Terrell County, GA (Sasser) mass meeting, January 29, 1963

Download
- Rights
- Limited Re-Use
  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
- Files (2)
- MP3 Part 1
- MP3 Part 2
- Please be patient with media downloads. They are often large files.
Share

Embed Code
<iframe src='//idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4kh0hd1k?embed=true' height='125px' width='100%' frameborder='0' marginwidth='0' marginheight='0' scrolling='no' allowfullscreen></iframe>
Permalink

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4kh0hd1k
Skip to Item Info

Loading the media player...

Files for this Item

Transcript

Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.

	(laughing)	0:02
-	Coming here with you is a very warm,	0:04
	a very moving experience.	0:07
	One is almost moved to tears as	0:08
	one comes in and listens to the people sing.	0:10
	And it's a funny thing that there are more reasons	0:13
	the sincerity of them, the degree of it,	0:16
	that our hearts and our minds can't help but to react to it.	0:19
	In other words when people sing a song	0:23
	and when they put all of their feeling,	0:25
	and all of their soul into it, it is somewhere that you know	0:26
	and you feel this instinctively almost.	0:29
	And this is how it feels in this tent tonight.	0:32
	It is a very warm, a very moving experience.	0:35
	As I came here I thought about the dirt floors	0:38
	and in our materialistic society the first thing	0:40
	we do, you know, is you kinda cringe.	0:45
	You're not used to dirt floors you know?	0:47
	But I can't think of anywhere	0:49
	that I would rather be than here tonight.	0:52
	When you think of - there are floors	0:55
	that are inlaid with the finest materials and whatnot.	0:57
	But it's not the type of floor or the type of house	1:01
	that one might be, but the type of	1:03
	spirits that dwell therein, you know?	1:05
	And I think of, I just haven't seen,	1:07
	I used to repeat the same thing Mrs. Jackson has repeated.	1:10
	But the type of spirit, the type of mettle	1:13
	that these kids are made of from SNCC.	1:16
	It's really, I know you will say I carry it too far	1:18
	but this is the sort of spirit	1:21
	that is gonna save this country.	1:23
	I look at some of the kids who work with them	1:25
	from Albany and thankfully other places	1:27
	that many of these children might do	1:29
	and the kinda revitalizing and saving(?) aspects	1:32
	that goes along with kids working with older people	1:34
	and most of them are college (inaudible) and the type	1:38
	of thing that they've given to communities	1:40
	like Albany and Lee and Terrell.	1:42
	I just feel that in years to come	1:45
	it'll be tremendous, uh, what it will mean to us.	1:47
	Thank you very much for letting me speak to you.	1:52
	One other thing, I think of with dirt floors like this -	1:55
	I know many of you might have read	1:58
	Booker Washington's book and how it's good for us	2:00
	to remember that we aren't too far removed	2:03
	from these dirt floors, you know?	2:05
	And that Booker Washington, this was the way he grew up.	2:07
	He didn't know what a wood floor or concrete floor was	2:10
	until he was almost a grown man.	2:15
	And it's should make us all the more determined	2:17
	that we are going to work, not just for a floor,	2:20
	but to see that our children have any of the	2:22
	opportunities and chances that any child has.	2:25
	And there's something else I was thinking	2:28
	the other night - I mentioned this before.	2:31
	But this very shirt that I have on,	2:33
	it was dark in the room and I went to pull it off	2:35
	and it was amazing to me, as I pulled it off	2:39
	that you could just see the light	2:43
	that jumped about on the surface, you pulled it off	2:44
	but it just lit up the room almost	2:47
	and you know what, this was really amazing to me.	2:50
	I thought of how much this is.	2:52
	It reminds me of us, as Negroes -	2:54
	that we have tremendous powers that we can use	2:56
	if we operate together and we cooperate together	3:00
	from Albany, from Baker and Lee county.	3:03
	And we don't know this power is there	3:06
	until we really experience this thing of	3:08
	coming together and sticking together.	3:11
	I think of one thing and then I'll close.	3:14
	A fellow at Bob's, who works at Bob's candy company	3:16
	in Albany, many of you might not-	3:20
	(inaudible)	3:24
	(laughing)	3:26
	(continued laughter)	3:33
	Is it alright if I continue now?	3:50
	So I was thinking in conclusion	3:55
	that many of you might not have heard	3:56
	what happened in a place in Albany named	3:58
	Bob's Candy Company that hires many colored employees.	4:01
	But this was an outgrowth of the Albany movement	4:04
	that a lady was fired there because her child	4:07
	was one of the children who attempted to	4:10
	integrate the white high school in Albany.	4:12
	And all of them walked out.	4:15
	And it was just wonderful to see that sort of spirit	4:18
	and that sort of unanimity.	4:20
	And many of them might not have wanted to walk out	4:22
	but they knew that their Black sisters and brothers	4:25
	they could never live with them in peace	4:28
	if they didn't walk out of that place.	4:30
	But I'll say this, I think of one good brother,	4:32
