Address Delivered at Albany Movement Mass Meeting at Mt. Zion Baptist Church
Author: King, Martin Luther, Jr.
Date: December 15, 1961?
Location: Albany, Ga.?
Genre: Speech
Topic: Albany Movement
Details
On 10 December, Albany police arrested eleven freedom riders outside the train station for obstructing traffic and failure to obey an officer.1 When local residents protested, police arrested more than 700 demonstrators.2 Worried about the lack of bail funds and the difficulties of coordinating a large campaign, Albany Movement president William G. Anderson asked King and SCLC for help.3 King arrived in Albany on 15 December and addressed a crowd of nearly 1,000 at Mt. Zion Baptist Church.4 The following transcript was taken from a film recording of that mass meeting.
Dr. Anderson [recording interrupted] something that it so desperately needs to hear [Audience:] (Well, That’s right) and that is that you do not like segregation. (Yes, That’s right, Amen) You are saying that segregation is still the Negroes’ burden and America’s shame. (Amen, That’s right) [applause] You are saying as you assemble here tonight and as you continue to move on in your movement that you are willing to struggle, to suffer, to sacrifice, and even die if necessary (Yes, Yes) in order to be free in this day and in this age. (That’s right, Yes sir) This is what you are saying in this most significant way. And I can only bid you Godspeed (Yes sir) as you continue. As it has been said so eloquently tonight, what we are doing in the South and what we are seeking to do all over the nation (Well) is something bigger than Negro rights. (Amen) For we are not struggling for ourselves alone. (No)
As you assemble here tonight, you can think of the fact that there are approximately [break in tape] two others who are telling us to slow up, who are telling us that we are pushing things too fast. We must say to them that the hour is late (That’s right, That’s right), that the clock of destiny is ticking out. (Yes) And we must act now before it is too late. For the shape of the world today does not afford us the luxury of an anemic democracy and the price that America must pay for the continued oppression of the Negro is a price of its own destruction. (Yes sir, That’s right) This is [break in tape] I can say nothing to you this evening, but continue in your determination to be free. All over the South we must continue to engage in creative protest to break down the system of segregation. Now we’ve got to get rid of two myths in order to do this. [recording interrupted]
1. The arrests came after SNCC workers and some local residents conducted tests during November and December of Albany’s compliance with the ICC’s September ruling banning segregation in interstate transportation facilities (“Albany, Ga., Jails 267 Negro Youths,” New York Times, 13 December 1961).
2. “Alert Guard in Georgia Race Strife,” Chicago Daily Defender, 16 December 1961. To accommodate the mass arrests, Albany police chief Laurie Pritchett arranged for jails in neighboring counties to house demonstrators (SNCC, Press release, “Latest from Albany,” 13 December 1961).
3. Prior to King’s arrival, Anderson and the Albany Movement had attempted to negotiate with Albany city officials. In return for ceasing any further demonstrations, the Albany Movement demanded that charges be dropped against those arrested days earlier and called for the enforcement of the ICC’s desegregation ruling. Mayor Asa Kelley refused: “At this point, it is the feeling of the city commission that there is no area of possible agreement” (Claude Sitton, “202 More Negroes Seized in Georgia,” New York Times, 14 December 1961). William Gilchrist Anderson (1927– ), born in Americus, Georgia, pursued premedical studies at Fort Valley State College in Georgia before serving as a medic during World War II. After the war, he attended Atlanta College of Mortuary Science and moved to Montgomery, Alabama, to practice. Continuing his studies, Anderson attended Alabama State College, receiving his B.S. in 1949. He obtained his D.O. in 1956 from Des Moines Still College of Osteopathy and Surgery in Des Moines, Iowa, and completed an internship in Flint, Michigan. After his residency, Anderson moved to Albany, Georgia, and set up a private practice. The newly created Albany Movement elected Anderson its first president in November 1961. In 1963 Anderson and other Albany leaders were charged with conspiracy to boycott a juror’s business, but this prosecution ended in a mistrial. After moving to Detroit in late 1962, Anderson finished his training in general surgery and joined a group medical practice. He later became associate dean of Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in Michigan.
4. Ralph Abernathy, Wyatt Tee Walker, and Ruby Hurley of the NAACP also spoke at the rally. King also addressed a capacity crowd at Shiloh Baptist Church, located across the street from Mt. Zion (“Albany Balks at Truce Price; Rev. King Rallies Negroes,” Atlanta Constitution, 16 December 1961).
Source: WSB-TV-GU, Newsfilm Collection, Walter J. Brown Media Archive & Peabody Awards Collection, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Ga.