Volume 1 AUGUST 1961 No.2 Great questions for American democ­ FOR FREEDOM racy were at issue: What would the notorious Governor of Alabama do? What would the U. S. Department of Justice do? Could the Freedom Riders be frightened or crushed? The world now knows the answers to these questions. As the Riders streamed into Ala­ bama and Mississippi, SCLC leaders maintained contact with the Depart­ ment of Justice as well as with some of the local law enforcing agents, and the press. Moreover, A Freedom Ride Nonviolent Coordinating Committee was set up that brought together CORE, SNCC (Student l'lonviolent Coordinating Committee) and SCLC. This closer cooperation among these sister organizations made for a more systematic approach to the Freedom Ride operation. It was realized, how­ Montgomery, Alabama: Left to right the Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker, Clyde Carter, Bernard Lee, the Rev. Ralph Abernathy. ever, that many individuals and groups with varying backgrounds and .orienta­ tions would join the movement. The SCLC AND THE FREEDOM RIDES coordinating committee insisted upon the discipline of nonviolence and pled SCLC did not initiate the Freedom The Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, "Mr. for prominent Americans as well as Rides. That wonderful idea was the Civil Rights" of Birmingham and Sec­ others to bear witness to the cause by creation of CORE (Congress of Racial retary of SCLC, from the very begin­ joining the Rides. Equality.) Everybody who reads the ning played a key role in the Free­ newspapers or looks and listens to a dom Rides. He was CORE's main con­ Some SCLC leaders were rotl !!hed TV or radio knows of the violence tact in Birmingham and sent automo­ up by police and mobs or were jaiied. that the twenty-odd Negro and white biles to rescue the Riders after their Wherever they were, in front or behind bus riders, who headed South on May bus was burned by a mob at Anniston. bars, they kept up their prayerful per­ 4th, encountered when they reached When Shuttlesworth was seized by Bir­ suasion by song, word and conduct. Anniston and Birmingham, Alabama. mingham police, his wife telephoned to To date, SCLC has expended nearly Since the bus drivers refused to take the SCLC home office and was much $15,000 in legal fees, $10,000 in staff them on to Montgomery, the CORE relieved to learn tint" the Rev. Wyatt and transportation, $3,500 in telephone group took a plane for New Orleans, Walker, SCLC Executive Director, was and telegraph communicmions and the terminal point of their journey. already en route to the scene of vio­ nearly $7,000 in cash appeai bonds. At this time, students of the Nash­ lence and con fusion. There are many related expenses which ville Christian Leadership Conference, When the Nashville Riders pushed cannot be tabulated accurately. This is an affiliate of SCLC, picked up the on to Montgomery, it soon became . indeed a \Vortln.vhile though expensive challenge, resolving that a Freedom clear that this would be the crucial task :ommitment. Ride had to go on to Montgomery of the big battle for human dignity. -:)peration Freedom Ride has given and to Jackson, Mississippi and that Accordingly, SCLC leaders in various the nation - and the world - some the segregationists must not be allowed parts of the country dropped whatever re<Jization of what the Negro traveler to feel that their violence and obstruc­ they were doing and hurried to Mont­ undergoes. Even more, it has given tion could thwart the drive to test the gomery. Jim Lawson SCLC staff con­ a vivid demonstration of the power of proposition of whether Negro and white sult;tnt. joined the Nashville group. nonviolent social action. The inevitable traveling companions could exercise Wyatt Walker, Ralph Abernathy and victory for human decency has hccn their rights to usc the eating and com­ Martin Luther King, Jr. , flew in and brought closer. SCLC has conscien­ fort facilities of the bus depots. began to mobilize the nonviolent forces. tiously attempted to play its p<irt. 9 VOTING G Co1ztributions rally on July 23rd at the Cow Paiac On July 9th some 12,000 persot There are those who would like for H is a healthy sign that financial cheered al !he Pittsburgh ralfy. Amm the Sit-Ins and Freedom Rides to slop support of SCLC is gradually becoming the program sponsors was heavy-weig! and tbilt instead the revolutionary en­ as dependent upon sustained subscrip­ champion Floyd Patterson. Sammy 0; ergy be channeled off into a campaign tion giving as upon collections at.mas~ vis, Jr., would have been there b ut fc ' of voter registration. This might be meetings For too long th~ hmrlen ot thF f"> irth of his rhnghter, w f">i rt> n, less of a problem