	you know we got a lot of our brothers	4:35
	who don't believe in what we are fighting for	4:37
	in Albany and in other places, you know.	4:39
	But one of the good brothers he was telling me	4:42
	he didn't believe in the Albany Movement too much.	4:44
	He was saying, you know, he said, it's just amazing,"	4:47
	He said, I'm amazed at how much better	4:49
	things are at Bob's now	4:51
	And it has proved one thing to me,	4:53
	he said, I walked outta that place	4:55
	and I owed all these bills and I wasn't	4:56
	thinking about family, I wasn't thinking about nothing else.	4:58
	He said it proved to me when you really want something	5:01
	and you believe in it you gotta	5:04
	give up everything to try and get it.	5:06
	So I hope that we will fight with that kind of spirit.	5:08
	Thank you.	5:11
	(applause)	5:12
-	One of the main reasons	5:18
	we share this tent together tonight	5:23
	addressing how our country	5:27
	is fundamentally built up - whether it's political.	5:31
	One of the great lessons we've learned	5:38
	in this section of the country	5:42
	was that with the vote we could have	5:46
-	had we had the vote - put in a man	5:50
	who would've stood up for us and represented us	5:55
	without a doubt.	6:01
	But because we didn't have the vote	6:03
	we didn't have the voice to say we want this man	6:07
	to represent us in government.	6:14
	But we're fightin now.	6:20
	And we're movin inch by inch out here in Terrell.	6:22
	Out there in Sumter and Lee and in Dougherty.	6:26
	Many of you have heard of a man	6:33
	who spoke on TV	6:37
	a black man	6:39
	He spoke on TV about what he thought about politics,	6:40
	economics and society and all those other words.	6:46
	Spoke out.	6:52
	And we sat back and felt proud of this man.	6:56
	Because here was a man, his face black,	7:00
	who was sitting up there digging aside	7:06
	and running for the office of city commissioner	7:08
	just like anybody else.	7:12
	(that's right)	7:14
	We were proud of him.	7:16
	And we heard of his name - Thomas Chatmon.	7:18
	We heard of his name on TV.	7:21
	And we heard of his name on radio.	7:24
	And we wondered about him.	7:26
	We'd like to see him, we probably said to ourselves.	7:29
	Well tonight we have a chance to see	7:34
	and hear this man in person.	7:35
	Mr. Thomas C. Chatmon	7:38
	(applause)	7:40
Chatmon	Mr. Sherrod and all the SNCC workers,	7:48
	and ladies and gentlemen	7:53
	I'm very happy to be with you tonight.	7:57
	I too am very very much impressed by	8:02
	those of you who are here.	8:07
	I see Mr. Sherrod as a very good man	8:10
	to introduce you, alright? (inaudible)	8:13
	(laughing)	8:17
	It's a nice choice of words.	8:18
	In all seriousness, when I walked into this tent tonight	8:21
	I thought about when I was a boy.	8:24
	And speaking about ground floors I was reared in the country	8:27
	We lived in a cotton field.	8:31
	My house was situated in the middle of the cotton field.	8:33
	And this tent reminds me of the tent	8:35
	that I use to attend when I was a boy	8:38
	and what they called the sanctified church.	8:40
	Those people there were praying and singing	8:44
	as you are tonight.	8:49
	They were praying and singing for freedom then.	8:53
	And I said when I came into this tent	8:58
	well the Negroes are still praying	9:00
	and singing in tents for freedom.	9:03
	I would hope that we are sincere really.	9:06
	Anytime that you come to a place like this	9:13
	you have to yourselves put your thoughts and minds together	9:17
	to try to map out some type of strategy	9:20
	as to how and what to do to get this freedom.	9:25
	I hope that you would be sincere.	9:30
	And we've now fought here for a long long time.	9:33
	The Negro has been faced with many	9:38
	and various kinds of challenges.	9:41
	Today I think the Negro is faced	9:44
	with one of the greatest challenges of his time.	9:48
	That challenge is to save America.	9:53
	I think that if America is to be saved	9:58
	the Negro must save America.	10:02
	And how are we going to save it?	10:06
	I think that the future of the Negro depends	10:07
	upon the ballot box.	10:10
	And the future of America depends upon the Negro.	10:12
	And we are engaged in	10:16
	Albany, Dougherty County, Sumter County,	10:18
	Lee County, Terrell County	10:24
	and I hope soon it'll be Baker County	10:25
	Mitchell County, Crawford County and all these counties,	10:27
	we must continue to press forward,	10:31
	to try to teach all our people the importance of the ballot.	10:34
	As Mr. Sherrod has pointed out to you,	10:37
	last year when I ran for city commissioner	10:40
	we had I believe 4,400 registered Negroes in Albany.	10:43
	And I believe it was 11,080 whites.	10:48
	Well, we, to be frank with you, we didn't think	10:52
	4,000 votes could win over 11,000 votes,	10:57
	but at least we could present a new image	11:02
	of the Negro in this section of the country.	11:06
	We could stimulate the young people	11:10
	we could plot to unite our people more.	11:13
	And I think tonight should set a	11:17
	precedent for this type of thing.	11:19
	I think we should all go up in Lee County.	11:21
	We should go in Sumter County,	11:23
	we should go to Dougherty County,	11:25
	let's make a series of meetings of this sort.	11:26
