I Went To What Is Known As,

I Had Known, Number One, That There Would Never Be Any Role For Me In The Leadership Capacity With Sclc. Why? First, I'm A Woman. Also, I'm Not A Minister. And Second, I Am A Person That Feels That I Have To Maintain Some Degree Of Personal Integrity And Be My Own Barometer Of What Is Important And What Is Not.

Oppressed People, Whatever Their Level Of Formal Education, Have The Ability To Understand And Interpret The World Around Them, To See The World For What It Is, And Move To Transform It.

I Came Out Of A Family Background That Involved Itself With People.

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.

His Name Was Michael R. Ross. I've Never Known What The "r" Was For. He Died, However, Before I Was 7. But He And I Seemed To Have Had Quite A Nice Relationship. He Always Called Me Grandlady, And He'd Always Talk To You As A Person Rather Than As A Child. So, I Would Go With Him For His Routes In His Horse And Buggy. So, My Memory Of Him Is Pretty Sharp, Plus It Has Been Accentuated By The Stories That Come Out Of The Family.