"this is a special presentation of american experience." "major funding for american experience with captioning is provided by the alfred p. sloan foundation." "national corporate funding is provided by liberty mutual and the scotts company." "american experience is also made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by:" "funding for the re-release of eyes on the prize made possible by:" "and:" "♪ i know the one thing we did right ♪" "♪ was the day we started to fight ♪" "♪ keep your eyes on the prize ♪" "♪ hold on, hold on ♪" "♪ keep your eyes on the prize ♪" "♪ hold on. ♪ it's hard to be black in a world controlled by white folks." "dubois said we always have the double consciousness." "we're trying to be black and meanwhile you've got a white ghost hovering over your head that says," ""if you don't do this, you'll get killed;" ""if you don't do this, you won't get no money;" ""if you don't do this," ""nobody will think you're beautiful;" "if you don't do this, nobody will think you're smart."" "that's the ghost." "you're trying to be black and the ghost is telling you to be a ghost." "narrator:" "for almost four centuries, american negroes were judged by white standards of beauty, culture, and learning." "to be accepted, many downplayed their african features and rejected their cultural heritage." "but times were changing." "♪ poetry is black ♪" "♪ poetry is black people, you know ♪" "♪ black people like black poetry ♪" "♪ black people like you and me, movin' and groovin'... ♪ narrator:" "in the 1960s, negroes celebrated their own standards." "they were blacks in america, and black was beautiful." "woman:" "can you really imagine whole generations living and dying and never once having loved themselves?" "that's what we tried to change when we moved into the black arts, black culture, black consciousness movement." "i said, "never again will i allow anyone" ""to live and walk on the planet earth and not like what they are, what they be."" "narrator:" "this struggle for black pride was galvanized by the national civil rights movement." "now, black americans began to demand respect on their own terms." "among them was cassius marcellus clay." "clay had won the olympic gold medal in 1960." "four years later, he challenged sonny liston for the heavyweight championship of the world." "i'm not going to get knocked out." "if he whups me, you tell this to your camera, your tv man, your radio man, and you right there in the whole world." "if sonny liston whups me, i'll kiss his feet in the ring." "i'll bow down in the ring on my knees, tell him he's the greatest and catch the next jet out of the country!" "that's what i think about sonny liston!" "narrator:" "liston was considered a devastating heavyweight." "he had won the title with a first-round knockout." "i'm for real, man." "liston:" "i'm for real." "you just get past patterson." "come on, ranked number two." "sloan's gonna fall in five or in four." "man, i don't get hit." "i'm the fastest thing on two feet, man." "man:" "i thought liston would absolutely take this kid apart and just kill him." "i mean, liston was an absolute thug." "and the very idea of this spindly kid from louisville just out of the olympics going in there with liston who'd had so many fights in and out of the ring and having a chance was impossible for anybody to digest." "i saw sonny liston a few days ago, cassius." "ain't he ugly?" "he's too ugly to be the world's champ." "the world's champ should be pretty, like me." "well, he told me to bet my life that you wouldn't go three rounds." "well, if you want to lose your money, then bet on sonny." "what percentage of the fans who are coming to see you fight sonny liston, what percentage of the fans do you feel will be coming to see him and what percentage do you feel will be coming to see you?" "well, 100% will be coming to see me, but 99% will be coming to see me get beat." "do you really feel that way?" "because they think i talk too much." "i remember when i was in high school, the teachers at my high school didn't like him because he was so anti-establishment and he kind of thumbed his nose at authority and got away with it." "and they didn't like that at all." "the fact that he was proud to be a black man and that he was, uh, had so much talent and could enjoy it in a way that was not seen to be... that didn't have the dignity" "that they assud that it should have." "i think that was something that really made certain people love him and made other people think that he was, he was dangerous." "narrator:" "for many, clay's friendship with malcolm x was especially threatening." "malcolm x was national spokesman for a black religious organization, the nation of islam." "we teach you to obey the law." "we teach you to carry yourselves in a respectable way." "but at the same time, we teach you that anyone who puts his hand on you, do your best to see that he doesn't put it on anybody else." "( cheering ) narrator:" "the nation of islam taught black pride, self-reliance and self-defense." "many saw it as a militant, separatist group." "one of the fight promoters got nervous." "man:" "and he came to me, he says," ""angelo, unless cassius marcellus clay" ""refutes the reports out of chicago that he's not a muslim, i'm going to cancel the fight."" "so, i said, "well, geez, i'll talk to the kid."" "and i said, "better still, you go talk to the kid."" "and i made him go off into another area and speak to the fighter." "so cassius came back, and i'm sitting in the office." "he says, "ange, i don't think we're going to have a fight."" "i said, "why?"" "he said, "well, because they want me to say i'm not a muslim, and i am a muslim."" "you ain't got a chance!" "narrator:" "clay refused to deny his religion." "but