	We must unite all of our forces.	11:31
	You can't get along too well without me	11:35
	and I can't get along too well without you.	11:37
	So I would hope after tonight that we would	11:41
	make this maybe a weekly sort of thing.	11:44
	We would go in one county this week	11:48
	the next county we go to next week.	11:50
	You see, by showing this type of unity and strength	11:53
	that also will let these people know that we mean business	11:57
	and even if the latest state is that the people in	12:01
	Terrell County are afraid,	12:03
	they will be less afraid tomorrow	12:06
	knowing that we come up here tonight.	12:08
	(applause)	12:12
	Terrell County is not as terrible as they say it is.	12:17
	You see?	12:23
	Dougherty County is not as bad as they say it is.	12:25
	I think the fault lies mostly within us.	12:29
	We must step forward and let our good-hearted brothers	12:32
	know that we are no longer afraid,	12:37
	and we mean to get this thing we call freedom	12:39
	and our Constitutional rights.	12:43
	We must have it and as Dr. King said we want it now.	12:45
	And I think by showing that type of spirit	12:49
	there's no doubt in my mind, next election	12:53
	in Terrell County, or in the city of Dawson,	12:57
	we should run a colored man for city commission.	13:01
	Secondly we aren't thinking about stopping in	13:04
	Dougherty County - we just started.	13:07
	And next year I understand that Chief Pritchett	13:09
-	you've heard so much about that jail -	13:12
	well twelve hundred Negroes in Albany	13:13
	is thinking about running for sheriff.	13:15
	We're trying to get in a position there	13:18
	in Dougherty county, we don't know how we gonna vote.	13:19
	But we are gonna get in a position.	13:22
	You see when I was in the Army	13:24
	when you go into the rifle range	13:25
	the first thing they taught you	13:28
	was to get in the position to shoot.	13:30
	If you get in a good position	13:33
	you, most likely, you will hit your target.	13:35
	So we are getting into position now	13:39
	and we're encouraging people to go down and register.	13:41
	See we're getting in that position.	13:45
	And the time when we will hit our target	13:46
	would be election day, you see.	13:48
	Then we all get together just before the election	13:50
	and we gonna decide which man we will vote for.	13:53
	Then we will shoot on election day.	13:56
	The man we shoot at, to get him out, we must vote	13:59
	(laughing)	14:02
	(applause)	14:05
	Now the only way he will fall	14:08
	we will have to have a large number of votes.	14:11
	And that's what the Student Non-Violence	14:16
	Coordinating Committee is doing	14:18
	That's what some of the other citizens are doing.	14:20
	And that's what we must continue to do.	14:22
	Get these people registered.	14:25
	Get these people in position	14:28
	so when the day comes when we say shoot	14:30
	at Zeke Matthews and get him out, he got to go.	14:34
	(laughter)	14:37
	(applause)	14:40
	(talking)	14:42
	When our leaders call, when our leaders call,	14:49
	it's to pull the trigger, Mr (inaudible), whatever his name	14:54
	has got to go.	14:58
	The only way you gonna get it	14:59
	when election day comes, you see,	15:02
	these guys will be up for office.	15:05
	Man we gonna vote against them.	15:08
	That's what it means.	15:10
	Vote them out of office!	15:11
	Now we could talk about college, (inaudible),	15:13
	and (inaudible) as long as you want to talk.	15:16
	But until you get enough votes	15:18
	the vote leads people out of office.	15:20
Man	Amen!	15:22
	We would like to accomplish what we set out to.	15:23
	I know that the weather's a little inclement tonight	15:31
	and there's people tonight (inaudible)	15:34
	Again I would like to say to Mr. Sherrod,	15:38
	Thanks very much for the invitation.	15:40
	I'm very proud to be here.	15:42
	I will be back.	15:44
	And I hope you will come over to Dougherty	15:45
	and to Lee, Sumter, and all these counties.	15:48
	We must attain this type of unity	15:53
	and encourage these people, give them more	15:57
	vigor and enthusiasm and all that.	16:00
	We might be able to get into position	16:02
	so when the fine day comes we can shoot	16:05
	and hit our targets, and our targets will be	16:09
	Zeke Matthews, (inaudible) Terrell, Lee, Dougherty	16:12
	and all these corrupt politicians in Southwest Georgia.	16:17
	Thank you very much.	16:20
	(applause)	16:21
Preacher	Alright, I'm not a speaker, I'm a preacher.	16:25
	(laughter)	16:28
	If you would like to hear me preach tonight,	16:31
	I'm just a preacher.	16:34
	Well I wanted to say, I welcome you all to this tent	16:37
	since the church has been destroyed.	16:43
	The cause of the church being destroyed	16:46
	was the congregation opened the doors for,	16:49
	as they called the, Freedom Riders.	16:51
	(laughing)	16:54
	Amen.	16:55
	I been pastor here, this coming year,	16:57
	30 years at this spot.	17:02
	And I have a good core group of officers.	17:06
	So we opened the door for them to come in	17:09
	that they hold a meeting. They closed them out	17:12
	every place in Terrell County but not ours.	17:15
	That's why she's destroyed	17:19
	I heard that they were gonna burn it down, but I told them	17:22
