MAHALIA JACKSON AND AMELIA BOYNTON ROBINSON

"MARTIN, TELL THEM ABOUT THE DREAM!"

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) Fifty-two years ago today, August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. asked the Queen of Gospel Music to sing "I've Been Buked and I've Been Scorned" before he spoke at the March on Washington, but before she sang, Mahalia Jackson said to Dr. King...

 "Martin, tell them about the dream".

Dr. King had included the "I have a dream" theme in previous speeches and sermons but it was not included in the text of his March on Washington address. He followed Mahalia's advice and added "I have a dream"  to his closing his remarks.

Mahalia Jackson

Queen of Gospel Music

Photo by Carl Van Vechten (1962)

AMELIA BOYNTON ROBINSON DIES AT 104

Montgomery, Alabama (JFK+50) The New York Times reports that last Wednesday, August 26, 2015, "a pivotal figure at the Selma march," Amelia Boynton Robinson* passed away here in Montgomery at age 104.

Ms. Robinson became known as "the matriarch of the voting rights movement." On March 7, 1965, she was "beaten, gassed and left for dead" in the Selma, Alabama march for voting rights.  She had been one of the organizers of the march which was to go from Selma to Montgomery in demand for "the right to register to vote."

Responding to the news of her death, President Barack Obama said...

"She was as strong, as hopeful and as indomitable of spirit--as quintessentially American--as I'm sure she was that day 50 years ago.  To honor the legacy of an American hero like Amelia....requires only that we follow her example--that all of us fight to protect everyone's right to vote."

The Times quotes Ms. Robinson's reflection on her role in Bloody Sunday...

"I wasn't looking for notoriety, but if that's what it took I didn't care how many licks I got.  It just made me even more determined to fight for our cause."

*Amelia Boynton Robinson (1911-2015) was born in Savannah, Georgia, one of 10 children of George and Anna Platts.  ABR earned a degree in Home Economics at Tuskegee Institute and worked with the Department of Agriculture in Selma.  ABR worked in voter registration, and retired in 2009.

SOURCE

"Amelia Boynton Robinson, 104, Dies; A Pivotal Figure at the Selma March," by Margalit Fox, The New York Times, Obituaries, August 27, 2015.

Selma to Montgomery Marches' Road Sign

Photo by Markuskun (2008)

                       

I HAVE A DREAM

MLK'S "I HAVE A DREAM SPEECH" WAS 51 YEARS AGO TODAY

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) The most famous speech of the Civil Rights Movement was delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. fifty-one years ago this afternoon, August 28, 1963.

Dr. King's speech was the highlight of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom attended by a quarter of a million people and watched by millions more on television.

MLK, Jr. Memorial

Washington, D.C.

Photo by John White (2011)

While there were many speakers at the event, it was Dr. King's speech that would resonate throughout the land.

Dr. King said...

"I still have a dream.  It is a dream that is deeply rooted in the American dream.

 I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal'.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

When we allow freedom (to) ring....we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old negro spiritual, 'Free at last,  free at last, thank God Almighty, we're free at last.'"

MLK, Jr. Memorial

Washington, D.C.

Photo by John White (2011)

After the event, civil rights leaders, including Dr. King, Roy Wilkins,  Whitney Young, Jr., John Lewis  and A. Philip Randolph, met with President John F. Kennedy at the White House.

John Lewis said that the President greeted each of them at the door of the Oval Office and congratulated them with the words, "You did a great job."

The March on Washington was the brainchild of A. Philip Randolph who had attempted to lead a march in 1941 which never materialized but resulted in FDR's executive order prohibiting discrimination in munition plants.

Mr. Randolph, who became the Director of the March on Washington, had been counseling Dr. King to hold a march in the Nation's Capital in 1963.

President Kennedy's speech on civil rights in June along with his submission of a civil rights bill, gave a strong boost to Randolph's idea.

JFK had been concerned that the March on Washington would turn violent and hurt chances for the passage of his civil rights legislation.  When the day ended with no violence, the President was relieved and pleased.

He said privately earlier in the day that he wished he could be "out there" with the marchers.

Thurston Clarke says that after JFK watched Dr. King's speech, he said...

"That's a terrific speech.   He's damn good."

Dr. Martin Luther King

Washington, D.C.

August 28, 1963

At the end of the march, the White House issued this statement...

"We have witnessed today...tens of thousands of Americans...exercising their right to assemble peaceably and direct the widest possible attention to a great national issue.

Efforts to secure equal treatment and equal opportunity for all without regard to race, color, creed or nationality are neither novel nor difficult to understand.

What is different today is the intensified and widespread public awareness of the need to move forward in achieving these objectives."

SOURCE

"We Shall Overcome: The History of the Civil Rights Movement As It Happened," by Herb Boyd, Sourcebooks, Inc. Naperville, Illinois, 2004.

MAHALIA JACKSON SAID:
 "MARTIN, TELL THEM ABOUT THE DREAM!"

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. asked the Queen of Gospel Music to sing "I've Been Buked and I've Been Scorned" before he spoke at the March on Washington.

Before she sang, however, Mahalia Jackson said to Dr. King...