with millions of dollars at stake, promoters went ahead with the bout." "i predict that tonight somebody will die at ringside from shock!" "( crowd cheering ) announcer:" "sonny has a big mark below his left eye." "he's getting hit with all the punches in the book!" "( bell rings )" "( bell rings ) they might be stopping it!" "that might be all, ladies and gentlemen!" "get up there, joe!" "get up there, get up in the ring!" "( wild cheering ) come here." "i'm the greatest thing that ever lived!" "and i don't have a mark on my face and i upset sonny liston, and i just turned 22 years old!" "i must be the greatest!" "i am the king of the world." "hold it, hold it, hold it." "i'm pretty!" "you're not that pretty." "i'm a bad man." "i shook up the world, i shook up the world!" "clay:" "and after beating sonny liston and after becoming champion, i no longer had to talk to convince people that i was the best, because they knew it." "narrator:" "clay publicly confirmed his membership in the nation of islam." "muslim leader elijah muhammad required his followers to drop the family names originally imposed by slave masters." "heavyweight champion cassius clay was no exception." "islam is an old, old religion." "man:" "my father called me that night and asked me, did i know how to get in touch with cassius clay?" "and he told me to get in touch whenever i could and let him know that his name has been changed." "he was changing his name from cassius marcellus clay to muhammad ali." "when muhammad ali joined the nation, it was a continuation of what we knew was happening already." "everyone had seen malcolm down in his camp." "everyone had seen..." "knew that he was teaching him, instructing him at that particular time." "so when he changed his name, we said very simply, "that's his name."" "when people, in fact, when people called him cassius clay, we would say, "that's not his name." ""call the brother by his name-- his name is muhammad ali." "go on, do it, get it, walk on."" "and we were very pleased and very happy." "what's in a name?" "the thing with me was the individual." "but the tough, tough thing about it, really, was that it was such a pretty name." "we had nurtured it and played it up, you know, "cassius marcellus clay."" "and then we used to rhyme on it." "it was a beautiful name." "and then he changed it to muhammad ali." "people resented that, you know-- why?" "why?" "a lot of people wouldn't call him." "to me, he was still the same individual, same guy." "and i actually, i didn't know what a muslim was, really." "because i thought it was a piece of cloth." "cassius clay is a name no more, is that right?" "yes, sir, it's muhammad ali." ""muhammad" means "worthy of all praises"" "and "ali" means "most high" in the asian-african language." "how long have you had the name?" "well, for about..." "two weeks now." "anybody special gave you the name?" "yes, sir, my leader and teacher, the most honorable elijah muhammad." "( african drumming )" "narrator:" "in the spring of 1964, ali traveled through ghana, nigeria and egypt." "jabir herbert muhammad:" "they received him as though he was the president of their country or a king, actually." "in fact, in ghana i thought i might even get killed, there's so many people was running to ali." "i ran away from him to save my life." "and the same thing happened in egypt." "narrator:" "ali returned to his boxing career in the states." "in 1965, he entered a war of words with former heavyweight champion floyd patterson." "man:" "i just expressed the way i felt about the things he believed, and he expressed the way he felt about the things i believed." "i only did this because of, uh, some of the derogatory things he was saying about my beliefs." "he called me a white man's champion, and i resented that." "narrator:" "a devout catholic, patterson was seen as a humble and gracious fighter." "for many in america, he was a more acceptable champion than the boastful muhammad ali, a black muslim." "ali:" "so i would say i'm a better champion for america than floyd patterson, and i am the real champion." "i go all throughout the streets, everywhere, meeting all the people." "i would say i'm the real champion." "narrator:" "ali and patterson took their fight to the ring in november 1965." "well, it was a good guy/ bad guy situation where patterson was a well-loved individual, and he's fighting muhammad ali." "floyd always had this thing about saying, "cassius, cassius, cassius," you know." "and it gets to be a rub after a while." "his name was muhammad ali." "the fight with patterson-- my kid was doing a number on him, saying, "what's my name?" pop!" ""what's my name?" pop!" "i felt sorry for floyd because muhammad did a number on him." "narrator:" "in 12 rounds, ali defeated patterson and again proved his right to the title." "his next major fight would take place outside the ring." "( helicopters, gunfire )" "by december 1965, america had committed 180,000 troops to the escalating war in vietnam." "( gunfire ) four months after he defeated patterson, america's heavyweight champion was drafted." "ali requested deferment as a minister of islam and a conscientious objector." "he added his voice to the small but growing opposition, black and white, to the war." "ali:" "the real enemies of my people are right here, not in vietnam." "we who follow the most honorable elijah muhammad take no parts in wars." "as the holy koran teaches us, we take parts in no wars on the side of infidels or christians or non-believers in islam;" "no wars unless it's declared by almighty god allah himself or his messengers." "narrator:" "ali was training for an upcoming fight in illinois." "the state athletic commission demanded that he apologize for remarks they considered unpatriotic." "if