	if they burn it down we are gonna build another one.	17:25
	(applause)	17:28
	So they burnt down the building	17:33
	but they didn't burn the church down.	17:35
	(Amen)	17:38
	So as we're planning on Sunday to have the ground breaking	17:41
	and when we build a new church	17:46
	with the Lord willing, I will be pastor,	17:48
	and if I be gone, it'll still be open for	17:50
	the purpose of the mass meeting of Albany,	17:53
	Terrell County and all the other counties.	17:57
	(applause)	18:00
	(inaudible)	18:04
	say whatever you want to say in the building	18:07
	in order to get people to understand	18:11
	it is necessary to register your name and	18:15
	vote and be a first-class citizen	18:17
	of Terrell County, Lee County and Dougherty County.	18:20
	Good neighborhood.	18:22
	Now I'm way on up there in years	18:26
	but I'm tired of goin' to the back door.	18:29
	(laughter)	18:33
	The little time that I stay, I'm gonna go to the front door.	18:36
	And get the same.	18:39
	And if my wife waiting to play the (?) can't go into	18:41
	the front door I don't think she'll go with it	18:44
	(applause)	18:47
	(inaudible) why with these white folks	18:51
	if we have to go around to the back door	18:54
	instead of going around to the front,	18:55
	I think you ought to come on out.	18:57
	(amen)	18:58
	(applause)	19:00
	So I'm saying to you, let's stand up here.	19:03
	For the Lord.	19:06
	The only way that we going to get this thing completed,	19:07
	(inaudible) just won't do.	19:11
	You have to be sincere in what we do.	19:15
	And put the Lord in front of the banner.	19:18
	Isn't that right?	19:21
	You know it is allowed.	19:22
	Cause the song has.	19:25
	In that same Godly book every now and then (inaudible)	19:27
	And if we stand up and be as sincere	19:31
	as we propose to be and treat each other right	19:33
	He will break down the city gates between the other fellows	19:36
	And many houses divide us, let's get that	19:38
	(inaudible) among us	19:41
	some of us be too cool	19:43
	Amen, we don't have nothing to do with certain folks.	19:47
	Then if you don't have to do with your own people	19:51
	it's going to be the other side.	19:53
	Isn't that right?	19:56
	So we must first get together ourselves.	19:57
	And the Lord is ready to stretch out his arm	20:00
	and break down that separating wall	20:02
	between the other man	20:05
	and we get together.	20:06
	(alright reverend)	20:09
	Y'all will admit I like that kinda talk	20:10
	(crowd talking)	20:12
	We are segregating our churches.	20:13
	Some of our members don't want to associate with others.	20:15
	Then they ask the Lord to break down the walls	20:18
	between us and the whites	20:20
	In a way that's so we grab the (?) from among us.	20:21
	Then the lord will break it down completely.	20:25
	He's waitin on us, waitin on us.	20:28
	When we get together.	20:31
	(inaudible)	20:34
	When we as colored people get together	20:36
	and see us as brothers and sisters	20:38
	then the lord will break down that separating wall	20:40
	between the other man.	20:42
	And you can't put out fire with fire.	20:44
	You have to love those that are hating you,	20:50
	those who are saying so much against you.	20:52
	And in order for the Lord to break it down	20:54
	you must love them and treat them well.	20:56
	(crowd talking)	20:58
	You can't hate the white man and love the Lord	21:05
	at the same time.	21:07
	You have to love him.	21:09
	Love him that (inaudible)	21:12
	Isn't that what the book says?	21:16
	I know we don't want to do it	21:18
	but you going to have to do it.	21:20
	Isn't that right?	21:23
	To get this is what we praying for,	21:27
	the day it come we gonna have to come together	21:30
	as brothers and sisters	21:33
	in our faith and	21:37
	in our homes and our communities	21:39
	and live next door and amen.	21:41
	(inaudible)	21:43
	The power of life will be in those.	21:50
	You must be all the way right for	21:52
	your prayer to take any effect	21:54
	with the Lord, He'll hear you but He doesn't answer you.	21:56
	(no He don't)	21:59
	If all them prayers that we're praying and singing	22:01
	were sincerely from the heart, don't you know something	22:03
	(one would have done good)	22:06
	(Lord)	22:08
	(inaudible)	22:09
	And what are we?	22:12
	We are needing to meet some of them, to be seen.	22:16
	And act sincere in what we pretending to do.	22:22
	If you get sincere it wouldn't take all this time.	22:26
	Give (inaudible) to God	22:29
	He's just waiting on you.	22:32
	He is ready.	22:34
	He is ready to break it down when you get right.	22:36
	(inaudible)	22:44
	and your heart isn't right	22:46
	(amen)	22:48
	He's waitin on you.	22:52
	You gonna have to get right.	22:55
	With one another	22:58
	(inaudible)	23:05
	You just as well get together.	23:15
	Amen.	23:17
	If anybody's talkin about (inaudible)	23:19
	We can't make it. Fighting each-other.	23:23
	What the Lord break down between the white man	23:28
	and us and we hitting one another on the other side.	23:30
	(inaudible)	23:33
	See old men are like this but this is what you need	23:43
	(inaudible) and your heart ain't right.	23:49
	You ought to get your heart right.	23:52
	Then you wouldn't have to come to me.	23:53
	You could just stand there and look up.	23:55
