I Came Out Of A Family Background

During The Depression Years, I Began To Identify To Some Extent With The Unemployed, The Organization For The Unemployed At That Period.

I Went To What Is Known As, And Was At That Time, Too, Shaw University In Raleigh, North Carolina. In Fact, Because Of The Lack Of Public School Facilities, I Began There. I Began Boarding School At The High School Level; In Fact, A Year Below The High School Level.

I Began To Feel That My Greatest Sense Of Success Would Raise The Level Of Masses Of People, Rather Than The Individual Being Accepted By The Establishment. So, This Kind Of Personal Thinking, Combined With, Say, Even The Little Bit More Radical Thinking - Because At One Time The Pacifist Movement Was A Very Radical Concept.

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Was More Politically Oriented. Part And Parcel Of The Initial Sncc Efforts Was To Not Only Go In For Voter Registration, But For Political Participation.

There Is Also The Danger In Our Culture That Because A Person Is Called Upon To Give Public Statements And Is Acclaimed By The Establishment, Such A Person Gets To The Point Of Believing That He Is The Movement.