he refused, the commission would cancel the fight." "man:" "what about your unpatriotic remarks that you made?" "i apologize for saying things to the newspapers that i should have said to the, uh, government officials or to the draft board, rather, i mean to say." "i apologize for opening my mouth and saying things that should have been taken up with them and not with just, uh, newspaper writers over the telephone." "commissioners, do you have any questions to ask of the witness?" "man:" "mr. clay... muhammad ali, sir." "mr. clay... muhammad ali, sir." "or mr. muhammad ali, either one." "just muhammad ali, sir." "when you appeared before this commission... narrator:" "the fight was cancelled." "ali's next four bouts took place outside the united states." "when all made his statement that he was not going to be a party to an unjust war against the viet cong, uh, vietnam, the viet cong people, that, uh, it was a backlash from the white community." "some of them would call him all times of night, threaten to blow up his house." "they would throw rocks at his house." "some would even drive by in cars, hollering and drunk and shooting at his place and different things like that." "we feel like... if we send a boy from owens county and draft him for the armed forces, we feel like what's good for the goose is good for the gander." "they should go." "the entertainers and the so- called ministers should go, too." "mr. muhammad ali is from louisville, kentucky." "did you know that?" "yep." "he was born in louisville, kentucky." "do you know what's happening in louisville, kentucky, today?" "they're marching for open housing." "they're marching for open occupancy." "now, here's a black man who can't live where he wants to live in kentucky, and the honky's going to send him to vietnam to fight for freedom for vietnamese people." "( cheers ) well, i think that he's hurting, i think, the morale of a lot of young negro soldiers over in vietnam." "and the tragedy to me is that cassius has made millions of dollars off of the american public, and now he's not willing to show his appreciation to a country that is giving him, in my view," "a fantastic opportunity, hurts a great number of people." "narrator:" "ali's requests for deferment were denied." "he was ordered to report to the houston draft board." "refusal to serve could mean five years in prison." "what might this do to your boxing career?" "no comments on the boxing career, no comments on nothing." "i just face the judge." "and that's all i have to face is the judge." "jabir herbert muhammad:" "before ali was to appear before the induction board, he called me that morning as he do most mornings or most nights and he was asking me, you know, like, "what do you think is going to happen?"" "i think ali was already convinced in his own conscience that he was going to stand up for his principles, but he always liked to bounce it off to me how i felt about it because we also realized the repercussion" "that this could have about his career." "narrator:" "april 28, 1967." "ali arrived at the houston induction center." "apparently, you still have a little bit of humor left in you." "and the people who were to be inducted that day came in." "i explained to them that as i called their name, they would take a step forward and that step forward would constitute their induction in the u.s. army." "okay, so then i started down through the list, starting with the a's." "army always starts with the a's and ends with the z's." "so i started with the a's." "and when i got down to the m's, muhammad ali... i said, "muhammad ali," and i looked him in the eye, wondering if he was going to do it." "and he didn't do anything." "then i called, "cassius clay," and he didn't do anything." "because we wanted to make sure that the name was correct ladies and gentlemen, mr." "muhammad ali has just refused to be inducted into the united states armed forces." "notification of his refusal is being made to the united states attorney, the state director of the selective service system, and the local selective service board for whatever action deemed to be appropriate." "narrator:" "ali was sentenced to five years in prison." "he appealed the decision." "for many, ali remained a popular figure." "but his struggle cost him the heavyweight title." "until the courts made a decision, he was effectively banned from boxing." "ali:" "i would like to say to those of the press and those of the people who think that i lost so much by not taking the step-- i would like to say that i did not lose a thing." "up until this very moment, i haven't lost one thing." "i have gained a lot." "number one... ( applause ) number one, i have gained a peace of mind." "( cheering, applause ) i have gained a peace of heart." "man:" "give the champ our good wishes." "narrator:" "in 1970, the supreme court overturned ali's conviction." "it was an expensive victory." "ali had lost three years at the height of his career." "but four years later, he defeated george foreman in zaire." "at the age of 32, ali was once again heavyweight champion of the world." "man:" "but he was the genuine product of the moment." "he was the best example." "he was the negro kid who came up in the black moment, who was cassius clay and then became muhammad ali, that took on all of the characteristics and was the embodiment of the thrust of the movement." "he was courageous." "he put his class issues on the line." "he didn't care about money." "he didn't care about the "white man's success"" "and the things that you aspire to." "he brought america to its most wonderful and its most naked moment." ""i will not play your game." ""i will not kill in your behalf." ""you are immoral, unjust, and i stand here to attest to it." "now do