Tape 1, 2000 April / Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee 40th anniversary conference videocassette tapes, 2000 / Duke Digital Repository

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Cultural Center at North Carolina State University,

0:06

and I am one of the many members of the planning committee

0:09

which has worked very diligently to greet you today

0:14

in Raleigh North Carolina.

0:19

I'd like to first say welcome home.

0:20

Welcome home to those of you who were here 40 years ago,

0:23

almost to this very day, beginning an organization

0:27

that transcended what was then happening

0:32

in the civil rights movement.

0:36

I want to say first of all,

0:39

my personal thanks to each and every one of you

0:41

who laid your lives on the line, who walked on the lines,

0:43

who sat in, who registered people to vote.

0:47

I am your counterpart and aide, however I was at that time

0:51

living in New York City, and raising a family,

0:57

so I couldn't be doing quite as much as you were doing,

1:01

but I was there cheering you on on the sidelines.

1:03

Thank you from the bottom of my heart,

1:07

and thank you for all of the rest of us here.

1:09

(audience applauds)

1:12

We know that there have been several changes

1:19

in what we expected to do this morning,

1:21

but we want to just keep rolling right along

1:23

and we will make up the time,

1:26

we will make up everything that is promised to you.

1:27

And so we want to begin this morning

1:31

with thanksgiving, and to do that we have Mr. Everett Ward,

1:34

who was Chair of the Chancellor's Community Advisory

1:39

Committee over at North Carolina State,

1:44

who works for the Department of Transportation,

1:46

and who is also a member of the planning committee.

1:49

Mr. Ward.

1:52

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Thank you Dr. Moses, good morning.

1:58

Audience

Good morning.

2:00

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Let me say to you that when Dr. Moses asked

2:02

if there was anyone who was so inclined to come forward

2:06

and offer an invocation, or some spiritual reflection

2:10

on this evening, I must tell you, as a Presbyterian Elder,

2:16

I had to rise,

2:21

(audience laughs)

because in the Presbyterian Church,

2:23

we don't have these many people assembled

2:25

and to be with Dr. Pickens here at Shaw University

2:28

in the Baptist tradition, I consider it an honor

2:32

as a Presbyterian Elder to stand before you

2:36

and to offer a spiritual reflection,

2:39

but prior to doing so, I must with all sincerity

2:42

tell you that we welcome you.

2:47

As Dr. Moses has indicated, this is a moving experience.

2:51

We have up until this point, celebrated with the community

2:57

starting on Sunday with events

3:04

that have really brought people together

3:06

in the spirit of Ella Baker,

3:10

where we have had elders sitting with the next generation

3:13

passing on the legacy of what you did,

3:18

those of you who were on the front line,

3:23

and those of you who are on the front line today,

3:25

and those of you as we look at our student leaders

3:28

who will be on the front line, carrying the torch

3:31

of Fannie Lou Hamer, Ella Baker, Dr. Aaron Henry,

3:34

Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, into yet another generation.

3:39

So if all of our hearts are clear,

3:43

let us go to the place that guided us 40 years ago,

3:46

that guided us throughout all of our journeys,

3:53

and continues to guide us today.

3:56

Let us pray.

3:59

Father, we come to you at this appointed place

4:02

and at this appointed time to say thank you

4:07

for your everlasting and merciful grace.

4:11

Because you lived, we too live free.

4:17

But because others, students, elders,

4:23

and particularly the person we celebrate today,

4:28

in the memory of Ella Baker.

4:33

Because she lived, we are free today

4:35

and the journey continues.

4:41

As we begin this conference, keep us focused

4:43

on always moving onward and upward,

4:46

and let us never forget that we have an obligation with you

4:50

and with mankind to always do our very best

4:57

to make this nation and this world truly a place

5:02

where all people can be free

5:06

and understand that we who believe in freedom cannot rest.

5:09

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, amen.

5:15

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Thank you.

5:23

We'd like to now bring to you several people

5:28

who will bring you greetings.

5:32

The first will be Dr. Ernest Pickens,

5:34

Executive Vice President of Shaw, standing in

5:36

for Shaw President Dr. Talbert O. Shaw this morning.

5:38

Dr. Pickens.

5:42

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Thank you Dr. Moses.

5:47

Let me repeat, welcome home.

5:50

I say that with a great deal of pride

5:54

and with the understanding of this conference,

5:56

a sense of, where else could we be this morning,

6:02

talking about the thing that we're talking about,

6:06

dealing with the issues that we're dealing with,

6:10

where else could we be, other than this campus?

6:13

And you know the answer to that.

6:17

Probably very few places if any.

6:18

I say welcome home and my greetings to you

6:21

are going to be just a little different perhaps

6:24

than you're going to hear from time to time.

6:27

I'd like to focus on that welcome home part of the greeting.

6:29

I want to say welcome to Shaw University.

6:34

Who knows, some of you may be sitting where Ella Baker sat,

6:39

since this very building in which we are meeting today

6:43

was used as a residence hall for women.

6:46

Certainly had to be very active during the time

6:50

that our celebrant was on this campus.

6:53

Shaw University as you know is the oldest historically black

6:57

university in the South, the third oldest in the country,

7:00

and that's arguable.

7:04

Some people say that Wilberforce and Cheyney

7:06

want to lay claims, but the question is,

7:08

were they a genuine university at founding

7:10

and the answer probably is no.

7:13

Normal school, high school, or something else at that time,

7:15

but as you know, Shaw University, founded in 1865,

7:19

135 years ago, a long time by any standard,

7:23

has a lot of firsts in its history.

7:28

I'm not going to chronicle them all for you this morning

7:33

but among them are, the first four year medical school

7:35

in the country was founded here on this campus,

7:40

Shaw University, building right across the street,

7:43

historic building that's being renovated, Leonard Hall:

7:46

first four year medical school in the country,

7:51

founded on this campus.

7:55

We could go through and chronicle a lot of other firsts.

7:57

We are here because 40 years ago,

8:01

there was a first, the founding of SNCC on this campus.