	Don't open your mouth, just look around you	23:59
	and make sure your heart is right.	24:01
	(inaudible)	24:03
	when they all got together, something happened.	24:05
	If we get together something will happen here.	24:08
	The Lord made me sealed but he found a way to get in	24:12
	and I don't know how.	24:17
	If I answer and open the door you can come on in.	24:19
	When we get right	24:25
	When we get our heart right.	24:32
	Talking just ain't it.	24:38
	Have a pure heart	24:41
	to treat everybody right.	24:43
	God wanted everybody.	24:46
	Your enemies have to pray to him	24:48
	I know he hates you and do evil things, but	24:51
	you got to pray for him	24:54
	if you have to go one mile at this end	24:56
	go clean with me two	24:58
	(inaudible) to look for the Lord and he'll look right back	25:01
	(That's what God said.)	25:05
	Somebody - most of us are looking out for ourselves.	25:07
	And they looking out for nobody else	25:10
	Cause they want the Lord to break it down over yonder	25:14
	but you keep a wall over here	25:17
	You got to move something but that's up to you to do.	25:19
	Get your heart right.	25:24
	With everybody.	25:26
	A lot of us goin there and registering	25:32
	but then they're too scared to go vote	25:34
	(inaudible)	25:37
	What are people supposed to do?	25:40
	We would have got a little closer	25:42
	The Lord will have our name on the book	25:43
	and we're trying to go up there and vote	25:46
	no need to register if you don't vote	25:49
	He don't want no coward man	25:53
	He wants valiant-hearted souls	25:54
	You stand up, let's get our heart right	25:58
	It don't mean that you just stay home	26:01
	(inaudible)	26:04
	(that's true)	26:07
	God will tell you	26:08
	stay out of Albany, suspend your money	26:09
	You sit right there and listen to Him	26:11
	and scoot right around the corner	26:13
	and hand it on out to them	26:14
	(applause)	26:17
	talking about this old money you spend it like you want	26:21
	You don't want to be preached.	26:26
	(inaudible) you wanna be free	26:29
	If you speak to God the white man's hands	26:32
	(inaudible)	26:36
	you shoulda sat down and say slap your hand	26:42
	I say, "alright Black man"	26:45
	and then I see a lot of you up there in town	26:45
	The women is worse than the men	26:54
	(inaudible)	26:57
	(talk about it)	27:00
	(inaudible) common-sense wisdom	27:03
	you ought to prove it	27:07
	You're fighting yourself	27:09
	when you go up there and order these goods out	27:11
	and have them brought to your house.	27:13
	You think nobody don't know but the Lord sees	27:15
	(inaudible)	27:19
	Y'all may not like to hear this	27:25
	but let's be what we is	27:28
	God bless you	27:33
	(applause)	27:36
	♪ Oh freedom ♪	27:40
	♪ Oh freedom ♪	27:45
	♪ Oh freedom over me ♪	27:49
	♪ And before I'd be a slave ♪	27:53
	♪ I'll be buried in my grave ♪	27:58
	♪ And go home to my Lord and be free ♪	28:03
	♪ No more jailhouse ♪	28:13
	♪ No more jailhouse ♪	28:18
	♪ No more jailhouse over me ♪	28:23
	♪ And before I'd be a slave ♪	28:30
	♪ I'll be buried in my grave ♪	28:35
	♪ And go home to my Lord and be free ♪	28:39
	♪ Oh freedom ♪	28:49
	♪ Oh freedom ♪	28:54
	♪ Oh freedom ♪	28:58
	♪ Over me over me ♪	29:01
	♪ And before I'd be a slave ♪	29:06
	♪ I'll be buried in my grave ♪	29:10
	♪ And go home to my Lord and be free ♪	29:15
-	And now the Martin Luther King of southwest Georgia,	29:25
	Dr. Revered Johnson.	29:30
	(applause)	29:31
-	I don't know whether I like that introduction or not.	29:42
	(laughing)	29:44
	To my colored friends	29:48
	and to you honorary colored folks	29:53
	I want all of you to know first of all	29:58
	that Zeke Matthews doesn't like what's goin on out here.	30:00
	And I want you to know that Fred Chapel	30:05
	in Americus does not like what's goin on out here.	30:07
	Colonel Campbell doesn't like it in Albany	30:11
	and I'm sure Mr. Short is a might unhappy man this evening.	30:15
	As a matter of fact I think you gonna	30:23
	make him even more unhappy because you are trying to	30:27
	disturb and upset our traditional Southern way of life.	30:32
	I wonder sometime why it is that	30:39
	they act so stupidly and have a difficult time	30:45
	understanding what it is we want.	30:49
	A story was told to me when I was in New York	30:54
	not too long ago about a little colored boy	30:56
	who decided he wanted to see what it would be like	31:00
	to be white for just a little while.	31:02
	So he went home one evening and got down in the basement	31:04
	and got in his daddy's lime and he powdered himself	31:07
	all over and he ran upstairs and he said	31:10
	"Mommy, Mommy look at me, I'm a white boy!"	31:14
	and she took him down and tanned his hide good.	31:18
	And when his daddy came home, momma told his daddy	31:22
	and daddy took him down to the basement	31:25
	and tanned his hide good again.	31:27
	He went back upstairs and his momma asked him,	31:31
	"well how was it to be white?"	31:34
	Well he said, "I see what it's all about.	31:37
	I was white for fifteen minutes and	31:39
	I hate two Negroes already."	31:41
	(laughter)	31:45
	(inaudible) hard to come out here	31:52
	I'm happy to see so many came with us	31:57
	(inaudible) from Dougherty county.	32:00

