Selma, Alabama 1965 - Part 3

Those days and nights in Selma seemed longer then they actually were. It was barely spring. The nights were cool and the rain came for days at a time. What sleep there was came on a pew in Brown Chapel or on the floor in the apartment of a local black family with other demonstraters. There was no time or place for showers. I had brought the basics with me. When I left Manchester, NH, I really had no idea if I'd be gone for a day or for weeks. The clothes on my back were pretty much what I had - a black suit, white shirt, a black tie, shoes and socks, a black raincoat and a couple of extra pair of underwear. That was pretty much it along with a shaving kit. All of this was basically my uniform from my days in the seminary, black and more black. Intentional or not I looked like a young clergyman from the north. That perception may have saved me once or twice or endangered me more often then I imagine.

Brown Chapel like so many other churches in the south had become the headquarters and center of the demonstrations in Selma. The street in front of Brown Chapel had intersections at both ends and the church was approximately in the center of the block. The street had been barricaded at both ends by the police. The clothesline at the one end had become a symbol rather then a real barrier so the wooden barricades became necessary. In effect, anyone who came to demonstrate became confined in that one block space. There were ways to escape the area. People could find ways to leave a few at a time through the back and on to the streets of Selma. The first Sunday that I was there, myself and two others went to the Catholic Church located in another part of town to attend Mass. We arrived early, went in and met the priest who was preparing for the service. He welcomed us, knew we were civil rights demonstrators and told us as long as no blacks were with us everything would be fine. The church was segregated, I couldn't believe it. I decided not to attend Mass that morning and headed back to Brown Chapel. I didn't really question my religion at the time but I certainly began questioning the people in it.

During the day the block filled with demonstrators singing, chanting and pressing to be allowed to march, a simple symbol of their freedom and rights - denied every day. At this point, a march to the courthouse for a memorial service for Rev. Reeb had become the simple focus. If that could happen, the march to Montgomery would surly follow. During that early period, the crowd of demonstrators was probably 75' deep with other people either in Brown Chapel or milling around in the street. Police presence was always greater at the end of the street where the protesters gathered. Every now and then as part of an organized plan, protesters would move quickly to the other end of the street. Police sirens would wail and cars and horses would ride down a parallel street to meet everyone at the new location at the other end of the block. Frustrations grew and at one point there was talk of meeting force with force but that never happened mainly due to the leadership of Rev. Hosea Williams, Andrew Young and John Lewis.

Mass meetings were held at night inside of Brown Chapel. Songs were sung, speeches given and strategies developed. News of Dr. Kings negotiations with the federal government were relayed and recounted. I personally enjoyed taking the night shift outside. The crowd was smaller and we were just really making sure there was a presence continually at the barricade during these times. Most of my partners during those evening and night time hours were youngsters. They had beautiful voices and enthusiasm. Sometimes there were 10-15 of us standing there singing to police in helmets and riot gear. It was a time when both sides could look each other in the eye and even converse. There were plenty of mean men but there were also those who pleaded with us to come to our senses and stop what they considered the madness. They told us violence would occur and they didn't want to hurt anyone. They themselves were learning about the power of non-violence and were uncomfortable with the potential orders they would have to follow. It rained and it poured one night. A tarp was set up and it effectively caught water that eventually would overflow and come down on our heads and necks. A fire burned nearby and we would warm ourselves for short periods. Food and coffee were brought to us from neighbors living along the street. These were the sights and sounds of Selma in 1965 as I remember them 47 years later.

So we know that Selma helped to change our country and civil rights, but how did it change me? What impact did it have on my life - then and in the future? It certainly matured me at least from an experience standpoint. I saw things I had never seen, felt things I had never felt and met people with tremendous passion and leadership qualities. Selma really did help to define me and to define my beliefs about many things. It helped me begin to study the world and people differently. Selma was my introduction to the philosophy of non-violence. When I went, I knew a little about non-violence but mostly as a tactic. I didn't have any real experience with it. Arriving in this place where violence and intimidation were acceptable when blacks tried to do something as basic as register to vote or to speak up about it, I began to realize that non-violence was much bigger. I became more curious because of what I saw and what I witnessed. Selma opened my eyes to the likes of Ghandi and Dorothy Day and to pacifism as a belief and way of life. It certainly didn't happen over night, but my mind was opened to writings and ideas that spread the word not just of peace but also about conscience and acts of conscience, civil disobedience and activism. Selma set me off in a new direction and it really was the first time I realized the power and importance of conscience. I would be arrested numerous times for acts of conscience in the future. I would be a part of other movements against violence and injustice and it really all came from that short but important experience in Selma, Alabama in 1965.

People can go to this link to hear sample tracks of the songs that came out of Selma including 'The Berlin Wall' Click Here and listen to the Freedom Voices, Len Chandler and Pete Seeger. More to Come! Selma Revisited....