8:03

So when you talk about Shaw University,

8:11

you talk about an institution involved with the cutting edge

8:12

of items in a number of ways.

8:19

As executive vice president of this institution,

8:23

today I have to assume some responsibility

8:25

to let you know that when you leave here,

8:28

you will have heard all of the experts

8:31

on the SNCC issue, all of the experts on Ella Baker,

8:33

all of the experts on the issue,

8:39

all of the experts on freedom.

8:42

Carry also with you some information on Shaw University,

8:45

that Shaw University's motto is Pro Christo et Humanitate,

8:49

For Christ and Humanity, an institution with a commitment

8:53

that religion and learning go hand in hand

8:56

and that character should grow with knowledge.

8:59

Carry with you the fact that Shaw University was founded

9:01

in 1865 by Henry Martin Tupper, white man,

9:06

from Monson Massachusetts, who had a vision

9:11

to provide an educational opportunity for freed men

9:14

to learn to read and interpret the Bible.

9:20

1865, 135 years ago, and today this institution's commitment

9:22

is to provide educational opportunities

9:29

for a diverse population who may otherwise not have

9:31

an opportunity for an education.

9:35

Very same mission, stated differently, 135 years ago.

9:37

I want you to be able to announced that indeed,

9:44

in 1870, this very building that you're sitting in,

9:46

this very building, in 1870 was built

9:53

as the first residence halls for women,

9:57

for women, in the country.

10:01

1873, beautiful Estey Hall.

10:05

I want you to be able to say that Shaw University

10:09

is the mother of African American higher education

10:12

in North Carolina, for out of the womb of Shaw University

10:16

we have North Carolina Central,

10:20

Elizabeth City State University,

10:24

Fayetteville State University,

10:27

Livingstone College, and A&T State University.

10:28

Were it not for Shaw, we would have a different scenario

10:32

with these institutions in North Carolina.

10:36

Yes, Ella Baker, alumna par excellence,

10:39

Shaw University's finest.

10:44

Today, our president, our visionary president,

10:48

has established as an administrative aim and motto,

10:51

strides to excellence, why not the best?

10:55

And Ella Baker certainly exemplifies both components

10:59

of our administrative motto, 135 years after its founding.

11:02

If our president were here, he would say

11:10

you sit and stand on hallowed ground.

11:13

Your purpose for being here is genuine.

11:16

We are delighted that this conference

11:19

is being shared with us on our campus today.

11:22

So on behalf of our president who is not here at the moment,

11:27

I'd like to extend to you a genuine welcome

11:30

to the Shaw University and ask that the work

11:32

that you have come to do here will be work

11:36

that will be spread widely as you achieve the mission.

11:40

Welcome home, thank you.

11:44

(audience applauds)

11:47

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Thank you Dr. Pickens and following him,

11:53

we will have comments from Rodney Poole, who is president

11:55

of the Student Government Association here at Shaw.

11:59

(chair scraping on the floor)

12:04

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Good morning.

12:10

Audience

Good morning.

12:11

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Once upon a time in a land far far away

12:13

is the beginning for many a fairy tale.

12:16

It would be nice if the American civil rights movement

12:20

could begin with those words, but it cannot,

12:22

because it was not in a land far far away.

12:25

It was here, in Raleigh North Carolina.

12:29

It was all over the South,

12:32

and various other parts of this country.

12:34

Today we commence the celebration

12:38

of the life of a Shaw graduate,

12:39

and an enormous figure in American history,

12:42

Miss Ella Jo Baker, and the reunion of the birth

12:45

of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.

12:49

To those of you that spent your Easter vacation here

12:52

40 years ago, thank you for coming and welcome back.

12:56

To those that have traveled from across the country

13:01

or from across town, we thank God for your safe arrival.

13:03

So on behalf of the Shaw University

13:07

Student Government Association and the entire student body,

13:09

we hope that this conference

13:14

will be empowering, enlightening, and effective.

13:16

Thank you and welcome.

13:19

(audience applauds)

13:21

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Thank you Mr. Poole.

13:25

This entire project has been a wonderful collaboration.

13:27

I've met some wonderful people,

13:30

so people at Shaw and people at NC State,

13:33

and people at Duke and people from Saint Aug's,

13:35

and people from Central and people from various places

13:39

around the country have convened, have met,

13:43

and have talked about this,

13:45

and we've come together to do this project.

13:47

In that spirit we want to also bring you greetings

13:50

from North Carolina State University

13:53

and here to do that is Vice Provost JoAnne G. Woodard,

13:55

from North Carolina State.

13:59

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Again, good morning.

14:05

Audience

Good morning.

14:07

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It's my privilege to welcome you

14:08

on behalf of North Carolina State University

14:10

to the 40th anniversary celebration

14:12

commemorating the founding

14:14

of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.

14:16

The actions of this new organization

14:19

of bold and courageous young people

14:20

created a tidal wave of positive social change

14:23

that extended far beyond the walls of this community

14:26

to wash over the entire region.

14:30

Ella Baker, Jim Lawson, John Lewis, Diane Nash,

14:32

and so many others including many of you in the audience,

14:37

were participants in the founding of SNCC.

14:40

NC State University is very proud of the foundation

14:43

of racial cooperation laid by our former chancellor

14:46

John Caldwell, who in the early 1960s worked diligently

14:49

with Governor Terry Sanford's Good Neighbor Council.

14:53

Since that time we've continued that tradition

14:56

of racial cooperation with our new chancellor

14:58

Dr. Marye Ann Fox.

15:01

We worked to enhance race relations

15:03

with the larger Raleigh community

15:05

through the chancellor's African American Community

15:07

Advisory Council, and through the annual

15:09

University Community Brotherhood Dinner.

15:11

For the past 18 years, NC State has hosted

15:13

the brotherhood dinner with our sister institutions,

15:16

Shaw University and Saint Augustine's College.

15:19

The brotherhood dinner honors the achievements

15:22

of an African American who has helped to promote

15:24

scholarship, leadership, and community service,

15:26

and I mention the brotherhood dinner because our honoree

15:29

this year for our dinner that was held just last month,

15:32

was Congressman John Lewis,

15:34

one of the early leaders of SNCC.

