{"id":327659,"date":"2023-01-16T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-16T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cwa9003.org\/?p=327659"},"modified":"2022-12-22T09:25:42","modified_gmt":"2022-12-22T17:25:42","slug":"dr-martin-luther-king-jr-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.cwa9003.org\/?p=327659","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"<a<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Address Delivered at Albany Movement Mass Meeting at Shiloh Baptist Church<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I noticed when I came in that they had listed on the program that I would make an address, the main address for the evening. Now, I want to relieve you a bit, and I want to relieve myself a bit, by saying to you that I don\u2019t plan to make an address of any length. I think you will all agree that it is mighty hot [Audience:<\/em>] (Yes, Yes it is, Sure enough<\/em>), and although many people don\u2019t believe it, but I am a Baptist preacher. (Yes, Amen, All right<\/em>) And of course, I can get fired up just like Baptist preachers generally get fired up. [laughter<\/em>] But in all seriousness, I want to say just a few brief words to you tonight, and then we will move on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The City Commission of Albany has again revealed to you, to the state of Georgia, to the United States, and to the world that it holds the Negro citizens of this community in utter contempt. (That\u2019s right, That\u2019s right<\/em>) The City Commission has revealed that it does not intend to negotiate in good faith, and when you won\u2019t talk to people, you don\u2019t even negotiate in bad faith. [laughter<\/em>] (That\u2019s right, You know that\u2019s right<\/em>) This is tragic for this city. This is tragic for the state of Georgia, and one day in the not too distant future (Yes sir, Amen<\/em>), the City Commissioners will have to realize that this is 1962 (That\u2019s right<\/em>) and not (Amen<\/em>) 1855 (Yes, 1855, That\u2019s right, Sure enough<\/em>), and you cannot hold on to ox cart methods in a jet age. (That\u2019s right<\/em>) [applause<\/em>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Albany is in a terrible dilemma\u2014not its Negro citizens, because the Negro citizens of this community are standing on and living with what is right. (Amen, Amen<\/em>) And there is no losing where we\u2019re concerned. What we\u2019re doing (That\u2019s true<\/em>) is vindicated by history (Amen, That\u2019s right<\/em>), is sanctioned by all of the eternities, and it is a part of the edicts of God himself (Yes, That\u2019s right<\/em>) so that all of the stars in their courses are working with us. We aren\u2019t in the dilemma. (Go ahead, Amen, Go ahead<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, but the city, under the leadership of the City Commission, is in a terrible dilemma. I\u2019ll tell you why. They want to live in 1962 (That\u2019s right<\/em>) industrially, but they want to live in 1862 in human relations, and [applause<\/em>] they just aren\u2019t going to work together. [applause<\/em>] They are going around begging for industry (That\u2019s right<\/em>) all over the South. Let nobody fool you, these industries are not coming into these communities that will stand up and defy the very law of the land and hold Negro citizens in utter contempt. For when you have in Russia astronauts and cosmonauts dashing through outer space in eighty-eight minutes per orbit, and we are still down here in Albany, Georgia, can\u2019t even go in the library to read a book [applause<\/em>], how in the world can we compete? [sustained applause<\/em>] We\u2019ve got to say to them that the two aren\u2019t going to work together. If you plan to grow and develop as a community, if you plan to grow economically and otherwise, you are going to have to do something about this race problem, for it is a fact of life that you cannot keep a man down in the valley without staying down there with him (That\u2019s right<\/em>) in order [applause<\/em>] to hold him there. [applause<\/em>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, this is the first thing that I would like to get over to you this evening. The second thing is this. The City Commission is composed, I believe, of seven people.2<\/a><\/sup> The population of this city, I believe, is about fifty-eight thousand. Some 60 percent of these people are white, and I want to raise a question tonight. Where are the other white people of Albany? (Yes sir<\/em>) What are they saying about the absolute refusal of the City Commission to negotiate? (Well<\/em>) Tonight I want to call on white people of goodwill (Yes<\/em>) to rise up, gird their courage, and move on out and make it clear (That\u2019s right<\/em>) that they will not sit