 "Martin, tell them about the dream".

Dr. King had included the "I have a dream" theme in previous speeches and sermons but it was not included in the text of his March on Washington address. 

He followed Mahalia's advice, however, and added "I have a dream"  to his closing his remarks.

Mahalia Jackson

Queen of Gospel Music

Photo by Carl Van Vechten (1962)

                       

MARCH ON WASHINGTON HELD 50 YEARS AGO TODAY

August 28, 2013

MARCH ON WASHINGTON FOR JOBS AND FREEDOM HELD 50 YEARS  AGO TODAY

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom*, attended by a quarter of a million people, was held here in the Nation's Capital 50 years ago today, Wednesday, August 28, 1963.

*Most people know the event simply as "The March on Washington," and associate it with civil rights, but it was also the desire of organizers to emphasize the wide economic disparity between the races.

In 1963, the unemployment rate for blacks was twice that of whites in the United States and the income of white families was almost twice that of black families.

Bayard Rustin and Cleveland Robinson
      March on Washington organizers
                        August 7, 1963
            Library of Congress Photo

A flyer for the March stated...

"America faces a crisis.  Millions of Negroes are denied freedom.  Millions of citizens, black and white are unemployed.  We demand meaningful Civil Rights Laws, full and fair employment, (a) massive Federal Works Program, decent housing, the right to vote (and) adequate integrated education."

The highlight of the day came when the leader of the Civil Rights Movement, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. addressed the audience at the Lincoln Memorial.

Dr. King, who had only finished writing the speech that morning,  said:

"I still have a dream.  It is a dream that is deeply rooted in the American dream.

 I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal'.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

Dr. King concluded his remarks with these resonating words...

"When we allow freedom (to) ring....we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old negro spiritual, 'Free at last,  free at last, thank God Almighty, we're free at last.'"

After the event, civil rights leaders, including Dr. King of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC),  Roy Wilkins, of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP),  Whitney Young, Jr. of the National Urban League, John Lewis of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)  and A. Philip Randolph, founder of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, met with President John F. Kennedy at the White House.

John Lewis said that the President greeted each of them at the door of the Oval Office and congratulated them with the words, "You did a great job."

The March on Washington was the brainchild of A. Philip Randolph who had attempted to lead a march in 1941 which never materialized but resulted in FDR's executive order prohibiting discrimination in munition plants.

Mr. Randolph, who became the Director of the March on Washington, had been counseling Dr. King to hold a march in the Nation's Capital in 1963.

President Kennedy's speech on civil rights in June along with his submission of a civil rights bill, gave a strong boost to Randolph's idea.*

*JFK had been concerned that the March on Washington would turn violent and hurt chances for the passage of his civil rights legislation.  When the day ended with no violence, the President was relieved and pleased.

He reportedly told a black doorman at the White House earlier in the day that he wished he could be "out there" with the marchers.

Thurston Clarke says that after JFK watched Dr. King's speech, he said: "That's a terrific speech.   He's damn good."

                   Dr. Martin Luther King
                         Speaking at the
                       Lincoln Memorial
                        Washington, D.C.
                         August 28, 1963

It was A. Philip Randolph's decision to appoint Bayard Rustin as his deputy.  It would be Rustin's task to make "all the pieces fit smoothly together."

Those pieces included publicity to get marchers to come to Washington, transportation, order, sanitation, bus parking, scheduling and district regulations.

Among the 250,000 marchers in Washington 50 years ago were celebrities Jackie Robinson, James Baldwin, Marlon Brando, Paul Newman, Harry Belafonte, Sammy Davis, Jr., Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, Diahann Carroll, Burt Lancaster and Charlton Heston.

And there were singers:  Marian Anderson, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mahalia Jackson, Odetta and Peter, Paul and Mary.

When the March on Washington ended, the White House issued this statement:

"We have witnessed today...tens of thousands of Americans...exercising their right to assemble peaceably and direct the widest possible attention to a great national issue.

Efforts to secure equal treatment and equal opportunity for all without regard to race, color, creed or nationality are neither novel nor difficult to understand.

What is different today is the intensified and widespread public awareness of the need to move forward in achieving these objectives."

SOURCE

"We Shall Overcome: The History of the Civil Rights Movement As It Happened," by Herb Boyd, Sourcebooks, Inc. Naperville, Illinois, 2004.

MAHALIA JACKSON'S WORDS TO MLK: "TELL THEM ABOUT THE DREAM!"

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. asked the Queen of Gospel Music to sing "I've Been Buked and I've Been Scorned" before he spoke at the March on Washington at the Lincoln Memorial.

Before she sang, however, Mahalia Jackson said to Dr. King: "Martin, tell them about the dream".

Dr. King had included the "I have a dream" theme in previous speeches and sermons but it was not included in the text of his March on Washington address. 

He followed Mahalia's advice, however, adding "I have a dream"  to his closing his remarks.

                   Mahalia Jackson
             Queen of Gospel Music
Photo by Carl Van Vechten (1962)

                       Lincoln Memorial
              Photo by John White (2011)


OBAMA TO SPEAK AT LET FREEDOM RING CEREMONY COMMEMORATING THE MARCH

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) President Barack Obama will speak today at the "LET FREEDOM RING" ceremony on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in commemoration of the March on Washington For Jobs and Freedom held 50 years ago today, August 28, 1963.