15:37

I'm frequently asked to represent

15:39

our Chancellor Dr. Marye Anne Fox,

15:41

and Provost Dr. Kermit Hall at events

15:43

when their busy schedules do not permit them to attend

15:45

and as a historian I saw this assignment of giving a welcome

15:48

at the SNCC Conference as an unparalleled opportunity.

15:52

I am humbled to be in the presence of the makers of history,

15:56

and persons who have so shaped our lives

15:59

over the last four decades.

16:02

In 1960 when SNCC was founded at Shaw University,

16:03

and I'm probably going to date myself here,

16:07

I was four years old.

16:09

During the 1960s I remember my parents speaking proudly

16:11

and reverently about the activities of the alphabet soup

16:14

of organizations involved in the civil rights movement.

16:19

SNCC, CORE, FOR,

16:23

COFO, the Urban League, the SCLC,

16:26

the NAACP, and those students

16:30

who've had African American history with me

16:32

know they must learn what those initials mean,

16:34

it's not just an alphabet soup.

16:37

But I wanted to say that the persons black and white

16:39

that associated with these groups

16:41

were indeed the foot soldiers

16:43

in the war for freedom and equality.

16:45

As a teenager, books about the student involvement

16:47

in the civil rights movement

16:51

like Ann Moody's Coming of Age in Mississippi

16:52

captured the imagination of this young black woman

16:54

coming of age in Charlotte North Carolina.

16:58

This week's celebration of the founding of SNCC

17:01

marks the birth of a key organization

17:04

in the modern civil rights movement,

17:06

and I have to frequently remind my students

17:08

that the civil rights movement didn't just begin

17:10

in the '50s or '60s, what we see

17:13

by the time of the founding of SNCC

17:14

is just another wave in a long cycle of the struggle

17:17

for civil rights in the United States.

17:21

In the post World War II era, massive resistance emerged

17:23

as a tactic employed by those protesting segregation

17:27

and the denial of rights to black Americans.

17:30

Nonviolent direct action was a complement to legal action

17:33

in such landmark cases as Brown vs. the Board of Education,

17:37

Topeka Kansas in 1954.

17:41

And people like Miss Ella J. Baker and groups like SNCC

17:43

helped to accelerate the deliberate speed

17:48

with which desegregation was to take place.

17:51

In his book Civilities and Civil Rights,

17:54

Duke University historian William Chafe describes

17:56

the progressive mystique of North Carolina

17:59

in the first half of the 20th century.

18:02

According to this progressive mystique,

18:05

race relations were characterized by a degree of civility.

18:06

Consequently, major flashpoints of the civil rights movement

18:11

do occur in North Carolina like the sit ins in Greensboro,

18:15

the founding of SNCC in Raleigh,

18:18

desegregation of schools and busing in Charlotte.

18:20

However, our state avoided for the most part

18:23

the bloody violence that characterized

18:26

the civil rights struggle in areas of the deep South.

18:29

This progressive mystique and the willingness of people,

18:31

black and white, people of good will,

18:35

to work collaboratively and peacefully,

18:37

to respond to the nonviolent direct action demonstrations

18:40

of SNCC, allowed Raleigh and North Carolina to move forward.

18:43

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said that some things

18:48

are so dear, so eternally true,

18:52

that they're worth dying for, and if a man hadn't found

18:55

something that he's willing to die for,

18:58

then he's not fit to live.

19:00

The cessation of breathing is but a belated announcement

19:02

of an earlier death of the spirit.

19:05

And I'll say these are powerful words,

19:07

and words that aptly describe the activities

19:09

of the students involved in SNCC.

19:11

The SNCC students had found something

19:14

they were willing to die for.

19:16

Many of them risked their lives daily helping America

19:17

to live up to the true meaning of its creed.

19:20

This is not to say that the SNCC students were unafraid.

19:23

As we've heard over the past few days,

19:26

as people give us their remembrances of the movement,

19:28

people say that they were very afraid but their convictions

19:30

proved to be stronger than their fears.

19:34

To quote from the statement formulated by SNCC in 1960,

19:37

through nonviolence, courage displaces fear,

19:39

love transforms hate, acceptance dissipates prejudice,

19:44

hope ends despair, peace dominates war,

19:49

faith reconciles doubt, mutual regard cancels enmity,

19:53

justice for all overthrows injustice,

19:57

the redemptive community supersedes systems

20:00

of gross social immorality.

20:03

Indeed, the SNCC students had found

20:06

something worth dying for.

20:08

Students like the ones involved in SNCC were revolutionaries

20:09

because the civil rights movement was a revolution.

20:12

The second American revolution of the 20th century

20:15

helped to bring to fruition those national visions

20:18

first articulated during the first American revolution

20:22

of the 18th century.

20:25

The SNCC students were ideal revolutionaries

20:26

and participants in massive resistance.

20:29

Their youthfulness cloaked them with a certain autonomy

20:31

that allowed them to risk more than older adults

20:34

who were sometimes hesitant or more restrained in protesting

20:37

for fear of swift economic, social and political reprisal.

20:41

So in closing, I'd like to say NC State is proud

20:45

to be a sponsor of the SNCC Conference,

20:48

and it is our hope that the conference brings about

20:51

a greater appreciation of history, much of which occurred

20:53

right her in our own city of Raleigh.

20:55

We're also hopeful that the conference will help to rekindle

20:58

among our students some of the activism

21:01

of the SNCC students of four decades ago,

21:03

and lastly we hope the SNCC conference

21:06

brings about the recognition that we are not there yet.

21:09

We need to renew our commitment to continue the struggle

21:13

for freedom and equality for all people.

21:15

And I thank you, and do enjoy the conference.

21:19

(audience applauds)

21:22

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Thank you very much.

21:28

And following her is a young man who has esteemed himself

21:32

greatly on the campus of North Carolina State University.

21:37

I'm going to just take a second to speak about him

21:39

because he's one of mine.

21:41

(laughing)

This year he became a Leader of the Pack,

21:46

that's a very high honor for young people at State,

21:49

and they're voted by their peers.