idly by the wayside on their stools of silence while this community sinks more and more into moral degeneracy. The political structure of any community is only one side of the power structure. (Yes sir<\/em>) There\u2019s always a economic power structure, and let nobody fool you, the boys in the political power structure will always listen to the boys in the economic power structure. (That\u2019s right<\/em>) These are the people who run the politics of a city and a state. (That\u2019s right<\/em>) [applause<\/em>] I want to know, where are the leading businessmen in the white community of Albany (That\u2019s right<\/em>) in this situation? [applause<\/em>] I want to hear from them. [applause<\/em>] We need to hear from them now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I want to ask about another group because I\u2019m intimately associated with it. (Talk about it, Come on, Preach<\/em>) I want to know where the Christian people, who go to church every Sunday morning, stand. (Amen, Well, Amen<\/em>) I want to hear from them (Yes, Amen<\/em>), for you see, it may well be that we will have to repent in this generation (Yes sir<\/em>) not merely from the loud and bitter words of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. (That\u2019s right, Yes sir<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This disturbs me (Yes<\/em>), and I believe it disturbs you. (Yes<\/em>) It disturbs me to see ministers of the gospel (All right<\/em>), laymen, trying to go to worship in churches in Albany, and they can\u2019t worship. (Amen, Yes sir<\/em>) A Methodist minister, Reverend Ralph Roy from New York City, went to his own denomination with a Negro. (That\u2019s right<\/em>) And do you know they turned him back?3<\/a><\/sup> (Yes, Yes, Yes they did, Yes<\/em>) Oh, how tragic this is. (It\u2019s tragic, Yes, Well, Right<\/em>) Eleven o\u2019clock on Sunday morning, when we stand to sing \u201cIn Christ There Is No East or West,\u201d is the most segregated hour in America, and the Sunday school is the most segregated school of the (That\u2019s right<\/em>) week.4<\/a><\/sup> (That\u2019s right, That\u2019s right<\/em>) How tragic this is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To use Dr. Anderson terms, Dr. Anderson\u2019s terms that he would use as a doctor, too often in the church and particularly the white church, we have a high blood pressure of creeds and an anemia of deeds. (Yeah<\/em>) It\u2019s time now (Amen<\/em>) that we begin to shake the lethargy from our souls. (All right, Yes sir, Amen<\/em>) We are going to be children of the almighty God. If our white brothers are going to be Christians (That\u2019s right<\/em>), they must go on back to the Old Testament (That\u2019s right<\/em>), hear Amos crying out, \u201cLet justice roll down (Yes<\/em>) like water (That\u2019s right, Go ahead<\/em>) [applause<\/em>], and righteousness like a mighty stream.\u201d5<\/a><\/sup> [applause<\/em>] They must go on over and turn till they get to Micah (Yes sir<\/em>), hear him as he cries out in words that echo across the centuries (Yes, That\u2019s right, Go on ahead<\/em>): \u201cWhat doth the Lord require of thee (Yes, Yes<\/em>), but to do justly, to love mercy (Yes<\/em>), and to walk humbly with thy God.\u201d6<\/a><\/sup> (Yes, Well, Go ahead, Go ahead<\/em>) Go with me, if you will, on over to the New Testament. (Yes<\/em>) Stand with Paul as he stands on Mars Hill and cries out, \u201cOut of one blood God made all<\/em> men [applause<\/em>] to dwell upon the face of the earth.\u201d7<\/a><\/sup> (Yes, Amen, Go ahead, That\u2019s right<\/em>) [applause<\/em>] Then stand with me. Watch our Lord and master as he moves (Yes<\/em>) around the Galilean hills. (All right, Yes sir<\/em>) Hear him as he said, \u201cBlessed are the pure in heart (Go on, Yeah, That\u2019s right, Oh yeah<\/em>), for they shall see God. (Yeah, That\u2019s right<\/em>) Blessed are the meek, for they (Yes<\/em>) shall inherit the earth. (Yes, Yes, Well<\/em>) Do unto others as you would have them (That\u2019s right<\/em>) do unto you.\u201d8<\/a><\/sup> (Okay, Yes, That\u2019s true<\/em>) Our white brothers in Albany need to hear these words. (That\u2019s true, Yes, That\u2019s right<\/em>) That\u2019s the second point I want to bring out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third point I want to bring out is something that I\u2019ve been wanting to say to you, because something can be said to you so long that you come to believe it. I reread a book a few weeks ago written by a man named Adolph Hitler\u2014you\u2019ve heard of him. (Yes, Yes<\/em>) It\u2019s a book called Mein Kampf<\/em>; he says in that book, among other things, that if you are going to tell a lie\u2014and he implies that to be a good dictator you have to do it\u2014he says tell a big lie.9<\/a><\/sup> (Yes, All