Martin Luther King at Santa Rita

This is Collin Edwards Santa Rita prison is not a fortress like structure. There are no high stone walls around it. It's more like a prisoner of war camp the type you have undoubtedly seen in films like The Iron Horse and Stella 11 or is it Stella 15. Anyway there it is the acres of long low wooden huts barracks style spread over the landscape for it seems a mile alongside a desolate stretch of freeway and stretching back about a quarter mile into the countryside. And as you drive by you see the wooden watchtowers at intervals between the nearest line of huts and the barbed wire fence. I haven't seen anyone manning the stars at times I've driven by but they reinforce a prisoner of war camp feeling of the place and mental pictures of Nazi soldiers with machine guns and searchlights ready to gun down prisoners running for the while. Come automatically to one this is over dramatizing the atmosphere of the place of course. But I gather that what goes on inside sometimes bears parallels with

prisoner of war camps or perhaps one should say camps for political prisoners into territory and states for prisoners of war do have certain rights guaranteed them under the Geneva Conventions that are not granted to political prisoners. It was to see three of the prisoners at Santa Rita joined by her mother. And Iris and incarcerated there for 45 days for the nonviolent sit in at the Oakland induction center late last month that a very distinguished visitor appeared on Sunday afternoon January 14th. A day of heavy low gray clouds and scatterings of rain. Despite this rain a large crowd of sympathisers a couple of hundred I'd say had assembled about 50 yards down the narrow approach road from the entrance gate to greet Dr. Martin Luther King and demonstrate their support for Miss Baez and her fellow prisoners. After spending over an hour inside Dr. King spoke to the vigil outside.

Let me say how happy I am to see each of you here today. I want to commend you for your willingness to engage in this vigil and stand in the midst of this rather inclement weather. To express your support for all of those who have been arrested as a result of that courageous act resisting the tragic on fat and on just drab SYSTEM OF THE NATION. Was I had the opportunity of visiting my dear friend Joan Baez my mother. And dear friend Pearl. And they all send their greetings and best wishes to you.

And I might say they are in good spirits. You know when you go to jail for All right just cause. You can accept the inconveniences of jail. Whether kind of an office and so. Calm and in a sense of peace. And this is a way they are accepting that experience. They have supported us in a very real way and the struggle for civil rights struggle for freedom and human dignity all across the south. And I decided. That. And a way rather as an expression of my appreciation. For what they are doing for the peace movement and for what they have done for the civil rights movement. I would take time out of my schedule to come out. To see them to visit them and let them know that they have our absolute support. And I

might say that I see these two struggles as one struggle back and being. Back and beat justice without peace and back and be no peace without justice. People ask me from time to time are you getting out of your field to supposed to be working in civil rights. They go on to say that too is not to be mixed. And mounted. Sad I have been working too long and too hard now. Again segregated public accommodations to end up at this stage of my life segregating my moral concerns. By believe absolute truth that justice is indivisible. And injustice anywhere.

Is a threat to justice everywhere. And I want to make it very clear that I'm going to continue. With all of my might with all of my energy. And with all of my action to oppose bomb and Obote evil unjust war in Vietnam. Let's. Not let me say this I see some very dangerous trends developing. Countries of oppression and repression and some oppression. And I see a definite move on the part of the government to go all out now. To silence dissent and to try to crush the draft resistance movement. Now we cannot allow this to happen. And we've got to make

clear we have got to make it clear. That. To indict. The spot. Ought to end. Up below coffin and the other courageous souls that have been indicted. Will meet and died and all of us if they think that this draft resistance movement is going to be stopped. I'm not all scum can you have to work passionate unrelentingly. To end this cruel. And senseless war in Vietnam. I don't have to go through all of the things that this war is doing. To corrode the values of on nations of vice. Suffice it to say that the war in Vietnam. Has all but torn up. The Geneva Koran. It has strengthened the

military industrial complex of our nation and. It has exacerbated the tensions between continents and races and the war in Vietnam has placed our country in the position. Of being against the self determination. Of the Vietnamese people. And then it has played havoc. With our domestic destiny is it and I can never forget the fact that we spend. About $500000 to kill every intimate soldier in Vietnam and we spend on the About 53 dollars a year for every individual who is caught in the. Categorized as Paul the district and I call war against poverty which isn't even a good skirmish against pop up here and I must say that that is a great need not need for a revolution of values.

