the 16th Street steps and Bull and Jaime Moore were over on that corner over by Green Acres, you know. So somebody said, “(inaudible) Commissioner.” He was looking at me, and I looked at him, so Mama taught me to speak. I said, “Hi.” He said -- (laughter) (laughter; inaudible) I waved at Bull, and Bull waved at me. And that's a good sign. See, when you wave or (inaudible), that means recognition. And after you recognize someone you move the distance between you, you see. That's why Bull and I are going to walk down the street hand in hand (laughter) when this fight is over. (laughter; inaudible) they got a lot of respect for us. They got a lot of respect for us. That’s one thing I’m glad of. They got so much respect for us that when we go down to city hall they hurt themselves. We can’t drink, and they can’t eat. (laughter) We can’t use the restroom, and they can’t eat. I said, this is one thing that’s going on in equal measure. (laughter) All right, God bless you now. All right they're going to throw off a little bit. You know how it is, you got to kind of blow off a little bit every once in a while. We have in our midst tonight, because we still believe our meetings should be short, and we want our commitments here. I was real happy last night. We left. We just started a commitment to it. We didn’t (inaudible) with nobody. Now what, 25 or 30 young people came down and said we are ready to go today. That says something to me. My God, everything we have gotten and will get we’ll have to suffer for. And I’m sure the newspapers won’t print it, but TV is getting it in. (laughter) That’s one thing. Papers won’t print it, but they can’t stop the reporters from getting it. Every time we look over the TV we see what Wallace said, but they want to see what the black Wallace’s are saying. The black Wallace’s are saying, “We want to be free, so help us God.” Now we have in our midst tonight, and I’m going to present this speaker because I am (inaudible) materials. (laughter) I'm glad to see Mrs. (inaudible) out there in our meeting tonight. I think it's a wonderful thing when people who are people of affluence and influence can come in and let all of us know that we're all in this thing together. You see, Mrs. (inaudible) is one of our most respectable women. Way up in the state convention, national and otherwise, right in her own city she can't go down and get a (inaudible). That's what we're working for. We need to get way up everybody. We want to be up at home don’t we? Progress begins at home and then spreads abroad. And so we are glad to see her, and I see her son. I see others as we have seen all through the audience and throughout the various weeks. This is about the 13th, the 14th night. We have many, and this says something. In Birmingham

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we have met massively, and so Bull has admitted he can't stop us. So we didn't want him to stop us, just protect us. We'll take care of the other. That's all we ask for the police. No Negro's going to jump on the police. I heard about one lady that they grabbed the other day. She kind of did pretty good with three of them. (laughter) But you see, she hadn’t been coming to our meetings. Now had they punched one of our nonviolent women in the stomach she would have just said, “Oh, officer, you ought not have done that to me,’ but this other woman -- (laughter) but this other woman was not a nonviolent member of the movement, and so when he punched her and grabbed her and she told me this morning he told her, “(inaudible).” And she thought it was (inaudible). (laughter) 14 And so one of the officers said, “Tell her that she’s the only one of your women that beat up three of our men.” I said, “Now, you don't mean -- [break in audio] M3: (inaudible) on. (laughter) [break in audio] Fred Shuttlesworth: I said, “But officer, we don’t -- [break in audio] (inaudible) I said, “But you ought to tell our policemen not to be [driving their sticks?] in our women’s stomach’s either.” Whoever they are, whether they belong to the movement or not the officers should not be brutal with our Negro people. (applause) So she was in court this morning. And I looked at her. I said, “Yeah, I think must have handled two or three of them, sure enough.” (laughter) Now all right, God bless you now. You see, I’m (inaudible) -- thank you. It must be these overalls making me talk like this. (laughter) We have in our midst tonight not only our fine people from within our city, and we will have to limit our speaking. We’re going to have one speaker tonight, and we call (inaudible) remarks, he will be limited to two minutes. See, we want to keep our meeting alive, isn’t that right? And if we stay too long one night we might not want to come back the next night. (inaudible) to, you know, do whatever we want to do and then go home. Now, why don’t we grab the mike there. See, I want about three people to speak tonight. members who was [in?] my first [pastor?], that's Selma, Alabama, the lady who my men have sold more insurance than any one person I know of. She's a very beautiful woman way back then in 1950 when I was [a pastor?], and she's a more beautiful woman today. I'm happy to present the two-minute remarks, Mrs. Amelia P. Boynton from Selma, Alabama. (applause) Oh, come on, give our [patrons?] a hand. AMELIA BOYNTON: This one’s a wonderful crowd. (laughter) I am certainly proud to be here and certainly (inaudible). And Selma was just too small to small to (inaudible). (laughter) (inaudible)

