Page 40 - Hasan News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

And if they're the majority, this county has been run by 20% of the people who are white, who have seized power illegally and who have maintained power through all sorts of terroristic manners. the rest of the country ask now that these black people get with these white people and reform these white people. and i say to the black people that we don't have to bear the cross for them, let us form our own party and let them take care of their own business. so we form our own party and we seek power. we don't seek integration. that's irrelevant to what we want. we want power. and this is the way w...

That our desire to have black people, not only vote, but being in control, was something they saw as a fundamental threat. we saw it as a fundamental necessity. - [hasan] they had to meet the same day as the democratic primary, and the may 3rd, 1966, democratic primary was the first primary in the south since the voting rights act. you have african americans who are running against segregationists. well, as it turns out, those black democrats essentially all lose, that white, moderate, alabama vote, that we still waiting on, never materialized. and so all that's left are these black panthers. ...

- [john] those people knew what happened. they was ready to go again. was waiting on '68. that was '66. - [lillian] and every aspect of the political arena, you wanted some black person in there to plead our cause. see what's going on. - [courtland] there was no turning back. the concept that people who lived in that county who were black should not only vote, but they should be in power. - [ruby] lowndes county was moving on with its own rhythm. and it was time for us to begin to think about where we would go. - [hasan] sncc organizers were guided by this belief that "our job is to work ourse...

That is an attempt on the part of the white power structure to keep any kind of organization from taking place there and to keep our workers out, but i want you to know that this isn't going to stop us. we are going to lowndes county in a few minutes. (applause) - [mlk] so they're not gonna let 'em have the money if they're registered. - [hasan] black folk in lowndes county are not waiting for somebody to descend into the county and lead them to freedom. they are looking for help. they are looking for those who have some experience

- [stokely] my emphasis is in this march, the momentum from this march is what sncc is gonna deal with. we're gonna use that momentum in the counties, which we go through to organize black people, to take over the political structures in those counties. they're gonna seize the power in those counties. - [hasan] as that march begins to take place. sncc organizers are fanning out into the cotton fields saying, "yes, we need to register the vote, but we also need to have a program around which we can organize." and ricks is going out and coming back and reporting like, "look, we had a mass meetin...