right<\/em>) And if you tell it long and loud enough, everybody will soon believe it, even yourself. (That\u2019s right<\/em>) [laughter<\/em>] So now, we\u2019ve been hearing a lot of things, and I\u2019m afraid that we\u2019re going to come to believe these things if we don\u2019t straighten them out. (That\u2019s right<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, they say we are lawbreakers, and they aren\u2019t going to negotiate with law\u00adbreakers. (That\u2019s right<\/em>) You\u2019ve read that, haven\u2019t you?10<\/a><\/sup> (Yes<\/em>) Now, I want to say to you tonight that the 1,100-odd persons who have been arrested in this struggle are not lawbreakers. (That\u2019s right<\/em>) We don\u2019t even have to go to the point of explaining a doctrine that is very dear to me, and I believe sincerely that there are times when it is necessary to break laws. This is nothing new in history to break laws (No<\/em>), but we don\u2019t even have to go that far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s nothing new about breaking laws. Academic freedom wouldn\u2019t be a reality today if Socrates hadn\u2019t broke a law\u2014hadn\u2019t broken a law. (That\u2019s right, Go ahead<\/em>) Go back and read Plato and look at his dialogues, the Apology<\/em> and the Crito<\/em>, and all through it you see (Go ahead<\/em>) Socrates making it clear (Yes<\/em>) that he\u2019s got to drink the hemlock (Yes<\/em>) because he\u2019s practiced civil (Go ahead<\/em>) disobedience.11<\/a><\/sup> (Go ahead<\/em>) That\u2019s nothing new. (Yes<\/em>) The early Christians mastered lawbreaking to the point that they were thrown to the lions (Yeah<\/em>) in the midst of the lion\u2019s den. (Yeah<\/em>) If you don\u2019t want to go that far, go back to the Old Testament. (Go ahead, Yeah<\/em>) Look at Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (That\u2019s right<\/em>) standing before King Nebuchadnezzar saying, \u201cWe cannot bow.\u201d12<\/a><\/sup> (That\u2019s right<\/em>) This is nothing new about lawbreaking. (No, Go ahead<\/em>) Let us never forget that everything that Hitler did in Germany was legal. It was illegal to aid and comfort a Jew in the days of Hitler\u2019s Germany. If I had lived in Germany and had my attitude, the attitude that I have now, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers even though the law said it was wrong. And even this nation came into being with a massive act of lawbreaking, for what implied more civil disobedience than the Boston Tea Party? (That\u2019s right<\/em>) [applause<\/em>] There\u2019s nothing new about lawbreaking. [applause<\/em>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But we don\u2019t even have to go that far. (Go on back<\/em>) We don\u2019t even have to go that far. In 1954 the Supreme Court of our nation said in a decision, called the Brown<\/em> decision, that segregation is unconstitutional. Now, let me put it in legal terms just like they said. They said that separate facilities are inherently unequal and that to segregate a child on the basis of his race is to deny that child equal protection of the law. (That\u2019s right, That\u2019s right<\/em>) This is what it said. (That\u2019s right<\/em>) It said that the old Plessy<\/em> doctrine of 1896 must go.13<\/a><\/sup> This is what it said. Now, the Supreme Court is the final law of the land. The Supreme Court is the final judicial body of this land, and it rendered the decision. We didn\u2019t render it; the Supreme Court rendered the decision. (That\u2019s right<\/em>) Not only that, we have a Constitution, and it has a First Amendment, and it talks about freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of speech. And this is what makes America great, \u2019cause in its best moments, it realized that there are some things so basic that they should never be taken from anybody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the great weakness of Communism, isn\u2019t it? (Well, Yes sir<\/em>) It takes these basic freedoms from men. But when our forefathers founded this nation, they said, \u201cAll men are created equal and endowed by their Creator.