21:53

That means he gets to represent them

21:55

at nice events like Homecoming

21:56

and special occasions such as this.

21:59

Over the past year he's also been president

22:01

of the Society of African American Culture,

22:04

the largest African American student organization

22:08

representing all students at NC State.

22:10

He also took the time out to become an Alpha

22:15

during this very busy year, and not,

22:19

not the very least of the things that he's done

22:23

is that he has very very recently won an election,

22:27

and he is our President-elect

22:31

for next year's Student Government Association

22:32

so I'd like to bring Harold Pettigrew,

22:35

one of my darling students,

22:38

up to welcome you from NC State.

22:41

(audience applauds)

22:44

-

Good morning everyone.

22:56

Audience

Good morning.

22:58

-

Now before I begin I know I'm excited about being here,

23:00

so I gotta feel a little bit more energy now.

23:03

(audience laughs)

23:05

So we're going to try this one more time.

23:06

Maybe twice if it doesn't sound good, but,

23:07

good morning everyone.

23:10

Audience

Good morning!

23:11

-

That sounds a lot better, sounds a lot better.

23:13

I'm very excited to be here.

23:15

It's just amazing to see so much history in one place,

23:17

to know that as a student, throughout my college career

23:23

I've read about the monumental figures

23:27

that had visions some years ago,

23:29

and to see that celebrated here today,

23:32

it's just amazing to me.

23:34

To see so many figures out here in the audience,

23:37

to see so many figures this past week,

23:40

come back to Raleigh and talk about their experiences

23:41

with creating a vision that ultimately became a reality

23:46

that ultimately helped me as an African American student

23:50

represent North Carolina State University,

23:55

the largest public university in North Carolina.

23:59

That's amazing.

24:02

I come here this morning and I'm thinking,

24:07

"Well what am I actually going to say?"

24:11

You know I mean, there's going to be a lot of people here,

24:13

a lot of experts here, and I don't have a degree yet,

24:15

so I can't classify myself as an expert quite yet.

24:19

(audience laughs)

24:22

But I was wondering you know,

24:23

what actually could I get up here and say this morning?

24:25

I was thinking well, what I can do

24:27

is say how I've been impacted.

24:30

How, through my readings, how through my studies,

24:32

of all these figures, I've been allowed

24:35

to be student body president,

24:38

I'm allowed to go to NC State University,

24:39

I'm allowed to work with the individuals at Shaw University,

24:42

to help bring this conference about.

24:47

I've had a wonderful experience at NC State, wonderful.

24:51

And it does my heart dear in knowing that we're here today

24:55

to celebrate the visions of a woman,

24:58

of one woman who had

25:00

such an astounding vision

25:05

that brought society together,

25:07

that shaped things so that all of us could be here today.

25:09

40 years ago.

25:13

One of the things that I've learned

25:18

in being a political science major

25:20

is that a lot of things through history

25:22

you have to truly understand some of it

25:25

to truly see how things are today,

25:27

to really know where you stand in the present.

25:30

And not knowing the name of Ella Baker,

25:33

I truly don't think you can know where you stand today.

25:38

I know where I stand.

25:42

A lot of people here, everyone here,

25:44

you all know where you stand.

25:48

I'm not going to get up here and ramble too much,

26:00

'cause I don't want to feel like I'm giving a speech

26:02

or going to a testimony or, get a church service

26:04

started in here, but I would like to say

26:07

on behalf of the students of North Carolina

26:10

State University, on behalf of the administration

26:13

and staff because I can speak on behalf of them now.

26:16

(audience laughs)

26:19

I'd like to bring you welcome, and just let you know

26:20

that I am very excited to be a part of this conference.

26:23

Thank you very much.

26:26

(audience applauds)

26:27

-

Thank you Harold.

26:32

-

From where I'm sitting,

26:36

I get to see you as you are coming in,

26:39

as you are warmly embracing each other.

26:42

I'm excited about this week and just watching you

26:46

enjoy meeting each other and greeting each other again,

26:49

lets me know the kind of spirit that was generated

26:53

among you, and it's making me feel real good.

26:56

I hope you're feeling real good too.

27:01

There are a number of announcements that I have to make

27:04

before we move to the next session,

27:07

but I wanted to ask you a question and at the same time,

27:12

introduce some people to you who are here

27:15

specially for this activity.

27:19

Have you had a chance to rest lately?

27:22

(audience laughs)

27:25

Have you rested in the last 24 hours?

27:28

Have you had a chance to rest lately?

27:33

What about last week, or last month?

27:37

Or in the past 40 years?

27:42

I think you're here because we all have one purpose,

27:45

and that is that we all believe in freedom.

27:50

Now I'm going to kick this off

27:53

but I'm going to ask these other people

27:55

who are in the room to come on up and join me,

27:56

'cause I know they can probably do this a lot better than I.

27:59

The Freedom Singers are here with us

28:05

and they're just gonna come on up

28:06

as we let everybody know how we feel about this thing.

28:08

♪ We who believe in freedom cannot rest ♪

28:11

♪ We who believe in freedom cannot rest ♪

28:16

♪ Until it comes ♪

28:21

♪ We who believe in freedom cannot rest ♪

28:24

♪ We who believe in freedom cannot rest ♪

28:30

♪ Until it comes ♪

28:35

♪ We who believe ♪

28:39

-

Sing!

♪ In freedom cannot rest ♪

28:41

-

Do we have the freedom singers?

