To Write in the Light of Freedom

by William Sturkey

A. Yes, I see many whites acting as though we are same race. Many persons of the white race have spoken and smiled at me.—Mrs. S. H.

  A. No. White people have become more hostile toward the Negro since the movement came. They say they don’t want any trouble, but since the Civil Rights Bill they say that that is all they have.—A. W.

  Q. What is your reaction to Goldwater’s nomination for President?

  A. I don’t like Goldwater. I don’t think he should be President. He voted against the Civil Rights Bill, against the Peace Corps—against everything. I don’t like the way he voted.—W. W.

  A. I don’t think he should be President. I figure if he ever win the Presidency I throw up my hands and holler “What’s the use?” The way he voted against the Civil Rights Bill makes me think he’s a southerner and a segregationist.—W. R.

  FREEDOM NOW!

  Hattiesburg Freedom Press

  The Hattiesburg Freedom Press was produced by students in the Mt. Zion Freedom School of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Mt. Zion was one of five Freedom Schools that met in Hattiesburg, the town that Freedom School coordinator Staughton Lynd dubbed “the Mecca of the Freedom School world.” Hattiesburg was home to a vibrant black business community and was one of the first places SNCC gained a major foothold in Mississippi. Local people such as Victoria Jackson Gray, Peggy Jean Connor, Vernon Dahmer, J. C. Fairley, Daisy Harris Wade, and scores of others helped SNCC organize potential black voters in their community. By the summer of 1964, hundreds of African Americans had joined the local freedom movement, paving the way for the eventual success of the Hattiesburg Freedom Schools.

  Throughout the 1960s, Mt. Zion became well known as a site for numerous civil rights meetings. Activity in the church only increased after Freedom Summer. Locals met there to discuss and plan boycotts, political strategies, and marches. Mt. Zion was also one of the last places Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke before his death in the spring of 1968. Although the church has since been torn down and replaced by a new structure, its congregation remains proud of its historic role in the Civil Rights Movement. A historical marker now stands outside the new Mt. Zion Baptist Church celebrating its contributions to the black freedom struggle. The exact date of this issue of the Freedom Press is unknown, but several of the articles indicate that it was published during the final week of Freedom School classes. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of these essays are the testimonies written by Freedom School students who were going door-to-door in their community canvassing potential voters.

  Our Day of Canvassing

  On August 6, Linda B., Victoria J., my sister Gwendolyn and I went canvassing. It was a great experience because we had never been canvassing before.

  We went to many houses. We are going to tell you about some very interesting things that happened.

  We went to a house on Ruby Street and this is what we said to the lady there:

  “Good evening. We are canvassing for the Mt. Zion Freedom School and we would like to know if you have ever been to Freedom School.”

  She said, “No! And I’m not going to Freedom School.”

  We asked her why and she said her “religion said she cannot go. And anyway, you little children don’t know what you are doing. You don’t know what freedom is.”

  “Oh yes we do,” we said. “We know more than you know.”

  The lady kept on saying that we didn’t know what we were talking about.

  Another event was on Dumas Street. We went to a house of a mother who used to send her little girl to the Freedom School. But she had stopped letting her go. We asked the mother why.

  She said, “Why, honey, she doesn’t know anything about freedom. Besides, she has to keep the children because I have to go to work.

  We had many other interesting times. These are just a few of them.

  —Stephanie B.

  The Town Nobody Loved

  Lilly

  I am writing a story about a town nobody loved or liked but did nothing about. I’ve been living here for fifteen years so I can tell you the story.

  I was a little girl in the second grade when a terrible thing happened. There was a boy about 10 years of age and he was walking home from the store. I was walking home too, but I wasn’t walking just beside him.

  A little white girl came along riding her bicycle and the little colored boy stopped to look at her. The white girl stopped and said, “If you don’t stop looking at me, nigger, I am going to tell my daddy that you were fighting with me.”

  The colored boy did not know that a colored boy was not supposed to look at a white girl and so he said, “I can look at you as long as I like.”

  The same night about ten o’clock a group of white men surrounded the boy’s home and started shouting and saying, “Nigger, come on out. Don’t make us come in and get you.”

  They went into the boy’s home and took him out. He was hung the same night on Gulliver Hill.

  But before anyone did anything about it the girl’s family began getting letters saying their child was next.

  How would this make the little boy live again? This isn’t the answer to the Negro problem today but we must not let things like this happen again. Let’s start to work now. Let’s not stop till everyone is free.

  Dear Gov. Johnson,

  How are you? My name is Lynette. I am eleven years old and I am a Negro. I am going to the Mt. Zion Freedom School.

  If you want to know why I am going there here are the reasons: I want to learn about my race; I want to become a part of history, I want to have the opportunity to learn here what I cannot learn in my regular school. I want to be able to vote when I am twenty-one. And I want to be a first-class citizen.

  —Lynette Y.

  A Friend Drops In

  One of America’s most famous folksingers is Peter Seeger. Last week he came to Mt. Zion to put on a special show for us.

  Pete sang many songs about freedom. He said that in Africa the people have a special word for freedom. It is “lelapo.”