\u201d (That\u2019s right<\/em>) In other words, they said that there are some basic rights that we all have (Yes<\/em>), and in order to discover where they came from, it is necessary to go back behind the dim mist of eternity; they are God given. (Yes indeed<\/em>) This stands at the basis of our nation. And yet they tell us that when we engage in peaceful protest, something guaranteed by the First Amendment, that we are lawbreakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now I want to put it the other way around. (That\u2019s right<\/em>) The City Commissioners of Albany are the real lawbreakers. [sustained applause<\/em>] Let me tell you (That\u2019s right<\/em>) the difference between what we are doing and what they are doing. Even if we were lawbreakers, we break the law openly; we don\u2019t seek to evade the law. (That\u2019s right, That\u2019s right, That\u2019s right<\/em>) We haven\u2019t organized anything to defy the law. We believe too much in the sacredness of the law to defy it. (That\u2019s right, Yes, That\u2019s right<\/em>) We do not seek to circumvent; we do not engage in violence and hatred as we do what we do. (That\u2019s right, That\u2019s right<\/em>) And then when we go on and do all of this, we willingly accept the penalty. (That\u2019s right<\/em>) But what do they do? (That\u2019s right<\/em>) They seek to evade the law. (That\u2019s right, Yeah, That\u2019s right<\/em>) They seek to defy the law with sophisticated methods and big words such as \u201cinterposition\u201d and \u201cnullification.\u201d This is what they seek to do. (That\u2019s right<\/em>) They do it with hate, they do it with violence. (Yes, Yes, That\u2019s right<\/em>) This is what they do. (That\u2019s true<\/em>) And I would like to say to them this evening (That\u2019s right, Go ahead<\/em>), \u201cMy white brothers, if you believe segregation is right (That\u2019s right<\/em>), if you believe that it is eternally decreed from God himself, why don\u2019t you be Christians and go on and break the law openly, which is the law of the land?\u201d (Yeah, Yes<\/em>) Then after you break the law of the land and they tell you that you have a one-year sentence, sit up in jail, and I will believe that you are sincere. (Yes<\/em>) But when you defy and evade the law, you make for nothing but anarchy, and you will destroy the very foundation of this country. (Yes<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so God hath brought us here for this hour (Go ahead<\/em>) to tell us to save America, because our white brothers (Yes<\/em>) is carrying it more and more (Go ahead<\/em>) to destruction (Yes<\/em>) and damnation. (That\u2019s right, Yes<\/em>) [applause<\/em>] We are called to do it, and so that means we can\u2019t stop. (That\u2019s right<\/em>) I\u2019m going to sound like a Baptist preacher in a few (Go ahead, Go ahead<\/em>) minutes. (Preach, Start it out<\/em>) [applause<\/em>] That means we can\u2019t stop. This should make us more determined than ever before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, they always tell us to cool off (Yes<\/em>), and I know that when you get people cooling off too much, they will end up in a deep freeze. (Yes<\/em>) They tell us to slow up (Yes, Slow up<\/em>), and some of them even say that the Negroes in Albany ought to go home and be quiet because there\u2019s a political campaign going on (Yes, Go on<\/em>), and you may help elect some particular candidate that shouldn\u2019t be in office. (That\u2019s right<\/em>) Well, I don\u2019t know if you have an answer for them, and I don\u2019t know if I have an absolute answer, but I want to say to those who are telling us to stop merely because a political campaign is going on that this is a moral issue for us. (Yes, Yes<\/em>) We are moving on toward freedom\u2019s land. (That\u2019s right, Yes<\/em>) We cannot stop our legitimate aspirations for freedom merely because some immoral person will use this for his own political aggrandizement. (That\u2019s right, True<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, go back and tell them that, in the final analysis, it doesn\u2019t matter who\u2019s elected governor of Georgia; our movement is going on.14<\/a><\/sup> (That\u2019s right<\/em>) [applause<\/em>] You may also say this to them (That\u2019s right<\/em>): We live with 244 years of slavery. (Yes sir, All right<\/em>) We\u2019ve lived with almost a hundred years of segregation. (Right here, Right here<\/em>) Right here in the state of Georgia, we live with two Talmadges. (So true, That\u2019s it<\/em>) Over in Mississippi, we live with Bilbo. (Yes, Yes<\/em>) In Alabama, we live with Patterson.15<\/a><\/sup> (So true, Preach<\/em>) We worked in this very nation two centuries without wages. We made cotton king. (Yes<\/em>) We built our homes and the homes of our masters in the midst of injustice (Amen<\/em>) and exploitation; yet out of a bottomless vitality, we continued to grow and to live. (Amen, Amen<\/em>) And if the inexpressible cruelties of slavery couldn\u2019t stop us, the opposition that we now face cannot stop us\u2014and even Marvin Griffin can\u2019t stop [applause<\/em>] us. We\u2019re going on. (Go on<\/em>) [sustained applause<\/em>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is all we are asking for. (Go ahead<\/em>) We are just saying we want to be free. (That\u2019s right, That\u2019s all, That\u2019s all<\/em>) They call us dangerous rabble-rousers, but deep down within, we know that we are not rabble-rousers. (That\u2019s right<\/em>) We just want to be free. (Yes, That\u2019s right<\/em>) They tell us that we are agitators in the negative sense (That\u2019s right<\/em>), but deep down within, we know that if we are agitators, it is creative agitation. (We know it, That\u2019s right<\/em>) We just want to be free. (For sure, That\u2019s right<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can say, \u201cAmerica, we haven\u2019t deserted you.