with me what you will."" "and he was terribly, terribly powerful and delicious and he made it, he made it." "narrator:" "muhammad ali had forced america to recognize him on his own terms." "in the mid-1960s, black students demanded that same recognition from howard university in washington, d.c." "howard was a prestigious black institution that had provided leadership for the civil rights movement." "man:" "the whole attitude of the civil rights movement was shifting, and howard wasn't shifting with it." "the attitude was that, uh... one of integration, of assimilation, and the whole movement was beginning to shift towards one of self-identity and self-empowerment and howard was resisting that as opposed to carrying that forward." "you've got to conform to the society in which you live." "you've got to live within it or outside of it." "you can't straddle the fence." "now, are you going to live outside of the american culture or are you going to live within it?" "as long as you stay in america, you've got to conform." "what else can you do?" "( violin music ) narrator:" "for nearly a century, howard graduates had been trained to compete with their white counterparts on every level-- educational, cultural, social." "by the 1960s, half the nation's black physicians and a fourth of its black lawyers were howard graduates." "known as "the black harvard,"" "howard mirrored white schools in many ways, including curriculum." "few courses focused on black history or culture." "( marching band music ) howard's annual homecoming celebration, october 1966." "four months earlier, black power had become a rallying cry for many in the civil rights movement." "at howard, five women ran for homecoming queen." "among them was robin gregory." "woman:" "she had an afro, which, of course, was the statement that she made physically." "and robin talked about the movement." "robin talked about black politics." "robin was not the traditional homecoming queen candidate." "i felt it was real important at that time, you know, because the black power movement was new, that we, as a people, begin to accept ourselves, you know, just as who we were, because over the years, i mean," "there was a tremendous amount of shame, you know." "we were made to feel ugly, essentially, by media images and things that people told us and we did everything that we could so that we wouldn't look like who we are, which was, you know, descendants of african people." "narrator:" "the campaign lasted two weeks." "on election night, the auditorium was packed." "giddings:" "i remember very much the evening when the homecoming queen was crowned." "the lights went down." "the candidates went back." "then you heard the curtains open, and you heard the crank of the revolving stage begin." "and as the stage revolved and turned around toward the audience, the lights began to come up at the same time." "well, before you saw robin, you saw the way the lights cast a silhouette on the curtains and you saw the silhouette of her afro before you saw her." "well, the auditorium exploded, and everybody exploded." "it was a wonderful moment." "people started jumping up and screaming and some were raising their fists." "then, spontaneously, a chant began." "the chant was, "umgawa, black power, umgawa, black power."" "and a chain was created." "people started to march to it, to the rhythm of "umgawa, black power,"" "and there was a line that went all the way around the auditorium." "and more and more people joined the line." "i did, too, as it went around the auditorium and finally out the door and into the streets of washington, d.c., past the campus and still chanting, "umgawa, black power."" "and that was really the launching of that movement at howard." "narrator:" "the movement grew." "in april 1967, a student black power group invited muhammad ali to speak at howard." "ali:" "see, we have been brainwashed." "everything good and of authority was made white." "we look at jesus, we see a white with blond hair and blue eyes." "we look at all the angels, we see white with blond hair and blue eyes." "now, i'm sure if there's a heaven in the sky and the colored folks die and go to heaven, where are the colored angels?" "they must be in the kitchen preparing the milk and honey." "( laughing, cheers ) we look at miss america, we see white." "we look at miss world, we see white." "we look at miss universe, we see white." "even tarzan, the king of the jungle in black africa, he's white!" "( applause and cheers )" "narrator:" "over the next three semesters, students and some faculty pushed howard to proclaim itself a black institution." "they demanded more courses in black culture and history." "they demonstrated against military training on campus." "a protest against the war in vietnam led student government leaders to denounce fellow students." "it has been apparent that throughout the year, certain elements have attempted to transform howard university into a haven of black power and a center of race controversy." "while we recognize the need for negroes to organize politically and socially and many of us here have led vital demonstrations for the people, any tendency to disrupt the normal processes of this university and accepted standards of society cannot be condoned." "as a student leader, you felt like you were being pulled apart, pulled in different directions by what you thought the right way to deal with the problem was as opposed to what the popular opinions on campus happen to reflect:" "a much more militant attitude on the part of some students in dealing with the administration;" "techniques and tactics that were directly coming from the broader civil rights struggle off the campus, and you had to feel like this was not necessarily going to work on