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Wh O Peaks for Te Negro: Martin Luther King Jr

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Wh O Peaks for Te Negro: Martin Luther King Jr I ~' ' T - cn-1- Is -" t, C 'ca _ une (o k od ) S ~ u~'20,'~S~g, 1965 1 and north alike, the nation strangles under a poisonous tten- Ic.+ Lder sh. e) Welt of Voice fro Shi.fti ig Scene thicket of racial myths.) Il Wh o peaks for te Negro: Martin Luther King Jr. of the Southern Chris- 'ford tian Leadership Conference, Roy Wilkins of the INTERVIEWS AND COMMENTARY N. A. A. C. P., Whitney Young of the Urban League, i of F" BY ROBERT PENN WARREN James Farmer of CORE, James Forman of SNCC, mem- +und bers of COFO-they and other participants in the ges, major rights forays speak directly to Warren's questions. of B: -ab- The late Malcolm X [murdered] responds for the turi.. .Rervieu'ed by Francis Coughlin '"; of SLi' Black Muslims. Among the veterans, Robert Moses, fnal ". goes into the S THE CIVIL RIGHTS movement i Aaron Henry, Charles Evers, brother and successor of .test sul second decade since the Supreme court's schoo l.1 Medgar Evers [assassinated) tell of the tensions of iion ern decision of '954, the "Bull" Connors, the police dogs,I battle. Carl Rowan, Ralph Ellison, Judge Hastie, Ken- Vol- fayt the cattle prods, the fire hoses-not to speak of bigoted; neth Clark, and Stokely Carmichael-and many more- governors, county seat bullies, and jury-approved assas-I v add to a dialog of candor and compassion. Nor are the sins-have failed to break the disciplined will and fringe groups and the dissidents unrecorded. valor of southern black communities committed to a Jul EGRO LEADERS and would-be leaders are ex- cause. From that base of all but unanimous Negro i, N ceedingly frank in discussing programs and , consensus and cohesion the movement dravs present personalities at variance with the broad consensus. strength and future promise. It is, let it be plainly -: The Rev. Galamison, who would abolish New York's understood, a Negro movement. However aided by" public schools, thereby proscribing de facto segregation, .ol- stnd white collaboration under various aspects and ate is judged with something like pity. The Black Muslims tan fusel various levels it remains a Negro movement under. are viewed with alarm and embarrassment. James Bald- & the 1. Negro leadership seeking goals passionately desired L win's extravagant rhetoric gets short shrift. His passage ,rkc Carl by 20 million black-skinned Americans. dismissing the lynch deaths of two white CORE workers is at cot ne ouslv In "Who Speaks for the Negro?" Robert Penn _ as lacking "resonance" [whatever that means] is noted ;al leads \X'arren, a white southerner, transcribes and comments with contempt. ;e, pades upon views advanced by Negroes prominent in ands A turbulent and wide-ranging book, a study in he futile the struggle. His method embodies a no-! I~S SUPERB documentation, possibly unique in peripheral to THIS depth of men and measures, "Whp Speaks for the Id faither It is as if the leaders of the table technical advance in interviewing and reportage.:i historiiography. Negro?" records a confusion of voices reflecting a :n king's He gets down face-to-face conversations on tape record-" French, or the American, or the Russian revolutions 'swiftly changing scene. Perhaps confusion is inescap- t- consrr ings. The bulk recordings are edited to manageable; had under~;one close questioning during the stress of able. It may be that Warren's prose-however vividly ct ends ic land length. Written transcriptions are reviewed by the; events and their responses embalmed in formal studies and skillfully fashioned-intrudes upon the essential s by the speakers. Conflicting viewpoints are isolated and com-; before the were decided. It is true that his- material. But those are minor caveats. The work is outcomes c ecccnt pared. Thus, broad spectra of Negro opinion are ex- tory may restate or revise the significance of concepts timely, impressive and important. Tape and typewriter k, On+ amined. Personalities, motivations, and ideologies come torynmayadvanced and measures advocated. Yet tapes and brilliantly record the horror and heroism of the Negro into clear focus. Warren's own background sketches are history. "transcripts reflect the heat of the confrontation. The movement as it is. The rest, in time, will be star shells that illuminate the terrain. 