  Some of the songs that he sung for us were “Goodnight, Irene,” “Oh Freedom,” “What Did You Learn In School Today,” and “Oh Healing River.” He also sang a song about a giant that everybody liked, especially me.

  Dick Kelley said he would have to pay three or four dollars in his city if he went to see Pete Seeger. He enjoyed the show. Calvin S. and John L. said they liked it also. Everett M. said that Pete Seeger was the best white man he ever heard sing like that.

  At the end we sang “We Shall Overcome” and some of us cried.

  —Anthony & Ratio

  When the Wall Falls

  On July 17th, I was out canvassing with Denis Jackson, one of the teachers at Mt. Zion Freedom School. We were trying to get the people to fill out Freedom Registration forms because there was going to be a convention the following day. The people gave us a hard time but we convinced some of them to fill out the forms. The people that wouldn’t fill out the forms said they didn’t want to have anything to do with it. One lady said she didn’t believe anything was going to change in Mississippi. A lot of people said the same thing.

  Then there are the people who won’t fill out forms because they are afraid of losing their jobs. But what’s holding back the people who don’t have to work? Why aren’t the people who are retired registering? Are they afraid? If so, of what or whom? Are they afraid of their freedom? Or the responsibilities they must assume in trying to obtain their freedom?

  One lady said, “Why don’t you let God take care of all this? He can do anything.” I said, “You aren’t the only person who thinks so. But what are we supposed to do? Sit around all the time and wait for God to do everything when we can do some things for ourselves?”

  When I said that it really got her. But I didn’t stop there. I was determined to get her to fill out an F. R. form. So I continued to talk to her about things like

  The pride to feel that your own strength has cleared for you the way to heights to which you were not born, but strugg
led day by day.

  The man who simply sits an’ waits. For good to come along, ain’t worth the breath that one would take to tell him he is wrong.

  For good ain’t flowin’ ’round the world, for every fool to sup; You’ve got to put your see-ers on, and go an’ hunt it up.

  I quoted this from Paul L. Dunbar and while I was saying all of this to her I meant for it to hit and hit her hard.

  I saw that she was responding to my conversation so I didn’t stop there. I was determined. I wanted that lady’s eyes opened wide so that she could see all the troublesome problems confronting the Negro people in Mississippi. I wanted her eyes opened wide so that she could see the things she could do.

  I rendured another selection by a Negro poet named Melvin Tolsen. It goes like this

  They tell us to forget Democracy is spurned, they tell us to forget the Bill of Rights is burned. Three hundred years we slaved We slave and suffer yet, though flesh and bone revel, they tell us to forget!

  Oh, how can we forget our human rights denied? Oh how can we forget our manhood crucified? When justice is profaned and plea with curse is met, when freedom’s gate is barred, oh, how can we forget?

  It did the trick. I felt so glad and happy because I had opened up another world. I had torn down the wall.

  What Freedom Means

  Freedom to me means I can where I wnat to.

  I can go to the white’s picture shows and the café.

  I want to go to a bathroom without seeing a sign that says “White Only” and “Negro Only.”

  I would like to go to a store and be served without being asked to get out.

  That’s what freedom means to me.

  —Benton D.

  A Visitor Comes to Town

  George Ballis came to Hattiesburg to take pictures of the Freedom Schools. He is a photographer for the Southern Documentary Project. He has been a photographer for twelve years.

  George has been to Philadelphia, Greenwood, Meridain, Ruleville and Jackson besides coming here to Hattiesburg.

  George was here in Hattiesburg last January when they had the march on the courthouse. He has found that the police don’t bother the people as much today as they did in January.

  —Cynthia P.

  Freedom Quiz

  Who Am I??????

  1.) The Civil War was over and slowly the Southern states returned to the Union. There were many new faces that were new in the Congress from the Southern states. One of the faces that was new came from Mississippi. It was the face of the first Negro Congressman ever elected. His name was????????

  2.) I am the lawyer who went before the most important court in America to protest segregation in the schools in 1954. My name is?????

  What the Summer Has Meant To Me

  I think the summer has made a lot of changes in Mississippi.

  Now we can sit down and eat at Woolworth’s and Kress’.

  I think the summer has made the white men see that we are not happy with Mississippi. We want to make even more changes.

  I think that next summer we can get to go to more than just two places in Hattiesburg. We should be able to go to the drive-in.

  —Mattie M.

  The Meaning of Freedom

  Freedom Means:

  1.) Waking up each morning and be glad you were born.

  2.) Playing “Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief” and mean it.

  3.) Not trying to wash away the color of your skin with soap.

  4.) Not changing your last name so people won’t know what your religion is.

  5.) “Mr.” and “Mrs.”

  6.) “Bad” hair is really “good.”

  7.) Reading the Declaration of Independence for the first time.

  —Douglas Tuchman [Freedom School teacher]

  One Person’s Prayer.

  DEAR GOD, THE FATHER OF MANKIND, MADE ME THE WAY I AM. HE DIDN’T MAKE ME YELLOW LIKE JUDY, HE DIDN’T MAKE ME WHITE LIKE SAM.