a university campus." "bob dylan:" "♪ come, senators, congressmen, please heed the call ♪" "♪ don't stand in the doorway, don't block up the hall... ♪ narrator:" "throughout america, students were confronting the nation's inaction on civil rights and its involvement in the vietnam war." "as protest escalated, so did conflict between students and police." "during a civil rights protest in february 1968, three unarmed black students were shot and killed by police in orangeburg, south carolina." "then what we were doing at howard and the dangers there seemed minimal compared to what other people were willing to face for the same kind of reasons." "narrator:" "students at howard moved with a new urgency." "they issued a manifesto." "it demanded that howard move toward the students' vision of a black institution." "the students set a deadline for the administration's response." "♪ oh, the times, they are a-changin'. ♪ black:" "it was almost unheard of in those days to place demands on administrators, but yet people demanded the resignation of the president and the dean of liberal arts and the vice president of the university." "many of the elected student government leaders would have gone that far." "narrator:" "in march 1968, protesters went farther." "when the university failed to respond to the manifesto, 1,200 students took over the administration building." "( chanting ):" "...umgawa, black power." "beep, beep, bang, bang, umgawa, black power." "beep, beep, bang, bang, umgawa, black power." "beep, beep, bang, bang, umgawa, black power." "beep, beep, bang, bang, umgawa, black power." "beep, beep, bang, bang, umgawa, black power." "woman:" "this is a press release issued by the students who are staging the sit-in in the administration building." "if howard university persuades the federal government to serve an injunction against us, many of us will stay in the administration building and be arrested." "man:" "can't hear you." "i'm sorry, brother." "we feel that the administration must give some public indication that they will move to establish democracy and a black-oriented curriculum before we can discontinue our protest." "our position is legitimate, and we must continue to push for all of our demands." "specifically, the black issue was that howard should exist for the benefit of the black community;" "that it ought to be involved in economic change and political change;" "that it had a mission, let's say, or a purpose, a goal that didn't allow it just to be a place where you came and got a liberal education and became a member of the middle class" "and went on with no consciousness." "it was, for all practical purposes, a black university." "i don't know how it could have been more black, and i'm not sure what they were trying to say." "but howard provided a mainstream education which prepared people to be competitive in every field." "i don't recognize, and i don't think the world recognizes, that there is any black physics." "there's no black engineering, there's no black medicine." "so that the mission of the university was to train students to be competitive and competent in whatever field." "man:" "why are we out here?" "this building is just like washington, d.c.... narrator:" "news of the takeover spread throughout washington." "on capitol hill, legislators reminded the press that congress was responsible for more than half of howard's annual funding." "man:" "i am shocked and dismayed by the situation that has developed at howard university here in the nation's capitol." "i believe that citizens throughout the country who believe in democratic processes, who cherish an orderly society and who, with the tax dollars which they pay, support this nation's institutions of higher learning, will be outraged by the fact that it has become necessary," "temporarily at least, to close this institution because of a student uprising that can only be described as anarchy." "narrator:" "the following day, student leaders telephoned members of howard's board of trustees." "man:" "i was primarily concerned with protecting the students and the university from chaos and violence." "they were organized, and they had taken over a couple of the buildings and they seemed quite persistent and insistent." "and a few of us on the board felt that if we didn't establish some communication with them that things would get worse and worse and worse." "we want to make howard university a university which is quite relevant to the black community." "we want howard not shut off from georgia avenue and 14th street." "we want howard university to stand as a pinnacle of black america as far as education is concerned." "you know, we're talking about howard university." "we're talking about black people-- black people asking for freedom and more rights." "we don't care what happens at white universities." "reporter:" "realistically, realistically, how long can you sit in this building?" "indefinitely." "realistically, we're going to stay here until, you know, we get what we want." "at some point, the university trustees and administration, they wanted to negotiate." "they wanted to sit and talk with us to find out what was going on." "and so we put together a negotiating team, and the team was headed by adrienne manns." "and so we were going back and forth, back and forth on a lot of issues." "and it came down to two that were a problem." "first was nabrit's resignation." "and the trustees told us that he planned to retire the next year so that they felt there was no need to ask him to resign." "and secondly, was on the matter of "black," the word "black."" "we wanted howard to make a statement about its commitment to the black community, to the welfare of the black community." "and the trustees said, no, they