28:44

♪ We who believe in freedom cannot rest ♪

28:46

♪ Until it comes ♪

28:52

♪ We who believe in freedom cannot rest ♪

28:55

♪ We who believe in freedom cannot rest ♪

29:03

♪ Until it comes ♪

29:08

♪ We who believe in freedom cannot rest ♪

29:12

♪ We who believe in freedom cannot rest ♪

29:20

♪ Until it comes ♪

29:24

♪ We who believe in freedom cannot rest ♪

29:28

♪ We who believe in freedom cannot rest ♪

29:36

♪ Until it comes ♪

29:41

♪ We who believe in freedom cannot rest ♪

29:44

♪ We who believe in freedom cannot rest ♪

29:53

♪ Until it comes ♪

29:57

♪ We who believe in freedom cannot rest ♪

30:01

♪ We who believe in freedom cannot rest ♪

30:09

♪ Until it comes ♪

30:13

♪ Til the killing of black men and black woman's sons ♪

30:17

♪ Is as important as killing of white men white woman's sons ♪

30:25

♪ We who believe in freedom cannot rest ♪

30:32

♪ We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes ♪

30:40

-

All right listen, we all going to stand up

30:51

and loosen up, 'cause we never started meetings like this.

30:53

Woman

That's right.

30:56

(people talking and laughing)

30:59

-

What I'd like to do before we do anything--

31:03

Man

Go ahead!

31:04

-

I'd like to say a prayer.

31:06

Man

Go ahead with it!

31:08

-

See I believe in putting God in everything that we do,

31:08

'cause he's the one that brought us over.

31:12

See so many stories have been told but it's so much

31:14

need to, we need to just put God into it.

31:16

So would everybody bow their head for just a minute?

31:21

Father God, as we gather here in body and in soul

31:22

and in peace, bless us right now,

31:28

bless those that were not able to come

31:30

but in the spirit are thinking of us right here now.

31:32

This is a historical day.

31:35

Bless us right now my Father,

31:37

in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

31:39

everybody say amen.

31:41

Everybody

Amen.

♪ I woke up this morning with my mind ♪

31:43

♪ Stayed on freedom ♪

31:47

♪ Woke up this morning with my mind ♪

31:51

♪ Stayed on freedom ♪

31:54

♪ Woke up this morning with my mind ♪

31:58

♪ Stayed on freedom ♪

32:01

♪ Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah. ♪

32:04

♪ I'm walking and talking with my mind ♪

32:12

♪ Stayed on freedom ♪

32:15

♪ I'm walking and talking with my mind ♪

32:19

♪ Stayed on freedom ♪

32:23

♪ I'm walking and talking with my mind ♪

32:26

♪ Stayed on freedom ♪

32:29

♪ Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah ♪

32:32

♪ Ain't no harm to keep my mind ♪

32:41

♪ Stayed on freedom ♪

32:44

♪ Stayed on freedom ♪

♪ Ain't no harm to keep my mind ♪

32:47

♪ Stayed on freedom ♪

32:50

♪ Stayed on freedom ♪

♪ There ain't no harm to keep your mind ♪

32:54

♪ Stayed on freedom ♪

32:58

♪ Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah. ♪

33:01

♪ Well walk walk, walk walk, walk walk ♪

33:09

♪ With your mind on freedom ♪

33:14

♪ Walk walk ♪

33:16

♪ You'd better ♪

♪ Walk walk ♪

33:18

♪ You'd better ♪

♪ Walk walk ♪

33:19

♪ You'd better ♪

♪ Walk walk, whoa whoa whoa ♪

33:21

♪ Walk walk, walk walk ♪

33:27

♪ You gotta talk talk ♪

♪ You gotta talk talk with your mind on freedom ♪

33:31

♪ Talk talk ♪

33:36

♪ You gotta talk talk ♪

♪ You gotta talk talk with your mind on freedom ♪

33:38

♪ Whoa whoa whoa ♪

33:43

♪ Well it ain't no harm to keep your mind ♪

33:49

♪ Stayed on freedom ♪

33:53

♪ Stayed on freedom ♪

♪ Ain't no harm to keep your mind stayed on freedom ♪

33:56

♪ Stayed on freedom, it ain't no harm to keep your mind ♪

34:01

♪ Stayed on freedom ♪

34:06

♪ Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah ♪

34:09

(audience applauds)

34:19

-

Thank you, now we feel warmed up and energized.

34:35

I just have a few housekeeping notes

34:37

and I guess our panelists for the opening plenary

34:41

can kind of, if they will kind of

34:44

wind their way on down this way.

34:48

The registration room (coughs) excuse me, is next door,

34:50

where you can have an opportunity

34:53

to take care of all your registration needs,

34:55

once the first plenary session is over.

34:57

We do have some shuttle buses that will be picking people up

35:01

at hotels as soon as we can identify correctly

35:04

who's at which hotel.

35:07

Let me do that again, people in the back didn't hear me.

35:09

Registration, next door, there's a registration packet

35:13

if you've already registered, there's a name card.

35:18

Please don't leave or lose the name card,

35:20

that'll be your meal ticket on Saturday,

35:22

see you've got your name and a little yellow dot on it.

35:23

Shuttles will be provided to go to the Holiday Inn,

35:27

to the Hampton Inn, to the Club Hotel,

35:35

to bring you here tomorrow.

35:38

We didn't plan on doing it for those of you

35:41

who are at the Sheraton.

35:43

We understand there was some major mix-up at the Sheraton

35:45

last evening, we do apologize.

35:49

As soon as I get done here I'm going to go see

35:51

if we can figure out what that was all about,

35:53

and we hope you can get settled in there today.

35:55

Some of you registered for the peace lunch forum,

35:58

which is going to be over at NC State.

36:02

We can get some sense of how many people that will be,

36:04

we will have some shuttles here to take you over there.

36:07

You can purchase your lunch at the Talley Student Center

36:10

which is where the activity will be held

36:13

and we will bring you back here for the afternoon sessions.

36:15

The afternoon sessions will be

36:18

at the Raleigh Convention and Civic Center.

36:21

When you get your registration materials,

36:31

you will have inside these sheets

36:35

which will have program information.

36:37

Room locations will be listed at the Civic Center

36:39

once you get there.

36:41

I think that's it for me, I'm done right now.

36:46

We'd like to have the panelists for the opening plenary

36:49

and the moderator for the opening plenary

36:54

to please come on down.

36:58

Thank you Freedom Singers!

37:04

♪ Woke up this morning with my mind stayed on freedom ♪

37:05

Y'all come on now.