And I say if you are going to. And I say to you in conclusion that we must continue to stand up. And we must continue to follow the dictates of Oxycontin even if that means broken just a lone wolves. Thank you. Henry David Thoreau said in his essay on civil disobedience that non cooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as it is cooperation with good teaching and I do not plan to cooperate with evil at an airport. Somebody said to me that not too long ago. Dr. King ought to think you're hurting your leadership by taking a stand against a war in Vietnam on people. Who once

respected you gonna lose respect for you. And want to hurt the budget of your all going to the station. And I had to look at that person and say I'm sorry so you don't know by looking at the budget of the Southern Christian Leadership come from about taking our Gallup poll of the majority opinion. Oh timidly hidden you know when the lead up is not in such a fuckin census but he's a mold of consensus and on some positions how it is that the question Is it safe. Expedient sanest The question is it politic. Vanity ask the question is it popular. But conscience asked the question Is it a right. And there comes a time when one must take. The system that is neither safe nor politic not popular. What he must do it because conscience tells him it is right and that is where I stand

today and that is where I hope you will continue to stand so that we can speed up the day when Justice will roll down like waters all over the world and righteousness like a mighty stream and we will speed up the day when men will beat swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks and nations will not rise up against the nations neither will they spread a war any more and I close by saying as we sing and in the old Negro spiritual. I'm going to study war no more. Thank you thank you. What happened. Speak to something about his visit to a new city.

We had a very fruitful visit with Mrs.. As the visit was mainly there to express our support to the courage her willingness to stand up and face suffering and sacrifice and audit to make it clear that the position of the administration is totally wrong in Vietnam and I wanted to make it clear that Walsh should cease and people of goodwill must work to bring about an end to war everywhere. Do you anticipate any attempt to get her out before her time. No they don't know about that. They are supposed to be getting out on the 2nd of February I think they said they have no knowledge of any attempt to get her out any earlier than that I think when you're quoting her now. Well I made it very clear. Good job this is very extensive. The bitterness is there a date

and an audit to give that understandable anger they are kind of creative and constructive channel of expression. We've got to escalate violence to the point that we make it much more militant much more demanding and much more insistent even if it takes on the dimensions of civil disobedience. I feel that nonviolence must not be strong enough to be an alternative the riots on the one hand but also on the alternative to 10 that supplications a justice on the other drive. Will you clarify once and for all the reported statement that you have said that Adam Clayton Powell is the only man who can now save the nation. But I tell you there's so much confusion about what Mr. Powell said concerning my statements to him and my visit with and that I would rather not make a comment until I talk with him because the president has reported certain things trigger to Mr. Powell that I never say it

to him and I don't want to get into a public debate with him about what I said to him. I'd rather talk with him about that private call in your version What is your version of this conversation did you say anything like that to him. I don't know anything about. In a statement like that made to Mr. Powell. What did you say sir all we talked about many things I was to get a few days rest and spent a good deal of my time in them and in talking with Mr Powell I didn't go to ask for that specific purpose but after getting into running into him I did talk with him a good deal. We talked about the movie man we talked about and I mean the civil rights movement he talked about his unjust dismissal from Congress and I do think that was a grave injustice. I don't know a slap in the face he was a coward but to Nigro people generally but some of the other things that he stated at least as I have seen them in the press are things that I never said and I don't want to

say anything about it until I've talked with him because it could have been misquoted to invite him to speak in that letter. Yes we did talk about that I and when he told me he was coming to California I mentioned to him that would be a good thing for me to stop and fruits in my pulpit. And it lined up but we didn't get a chance to get back to that. So that didn't work out. That's going to stand by her coming to him and if you look at present while in the past the breaking point and you had alienated the masses the black masses. Well there again I wouldn't want to get into a debate about this. Not go to bed and had to confess in the sand I went to get some much needed rest said the Doctor the man did it again and I just ran into him in the process more committed to nonviolence and I have ever been and my life because I think it's only to this very difficult problem. I have seen scenes State men's where I misfile said I'll read it to

discuss nonviolence and I don't know why in the world he could have got that impression. As far as a million hating the masses of Negro people I think we would have to look at what is happening and face the fact that polls reveal both as polled in a recent poll by a Fortune magazine from 88 to 90 percent of the Negro people of America feel that my approach to the problem is the best fortune just came out last week. Eighty eight percent of the people felt that fortune was the best approach in dealing with the problem. And 92 said they trusted my leadership more than anybody else so I think I would be that and so other than saying that I've alienated the masses and I think I'm going right back to Atlanta Georgia. Be that a two day workshop with my staff and give them the space to go into 15 communities where we will be