couldn't do that." "narrator:" "the takeover had entered its third day." "students expected to be evicted by the washington, d.c., police, a force that was predominantly white." "despite the bravado, many feared police action on campus." "♪ tell the d.c. cops that we shall not be moved ♪" "♪ tell the d.c. cops that we shall not be moved ♪" "♪ just like the tree that's standing by the water... ♪ clark:" "i felt strongly that we should do everything within our power to keep police from coming into this conflict or coming on campus, because i had images of police using their nightsticks and their bludgeons, and worse, really." "i had been in october '67 at the pentagon for the big peace march." "and i'd seen how they had beat those people at the pentagon." "you know, young white people." "and i said, if they'll do that to them, narrator:" "by the fourth day, trustees were ready to take legal action." "against the students." "clark pleaded with the students to end their protest." "he told them the trustees would not accept the students' definition of a black university, but they would give students a greater voice in developing the curriculum." "we talked about it that night, and that morning we got up and we went down, and we said, you know, "it's time for us to go."" "and we gave our reasons why we should go." "and we asked all the press to leave who were there." "and we had open mike so a student can come up and they could say whether they were for it, whether they were against it, whatever the reason." "that went on for about an hour, an hour and a half, two hours." "we took a voice vote, and the agreement was that we should go." "man:" "mr. brown, would you call howard a black university now?" "no, howard is not a black university now." "man:" "is there a possibility that it will be?" "we are working towards that end." "but we have made a major move, in our protest here, to move howard towards becoming a black university." "howard is well on its way towards becoming a black university-- the type of black university we want to see." "if we didn't believe that, we would not have come out of that building." "we are concerned first with these young people, the students of howard university, as human beings, and we are identified with them as human beings." "narrator:" "the students ended their takeover." "it had lasted five days." "police had not intervened." "the following semester, howard university sponsored a national conference called "toward a black university."" "it energized a growing black studies movement throughout the country." "( singing to the tune of "study war no more" )" "♪ down by the honky's store ♪" "♪ down by the honky's store ♪" "♪ down by the honky's store ♪" "♪ gonna lay down my shuffling shoes ♪" "♪ down by the honky's store ♪" "♪ and i ain't gonna shuffle no more ♪" "♪ i ain't gonna shuffle no more ♪" "♪ i ain't gonna shuffle no more. ♪" ""i am the resurrection and the life, saith the lord." ""he that believeth in me" ""though he were dead, yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth..."" "narrator:" "twelve days after the take-over at howard, martin luther king was assassinated." "anger tore through american cities." "it was the nation's fifth year of civil unrest." "crowd:" "we want nixon!" "narrator:" "in november of 1968, republican richard m. nixon was elected president." "his campaign had called for law and order." "nixon:" "we've been putting out billions of dollars for programs for federal jobs and federal housing and federal welfare, and i'll tell you what we've reaped." "we've reaped a harvest of riot and frustration and failure." "and now they want to put billions more into the same programs, and i say no." "my friends, i say when you're on a wrong road, you get off of it and you take a new road." "many of us had experienced great expectations and hope during the great society and programs of the '60s and civil rights and so forth." "we saw nixon's election as taking away those gains." "we saw the system moving away from a commitment to people and hunger and housing and political empowerment." "narrator:" "the nixon years saw a rise in government repression of black activists at the national and local levels." "for example, i was put in jail one night because my signal light didn't work." "another time i was put in jail because the registration of my car was not in my glove compartment but in the trunk, in my briefcase and they wouldn't allow me to get my briefcase out of the trunk." "but what it prevented me from doing was having a rally that night." "it prevented me from organizing." "whoa, what can it be?" "what can it be, whoa whoa be, what can it be?" "oh, that's holding me, what can it be that's holding, holding me, holding me from from from getting free?" "whoa whoa whoa do you, do you, do you know?" "narrator:" "new visions were emerging." "black nationalists like poet imamu amiri baraka called for a black unity based on common concerns and a shared african heritage." "all them big black bad bad me's need, need, need to hook up, hook-hook-hook up, into a bad black we, a bad, bad, a black, black black we, yeah a bad we, yeah, yeah, a bad bad we, see?" "yeah, we, a we, a bad, bad black devil jamming we, yeah." "narrator:" "march 10, 1972." "black nationalists and elected officials, often at odds, put aside their differences to hold a national black political convention." "it took place in gary, indiana, a city run by a black mayor." "chavis:" "i remember when we first saw the sign saying "welcome to gary"" "and we got downtown gary, i mean, we thought we were in a different country." "i mean, to see a city in the united states, given the backdrop, now, of all this nixon repression going on-- a sense of disillusionment in some quarters of