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He had to go somewhere else, but I am so proud of him. I'm so proud of the fight for freedom because I know now that when I go downtown to buy something I can (inaudible) anybody else (inaudible). And I (inaudible) I have to (inaudible). Or whatever (inaudible) may be (inaudible). It makes my heart beat when I go to (inaudible) downtown, and I believe (inaudible) people who are as (inaudible), and I (inaudible). So why is it I feel that I have a (inaudible)? I don’t play with a heavy hand. I vote (inaudible) a full-class citizen whether they give it to us or not. I let us realize that our forefathers fought for freedom, and the freedom we still have to get. And that reminds me of a [proverb poem?] that says 'Lift up your head you descendants of [heaven?]. You are children of God. (inaudible) For God in his own time sooner or late shall (inaudible) that all men (inaudible) that I am who I am, and the world will return to the children of heaven." (inaudible) being an American Negro. (applause) FRED SHUTTLESWORTH: Thank you Ms. Boynton. I still have one of those endowment policies that she wrote me 20 years -- not 20 years ago. I want he to collect it. (laughter) Now we have also from Gadsden, Alabama a minister who was pastor at Second Baptist Church in Selma -- yeah, Second Baptist church -- when I was there, a Reverend L.A. Warren. (inaudible) just to say hello. Reverend Warren, come out. (applause) (inaudible) you all. L.A. WARREN: (inaudible) and to our Christian citizens of Birmingham. It is a great day to be in this room, and tonight I have to say that we have at least realized in Birmingham that we want freedom. (applause) The fight is just as strong today and the leaves just as green as it was 100 years ago when Frederic Douglas, the great abolitionist, was fighting for emancipation. And we are united fighting for freedom, and that’s what we want, no more and no less. (applause) FRED SHUTTLESWORTH: Yeah, thank you very much. I see her son sitting on the side there, so we can look at her son. (inaudible) He looks rich. Thank you. All right. Well (inaudible). Now we got some other (inaudible). You ought to know I saw these folks there. I got great eyes. We have some -- well, first of all, charity begins at home. Come up here, Mrs. A.D. King, and let the folks see you. Come on up here. (applause) A lot of people have seen Coretta Scott King, but Mrs. A.D. King is beautiful also. (applause) God bless her. Say hello to her. NAOMI RUTH KING: Reverend Shuttlesworth told me to say hello. Hello, everybody. FRED SHUTTLESWORTH: (laughter) Now from Atlanta, Mrs. -- well, let me just say Mrs. Andy Young. We've been [seeing?] Andy. Come on Mrs. Andy Young. Now who's there? (applause) Andy I'm holding your wife in public. (laughter) Who said we don't have beautiful women in our movement? All our women beautiful. (inaudible) [JEAN YOUNG?]: It’s very nice being here, and it looks like a really great movement going here in Birmingham, and I’m very pleased to be here.