\u201d (That\u2019s true<\/em>) We\u2019ve stood with you in all of your major difficulties. (That\u2019s right<\/em>) Communism has never invaded our ranks, America. We haven\u2019t turned to some foreign ideology to solve our problems. (No sir<\/em>) We, too, disagree with the philosophy of Communism, for we believe it is based on principles that we could never accept. But, America, we do want to be free. (Yes, That\u2019s right, Yes<\/em>) Whenever you have been threatened from without, and even within, America, we\u2019ve been with you. For your security, America, our sons sailed the bloody seas of two world wars. (That\u2019s right, Amen<\/em>) For your security (Amen<\/em>), our sons died on the trenches, in the trenches of France (That\u2019s true<\/em>), in the foxholes of Germany, on the beachheads of Italy, and on the islands of Japan. And now, America, we are saying we want to be free. (Yes, That\u2019s right<\/em>) We know that without freedom, we can\u2019t be (Amen<\/em>) our true selves. (Amen<\/em>) We can\u2019t be truly men, for, to paraphrase the words of Shakespeare\u2019s Othello<\/em>, \u201cWho steals my purse steals trash; \u2019tis something, nothing; \u2019twas mine, \u2019tis his, has been the slave of thousands. But he who filches from me my freedom robs me of that which not enriches him but makes me poor indeed.\u201d16<\/a><\/sup> We want to be free<\/em>, America (Yes<\/em>). [applause<\/em>] And we are determined to be free. [applause<\/em>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I must say, finally, the thing I always have to close with: We don\u2019t have to hate to be free. (That\u2019s right, No, No<\/em>) We don\u2019t have to throw bottles to be free. (That\u2019s right, All right, That\u2019s true<\/em>) And if there is any one thing\u2014you may forget everything that I said tonight, but I can think of nothing that would injure our cause more than to resort to violence at any point in our struggle. We must make our white brothers know, even though they will refuse to understand it, that we are not trying to defeat them or to humiliate them but to win their friendship and understanding. We\u2019ve been on the bottom. We\u2019ve been on the bottom right in this nation for almost 344 years (That\u2019s right, Go ahead<\/em>), and it would be almost human to want to retaliate and rise up to the top. But I believe we\u2019ve made it clear that our aim is not to rise from the bottom to the top. Our aim is to create a moral balance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are not attempting to rise from a position of disadvantage to one of advantage, thus subverting justice. We just want to be a brother. (That\u2019s true<\/em>) We just want to have the basic necessities of life. We just want the opportunity to grow and develop as individuals like anybody else. (That\u2019s true<\/em>) This is all that we want. (That\u2019s right<\/em>) We must get it over to our white brothers over and over again that we are forced because of problems of semantics, we are forced because of words that we must use, to talk about segregation and integration. And our aim is not merely to get rid of a system called segregation but our aim is to do something to people who have lived in the midst of segregation. (Yes<\/em>) Our aim is to make new creatures: better white men and better Negro men (Yes<\/em>), better white women (Yes<\/em>) and better Negro women. (Yes<\/em>) This is our aim. (Amen<\/em>) If we can get this over, we can just get on out and pick up the ammunition of love (True, Yes sir<\/em>) and just surround ourselves with kindness and prayer and put on the whole armor of God (Yes, Amen<\/em>) and just march. (Yes, Go on<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if we will do this, we\u2019ll be able to do this job in Albany (Yes<\/em>) and all over the United States of America. And we have already a noble example through our Lord and Savior, for he lived amidst the intricate and fascinating military machinery of the Roman Empire. And he could\u2019ve very easily talked about violence as a way, but he didn\u2019t do that. (No<\/em>) He decided that he would follow the way of love; He went on to a cross and died (Yes, Yes, Yes<\/em>), but when you have love in your hearts, a cross can\u2019t stop you. (Well<\/em>) Pretty soon this same Christ rose up and split history into A.D. and B.C. Men and women all over ran out and started shaking the hinges from the gates of the Roman Empire. Not long after that, it started growing. It started off with just a few men, and now it\u2019s gone to more than seven hundred thousand. We can hear the glad echo of heaven saying, \u201cJesus shall reign where \u2019er the sun doth his successive journeys run; his kingdom spread from shore to shore, till moons shall wan and wax no more.