37:11

♪ Woke up this morning with my mind stayed on freedom ♪

37:13

♪ Woke up this morning with my mind stayed on freedom ♪

37:19

♪ Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah ♪

37:26

♪ Woke up this morning with my mind stayed on freedom ♪

37:33

♪ Woke up this morning with my mind stayed on freedom ♪

37:41

♪ Woke up this morning with my mind stayed on freedom ♪

37:48

♪ Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah ♪

37:55

(people talking together)

38:04

-

We're looking for Muriel Tillinghast, Connie Curry,

38:12

Casey Hayden, Judy Richardson, and Brenda Travis, okay.

38:17

Good.

38:24

-

Excuse me, do you have any programs where we would--

38:25

(people talking together off mic)

38:28

-

There's no microphone--

38:33

Woman

Oh no there is, there's a microphone going in.

38:35

-

Maybe we should encourage people to move to the front?

38:44

-

And we're loud--

38:47

(people talking off mic)

Okay, could I use your book again?

38:50

-

Would those of you who are sitting in the rear of the room

38:53

kind of come on down.

38:57

We don't have a mic that projects.

38:59

This mic is for the benefit of the cameras,

39:03

and if you would just come down a little more,

39:07

I think we'll all be able to hear.

39:09

(people talking together throughout the room)

39:13

-

Are we good to go, good to go?

40:38

I'm asking you, do you need a little bit more time?

40:42

'Cause you can take another minute,

40:45

I mean do you need another minute on your, oh, okay.

40:46

Good morning brothers and sisters.

40:52

My name is Muriel Tillinghast

40:56

and I've been asked to moderate this particular session.

40:57

On this session, we're going to talk about Miss Baker

41:00

as a personality and these four women will give testimony

41:03

and analysis in terms of the impact of Miss Baker

41:10

on their individual lives and on the movement

41:13

because as we have been mandated,

41:17

we're supposed to leave here with some fire in our bellies

41:21

and pass it right along.

41:23

Okay, I think I should say by virtue of my role as moderator

41:26

these women will appear in the order so listed:

41:32

Casey, excuse me Connie Curry, Casey Hayden,

41:38

Judy Richardson and Brenda Travis,

41:41

and upon their taking the stage,

41:43

will tell you about themselves,

41:46

give you a little bit of history in terms of their role

41:48

in the movement and then proceed

41:51

into what they wanted to present to you

41:52

with regard to this particular segment of the conference.

41:55

I will say to you that Miss Baker is a person

42:00

that I met and with whom I spent a great deal of time,

42:02

particularly towards the end of her life,

42:06

because Miss Baker was a whirlwind

42:09

at one point in her life you know, you simply left messages

42:10

where she was supposed to be

42:14

and she picked up those messages and left other messages

42:15

you know that's how we functioned as Miss Baker's diary,

42:18

as you will see, I think we're going to have an excerpt

42:22

of the film but if I'm not, if you get a chance to see Fundi

42:25

you should grab it because one of the telling aspects

42:27

in there is Miss Baker's diary

42:30

which really reads like sort of

42:32

an itinerant backroad preacher you know in the '40s,

42:35

in many ways she was.

42:39

I will say this to you and then I'm going to allow

42:41

the persons to come forward as I indicated.

42:43

We didn't believe we were developing a style.

42:48

Many of the things that we did in SNCC were by consensus,

42:52

they were by a great deal of thought,

42:56

an awful lot of discussion you know,

42:58

and very deliberately done, so that in many ways Miss Baker,

43:00

and I loved the idea, I'm sure she's overwhelmed

43:05

by the notion of becoming an icon at this stage of the game,

43:08

but Miss Baker did what she thought was right and fair,

43:13

you know, on behalf of people and this is one of the things

43:16

that we embodied in the organization,

43:22

that when you had people move into a position

43:24

where their lives could in fact be in jeopardy,

43:28

the decision had to weigh on them.

43:31

You could not coax them, you could not do anything

43:34

but point out the measure of the stand

43:37

that they had to take and the principles

43:40

supporting those stands, and people,

43:42

I will tell you the stands are before you every day

43:45

in every way, and with that,

43:48

I will present the first person

43:50

who will come before us today,

43:52

and if I could find it quickly on this page

43:54

it will be Connie Curry.

43:55

(laughing)

(audience applauds)

44:00

-

Ah well, I just wanted to say that I had a,

44:06

can you hear me Everett?

44:09

Okay, I had a somewhat different relationship

44:11

with Ella than a lot of the people who were in SNCC

44:14

in the really early days.

44:19

Ella was, as adult advisors to SNCC,

44:23

Ella was a lot older than me

44:27

but because of our peer relationship

44:29

since we were both sort of advisors,

44:31

I have always called her Ella

44:34

and you'll find that throughout this conference,

44:36

most people call her Miss Baker,

44:38

so I always called her Ella.

44:40

I first met Ella in Atlanta,

44:42

some time between the sit ins in Greensboro North Carolina

44:47

on February 1st of 1960 and then

44:51

that Easter weekend conference here at Shaw,

44:54

and I wanted to tell you a funny coincidence,

44:57

I am from Greensboro North Carolina

45:01

and I had just moved to Atlanta to work on this

45:03

southern student human relations project

45:06

of the National Student Association

45:10

which was supposed to bring, remember now,

45:12

this is 1960 when the world in the South

45:15

was totally segregated, and we were supposed to bring

45:17

black students and white students together

45:20

from college campuses to discuss things

45:22

that would be of interest to both, to students

45:26

who would even consider coming to an interracial meeting.

45:31

When I was Agnes Scott College, I had to get permission

45:35

from my parents to attend an integrated meeting.

45:38

Agnes Scott is in Atlanta.

45:40

But in any case, I'd gone up to Greensboro North Carolina

45:43

to move my stuff from Greensboro to Atlanta,

45:47

and I was riding down the street and I heard on the radio,

45:51

four students from A&T College in Greensboro

45:53

are now seated on lunch counter stools

45:59

at Woolworths downtown, now you know this is my hometown,

46:03

and although I may have read or understood that the NAACP

46:07

had sponsored sit ins early on in Oklahoma and other places,

46:09

it you know didn't register to me and I thought,

46:14

"Golly that is really really a strange phenomenon,"

46:17

and of course then, I remember I went home and I was talking

46:21

to my neighbor and I think I was the only person

46:26

that she'd ever known that had been going

46:28

to interracial meetings and she said,

46:30

"Did you come to town and do that?"