	(singing)	0:04
	♪ Sit at the welcome table ♪	0:10
	♪ Sit at the welcome table one of these days ♪	0:15
	♪ I'm gonna tell 'em how you treat me ♪	0:21
	♪ I'm gonna tell 'em how you treat me one of these days ♪	0:28
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	0:33
	♪ I'm gonna tell Him how you treat me ♪	0:34
	♪ Tell Him how you treat me one of these days ♪	0:39
	♪ I'm gonna get my freedom here ♪	0:46
	♪ Oh, Lord, I'm gonna get my freedom here ♪	0:52
	♪ One of these days, hallelujah ♪	0:55
	♪ I'm gonna get my freedom here ♪	0:58
	♪ I'm gonna get my freedom one of these days ♪	1:03
	♪ We're gonna eat at the freedom table ♪	1:09
	♪ Oh, we're gonna eat at the freedom table ♪	1:15
	♪ One of these days, hallelujah ♪	1:19
	♪ We're gonna eat at the freedom table ♪	1:21
	♪ Eat at the freedom table one of these days ♪	1:27
-	Well, well, well.	1:34
	♪ Guide my feet, Lord, while I run this race ♪	1:40
	♪ Guide my feet, Lord, while I run this race ♪	1:48
	♪ Guide my feet while I run this race ♪	1:57
	♪ Lord, I don't want to run this race in vain ♪	2:05
	♪ Hold my hand while I run this race ♪	2:14
	♪ Hold my hand while I run this race ♪	2:22
	♪ Hold my hand while I run this race ♪	2:31
	♪ Lord I don't want to run this race in vain ♪	2:39
	♪ Guide my tongue while I run this race ♪	2:47
	♪ Guide my tongue while I run this race ♪	2:55
	♪ Guide my tongue while I run this race ♪	3:03
	♪ For I don't want to run this race in vain ♪	3:11
	♪ Take my arm while I run this race ♪	3:20
	♪ Take my arm while I run this race ♪	3:26
	♪ Take my art while I run this race ♪	3:35
	♪ For I don't want to run this race in vain ♪	3:43
	♪ Well, hold my hand while I run this race ♪	3:52
	♪ Hold my hand while I run this race ♪	4:00
	♪ Hold my hand while I run this race ♪	4:09
	♪ For I don't want to run this race in vain ♪	4:16
	♪ Guide my feet while I run this race ♪	4:26
	♪ Guide my feet while I run this race ♪	4:34
	♪ Guide my feet while I run this race ♪	4:42
	♪ For I don't want to run this race in vain ♪	4:50
	♪ Guide my tongue while I run this race ♪	4:59
	♪ Guide my tongue while I run this race ♪	5:07
	♪ Guide my tongue while I run this race ♪	5:15
	♪ For I don't want to run this race in vain ♪	5:22
	♪ Guide my mind while I run this race ♪	5:31
	♪ Guide my mind while I run this race ♪	5:39
	♪ Guide my mind while I run this race ♪	5:47
	♪ For I don't want to run this race in vain ♪	5:54
	♪ Guide my feet while I run this race ♪	6:02
	♪ Guide my feet while I run this race ♪	6:09
	♪ Guide my feet while I run this race ♪	6:17
	♪ For I don't want to run this race in vain ♪	6:24
	♪ Guide my tongue while I run this race ♪	6:33
	♪ Guide my tongue while I run this race ♪	6:40
	♪ Guide my tongue while I run this race ♪	6:48
	♪ For I don't want to run this race in vain ♪	6:55
	♪ Guide my thoughts while I run this race ♪	7:04
	♪ Guide my thoughts while I run this race ♪	7:10
	♪ Guide my thoughts while I run this race ♪	7:18
	♪ For I don't want to run this race in vain ♪	7:26
	(Lord, dear God)	7:34
-	Let us bow our heads in a word of prayer.	7:37
	Oh, gracious king, as we come together,	7:40
	we pray that thou would bless our coming together.	7:45
	Bless this people.	7:48
	We pray that thou would give us strength	7:50
	to give us courage to carry on to fight on	7:52
	and on until the victory is won.	7:55
	This we ask in the name of thy son, Christ Jesus.	7:58
	Amen.	8:01
	At this time, I'd like to say welcome everybody	8:06
	to the home of the brave.	8:08
	I think I used that name because of what we people	8:10
	in Terrell County went through in order to get	8:14
	the few people that we have got registered to vote.	8:17
	Because that's our primary objective	8:20
	and it's a very hard one, although it shouldn't be.	8:23
	But it's a very hard one.	8:25
	I thought with so many people in the county concerning	8:27
	the trial, they is very disappointed, just like I am.	8:31
	But I tried to give them the courage that I have.	8:34
	Although the men were found not guilty	8:38
	so far as their jury's concerned, we keep fighting.	8:41
-	Amen!	8:45
-	Next, I would like to say to you all that	8:46
	they got some cars to go down Friday.	8:49
	Be sure to go down because there's one little thing	8:52
	that they can use to fight against us with.	8:57
	That is if you fail to go Friday, there'll be 12 months,	8:59
	the way I got the report before you will be eligible	9:03
	to apply again.	9:07
	So whatsoever you're doing, do your best	9:09
	to make arrangements to get down before the voter registrar	9:12
	Friday for this examination.	9:14
	So at this time, we have some reports from people	9:17
	that worked in the county.	9:20
	Who's that?	9:23
	Jack, did you work?	9:24
-	Well, I guess so.	9:25
	You want to get that report here?	9:27
	(mumbling)	9:29
-	Where's Jack?	9:31
-	Shetfield?	9:32
-	Yeah.
-	He went home.	9:34
	(mumbling)	9:34
-	In Terrell County, today, made this.	9:37
-	They boycotted right now.	9:42
	(mumbling)	9:45
	He was talking about the (mumbling).	9:48
-	You don't carry down in the road in Sumter.	9:55
	You carry all of it.	9:59
-	We've talked about our song.	10:01
	"Oh, Freedom," you know?	10:07
	Before I'll be a slave, I'll be buried in my grave.	10:09
	(clicking drowning out speaker)	10:11
	Boycott stopping me, so he got in touch	10:16
	with the FBI there.	10:17
	Kept on going.	10:19
	We've been working with the school kids again.	10:21
	High school kids.	10:23
	Around Smithville	10:24
	Still trying to get them in.	10:27
	Nobody from Smithville has come to our meetings yet.	10:32
	But we're still working on this.	10:34
	They claim they don't have enough transportation.	10:39
	We're gonna take the bus out to one of them.	10:42
	See how many people will get on it.	10:44
	Our registrar Mr. Yumen is still pulling papers.	10:54
	Friday's the only day that we can apply for registration	11:00
	in Lee County, supposedly.	11:04
	A couple of Fridays, he's been out for most of the day	11:12
	so that people who go down on Friday even haven't been able	11:18