the nation, to drive into gary, indiana," "and see streamers, red, black and green, and "welcome, national black political convention."" "i mean, it was a fulfillment of what a lot of our dreams were." "narrator:" "8,000 people arrived in gary." "nearly half were delegates representing over 45 states." "their goal: to develop a national black agenda that would set priorities for black america." "but not every black organization was represented." "woman:" "one of our n.a.a.c.p. leaders came to the convention and he opposed to our being there, and he was saying that we were separating ourselves." "but we didn't see it that way." "there was a sense of alienation from the democratic party-- democrats taking us for granted, republicans writing us off-- and the agenda items for jobs and peace and justice would no longer be an afterthought for some other party or some other person." "there was a sense that we had to assert this new dynamic." "narrator:" "expectations were high on saturday as mayor richard hatcher opened the convention." "man:" "it was probably one of the most glorious moments of my life when i walked out and saw all of these black people of every color, every hue, every shade;" "the colorful dashikis and other african garb that some of them wore mixing with three-piece suits, and so forth." "it was just an incredible sight to behold." "i believe that the '70s will be the decade of an independent black political thrust." "its destiny will depend upon us here at gary this afternoon." "how shall we respond?" "will we walk in unity or disperse in a thousand different directions?" "will we stand for principle or settle for a mess of potage?" "will we maintain our integrity or will we succumb to "the man's" temptation?" "will we act like free black men or like timid, shivering chattels?" "will we do what must be done?" "these are the questions confronting this convention, and we-- you and i-- are the only ones that can answer them and history will be the judge." "thank you." "jesse jackson:" "we are pregnant!" "we are ready for change." "and whether a doctor is there or not, the water has broke." "the blood has spilled." "a new black baby is gonna be born!" "we know who our parents are." "their baby has now been born." "we are grown-- we ain't taking' it no more." "no more "yessir, boss," no more bowing and scraping." "we are 25 million strong." "cut us in or cut it out." "it is a new ball game!" "narrator:" "the crowd began calling for "nationtime."" "jackson:" "what time is it?" "when we come together, what time is it?" "delegates:" "nationtime!" "when we respect each other, what time is it?" "delegates:" "nationtime!" "when we get our self-confidence, what time is it?" "when we form our own political party, what time is it?" "delegates:" "nationtime!" "( cheering ) jackson:" "i had drawn much of the strength of nationtime from a poem written by leroi jones, amiri baraka at that time." "the sense of people saying, what's happening?" "saying, nothing's happening, man." "saying, what's really happening?" "it's nationtime, it's time to come together." "it's time to organize politically." "it's time for partnership." "it was an enormously exciting experiment and an idea." "could we come together, this diverse group?" "and in the absence of the glue that held it together previously-- meaning dr. king, meaning malcolm x-- in the absence of those leaders, and particularly dr. king, what would emerge out of this?" "could there be a consensus?" "narrator:" "the convention's theme was unity without uniformity." "but agreement on a single black agenda would be difficult." "man:" "chair recognizes a gentleman from ohio, mr. mclynn." "mr. mclynn:" "mr. speaker, i move that nominations be closed." "crowd:" "no!" "narrator:" "congressman charles diggs attempted to close nominations for convenor." "but many delegates had been shut out of other political conventions." "they were determined to be heard at gary." "diggs:" "all those in favor of closing the nominations signify by saying "aye."" "crowd:" "no!" "opposed "nay"." "crowd:" "nay!" "diggs:" "in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it." "( crowd yells "no!" )" "chavis:" "and unfortunately, diggs misread the crowd." "because when he said, "the chair rules that the nominations are closed"-- hey, pandemonium broke out." "we wanted an open convention, not a repressed convention, and so diggs, you know, got himself in some hot water." "and it took amiri baraka, imamu baraka, to come with his version of african consensus." "i remember baraka's statement." "he said, "now, sisters and brothers," ""we must use some scientific process" ""to bring this gathering together so that we can achieve our objectives."" "but it was the way that baraka said it." "he didn't say it arrogantly." "he said it caringly." "i wasn't an elected official." "i wasn't a mayor, or i wasn't a congressman, but i was a black nationalist." "i was an activist." "and i thought a lot of those people had come to gary because of our organizing, our pleading with people to come and be part of a whole black political development." "and i thought it was important that the thing not fly apart." "can we do that?" "california, will you accept that?" "can we move by general acclamation to accept that and add that to our resolution?" "all right." "narrator:" "with baraka presiding, intense debate began on the agenda." "hatcher:" "it was a wonderful agenda." "it addressed the issue of political parity, but we also talked about economic parity and the need to establish economic institutions." "many of the discussions that are ongoing today were occurring at that meeting." "unemployment-- the disproportionate level of unemployment among blacks;" "the disproportionate level of