Blood Done Sign My Name Page #2

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a Let me take you there a

a I'll take you there a

a Play it Mary a

a Play your piano now

All right a

a Do it do it a

a Come on now,

Play on it, play on it a

a Big Daddy now a

a Daddy, Daddy, Daddy a

a Play your... Mmm a

[chatter]

a Ooh, Lord a

a All right now a

a I'll take you there a

a Un-huh a

a Lying to the races

I'll take you there a

a Oh a

a I'll take you there a

a Ain't no smiling faces a

a I'll take you there a

a Up in here,

Lying to the races a

a I'll take you there a

a You gotta gotta

Gotta let me a

a I'll take you there a

a Take you, Take you, Oh my Lord a

a I'll take you there a

a Oh, I'll take you there a

[music fading]

(man 1)

How's it look?

(man 2)

That's good.

What do you think?

Yeah, man, good job.

My father loved

this place.

[chuckles gently]

This may be your Ph D.

[chuckles softly

(Vernon)

Good morning.

(congregation)

Morning.

For those of you just returned

from behind the I ron Curtain

or perhaps trekking somewhere

high in the Himalayas

where phone service, I'm

told, is not all that good...

my name is

Vernon Tyson,

your new pastor here at

Oxford Methodist Church.

I want to

thank all of you

who welcomed

my wife Martha

and our four children,

Vern, Tim,

Boo, and Julie,

with such open arms

and made us feel

so welcome this week.

Now, let us pray.

Father,

we live in difficult times

that challenge our faith

in new and often

difficult circumstance.

Grant us the power to

choose right from wrong,

and the strength

to love all people

of all races, because

in the eyes of God,

we are all equal.

ln Your holy name

we pray. Amen.

(congregation)

Amen.

[knock on door]

Mrs. Alwin,

I'm Reverend Tyson.

I heard you

on the radio.

You have a

beautiful voice.

Well, thank you, ma'am.

'Course, I don't usually trust

preachers with beautiful voices.

They tend to think too

highly of themselves.

But then I heard your

sermon about the Negroes,

and I changed my mind.

I thought this

is either a man

with a total disregard for his career,

or else he's one of the

bravest preachers I ever heard.

Either way, he wasn't

all full of himself.

(Vernon)

Well, I'm not sure

my wife would completely

agree with you on that.

(chuckles) She must be a good woman.

She is.

Children?

Two boys,

two girls.

Good.

You know, Reverend, l've

been a member of that church

for 87 years,

and l've seen

20, 22 pastors

stand in that pulpit,

some good, some

not so good.

But they all fell

into two groups.

They were either priests,

or they were prophets.

The priests told us the comforting

things we wanted to hear.

The prophets

challenged us

with the difficult

things we needed to hear.

Which one

are you?

I try to be a little bit of both.

Oh, Reverend,

in these times, I think you're

going to find it very hard

to be both.

[cheerful indistinct chatter]

[soul music]

a [male voice

sings indistinct] a

Man, we need to put up a

basketball hoop out back.

What for? Why don't you

just go to the park and play?

[men laugh]

What's so funny?

They took down

all the rims.

What you mean, took down the

rims? What are you talking about?

Rims, man. The town

took down the rims

to keep us out of

their neighborhood.

Oh, man, don't

look like that.

You know how stuff

changes here.

One step forward,

two steps back.

Name one black person

working a shop downtown.

Unless they got a broom in their hands.

They got one brother

on the police force.

He been

there four years

and still ain't allowed

to arrest any white folks.

So what y'all gonna

do about that?

Sh*t. People been pushing

change downtown for years.

Ain't nothing

gonna happen.

Yeah. I agree

with you, Eddie.

Ain't nothing

gonna happen...

unless you make

it happen.

(male voice) No one's saying

you don't work hard, Robert.

Jesus. You work

like a slave.

It's just that some folks

downtown want to make sure

you got things under

control out here, that's all.

Now you tell those folks not

to worry about their investment.

Ain't nobody gonna

mess with me out here.

I got friends who'll

guarantee me of that.

The change machine's

empty in the laundromat.

Hello, Mr. Watkins.

Larry, how you

doing, son?

Fine, sir!

[cash register

bell rings]

Now you have

a good day.

Howdy.

What you need?

Driving by,

see the shop,

realize I'm due

for a haircut.

No.

No?

No what?

I need to make

an appointment?

No.

I don't cut

y'all's hair here.

All right, all right.

No problem.

I'll go to a fellow

in town I know.

Y'all have a good day.

You know what, Robert?

You've got a good

thing going on out here.

lf you don't die of a heart

attack trying to keep it up

and if you keep that temper

of yours under control,

you might just end up a rich man.

Don't you worry

about me, Billy.

I'm gonna be fine.

(male voice) Next order of

business, a request by Mike Taylor

for a new stop sign

down his way.

Neil, is the application in order?

Yes. We've been out

there and checked it out.

Then I'm looking for a motion

to move this thing along.

Motion.

Second.

All in favor?

(many)

Aye.

Opposed? Motion carried.

Next item.

Restoration of the

basketball rims in city park.

Mr. Chavis, this

is your request?

It is, Your Honor.

Looks pretty

straightforward to me.

Um...

unfortunately, Mr. Chavis,

we are not

the jurisdictional body

you need to be addressing.

That would be the town

Recreational Committee,

which meets the first

Tuesday of every month.

I have, Your Honor.

I beg your pardon?

I have submitted that

request to the Rec Committee,

but since it never holds

a quorum in its meetings,

it can't vote

on that request.

Well, better

luck next month.

Mr. Mayor,

the Rec Committee has not

held a quorum since 1964,

which, not coincidentally,

was the year of the

Federal Civil Rights Act.

But, that may be,

but there's nothing that

we can do about that.

Actually, there is,

Your Honor.

Based on the town charter,

if a standing committee

is without a quorum

for a period of longer

than six months,

then it's possible for this

council... to call for a vote.

Neil?

He is correct,

Your Honor.

But only if there is

a quorum present

at the time

the vote is called.

[clears throat]

Your Honor

and everybody,

I'm sorry, but I forgot I

need to leave early tonight.

I'm afraid I have to leave

early as well, Your Honor.

Well, that leaves us

without a quorum.

Adjourned.

How'd it go?

What was that

Frederick Douglass quote

your father was always

so fond of reciting?

Power concedes nothing...

Without a demand.

Yeah, well,

I demanded.

The power just rolled right over me.

Well, I don't think

Frederick Douglass

expected the power to

yield on his first attempt.

[chuckles]

I guess he didn't.

Get some rest, son.

Night, Momma.

Pack of menthol

Rx, please.

What you trying

to pull, boy?

They're...for

my momma, sir.

Yeah?

Then she ought to know

that they're 35 cents.

Why'd you tell him these

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