	to register, but this last weekend, he was in.	11:21
	So people did register, including a number of kids	11:29
	from Lee County Training School.	11:32
	We have plans for a joint meeting among kids	11:35
	from Lee County, Terrell County.	11:39
	In fact, some of the kids from Albany and Dougherty County,	11:42
	Sumter County, in the near future, we don't know exactly	11:47
	what kind of meeting this will be, whether it will be	11:51
	All work and no play or work and play, or what.	11:53
	But we'll have more about that later.	11:58
-	Can I ask (mumbling) report in Lee County (mumbling)?	12:04
	(laughing)	12:07
-	Yes, the department man was talking to us	12:09
	about Mr. Ewing, the registrar in Lee County,	12:10
	and he's going in tomorrow to check over it.	12:17
	I think that next week he will see a change,	12:19
	and I think his name and the place will	12:21
	(scraping drowning out speaker).	12:23
	(clapping)	12:26
	(mumbling)	12:30
-	I have been in here a while.	12:35
	I've been here for six hours.	12:37
	And I've been asking people about freedom.	12:39
	Everybody in Terrell County's afraid to talk about freedom.	12:42
	I talk with some of the people, strangers.	12:46
	I went up to some of the people's houses and ask 'em,	12:48
	they said, "You one of them Freedom Riders."	12:50
	They say, "If you come here, so we had to move."	12:53
	I said no, I said, "Well, I'm not a Freedom Rider."	12:56
	I said, "I'm in here trying to do the work od God.	12:58
	"Trying to wait for the Lord."	13:00
	I'm not a Freedom Rider.	13:02
	I'm trying to hold up and get freedom for myself.	13:03
	(exclaiming)	13:07
	My mother, my grandmother, and they,	13:08
	all of them, died enslaved.	13:11
	Now, I'm fighting for my rights.	13:13
	Give me my rights, please.	13:15
	The people in Terrell County need to wake up.	13:17
	I tell you what we need to do.	13:20
	We need to go on over here to Dawson and fall down	13:21
	on our knees and ask God to have mercy	13:23
	like He did in Albany.	13:25
	That same God in Albany is over here in	13:27
	Dougherty County (applause)	13:29
	That same God can come over here in Terrell County.	13:33
	Let's all get on the bus, the Freedom Riders it's called,	13:35
	Let's all get on the bus and go to town	13:39
	and fall down on our knees and ask God to have mercy!	13:41
	And if we ask God on it, from our heart,	13:44
	He will have mercy!	13:47
	We can't do nothing without Jesus!	13:49
	We got to have God in front of us!	13:52
	We scared!	13:55
	I'm not afraid!	13:56
	They can kill me!	13:58
	Listen.	13:59
	I got something over here I know somebody know	14:00
	something about it.	14:02
	They say you walk around here, you going to jail.	14:04
	If I go to jail, I'm satisfied.	14:07
	Jesus gonna fight my boss, right there.	14:09
	Here I kinda weed you to wake up.	14:12
	Awe, but listen, I tell you what we need to do.	14:14
	Let's go to Dawson with this.	14:18
	If it's called the Freedom Riders, and pray a prayer	14:19
	and ask God to have mercy.	14:22
	Yes, fall on down on our knees in Lee Street.	14:25
	Right there in front of the courthouse.	14:28
	It ain't far from the jail, and ask God to have mercy.	14:30
	And give us freedom.	14:32
	Yeah, they call you white.	14:35
	Call out some name for him.	14:38
	But now, listen, your face a little bit brighter	14:40
	than mine, but it's--	14:42
	If you cut me tonight and I bleed red blood	14:44
	that's like you bleed.	14:47
	Let's wake up and get it!	14:48
	Let's wake up and get it, here!	14:50
	Let's wake up here this time!	14:53
	I'm with you!	14:55
	It don't take nothing but prayer!	14:57
	I've been on the slave.	15:00
	I want my child to come up with a education.	15:03
	I didn't get much.	15:05
-	So true, honey.	15:07
-	Mm-hmm, but I want mine to come on up and get it.	15:08
	I'm willing to fight for mine.	15:11
	Thank you.	15:13
-	All right!
	(clapping)	15:15
	(mumbling)	15:17
-	Freedom Riders!	15:18
	Let's go to Dawson and ask God to have mercy.	15:19
	That's the toughest place.	15:23
	He had mercy over in Dougherty County.	15:24
	That same God over there.	15:26
	Thank you.	15:28
	(clapping)	15:29
	But in my heart, he called me a Freedom Rider.	15:33
	If I go to jail, I'm satisfied.	15:37
	But there's not a man to find.	15:39
-	Amen!	15:40
	(clapping)	15:42
-	They know it!	15:44
-	Amen!	15:45
-	Hallelujah!	15:46
-	Amen.	15:47
-	I got these!	15:49
	That's enough for me!	15:50
-	We asked the students to come over in Terrell County	15:51
	and help us to attempt now from there.	15:53
	I wanna know the results from there.	15:56
	How many people did you have--	15:57
-	That's a (mumbling)!	15:58
-	How many people do we have tonight that's ready	16:00
	to go down and get registered in Terrell County?	16:03
	Now we should, I got in turn that some people fund it,	16:06
	it'll be ready to go.	16:09
	Let's move plans.	16:11
	Well, those that plan to go down and register.	16:14
	Are those that someone talked to and they thought	16:16
	they might go in a future date.	16:19
-	Well, I'm ready!	16:20
-	There's one person.	16:22
-	Let's go.	16:23
	Everybody.	16:24
	(mumbling)	16:26
	(laughing)	16:28
	(chatting)	16:30
-	At this time, I'm gonna let Charles come forward	16:37
	and introduce some of our speakers for us tonight--	16:40
	(mumbling)	16:43
-	But up here, I come and see them,	16:48
	and I only get out, that's why I don't mind	16:52
	spending the night we find out, 24 hours in there	16:55
	for a Freedom Rider in this one.	16:57
	And I've been a cook a long time and I've been	16:59
	(humming drowning out speaker)	17:01
	I gonna take them up for free, and I want	17:05
	these people free.	17:06
	And so the thing about this is all though	17:07
	I'm right here in Terrell County, that counter,	17:08
	and I stook my feet, and my wife, she's looking	17:11
	to come on-- come up here in a minute.	17:13
	And that's why I not tell her night.	17:15
	(mumbling) and I saw my own, and then I said,	17:17
	"Let me go out there to them people."	17:19
-	(mumbling) you can get stuff to take to--	17:21