46:32

And so I was credited for something

46:33

that I had not even been aware of.

46:35

But anyway, I went back on down to Atlanta,

46:39

and by the time I got back down there and settled in,

46:42

the options for getting black and white students

46:46

in the same room to talk had just absolutely flown away

46:49

and the sit ins were snowballing across the South

46:54

to colleges and universities, African American colleges

46:57

and universities all across the South,

47:01

and the sit ins changed so much because all of a sudden

47:05

students could do more than just talk

47:09

about what segregation meant to their lives.

47:12

Now that Easter came pretty soon

47:15

after February the 1st

47:21

and we came up here for the founding conference,

47:23

and it was incredibly exciting, that meeting here at Shaw

47:26

in Easter of 1960.

47:30

For me it's sort of a kaleidoscope right now,

47:33

with very eloquent, energetic black students

47:35

from all over, many of them are here today.

47:39

Jim Lawson and Dr. King, and then of course Ella Baker,

47:42

with her voice that the sit in movement

47:46

was for more than a hamburger.

47:49

I've forgotten what hall we were in,

47:52

but I'm going to go back and see it.

47:54

I was very lucky enough to find in my papers,

47:58

some of the recommendations

48:01

that came out of that first conference in Raleigh,

48:02

and I just wanted to read you a couple of them.

48:05

Down somewhat it says, "Nonviolence is our creed

48:09

"and the coordinating committee shall work out

48:14

"a definite statement.

48:16

"This conference recognizes the virtue of the movement

48:18

"and endorses the practice of going to jail

48:21

"rather than accepting bail."

48:24

Further on down it says,

48:27

"We identify ourselves with the African struggle

48:28

"as a concern of all mankind.

48:31

"We understand there's a possibility

48:33

"that President Eisenhower will make a visit to Africa

48:35

"this fall, and agree that this is a desirable step.

48:38

"We feel that before going to Africa,

48:43

"the President should lend the prestige of his office

48:45

"to the solution of the racial problem in this country."

48:48

Sounds familiar, right?

48:52

(audience laughs)

And thus he shall be even better prepared

48:53

for his visit to Africa.

48:55

And it goes on so if some of you are interested

48:58

in those early recommendations from SNCC, I do have them.

49:00

I want to read you the composition of that first meeting

49:08

that I culled from the list of people here who were here.

49:11

There were 21 students from seven high schools.

49:15

There were 113 college students from 45 colleges.

49:19

They were representing 11 states and Washington DC.

49:25

There were nine students who had been already suspended

49:29

and expelled, that was from Southern University

49:33

in Baton Rouge, and many many, I know Bernard Lee

49:35

had been expelled from Alabama A&M

49:38

and the students that had been expelled or suspended

49:41

got the full support of those of us who were here,

49:45

and that was part of the statements

49:49

that I was reading you earlier.

49:51

Then there were a lot of others who were not students

49:53

but I wanted to just tell you a few of the agencies.

49:57

Of course SCLC was here, the National Council of Churches,

49:59

the National Student Christian Federation,

50:04

the National Student Association,

50:06

the American Friends Service Committee,

50:08

The Congress on Racial Equality,

50:10

a lot of ministers who were supporting the students

50:12

in those very early days.

50:15

Now as I said, back in Atlanta, after the meeting,

50:19

when Ella and I were chosen advisors to the committee,

50:22

I just want to tell you some of my sort of lasting memories

50:26

that maybe give a little more

50:29

about Ella on a personal basis.

50:33

I remember the interminable meetings in the back room

50:36

of BB Beeman's restaurant on Allman Avenue in Atlanta,

50:39

which is where we held the SNCC meetings,

50:43

and I remember Ella waving the smoke away

50:46

from in front of her face or putting a Kleenex

50:48

or handkerchief up in front of,

50:52

'cause she was allergic to smoke.

50:54

Then at those meetings, it was fascinating

50:56

in retrospect because in the early days,

51:01

we had no idea what these sit-ins and the beginning

51:04

of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee

51:09

were giving birth to, because we discussed things

51:12

like how to pay for a radio that supposedly

51:16

had a SNCC staff person in Albany Georgia,

51:19

supposedly had taken from somebody's house

51:24

that they were staying in, and whether or not

51:26

it was true or not, the issue was,

51:28

how do we pay for that radio?

51:30

And it ranged everything from that

51:32

all the way to whether we should adopt nonviolence

51:35

as a strategy or as a way of life,

51:37

and there again that was a hard and long debate.

51:40

But I remember Ella specifically because Ella's way

51:46

in these meetings was to really let people sort of

51:48

self-direct themselves and never tell us what the answer was

51:53

or what we should be doing even though she had been

51:57

with the NAACP, she had been a grassroots organizer

52:00

all of her life practically but she carried that

52:03

right on through to us as young as most people were,

52:07

to really let people make their own decisions

52:10

and learn by having to struggle through the issues

52:14

and she may have known the potential that was in that room

52:17

a lot better than most of us did.

52:22

I also remember the segregated YWCA cafeteria

52:26

that was right down the street from the building

52:29

where Ella and I were working,

52:34

her in the YWCA office, the regional office,

52:36

and me downstairs in the NSA office,

52:38

but we staged a two-person sit-in

52:40

in the YWCA cafeteria down the street

52:43

with Ella announcing that she worked for the YWCA

52:46

and we just went through the cafeteria line

52:49

and ate that first day in Atlanta.

52:53

Then I remember, I had a red and white Karmann Ghia

52:57

which was the pride of my life and I remember (laughing)

52:59

when we would get through work,

53:04

we would get in my Karmann Ghia and Ella would hold her hat

53:06

while I speeded out to the Wallahagee,

53:09

which was the one hotel

53:13

and apartment place in Atlanta for transients

53:14

and I think Ella thought she was in motion here,

53:20

but she lived at the Wallahagee for many many years.