poverty among blacks and what to do about it, what kinds of new institutions could be created to address those problems." "delegate:" "we have a very brief and a very important resolution that we would make and it has to do with the suffering of our young children as it relates to the educational policies that are in existence in the south." "narrator:" "delegates proposed remedies for years of inequity in education, housing and job opportunities." "and they went further, addressing issues on behalf of all americans:" "the need for national health insurance, for day care and elder care, and for environmental safeguards." "...all other political prisoners." "crowd:" "move the question!" "move the question!" "narrator:" "the push to establish national priorities collided with local interests." "baraka:" "some of you all need to cool yourself out a little bit-- new york... baraka:" "after those meetings, people wouldn't go to sleep." "they would caucus, and each state would caucus." "then there would be caucuses inside the caucuses, because then you had the elected officials caucusing inside the state and then you'd have the black nationalists" "and then a lot of times there was marxists or somebody else-- and this document tells you why "the man" owes you reparations." "here, honey, you want reparations?" "take it." "this is reparations." "this is how you been injured, this is how you been destroyed." "you was changed from an african into a negro." "you've been damaged, injured." "they took your name, took your color." "i don't have my pretty black color anymore." "man:" "thank you." "i want an afro, i can't even wear one." "the man done messed it up." "so many white folks in america keep wanting to know," ""wh-wh-what's wrong with 'em?" "niggers must be crazy."" "no, baby-- understand one thing:" "niggers got more sense today than ever before in the history of america." "and when niggers was basically crazy, that's when he thought we had good sense." "yeah, that's right, when he's running around goosing me in the rump, rubbing my head-- "c'mere, jabbo."" ""yah, ya sir, boss"-- when i was basically crazy." "now we're talking about getting our thing together, getting our sanity together, baby." "once you get your mind together, baby, ain't nobody deal with you." "that's what this convention is all about-- getting our minds together." "and when we leave here, it's going to be a different day." "the last day of the convention was sunday." "we were slated to wrap up at noon." "and the purpose of that last day was the adoption of the resolutions that had been agreed to by the body." "let's get back and deal with the situation." "now, please, will you delegates return to your seats?" "narrator:" "delegates pushed to adopt the national black agenda." "but some michigan delegates felt the document was too separatist in tone and might hurt black alliances, especially with organized labor." "the delegation threatened to walk." "baraka:" "we are going to vote." "only one more unreadiness which we're going to allow." "and that is to hear what michigan has to say because we are going to call this vote." "man:" "mr. chairman... it was my understanding, and i believe that the six-man committee will confirm it, that the agreement before you rules out a walk-out by us or any minority... we, too, are trying to preserve black unity." "you must remember that 65% or better of that delegate body from michigan were from labor-- auto workers, steel workers, municipal workers, and so forth." "and you had some of the most renowned labor personalities folded into that delegation, who were international figures." "narrator:" "michigan asked for more time, but the request was denied." "as pressure mounted to approve the agenda, members of the michigan delegation began to walk." "at the eleventh hour, the fragile coalition at gary seemed on the verge of falling apart." "michigan, michigan... hightower:" "we felt like once the michigan delegation walked out others were going to walk out." "and we were really afraid, you know." "everybody was just like standing there dumfounded for a while, realizing what's going to happen next." "narrator:" "but the coalition held." "not all the michigan delegates had walked." "man:" "mr.chairman-- michigan has not walked out;" "only part of michigan has walked out!" "and to second that motion, mr. chairman, i also want to point out that we want to proceed with the adoption of that agenda because the time is long past when a state or a interest can intimidate the whole black nation!" "it's nationtime!" "it's nationtime!" "crowd chanting:" ""it's nationtime!"" "chavis:" "it's nationtime!" "it's nationtime!" "let the black nation rise!" "you could hear it reverberating, all those pride struggles from the '40s and the '30s and the '50s and the '60s came to be fulfilled in that moment of crying that it's nationtime, now" "not next year, not next century, but now, in 1972, in gary, indiana." "people went back home, rolled up their sleeves and ran for public office in a way that blacks had never thought about running for public office before." "crowd:" "it's nationtime!" "narrator:" "the national black agenda was published on the birthday of malcolm x." "it articulated a new spirit of independent black politics." "within ten years the number of black elected officials in the united states jumped from 2,264 to more than 5,000." "captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org" "there's moreg is provided by the alfred p. sloan foundation." "national corporate funding is provided by liberty mutual and the scotts company." "american experience is also made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by:" "funding for the re-release of eyes on the prize made possible by:" "and:"