for moderates and financi;l responsibility for the organi­ CU1Ted about the same time. .certain government officials; less of a zation has rested largely upon the confrontation for those who deplore The special civil rights night of tl­ shoulders of our President. He found National Sunday School and BTU Cor confrontations. it necessary to speak continually in SCLC does not recognize "the either­ gress, held in St. Louis, was also n order that our monthly payroll could markably successful. In addition to D. or" theory of social change; rather, the be met. "both-and" theory. It is not the courts King, other SCLC luminaries partie Within .the past year, a substantial paled in the program-the Revs. Abe1 or Sit-Ins; Freedom Rides or political number of our friends and well-wishers action. All of these measures help reach nathy, Shuttlesworth, C. K. Steele c have been persuaded to make and re­ Tallahassee and Kelly Miller Smith c the common goal of freedom and equal­ deem pledges for a definite sum each ity for all of God's children. Nashville. More than 12,000 delegate year and this has enabled us to plan and friends contributed $5,500 tha Thus, SCLC has planned for a ahead a bit, instead of living, so to stepped-up South-wide campaign of Dr. 0 . Clay Maxwell, Congress Presi speak, hand-to-mouth. dent turned over to SCLC. voter registration and hopes to get the Nevertheless, our income is still far large financial support. that such an A dinner for friends who gathered a beneath the call for our services; con­ Theodore K,heel's home netted $7,001 endeavor requires. In the meantime, as sequently, campaigns all over the na­ a sort of pilot project, SCLC is co­ of which Mike Quill's lnternationa tion are still necessary in order to bal­ Transport Workers Union donated $2, operating with the Atlanta citizens ance our budget. Moreover, many of committee to secure some 10,000 new 000, ear-marked for the legal defens' these mass meetings are such great spir- fund of SCLC Alabama leaders wh< voters within a three-month span. Jim . itual experiences that we hope our Wood, Public Relations Director for have been sued for libel by public of friends will see that their contributions ficials in that state. SCLC, is presently giving full time to at the moment of inspiration are fol­ this effort and· SCLC is making other lowe)J by regular, periodic giving dur- Many smaller groups throughout th< country have sent in contributions tha contributions of funds, facilities and ing the months ahead_. personnel to this drive. It is hoped that Recently, several 1mpress1ve ralites in proportion to their membership rep new and more effective techniques will were held in different sections of the resent as great gifts as those li stc( be developed in Atlanta so that a sim­ country that demonstrated the financial above. All arc needed and fully ap· pre:ciatcd. ilar methodology may be applied else­ as well as moral support of our cru­ where. sade. The Baptists of the G reater Ncv,; York area sponsored a series of meet­ tD IREC"fOR AND Leadership Training ings that resulted every time i~ a WIFE JAILED It has been found that many per­ standing-room only crowd. At the fmal sons do not vote because they are il­ meeting in Albany, Governor Nelson The newspapers have carrie9 some literate. To this end, SCLC has been Rockefeller was present. Before hand, account of the jailing and treatment ot seeking to set up literacy training cen­ he had held an off-the-record confer­ the Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker, Execu­ ters that will give potential voters at ence with Dr. King and Rev. Walker. tive Director of SCLC, and his wife, least a "functional literacy" in a very Dr. Sandy F. Ray sent a certified Ann. They were Freedom Riders, whc short while and at the same time intro­ check for $18,000 to SCLC on behalf nn their well-publicized departure from duce them to the general philosophy of the Empire State Baptist Conven­ Atlanta found a mob as the reception of nonviolent social action. tion, the sponsoring organization. comn1it1ee in Montgomery. T he threat · This venture is · meant to be an on­ In California, Dr. King, along w1th of a bomb that supposedly v;as hidden going, long-range project . SCLC is such stars of the entertainment world in the bus terminal gave police the ex­ gratified that the Marshall F1e!d Foun­ as Toni Harper, Dick Gregory, Mahalia cuse for not permitting the Freedom dation has granted $26,000 m much Jackson, Herb Jeffries, George Shear­ Riders to enter the Montgomery depot. needed financial support. This has been ing and Sammy Davis, Jr., with the It was being cleared for bomb search­ done in cooperation with the Congre­ Governor of the state and scores of ing.