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in the Miles College area of Birmingham development. Last year [Dukes?] was the student leader, I believe, at Miles College. And all over the nation when they saw the [CBS?] vans people remember Frank Dukes. Of course, at that time, when they (inaudible) I didn't know Mr. Dukes as I learned later. But I have a print of that (inaudible) again pretty soon because Birmingham will always remember where we come from. So Frank Dukes is remembered especially then for saying that, of course, there are some people who are afraid because they are -- might be economically [overt?]. He got the words just right. He said, “But of course, me, I'm not afraid to speak out because I am already economically (inaudible)." (laughter) And I thought that was a great statement. And there have been many people commenting to me about that statement and the statement that [Billings?] made and one or two more (inaudible) all over the country where I've gone to speak. And I’m real happy tonight to present to his own people in his own city, a young man who has distinguished himself and who is still with the fight for freedom: Frank Dukes. (applause) Oh, come on, give him a hand. (applause) FRANK DUKES: Thank you, Dr. Shuttlesworth, Dr. King, my recent cellmate, (laughter) Dr. [Hayes?], my recent cellmate, Mr. (inaudible), my recent cellmate, freedom fighters of the first magnitude, and all the rest of my platform associates, and this great movement choir led by Mrs. Carlton [Reese?], who preceded me in the city jail. (laughter) ou know, I don’t have to tell you how happy I am to be here because those who know me know that ordinarily I don’t smile too much. But tonight I have a face full of smiles, so you know I must be happy to be here. And I was also happy to be in the city jail because we had a time. We were talking about (inaudible) and good preaching. We had it in the city jail with Reverend Porter, Reverend A.D. King, Reverend [N.A. Smith?], Reverend Hayes, and Reverend [Fisher?]. We had a wonderful time. I'm here to tell you that. And before I go any further, there has been one or two misconceptions here in Birmingham, Alabama that I would like to clear up. Nobody else has the temper to clear it up, but I stand here tonight to clear it up. You know, there were two white fellas who went down to Mobile to do a little crab fishing. And while they were fishing they were throwing the crabs in the tub. Now you know white folks have been saying

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it 400 years, "Don't worry about them Niggers because they're just like a (inaudible) crab. As soon as one gets to the top, the others will pull him back." Well, Birmingham has proved that to be a [false?]. Now these two -- (applause) these two men were fishing, and they were having a good day. And after a while one looked back, and he saw about 25 crabs crawling around on the ground. So he said, “Now, I want to know how in the world could these crabs be crawling on the ground because when one gets to the top, the others usually pull him back.” So there was a Negro man fishing about 10 yards away. So he said, “You know, I don’t care how much money you’ll get or how you go you’re always found (inaudible).” 'So say, (inaudible) come over here." So Sam walks over, says, "What kind of crabs you got here? See, I thought these crabs were something sort of like you Negroes. When you get to the top the rest pull you back." So Sam looks down real close. He said, "Boss, these are Birmingham crabs." (laughter) Now some persons are saying that the middle-class people are not in this fight. I want to clear that up. More than 90 percent of the middle class people are in this fight. Now Mrs. [Juliard?] now, we have a [double?] relationship. I have [adopted?] myself to her, and I think she likes me a little bit. Now [Juliard, Jr.?] is also my friend. And I have many friends. Now I'm not a middle-class boy. I am from across the track, the railroad track. Now I'm just like I was many years ago. I'm still economically depressed. You know, when you got something going pretty good for you it's hard to talk about if you know it's good. So I got a brother who had to leave the state of Alabama to go to college. The man is a genius, but he couldn’t get an education here in Alabama, so I’m not just fighting for my brother and my mother and my sisters, I'm fighting for everybody. And I want everybody to fight with us. The only way we're going to win this battle, fight [nonviolent?]. I wanted to get that straight about the middle-class people because I happen to know one doctor in this town who has put up all his property to bond people out of jail, some thought three thousand dollars' worth. (applause) So if you see one or two persons who represent affluence and influence still acting the fool, don’t worry about it. Everybody doesn’t follow Jesus Christ. Am I right, Lord? (applause) All right then, so everybody doesn’t fight, and we are all together. We have had some wonderful times during these last 13 days.

