Читать книгу Freedom Facts and Firsts - Jessie Carney Smith - Страница 97

As the third anniversary of the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education approached, little progress toward desegregation of public schools was evident. Martin Luther King Jr. and his colleagues in the recently formed Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) attempted to get President Dwight Eisenhower to make a public statement in support of the court decision and to confront segregationists for their resistance to federal law. When Eisenhower refused to act, King and associates Thomas Kilgore Jr. and Bayard Rustin began to organize efforts for a prayer pilgrimage to the nation’s capital on May 17. Veteran civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph saw parallels to his idea in 1941 for a March on Washington, and a planning meeting involving King, Randolph, NAACP president Roy Wilkins, Harlem Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr., NAACP lobbyist Clarence Mitchell, and other leaders took place on April 5, 1957, at the Metropolitan Baptist Church in Washington.

They continued the protest for the next few days, as other black students joined their efforts.

Despites differences of opinion regarding strategies and objectives, Randolph, King, and Wilkins signed and issued a joint statement, the “Call to a Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom,” indicating that eight Southern states had made no good faith effort to move forward on school desegregation “with all deliberate speed” or with any speed at all. The statement also cited historic precedents, such as the Dred Scott decision exactly 100 years earlier and the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation issued by Abraham Lincoln, to dramatize the long wait of African Americans for freedom. Threats and violence directed toward black citizens and the NAACP were also cited, along with the intention to conduct a peaceful and orderly demonstration. Powel and Mitchell, among others, insisted that the event not become an open protest, which would embarrass the Eisenhower administration and hinder future government cooperation in civil rights and other political issues. On May 17, the anticipated number of participants and supporters was less than hoped for, but the estimated total of 25,000 to 30,000 who did attend presaged the much larger March on Washington that would take place in 1963. Legendary gospel singer Mahalia Jackson provided music, and a notable list of black leaders made speeches, including Randolph, Wilkins, Powell, Howard University president Mordecai Johnson, civil rights activist and minister Fred Shuttlesworth of Birmingham, Alabama, and Michigan Congressman Charles Diggs.

Race riots exploded in more than 25 cities across the nation.

It was King’s speech, “Give Us the Ballot,” however, that became the highlight of the event and elevated him to greater prominence, as it was his first address before a national audience. He had been virtually unknown outside of Georgia and Alabama, until his leadership during the Montgomery, Alabama, Bus Boycott drew national and international attention. Wilkins was not pleased when the press began touting King as the “top black leader” afterwards, especially with the NAACP underwriting a good portion of expenses for the gathering. The Prayer Pilgrimage provided valuable experience for leaders and organizers in the various civil rights organizations, in terms of working through differences, coordinating efforts and resources, and in preparing for future civil rights activities.

Fletcher F. Moon