	(speakers drowning each other out)	17:24
	(chatting)	17:28
-	Sumter County.	17:37
	(humming drowning out speakers)	17:40
	(Loud noise)	17:52
-	16 kids from Albany who were joined by four girls	18:11
	from south Marion or those counties to get here.	18:14
	(mumbling)	18:18
	(clapping)	18:25
	I know it's very (mumbling) to me,	18:30
	first of all, that I (humming drowning out speaker).	18:33
	For four days, (humming drowning out speaker).	18:37
	And it felt good to be back at	18:52
	(humming drowning out speaker).	18:57
	(laughing)	18:59
	And before it has to have any (humming drowning out speaker)	19:00
	we're not sure how much there is to fear anymore.	19:12
	There's not as much to fear as there was before,	19:15
	we know that.	19:18
	And we need to keep seeing people	19:19
	and getting people together.	19:25
	That is the biggest thing that happened in Dougherty	19:27
	Since Sunday, we've been meeting out at the high school	19:30
	on the bus.	19:36
	And trying to get more students who would be willing	19:37
	to give an hour in the afternoon everyday	19:42
	for the next six months to help us canvas	19:44
	in Albany, as well as perhaps in Terrell (mumbling).	19:47
	(clapping)	20:00
	(humming drowning out speakers)	20:04
	(poor audio)	20:10
-	Cowboy lawyers.	20:51
	(loud drone drowning out speakers)	20:56
	(drone)	21:06
-	Tuesday, I gone over to Dawson.	22:51
	There's a gentlemen here, and another one.	22:56
	And I done my best to get registered.	23:01
	I done my best.	23:09
	I done all that I could do.	23:10
	I don't know whether it's gonna stand up or not.	23:14
	I attempted to vote once before,	23:19
	'bout 38 or 40 years ago.	23:26
	And I was kicked out.	23:30
	And I don't know, they may kick me out now.	23:32
	(laughing and chatting)	23:36
	I hope they won't, but I've been kicked out before	23:39
	from voting and it's gone just about towards	23:43
	I'm done gonna go now.	23:47
	(mumbling)	23:49
	I went up to Dawson and I registered.	23:53
	I don't know whether it'll stand up or not.	24:00
	(mumbling)	24:03
	But I did.	24:04
-	That's good.	24:06
-	I couldn't get no, there's some things about it,	24:08
	I didn't think I was going to be able to do	24:11
	and they wouldn't help me none.	24:14
	Wrote the book down, take it and go ahead,	24:19
	and if you can do anything, do it.	24:22
	So I think I done very well.	24:24
	(chatting and clapping)	24:27
	I think I done well enough for it to stand.	24:33
	I believe I did.	24:37
	(chatting)	24:40
	(clapping)	24:41
	(humming drowning out speaker)	24:49
	we are able to see in southwest Georgia together.	25:14
	See people from Terrell and across this section	25:21
	of our state.	25:29
	And what we've been seeing for a year now,	25:33
	we see is coming true, little by little.	25:37
	Little by little.	25:42
	From the times we're going to the meetings	25:45
	and had three or four or five or six.	25:48
	(humming drowning out speaker)	25:54
	Stood with us all the way	26:27
	I only hope that	26:30
	from this meeting,	26:35
	we can understand that it won't be long.	26:38
	Won't be long.	26:47
	Just since January the 1st, we had some new people	26:49
	to stand up and work with (humming drowning out speaker).	26:53
	If we stand together, we'll go get	27:03
	(humming drowning out speaker).	27:09
	We came together	27:16
	In what they call the Albany Movement last year.	27:18
	Of course, we know that the Albany Movement was	27:26
	about 26,000 strong (humming drowning out speaker).	27:33
	So first, we ask everybody from Albany to stand	27:58
	and then set down right quick.	28:05
	Now everybody who didn't stand are from Terrell	28:08
	and other places right?	28:13
-	Right.	28:15
-	Now we're gonna ask those persons present	28:17
	who are on the executive board	28:22
	of the Albany Movement, would they please stand?	28:27
	(clapping)	28:39
	So you see, we got to bring women in, too.	28:45
	A woman have to come in.	28:48
	I hope to have a few words from some of the leaders	28:53
	(humming drowning out speaker).	28:58
	Was the first family to take us in in Albany.	29:19
	Well certainly I would like to say that	29:27
-	These things go across the back from the Albany Movement	29:37
	often bring you, too, or me.	29:41
	When we think of the Albany Movement, we do not think	29:45
	of Albany alone.	29:50
	We think of Southwest Georgia.	29:52
	Even though we feel that we are only a couple	29:56
	of thousand strong there in Albany,	30:02
	we start thinking about how strong we really are,	30:07
	we think of Lee, Sumter, Terrell and all the other counties	30:11
	because we are all working for the same thing.	30:18
	There's one thing I would like to say to you.	30:24
	That is keep going.	30:27
	If we had stopped, and we've had many ups and downs,	30:29
	if we had stopped, we would not have been where we are today	30:33
	(mumbling).	30:38
	It's possible.	30:40
	Follow your leader, whoever the leader is.	30:41
	Give him support.	30:46
	Stand behind him and work with him.	30:48
	A few words about the SNCC workers	30:53
	I don't think I have met a more dedicated group	30:55
	since I have been well, here at least 30 years.	31:00
	(laughing)	31:05
	Certainly when they came into Albany,	31:11
	and I think my husband and I went to the first	31:14
	or second meeting.	31:16
	And I knew then that I was going to stick with them.	31:18
	I haven't regretted it.	31:22
	I would like for you to stick with them.	31:24
	Give them your support, and in turn,	31:26
	they'll support you.	31:29
	Thank you.	31:31
	(clapping)	31:32

Item Info

Title:

Terrell County, GA (Sasser) mass meeting, January 29, 1963

Date:

January 29, 1963

Creator:

Rubin, Larry, 1942-

Description:

The audio in this recording has been digitally processed to reduce noise and enhance clarity. The unprocessed preservation file can be requested by contacting the John Hope Franklin Research Center for African and African American History and Culture https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/franklin.

Subject:

Format: