i think there is a realization in this country that black power is not just a mere slogan, nationally or internationally. it is real that black people can come together and start determining for their lives how they re going to live and controlling their economic and political lives. so it means you have to build a movement so strong in this country that if one black man is touched, every black man will rise up and let this country know they re not going to tolerate. you talk about loving these honkies to death. during these rebellions, bring, you have to stop looking and start shooting. black power. the issue is one that moves across civil rights, moves across poverty. we get this explosion of violence. you have the watts riots. then subsequently riots in newark, in detroit. the riots spring to the
way. they got together and decided to continue the march. stokely carmichael and martin luther king. stokely carmichael was very much unlike the national group in terms of his perspective. we feel that we must continue this march right now, that it is urgent to do it. and we will be calling on people of good will from all over the nation to join us in this march. martin luther king was almost at the level of sainthood. stokely carmichael understood that he needed that symbol in order to provide legitimacy for what he was trying to do. we want to put president johnson on the spot. he called a conference two days ago to fulfill these rights. we want those rights fulfilled. they cannot be fulfilled with words. words cannot stop bullets. and we need action and we need it now from the federal government. no more questions, gentlemen. all right. we have the march. the most impressive thing
kennedy in his inaugural speech did not have a single mention of a domestic issue. harris wofford said all these people out there and particularly black people who voted for you and you ve got to give them something. what they did then was add two words talking about freedom and human rights abroad and at home. that was the only mention. kennedy s administration is trying to keep a lid on the civil rights issue, and civil right activists are determined to push ahead. brave blacks and whites rode into the deep south together on greyhound and trailways buses to challenge segregation as freedom riders. the freedom ride started with two buses, 13 people going from washington d.c. to new orleans. the concept of the freedom rides was to show that the
forbids it. [ applause ] senator hubert humphrey has called the civil rights bill the greatest piece of social legislation of our generation. tell somebody my stamp, make sure we get some more hands here. the civil rights act of 1964 is not going to create instant brotherhood. no one pretends that. but the attorney general gets new power to bring suits against racial discrimination in voting, in public accommodations, in education, in employment. if a court finds you guilty of violating some part of the civil rights law, and if you continue violating the law, you can be fined or put in jail until you stop violating the law.
year. what is your reaction to that one? well, first i want to say that i don t think the peace prize was given to me personally, and i don t accept it as a personal honor. i think it is rather a tribute to the wise restraint of discipline and dignity of which negroes and white persons of good will have carried out the whole struggle for civil rights. by the end of 1964, dr. king is aware that the one major southern civil rights challenge that had not been dealt with in the 1964 civil rights act was voter registration. a hodgepodge of election laws from state to state prevents many from voting. political machines disenfranchise others by downright fraud. the negro citizen may go to register only to be told that the day is wrong or the hour is late, or the official in charge