we were demonstrating and marching, protesting in front of the different stores here in town for the right to be served at the large counters. they used cattle prods, if you know what a cattle prod is, on us here in gaston. i still have burns on spots of my body today where they had stuck those cattle prods to me. the fears of frustration and discord are burning in every city. next week i shall ask the congress of the united states to act, to make a commitment that is not fully made in this century for the proposition that race has no place many american life or law. in 1963 i was 23 years old. i became the chair of the student nonviolence coordinating committee. i was invited to come to washington for a meeting with president kenly. mr. randolph spoke up, the dean
could become violent and derail his civil rights bill. we had a meeting at the white house with president kennedy. a. philip randolph, one of the black leaders, we called the dean of black leadership, spoke up in his baritone voice, he says something like mr. president, the black marchers are restless, and we re going to march on washington. and you can tell by the very body language of president kennedy he didn t like what he heard. when the march seemed inevitable, the president came around. but just in case things didn t go well, they have some of the military on standby outside of washington. they ordered all of the liquor stores to be closed. the administration had a secret plan. they put two fbi agents near the p.a. system, ready to pull the plug if they didn t like what they heard. john lewis had to tone down his speech, rewriting it that very afternoon.
thank you for your suggestions and your help. i m going upstairs to counsel with the lord. this was a march even the president had opposed at the start. a few months earlier, president kennedy called leaders to the white house, trying to get them to cancel the march, worried it could become violent and derail his civil rights bill. we had a meeting at the white house with president kennedy. a. philip randolph, one of the black leaders, we called the dean of black leadership, spoke up in his baritone voice, he says something like mr. president, the black marchers are restless and we re going to march on washington. you can tell by the very body language of president kennedy he didn t like what he heard. when the march seemed inevitable, the president came around. but just in case things didn t go well, they have some