\u201d17<\/a><\/sup> (Amen<\/em>) We can hear another chorus saying, \u201cIn Christ there is no East or West (Amen<\/em>), in him no North or South, but one great fellowship of love throughout the whole wide world.\u201d18<\/a><\/sup> (Amen, Yes<\/em>) And then another group cries out from afar, \u201cJesus (Jesus, Jesus, Jesus<\/em>), the king of the universe.\u201d (Yes, That\u2019s right, Yes<\/em>) Another group cries out, \u201cAll hail the power of Jesus\u2019 name. (Amen<\/em>) Let angels prostrate fall (Yes<\/em>); bring forth the royal diadem, and crown him Lord of Lords.\u201d19<\/a><\/sup> (Go ahead<\/em>) And then another chorus cries out, \u201cHe\u2019s Lord of Lords, King of Kings (Yeah<\/em>), he shall reign forever and ever. Hallelujah, hallelujah.\u201d20<\/a><\/sup> (Amen<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If he had hated, he couldn\u2019t have done this. (That\u2019s right<\/em>) If he had used violence, he couldn\u2019t have done this. (No, Amen, That\u2019s right<\/em>) And so I\u2019m saying, here in Albany, let us love. (Yeah<\/em>) Let us use nonviolence (Yes, That\u2019s right, Preach<\/em>), and we can do this job (Yes<\/em>), and nothing will stop us. And to use the quote that they\u2019ve used all kind of, kinds of ways, \u201cIf we will use nonviolence (That\u2019s right<\/em>), we will be able to turn the upside-down structure of Albany right side up.\u201d (Right side up<\/em>) [applause<\/em>] This is what we will be able [to do?<\/em>]. [applause<\/em>] All of our children will grow up in a better world. (Yes, That\u2019s right<\/em>) This is what we seek, and this is what we will develop right here in Albany, Georgia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God bless you; don\u2019t let nobody (Turn you around, Turn you around<\/em>) turn you around. (Turn you around<\/em>) We\u2019ve gone too far now (Yes, Yes sir<\/em>) to turn back. (Amen, That\u2019s right<\/em>) Don\u2019t let the City Commission turn you around. (No<\/em>) Don\u2019t let any official turn you around. (No<\/em>) And for God\u2019s sake, as I said to a group this afternoon, don\u2019t be afraid (That\u2019s right, That\u2019s right<\/em>), for if you are afraid you are a slave.21<\/a><\/sup> You may get in a march and wonder why at your age are you marching. (Yes<\/em>) Just look up enough to say, \u201cI\u2019m marching for my children and my grandchildren (Go ahead, Yeah<\/em>), and I\u2019m willing to suffer for them.\u201d (Go ahead, Go ahead<\/em>) [applause<\/em>] We may make this [applause<\/em>], and you may make this significant witness at this hour, and this is our great opportunity to give a nonviolent witness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We will be saying more to you about the plans, but I just want you to know now that we have requested all that we can request of the City Commission. (Yes<\/em>) We\u2019ve asked them to talk about these things. We haven\u2019t been dangerous rabble-rousers and agitators (No<\/em>), even though for political reasons they called us that, but deep down within, they know that we have loving spirits and nonviolent hearts. (Amen, Amen, Amen<\/em>) We have asked and we have pleaded with them (Yes<\/em>), and now we have no alternative (That\u2019s right<\/em>) but to put on our marching shoes (Yeah, Yeah, All right, All right, All right<\/em>) [applause<\/em>] and move on toward the city hall. (Yes<\/em>) Not the city hall of Chief Pritchett (No<\/em>), not the city hall of Mayor Kelley, not the city hall of the City Commission (Well<\/em>), but the city hall of the people. (Yes, Go ahead, Yes, That\u2019s right<\/em>) And we move there to pray and ask God\u2019s guidance. And if we don\u2019t get there (Yes, Yes<\/em>), we are ready to fill up the jails all over the state of Georgia. (Yes<\/em>) [applause<\/em>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I know we shall overcome. (Oh Yeah, Yes, Yes, One of these days<\/em>) I know we shall overcome. (Yes<\/em>) We shall overcome because we are right. (Yes<\/em>) And so I say, \u201cHave faith in the future (Yes<\/em>), and keep moving.\u201d As I\u2019ve said so often: \u201cIf you can\u2019t run, walk (Yes<\/em>); if you can\u2019t walk (Crawl<\/em>), crawl (Crawl, Yes<\/em>); if you can\u2019t crawl, just keep inching along. But by all means, keep moving.\u201d [applause<\/em>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n