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In the words of my friend Abraham Wood, the half has not yet been told. You know, Abraham and I were in school together, and I would stay up all night long studying. And we were both making A's, but I could never catch Abraham Woods. So on one particular test in biology Abraham Woods made about a 98, and I think I made about a 95. So I said, “Dr. Woods, I said, you’re really scoring on this test.” I meant what I said. I had been staying up all night long. The reason I was staying up all night long to get mine because I was late, and it wasn’t a point that I wanted to get it. I had to get it. So I said, “You’re doing awfully nice there, Dr. Woods.” He said, “Well,’ he said, “I could do better if I had time to study.” (laughter) So down through the years I have come to know all of the Woods, and they're all fine and genuine people. I love him like a brother and the rest of his family, and I think they kind of like Frank Dukes a little bit. (laughter) So we’re in this fight. And you know, ordinarily in a ball game you have three strikes. But in this game you only got two. Now this time last year we had a foul tip. You know we had him. You know we had him, but somebody couldn’t wait. And they went back down south. So we have a foul tip. Now there’s those of you who went back downtown, when you got to those water fountains and you didn’t see black and you didn’t see white, that was because we only foul tipped the ball. If we had hit the ball you would have seen more. So we got to stay in this fight that we're in now because if we miss the ball this time Birmingham will be set back 45 years. There is no group or person anywhere in America who has the opportunity that Birmingham has to win this battle. I don’t have to go into all those details because you’ve heard them before. But I want to tell you, the people downtown know how much deodorant you use. They know how many refrigerators you buy. They know how many razor blades you buy. They know how much soap you buy. And when they get ready to try to get 25 somebody to come into Birmingham and set up an industry they settled it on the basis of what they Negroes buy. I think we all know that. Well now I’m here to talk and to tell the truth. You see, some of us talk about the problems, but we don’t really study it like we should. Now you know, everything in the Bible is true. This is something good now. But everything in the Bible is not right. I know I shocked a few people, but I’m going to clarify that. Now when David had Uriah killed so he could get his wife, that wasn’t right was it? (applause) That was true, wasn’t it? It was true, wasn’t it? It wasn’t right. Now I want to talk tonight about what’s right and what’s true.

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But we're going to talk about a little bit here tonight. Now you know, we've got a -- I made it by a long shot. You see, when I first left the South to go abroad and see the world and see the bright lights and cross the wide streets and cross the wide ocean and the deep sea, my mother was glad to see me go because I have never accepted segregation and discrimination. And I really never adjusted to it. So she was glad to see me go. I remember what an experience I had a few years ago. I won't tell you how long that's been because a few young ladies in here think I'm kind of young, and I want you to think that. (laughter) But on this particular occasion my mother worked for these people, and they were good white folks. Now we’ve got to understand, there are some good white folks in this world. And we know them. We know the good ones and the bad ones, don't we? And one of the young men in that family, he was about to go into the army. So he -- we were talking one day. So he said, "Frank,' said, "I'm going to the army next week, and --' his name was Billy. So he said, "I'll be 19. And you have got to call me Mr. Billy." Well, I wasn't wearing belts then, but my trousers were too big, so I had to pull them up. So I said, "I'll tell you what. You call me Mr. Frank, I'll call you Mr. Billy." Now I was about nine or ten years old then. And today I'm just like (inaudible). I'm the same (inaudible). So we’re going to be together. Now you got a few -- like I said, I've been in this fight a long time. Now, when I was student leader at Miles College, along with some of the persons in the city of Birmingham, the Negro people and a few of the white persons along with the student council, we were able to get more than -- well, we got all the students in Miles College who were 21 years old or older because the age of voting, and we also provide transpiration for some of the persons in the Birmingham community. And after that drive had finished we had registered more than 500 persons here in Birmingham. So we've been in this fight. I don’t have to go through what happened during these [electrifying?] campaigns because of those people. You know. Now, perhaps we didn’t achieve all we set out to do. But we did achieve one of the things that I talked about (inaudible). Many Negroes gained a new kind of dignity, a real dignity. Consequently we never went back downtown. Now you know also in this fight, you see, I'm the type of individual, either you like me or you don't. I'm a little too black to have a shade of gray. You see, some people try to see in the middle. They call that the shade of gray. You like me, or you don't like me. Now, when everybody likes you, man, something’s wrong with you. You’re not much of a man. So now you got a few Johnny-come- lately’s in this town don’t understand me, but just like I said before, you don’t have to. I’m the same one. I was here yesterday. I was here last year, and I plan to stay here. I mostly plan to stay here because I turned down a job which would have paid me $6,000 some four or five months ago and two since then. So I need to be here, just like we told [Senate 28 commissions?] last summer when they had asked me when I was telling them about how sick Birmingham was. He said, “Did you ever