    Spot Where MLK Gave "The Speech"
                    Lincoln Memorial
           Photo by John White (2011)

The ceremony is scheduled for 3 p.m. (EDT), the same time when MLK gave his "I Have a Dream" speech.

SOURCE

www.iipdigital.usembassy.gov/

MARCH ON WASHINGTON ENDS WITH A DREAM

August 28, 1963


MARCH ON WASHINGTON ENDS WITH A DREAM


Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) The "March on Washington for Jobs & Freedom", attended by 250,000 people who gathered around the Lincoln Memorial, concluded today with an emotional & stirring address by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Bayard Rustin & Cleveland Robinson
   March on Washington organizers
                    August 7, 1963
         Library of Congress Photo


Dr. King said:


"Even though we face...difficulties, I still have a dream...that one day this nation will rise up & live out the true meaning of its creed 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal'.


When we allow freedom (to) ring....we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children....will...join hands & sing....'Free at last,  free at last, thank God Almighty, we're free at last.'"


After the event, civil rights leaders, including Dr. King & Roy Wilkins, met with President Kennedy at the White House who greeted them with the words: "I have a dream."*


*The March on Washington was initiated by A. Philip Randolph who had planned an earlier march in 1941.

Dr. King Gives "I Have a Dream" Speech


August 28, 1963



MAHALIA JACKSON ADVISES KING TO "TELL THEM ABOUT THE DREAM"


Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. asked the Queen of Gospel Music to sing "I've Been Buked & I've Been Scorned" before he spoke at the March on Washington today at the Lincoln Memorial.


Before she sang, however, Miss Jackson said to Dr. King: "Martin, tell them about the dream".*


*Dr. King had included the "I have a dream" theme in previous speeches & sermons but it was not included in his March on Washington address.  He followed Mahalia Jackson's advice & ended his remarks with "I have a dream...".

                   Mahalia Jackson
             Queen of Gospel Music
Photo by Carl Van Vechten (1962)


August 28, 1955


EMMETT TILL MURDERED IN MISSISSIPPI


Money, Mississippi (JFK+50) Emmett Till, African-American teenager from Chicago, Illinois, was brutally murdered in Money, Mississippi today & his body was dumped into the Tallahatchie River.


Till was in Mississippi visiting relatives & while at Bryan's Grocery & Meat Market in Money, according to witnesses, "flirted" with the store owner's wife who is white.*


*Emmett Till's corpse was recovered 3 days later & returned by the request of his mother to Chicago for burial.  On September 23 an all-white jury found accused murderers J.W. Milam & Roy Bryant not guilty.

            Remains of Bryant's Grocery 
                     Money, Mississippi
          Photo by WhisperToMe (2009)




"Twas down in Mississippi, not so long ago
 When a young boy from Chicago 
 walked through a Southern door
 This boy's fateful tragedy you should remember well
 The color of his skin was black
 and his name was Emmett Till


 If you can't speak out against this kind of thing
 A crime that's so unjust
 Your eyes are filled with dead man's dirt
 Your mind is filled with dust
 Your arms & legs they must be in shackles  & chains
 And your blood it must refuse to flow
 For you to let this human race
 fall down so God-awful low."


"The Ballad of Emmett Till"
             by Bob Dylan


August 28, 1961


JFK WELCOMES 1ST PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEERS


Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) President John F. Kennedy welcomed the 1st group of Peace Corps volunteers to the White House today.


The President told the young men & women:


"You will be the personification of a special group of young Americans & if you can impress (with) your commitment to freedom (and) to your pride in your country....the influence may be far-reaching."


These 1st Peace Corps volunteers will go to Ghana & Tanganyika to teach high school students.

JFK Greets Peace Corps Volunteers


August 28, 1968


ANTI-WAR PROTESTERS & POLICE CLASH IN CHICAGO


Chicago, Illinois (JFK+50) Thousands of anti-Vietnam War protesters massed today in downtown Chicago as the 1968 Democratic National Convention is in session in the city.


Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, a supporter of Vice-President Hubert Humphrey, sent in police to restore order.


The police, however, used clubs & tear gas to get the job done.  Many protesters were beaten, arrested & taken to jail.


All of this was broadcast on television while the protesters chanted: "The whole world is watching."*


*This event has been described as a "turning point in the cold war" as more & more Americans reject the necessity for fighting in Southeast Asia.

       Police Use Clubs on Protesters
              Chicago, Illinois (1968)


August 28, 1917


SUFFRAGISTS ARRESTED AT THE WHITE HOUSE


Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) Women suffragists gathered in front of the White House today in support of a constitutional amendment which would give women the right to vote.


President Woodrow Wilson, who has opposed such an amendment, drove out of the gates of the mansion today & tipped his hat to the suffragists.


Later, however, an altercation broke out between the suffragists & some bystanders who apparently resented the women's signs opposing the war (WWI).


Some of the suffragists were arrested & taken to jail.

Suffragists at the White House Gate
                      January 1917