Boycott Page #7

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Hold on, now. Look, it seems to me

that were we tonight to tell the people

that it's time for them to get back on the buses,

we would be ostracized, completely laughed at. - Yes, yes.

- Exactly right. - Look, they have had

the courage to continue walking. We should have the courage

to hold the line. - Hold the line. - Continue, continue, continue,

continue, continue. - Here we are trying

to lead a movement we can't ever seem

to catch up to. Is there some way we can bypass

the state courts? - Mm... Not in Rosa's case,

but we could file a separate suit

at the federal level and go after segregation

on a constitutional ground. - Hmm. - We've been waiting

for an opportunity like that. The success of the boycott

might just give us the leverage we need

to pull it off. - If we go federal,

we gonna bring down a lot more heat on ourselves,

a whole lot. - Mm-hmm.

You can't deny that. If we're asking the federal

court to overrule segregation, we gonna need some

additional plaintiffs to strengthen our case, and certain folks gonna have

to put themselves at risk. [child laughing] - So Attorney Gray

is drafting a lawsuit demanding that the city

segregation laws be declared null and void. - On the grounds that it

violates the 14th Amendment. - And which one

was that, brother? - The right to equal protection

under the law. Martin: The suit will be filed

this afternoon. - Are you saying we going to

the Supreme Court or something? Martin: No, no, no.

- Reverend King-- - Federal court?

- No, it's a separate matter. - Now, you gonna sabotage

our negotiations with the city. - The city already sabotaged

the negotiations themselves by not being willing

to negotiate. I mean, they didn't come

to the table in good faith. - Now, that's a declaration

of war. You gonna give them reason

to kill us. - Well, look, Reverend Banyon,

from the beginning, the only thing we have asked for

is a modified system of segregation, and they already

want to kill us. So it seems to me they leave us

with two choices. Either we give in,

or we just go in over their heads

and rid ourselves of segregation altogether. Fields: Reverend King,

you walking out on a very dangerous limb, and you asking us

to go with you. - At this point,

our only plaintiffs are women. However, we would like

to include some of our men as part of the lawsuit,

and at least one minister. A minister has great symbolic

value in the community. Now, the Reverends

King and Abernathy wouldn't be good choices

because they are too much in the limelight. - My--my grievances

are not personal. - That's right. They're on behalf

of my parishioners. man: I agree with that.

I agree with that. - Will not one of you volunteer? Uh, we gonna have

to make this work with the plaintiffs we have. If we keep the boycott running,

the court's gonna have a hard time avoiding us. - Let's hope. - The Negroes are trying

to make this a federal case, but we're not gonna

let that happen. We don't want

Washington politicians telling us

how to run our business and how to live our lives. We have rights too. This boycott is illegal. Now, the Negroes can either

accept our final offer or suffer the consequences. - You see, in the belly

of those slave ships, it didn't matter

whether you sat in the right section or not. You see, you didn't have

to worry about getting up to give your seat

to a white person. You were loaded into the belly

of that slave ship on a first come,

first to serve basis. all: Yeah.

[applause] - And any Negro who dared

question the circumstance under which he suffered, well,

now that Negro was a problem. woman: You may be

an ambassador To England or France You might like to gamble You might like to dance You may be

the heavyweight Champion of the world You may be a socialite With a long string

of pearls But you gonna serve

somebody chorus:
Serve somebody woman: I want you to know

you gonna serve somebody - There comes a time

when time itself is ready for a change. all: Yes. - And that time has come

in Montgomery. women: But you gotta

serve somebody Our opponents--

and I hate to think of our government officers

as opponents, but that's what they are... all: Yes. Yeah. - They have tried all sorts

of things to break us. But we still hold steadfast, resolute. And still,

we don't advocate violence. We don't have to. all: Yes. - The Lord is with us.

all:
Yes. - And we are a chain. We are linked together

indivisible. I cannot be what I ought to be unless you are

what you ought to be. all: Amen. Right. - We are a chain. [applause] - Now, we have good news

in Montgomery right now. [approving murmurs] Now, how do we protect

our feet? We have all kinds of shoes

from all kinds of folks from all over the country. all: Yes.

[applause] - Shoes to replace the shoes

that has been worn down by us walking, shoes to help

keep us all walking. all: Yes.

woman:
All right. - But we got

something else also. [unintelligible murmurs] I have here a check from our brothers and sisters

in Mobile, Alabama, for $500.43. [applause] They sent a letter with it, I guess to keep us encouraged. They said,

"Please accept this check "for $500.43 for your cause

and our cause. "We here in Mobile, Alabama,

support your fight. "P.S.: The 43

is to let you know that some more is coming." [organ chords play] [applause] This new "get tough" policy... man: Yeah?

- This ain't gon' stop us. [shouts of agreement] We all know the state

of Alabama's motto. all: Heart of Dixie. - Heart of Dixie, huh? Well, I say let's keep on

walking until Dixie has a heart. [cheers and applause] woman: What a day

of rejoicing it would be What a time,

what a time all:
What a time,

what a time woman: One look at Jesus,

and we'll be all: Yes,

time What a time,

what a time woman: I'm gonna

tell 'em all all: Yes,

time woman:
What a time all: What a time What a time woman: God's gonna

wipe my tears away What a time What a time all: What a time [glass shatters] Yes,

time - Thank you, Jesus What a time What a time,

what a time Somebody sing it with me all: Doo, doo woman: Yes, Jesus all: Doo-dup, doo woman: Mm-mm-mm woman: Amen. [applause] - Brothers and sisters,

what do we do? all: Fight on. - We fight on. And no matter

what the other side does, it's one thing

that they cannot do, and that is force us

back on them buses. all: Amen. - What is it? - Your house has been bombed,

Martin. - Coretta, Yolanda? - We don't know yet. chorus: Doo, doo [all talking at once] Doo, doo woman: Mm-mm-mm

man:
It's all over now. - No, it ain't all over.

It's just started. - We ain't goin' nowhere. - That's right. That's right.

woman:
Jesus chorus: Doo, doo woman: Oh, Lord Thank you, Jesus chorus: Doo-dup, doo woman: When all of God's chorus: Children woman: When they get to chorus: Heaven - Reverend King,

I can assure you that this type of activity

will not be tolerated. man: My boys

will look into this. woman: Want to know what

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