444 pages, X5.95} actors in tihe current drama voice their own lines. And [Random House, . Francis Couighlin is on the staff of I's-G-N. the speake rs, above all, are men-not myths. [South [For commenlt about other cirvil r;ghts books see page 6) VG'CES FROM "WIO SPEAKS FOR THE NEGRO?" CHARLES EVERS MALCOLM X ON JAMES BALDWIN ON SENATOR BILBO AND THE FUNERAL ON ABRAHAM LINCOLN: EVEN AS BALDWIN, sitting there before me, enters upon OF MEDGAR EVERS: He probably did more to trick Negroes than any other the words which, suddenly, have that inner vibrance, his eyes He is talking of the When Medgar's body was carried to Washington, after man in history. widen slightly, a glint comes in them.... change that would have to come over American life: "It is he was assassinated, it didn't bother me too much. I had never ON KENNEDY: simply not possible for the church, for eqample, to accept me broken down until ... I sat in the limousine waiting for them into it without becoming a different institution, and I would Kennedy I relate right along with Lincoln. ned to help t to bring his body out of the church. They rolled him out of be deluded not to realize that." syto-read at the church and put him in the hearse, and as we began to ON ROOSEVELT: It is mne-the drama of James Baldwin, again. The drama that comes ur goes on: "In order to accommodate me, in order to overcome sting and lob i pursue to the cemetery, it all came back so clear, that many The same thing. rate cortect p faith and genocide and years ago Bilbo had predicted this, and now here we are, so many centuries of cruelty and bad 53.50 representing all the people, in Washington. And that was ON ELEANOR ROOSEVELT: fear-simple fear-all the American institutions and all the The same thing. American values, public and private, will have to change." PUBLISH the time I broke down. tIand and Ni ch is tr Chica Tribune (Books T ,) Sunday, Jtxn 20, 1965 and north alike, the nation strangles under a poisonous tten- - - j Hedine)A Welter of Voices from a Shifting Scene thicket of racial myths.- ader. sl i Who Speaks for the Negro. :v. Martin Luther King Jr. of the Southern Chris- '"ford ir. ; I: tian Leadership Conference, Roy Wilkins of the "wit INTERVIEWS AND COMMENTARY }^ ,- r , ' N. A. A. C. P., Whitney Young of the Urban League, i of F" BY ROBERT PENN WARREN ! .' ,n ,. James Farmer of CORE, James Forman of SNCC, mem- +und bers of COFO-they and other participants in the ,ges, pn. major rights forays speak directly to Warren's questions. ' of Bri' Rev~iew~ed by Francis Coulgh/int The late Malcolm X [murdered) responds for the ;ab- tuar, of suit Black Muslims. Among the veterans, Robert Moses, ?nal 'cir S THE CIVIL RIGHTS movement goes into they 'Aaron Henry, Charles Evers, trother and successor of ,test sur second decade since the Supreme court's school Medgar Evers [assassinated] tell of the tensions of lion er decision of r954, the "Bull" Connors, the police dogs, battle. Carl Rowan, Ralph Ellison, Judge Hastie, Ken- ol fa; the cattle prods, the fire hoses-not to speak of bigoted; neth Clark, and Stokely Carmichael-and many more- governors, county seat bullies, and jury-approved assas- acid to a dialog of candor and compassion. Nor are the sins-have failed to break the disciplined will and fringe groups and the dissidents unrecorded. ' valor of southern black communities committed to 4 EGRO LEADERS and would-be leaders are ex- J cause. From that base of all but unanimous Negro N ceedingly frank in discussing programs and , consensus and cohesion the movemient draws present personalities at variance with the broad consensus. strength and future promise. It is, let it be plainly1 The Rev. Galamison, who'would abolish New York's understood, a Negro movement. However aided by VI- has t public schools, thereby proscribing de facto segregation, .ol- stanl ' white collaboration under various aspects and ate k'1 ,. is judged with something like pity. The Black Muslims tan fu::": various levels it remains a Negro movement under are viewed with alarm and embarrassment. James Bald- *& th I Negro leadership seeking goals F. r -' 1 passionately desired win's extravagant rhetoric gets short shrift. His passage ,rk Carl by 20 million black-skinned Americans. dismissing the lynch deaths of two white CORE workers -is at In "Who Speaks for the Negro?" Robert Penn; as lacking 'resonance" [whatever that means] is noted ne ousi ,al lead Warren, a white southerner, transcribes and comments with contempt. ;e, path' upon views advanced by Negroes prominent in and A turbulent and wide-ranging book, a study in he futile peripheral to the struggle. His method embodies a no- THIS IS SUPERB documentation, possibly unique in depth of men and measures, "Whp Speaks for the Id father table technical advance in interviewing and reportage. historiography. It is as if the leaders of the Negro?" cords a confusion of voices reflecting a :n king' He gets down face-to-face conversations on tape record- French, or the American, or the Russian revolutions swiftly chhgng scene, Perhaps confusion is inescap- it- cOnsftr ings.
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