53:22

Then, when we would get there,

53:26

we would have,

53:29

I would have a glass of scotch

53:33

and Ella would have a glass of bourbon,

53:35

and then we both would have lamb chops.

53:37

(audience laughs)

53:39

And I don't remember,

that's all I remember, those details.

53:40

Then in the early days, I also remember

53:43

that Ella brought Jane Stembridge down from the seminary

53:49

in New York to be the quote, first executive secretary

53:52

of SNCC and I remember sitting in,

53:55

the three of us sitting in that tiny office in Atlanta

53:58

on Auburn Avenue, and I remember that we laughed a lot

54:00

and I also remember a lot of this in retrospect

54:04

because of the controversies you hear sometimes about SNCC

54:07

being male driven and sexist

54:12

and many of the other

54:16

a lot later things and judgments about SNCC

54:17

and I sit and I think about the three of us

54:22

who were three women there behind the scenes

54:24

running the conference or you know organizing

54:26

the first SNCC conference in October,

54:30

and doing a lot of the work.

54:31

That was before Jim Foreman came.

54:35

(laughing)

54:36

Then, I also remember Ella was a very personal,

54:39

not advisor exactly, but she would talk to you

54:45

about personal things and I remember

54:48

I always used to get tickled

54:49

because she was always worrying about my being single,

54:51

and I thought this was really interesting

54:53

because she was herself single and I never,

54:55

she always asked me, if you know,

55:00

what had happened between so-and-so and me

55:02

and I don't know what all that was about,

55:04

but I always used to sort of marvel at her concern

55:05

about my marital status.

55:08

Then the other thing is,

55:11

the last time I saw Ella

55:17

was about 25 years after we began everything.

55:18

This was in the '80s, and it was in Atlanta,

55:24

and she was staying at my house

55:27

and she was with Joanne Grant

55:28

and they were both staying there

55:30

and her mind was beginning to wander a little bit,

55:32

and she was staying in my bed

55:35

and I had a cat named Herman's Brother.

55:37

Don't ask me about why it was named Herman's Brother

55:39

but anyway.

55:42

(audience laughs)

The cat kept on getting up on Ella's bed

55:43

and she would caress the cat and she kept on saying

55:45

and Joanne and I would get very tickled,

55:47

she would say, this is the blackest cat

55:49

I have ever seen in my life.

55:53

(audience laughs)

Then she'd call the other ones there and say,

55:55

"Look how black this cat is."

55:57

And she'd say, "This cat reminds me

55:58

"of how black my grandfather was," and it was just,

56:00

then she would start talking about where she grew up

56:03

in North Carolina.

56:07

But she was clear as a bell later on that night

56:08

when she was the main speaker

56:11

at the American Civil Liberties Union dinner,

56:13

and she told us once again,

56:17

lo those 25 years later, that you know,

56:20

we who believe in freedom cannot rest.

56:24

And I have taken that along with my own luckiness

56:28

at being involved in things since then,

56:33

but I often think of her now in the work that I'm doing

56:36

in the criminal justice system.

56:40

I think that probably the prison system

56:42

and the funnel from black kids being kicked out of school,

56:45

put in special classes or in alternate schools,

56:50

and then being siphoned off into the juvenile justice system

56:53

right from there into the adult prison system,

56:57

knowing that a lot of it is recidivism,

57:00

and in Georgia alone, where I live now,

57:04

you know, 70% of the people in the Georgia prisons

57:06

are young black males.

57:09

With the private prisons, and other private things going on,

57:11

and with mandatory sentencing, with the death penalty,

57:16

injustice and racial injustices, and just the whole gamut.

57:20

You don't really know where to begin,

57:24

but to me this is sort of the continuing edge

57:26

of the way that African Americans have been treated

57:28

since the days of slavery, and I just echo

57:33

what Ella said, that we cannot rest.

57:36

Thank you.

57:40

-

Hi.

57:51

I'm Casey Hayden.

57:52

Can you hear me in the back?

57:54

Woman

No, we can't hear you in front.

57:56

-

Oh God. (laughing)

57:59

I hate it when I have to talk loud,

58:01

because it makes me nervous.

58:02

Okay, can you hear me in the back now?

58:04

Man

No.

58:06

(people talking)

-

I wish we could get a mic for these sessions

58:11

because it's really awkward to have to shout.

58:14

Some of the information I have to share is sort of intimate

58:17

and I feel really uncomfortable shouting it.

58:21

(audience laughs)

58:24

I do!

58:26

I wish we could get a mic.

58:27

But for now, I'll try to yell.

58:29

I first met Ella Baker at the second SNCC conference

58:32

in Atlanta in October of 1960.

58:36

Can you hear me in the back?

58:39

She was at the registration table when I arrived

58:42

along with Connie and Jane.

58:45

I've always traced much of the character of SNCC,

58:48

as well as my own sense of who I was within it,

58:51

to that first impression of the organization,

58:54

as an integrated group of women.

58:58

The SNCC of which I was a part was nurturing,

59:02

warm, familial, supportive, honest,

59:05

penetrating, radical and pragmatic.

59:10

I think of it as womanist.

59:14

I see Ella in all of that.

59:16

-

'Cause you can take another minute,

1:01:19

I mean do you need another minute?

1:01:20

Okay.

1:01:23

Good morning, brothers and sisters.

1:01:27

My name is Muriel Tillinghast and I've been asked

1:01:28

to moderate this particular session.

1:01:30

On this session, we're going to talk about Miss Baker

1:01:32

as a personality, and these four women will give

1:01:36

testimony and analysis in terms of the impact of Miss Baker

1:01:41

on their individual lives and on the movement,

1:01:45

because as we have been mandated,

1:01:50

we're supposed to leave here with some fire in our bellies

1:01:53

and pass it right along.

1:01:56

Okay, I think I should say by virtue of my role

1:01:58

as moderator, these women will appear

1:02:04

in the order so listed.

1:02:07

Tape 1, 2000 April

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John Hope Franklin Research Center

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