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think about leaving Birmingham?" I said, "No." I'd rather stay here in Birmingham. My family's here. I love Birmingham just as you do. And I want her to get well. So the same thing applies to the Johnny-come-lately. Like me or love me, I'm here to fight for freedom. (applause) You see, I've gotten too old, and I have seen too much, and I have sailed the seven seas, and I don't intend for a few little people to drown me in a ditch. Now you got some people going around talking about they’re too old to join this fight. You got some others talking about they are too young. Well, I got news for you. You are never too old or too young. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, said by some to be the greatest justice of all time, sat on the Supreme Court bench until the age of 90. Children won't [fall from above?] at the age of 83. And even today we still see sunset and evening star and one clear (inaudible) for me. (inaudible) was not (inaudible) when he painted the (inaudible) on the (inaudible). (inaudible) after he passed the age of 80. [Werner?] wrote "Ave Maria" at the age of 85. So you can see by that you're never too old to fight for freedom. Joan of Arc was burning at the stake at the age of 12, leading an honor to victory. [Babe?] the shepherd boy cut the [lion down the side?]. He killed [a lion?]. He made it back. Alexander the Great conqueror of the world at the age of 33, and he sat down and cried because he had no more world to conquer. Napoleon Bonaparte conquered all of Europe and some of Africa at the age of 35. And Jesus Christ, your Lord and my Lord, died on the cross. He healed the sick. He raised the dead. He gave sight to the blind. And he died to save the world so that all of God’s children could have a right to the tree of life. And he did all this in the short lifespan of 33 years. So you are never too young to stand in, to lie in, to walk in, to pray in, to live in, to sit in, if necessary to die in. (applause) I am standing here tonight for 22 million reasons. I'm talking about 22 million black reasons. I am not talking about the 5 or 6 or 7 million Negroes who are passing for white and the white folks don't know it. (laughter) And each of these reasons concerns the Negro. I [want victory?] at the entire south land to have a new version of freedom. I am standing there because on different occasions I have led people toward the gateway of freedom, and I want those people to know that I can follow as well as lead. I am standing here tonight because I know that God knows that we are right.

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And if we make a few wrong moves and try to win this fight, then you ought to be satisfied in knowing that we may have wronged, but we moved in the right direction. I am standing here because I have a lot of time insurance paid up in heaven, and God is amazing. Some people talk about good. Some people talk about better, and some people talk about best. Well this insurance is the best because it brings you protection before death, protection after death, (inaudible) our place, burn a thousand lands and (inaudible). This is good insurance. Some persons have told me that I ought to be a preacher. Now if that’s true, (inaudible) preacher by trials and tribulations. And the only way I can preach about trials and tribulations to have had them myself. So if I help in this struggle for freedom I have had many trials and tribulations, many ups and downs. I have been held down. It's been hell holding on to you. (laughter) You see now, you got a few folks in this audience tonight who knew my grandmother, Mrs. [Kenny?] Dukes. Now anybody who knew Mrs. Kenny Dukes, they knew that she raised Frank Dukes. And I got all the Kenny Dukes in me tonight. So I’m here to say I am standing here because I am convinced that now is [ours?]. Now is ours, and Birmingham is the place to take an everlasting stand for freedom. am here because -- (applause) I am here because James Weldon Johnson was talking about us when he said, “Stony the road we trod, bitter the chastening rod, felt in the day when hope unborn had died; yet with a steady beat, have not our weary feet, come to the place on which our fathers sighed? We have come over a way that with tears has been watered, we have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered, out from the gloomy past, till now we stand at last, where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.” I am here because I (inaudible) free, many, many years ago upon the solemn proverb 8:22-31, "The Lord created me at the beginning of his way, the first of his acts of old, angels of God were set up at the first, before the beginning of the Earth when there were no (inaudible) I was brought forth. When there were no streams or [bodies of?] water, before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth. Before he had made the earth or the fields or the first of the dust of the world, when he established the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limits so that the waters might not transgress into land, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him like a master workmen, and I was there when his delight rejoicing at his inhabited earth [00:54:00]

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and delighted in the smiles of men." I've been free a long time. cotton. You had to cut bread. You had to haul water like an oxen. You know you had a rough time, but you made your sacrifice then. You can make it now. (applause) new vest, new shirt, or a new nothing was. And if we are going to have freedom here in Birmingham, we have got to forget about wearing $4 hats on segregated heads, (applause) $125 suit on a discriminator's back. Instead we have got to want freedom, talk freedom, let be freedom be our shepherd. Tell them inside of city hall and shout to the world that without freedom there can be no green pastors, there can be no clear waters only shadows of [mental?] [00:57:00] physical, and economic debt (inaudible) the segregated and discriminated evils here in Birmingham, the Johannesburg of America.

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[applause] Just let me ask you this: have they hired a Negro men to sell shirts? AUDIENCE: No Audience: No. Frank Dukes: Answer me. Frank Dukes: Answer me. Audience: 35 No. Frank Dukes: Hats? Audience: No. Frank Dukes: Shoes? Audience: No. Frank Dukes: Purses? Audience: No. Frank Dukes: Have they removed the signs off the [poles?]? Audience: 36 No. Frank Dukes: Have they hired any Negroes to work at the hotel and (inaudible) department? Audience: No. Frank Dukes: The answer is no. So you tell me, how can they -- when I say -- when they do not treat you with dignity, respect, and equality. Don’t you know that the white man is a fool? (inaudible) Don’t you know that the white man is a fool if he thinks that he can keep us in slavery? Are you boys going to let a boy continue making a fool out of you? (applause) You know, I looked at my watch just a minute ago, and I said, "I better check this time." But I said, "When you got somebody to tell you the truth, don't worry about the time." You see the white man has any time [we didn't?]. e were here first. If you don’t believe it, you check the history. Two thousand years ago the black man had hot and cold running water, bath tubs inlaid with gold. We were the first people to melt and smelt iron. So we’ve been here a long time. I was reading the paper some time ago where they discovered a skull about a million and a half years old, and they traced the skull back to Africa, so you know [originally?] white people come from Africa. So don't worry about the time. Let's have a good time tonight. If you want freedom you have got to yield not to temptation. You have got to stop being tempted by a cheap box of time and a cheap [rolling?] politicians. They know that if they get you in the store that you’ll wind up buying a thousand dollars’ worth of segregation. Somebody said to me that you’re going to get killed for going around talking about freedom. I’ll tell you just what I told that person. As long as I am emotionally depressed, socially depressed, physically depressed, morally depressed, economically depressed, and spiritually depressed, then I’m already dead. (applause) I just want you, me, my brother, my sister, my cousin, your brother, your sister, and your cousin to rise up and live because we’re all dead until we get some freedom. I just had a call the other day, and I heard two men talking. One said to the other, “Say, man,’ he said, “how come I don’t’ see you at Lulu Bell’s anymore?” Then the other one said, “Well, I don’t go with Lulu Bell anymore.” He said, “Why?” He said, “Well, man,’ he said, “I stopped giving her my money because she wouldn’t treat me right.” Now if you’re willing to stop giving Lulu Bell your money because she won’t treat you right, then stop giving to the white folks who

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have never treated you right. (applause) You know I got a lot of friends in here tonight, and I’ve been lucky. You know God’s been good to me. Actually, he’s been better (inaudible) than a (inaudible) himself because this has been the first time I’ve ever been in jail in my life, this week. Now it’s not because I’ve ever done some things in the past that I should have gone to jail for. See, I love my mother much (inaudible) about me praying about them. So she knows she’s a good woman. She didn’t have much of an education, but she had the fear of God in her, and she --