mobilizing people by the thousands for massive mobilization in Washington on the president going in and we plan to meet again and able we will be meeting for two days tomorrow and Tuesday going through our whole program and techniques of organization so that they can move into these communities and the US they don't like even the violence of a hundred thousand people and we're going to start out with the core group of 3000 and we're gonna spend at least two counting them through the discipline of now. We feel that if you can get the initial group committed to tactical nonviolence at least nonviolence can be as contagious as volunteers. The main thing is to get your core group committed and this is why we want to spend at least two months training them in the discipline of probably stay in Washington D.C.. Well we've gone to stay until something is

done about these conditions is intolerable conditions we're going to have certain specific demands which we're working on now and we're going to stand watch and until we get an answer that we consider meaningful good faith forthright and sort of deal with these problems. You think there'd be violence in Chicago this summer during the Democratic convention there. I can't say the group speaking of having demonstrations around the convention which I think is a good idea but I haven't had a chance to meet with any of the groups so far and I would hope that the demonstrations will be large numerical or strong in order to be effective. But I would also hope that they will be nonviolent and coward. Do you intend to make a statement about Mr. Stanford who intends to refuse to be inducted in the draft Wednesday. Dr. King I'm not aware of that I would have to.

And dogs here stood on you with bad breath in the stand he reasoned and to a bit of to you doesn't exist. Oh I was you could pull up roots and look there. Well son now always support this kind of act of conscience I have strong there and DOS died on encourage young men who come to me for advice to refuse to be drafted into the contents of the detectors if they feel that this was I'm just as I have been before he was the reaction of the people inside a prison. I mean this guy as well as you could talk to his faith as good as I talk to voters by Best Buy I was a member of the globe I'm going to you know now I'm in are a sign for all the money. And as I said I have spirits of a han think feel that David Harris is joining Dr King and I know I did. Not feel her way of going into one of the.

Jail that's good. I'm. Just an expert. One of our witnesses are made that very clear going to do that they are going on what are they going you know actions and I'm sure they will they've already been and some of his cousins were those on it and I'm sure we'll have asked for a bold mar a man physically and want to sorry we had a meeting just to go to there. They have they have to be all this in this area so glad to meet you soon. Yes you could make mincemeat morning if you're still out here. Oh I'm so sorry we've got to leave. That's a lot a lot I have a two day meeting in that lunch and no I'll be with you and my moral support and and my concern and I appreciate that car and I get my love there when the time don't stand for any of the rag a friend of mine. It's again everything. Me I'm very aware that if you have a world view feel rather warm real and not want to endure. A lot of fear of

accusing them of this you fair letters on grouses you will never know what I think I'm thinking just a Latino following with like the old an old friend and he lept. Are. Loaded with media kicked. Out. Of the ground swell and all white. It is a great groundswell of sentiment for you to run for office so I couldn't get that president and Dr. King has to leave. It's gotten into the car and it's not driving away but he did meet David Harris and he upheld the Hiroshima Peace talks that informal press conference got rather far away from the object of the vigil and of Dr. King's visit that is model support for the pacifists held in Santa Rita. So let me bring you

now a recording I made earlier that afternoon with Paula Bloom one of the many people beside Dr. King who went in hoping to see friends among the imprisoned anti-war demonstrators. What the situation is everyone able to see the visitors. On the women's side the visits are going as normal but those of us who want to visit people on the men's side stood in line for an hour and were finally told that male demonstrators would not be allowed visitors today not even those on the approved list. That's correct that nobody would in actual fact about three or four people did get in and apparently by mistake when they got the cards confused. But their. Official Answer If there was one was that the people who really have to decide this aren't here today but the men haven't really been very cooperative and so we're not going to let them have their bill. Others to do They were punished today in a way I don't know where

they really looked up from this privilege of receiving business. Well they haven't had any business privileges at all before. But when the main portion of the demonstrators were taken out finish their sentences they move the men who were left in to Greystone which is the maximum security area in which men traditionally get regular mail privileges and visiting privileges. They're simply locked up to want to sell the talk to all the demonstrators remain out and I think that those English descent. Yes that's true I know I resent it I think that all of the demonstrators with perhaps one or two exceptions were moved into the maximum security area. That was Paula Bloom outside the entrance gate to Santa Rita Sunday afternoon generally 14th this is colonnade woods.