  WHEN GOD CREATED YOU AND ME HE DIDN’T FAVOR ONE COLOR, YOU SEE YET IN THIS GREAT BIG WORLD OF STRIFE, THE RACES TAKE EACH OTHER’S LIVES.

  THEY HATE US NOT FOR WHAT WE ARE, BUT BECAUSE OF THE COLOR OF OUR SKIN, YET DEEP DOWN IN THEIR HEARTS THEY KNOW THAT OUR CREATOR MADE US KIN.

  I AM A NEGRO, YOU SEE, I KNOW THAT GOD CREATED ME MY PARENTS WERE ALSO EVE AND ADAM, SO I DON’T THINK I’M INFERIOR, MADAM.

  WE ARE THE PARENTS OF THE WORLD OF EVERY BOY AND GIRL BORN SO WE SHOULD LEARN TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS IF CHILD WERE OUR OWN.

  * MRS. JIMMIE C.

  The Story of Rev. Klunder.

  Rev. Bruce Klunder was a hero for freedom. He believed that freedom could only be won if people worked for it every minute of the day.

  One day in Cleveland he lay down behind a bulldozer to stop the building of a segregated school. The driver of the bulldozer didn’t see Rev. Klunder when he backed up the machine. Rev. Klunder was killed immediately.

  If we want to have our freedom we must remember what other people have sacrificed and try harder ourselves.

  —Anthony H.

  The Great Debate

  Last Sunday was a big day for many of the freedom school students. A big debate took place at St. Paul’s Church between teams from Mt. Zion, Moss Point, Morningstar, and Priest’s Creek. The big question was “Which is the best way to gain equality” violence or non-violence? Each school picked the side it thought was the right one. Mt. Zion won two debates. It was fun.

  Looking Back

  What has the summer accomplished? I think it has started more colored people registering to vote than had tried before. It was also an experience because white people came to live with Negroes. Kress’ and Woolworth’s also opened up their lunch counters.

  I thought that when COFO came to set up its project it would lead to trouble, even though it wasn’t their purpose. Maybe the reason why there wasn’t any trouble was because the people who didn’t like COFO thought it wasn’t doing enough to get them aroused.

  I would like people to live in unity. People should get to know each other. They should become better educated to show that one person is as good as another. We should also have equal facilities for everybody.

  —Willie M.

  Student Voice of True Light (Hattiesburg, MS)

  The Student Voice of True Light was produced by the Freedom School students attending classes at the True Light Baptist Church located in the heart of Hattiesburg’s historic black community the Mobile Street District. Originally organized in 1903, True Light Baptist had for years been a center of local African American community organizing. Black women formed the core of this tradition. For more than six decades, they had helped raise money, provide meals, pay bills, and organize numerous social aid societies to assist local black families in need. Furthermore, the Student Voice of True Light was not the first African American newspaper produced by True Light church members. Over thirty years before Freedom Summer, True Light’s congregation joined with several other local black churches to produce a black community newspaper. This long legacy of community organizing established an institutional tradition of activism that helped make True Light the site of one of Mississippi’s largest and most active Freedom Schools. Its student body required a large faculty that ranged between eight and ten teachers depending on space and demand. As is clear in the essays that follow, many of True Light’s Freedom School students were particularly interested in critiquing their discriminatory society and thinking of ways to redefine freedom.

  July 20, 1964

  What I Don’t Like about Hattiesburg

  There are lots of things I don’t like about Hattiesburg. One thing is the bus drivers, which have already been brought to light to the eyes of the people. Bus drivers, as Shirley White describes, are terrible. I have never had any of the incidents happen to me because when I was young I learned we were supposed to sit in the back part of the bus. I’m not going to sit in the back anymore.

  The one thing I don’t like is these Jim Crow restaurants. What I
mean by that is these places where they allow no one but white skinned people to eat and not people with black skins. Since the bill passed I eat where I want to.

  Front cover of the Hattiesburg Student Voice of True Light.

  Courtesy of the McCain Library and Archives, University of Southern Mississippi.

  The question that puzzles me is: Why couldn’t we eat in these places before the Civil Rights Bill was passed? I know because we have black skin, but what has that to do with it. The black skinned people have fought in the war, become great scientists, and are qualified for the same jobs. All together we belong to America as much as the whites do. We were all created equal. Neither race is superior to the other.

  —Larry B., age 13

  When I Was Going on Hardy Street

  Well, it was this bus driver. I was on the first straight seat on the bus, and he told me to move back. I said, “I will not. I paid a dime and two pennies for a transfer and I’m not moving.” He said, “You know white people must get on this bus.” I said, “You know colored people must get on this bus too.”

  —Mattie Jean Wilson, age 10

  Editor: Mattie Jan Wilson

  Assistant Editor—Shirley White

  Managing Editor—Jimmie R. Ratliff

  Circulation Manager—Janice Walton

  Reporter—Albert J. Evans

  Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party precinct meeting, Saturday, July 25, St. Paul’s Methodist Church on 5th Street at four o’clock.