In Order To See Where We Are

One Of The Particular Things That Impressed Me Was One Visitor [of Naacp] - I Think It Was - It Wasn't The Prime Minister Of England. We Were Located Then On 14th Street And Fifth Avenue, Up Several Flights Of Rickety Stairs, And He Came All The Way Up Those Stairs To See Walter [white], Largely Because Of Certain Kinds Of Impact, I Think, That The Association Seemingly Was Having.

I'm Sure, Out Of The Context Here Of Stanley Levison's Relationship With The Jewish Liberal Forces, That Had Made Contributions. I Remember One Such Contribution Before They Moved From Montgomery. An Associate In The Real Estate Business With Stanley Had Lost A Son In The War, And She Wanted To Do Something In Memory Of Him. So, She Made Available Certain Monies To Be Used By The Emerging Leadership There In Montgomery. I'm Sure Other Individuals Did.

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.

In '32 We Organized The Young Negroes' Cooperative League And Had Some Degree Of Success In Terms Of Establishing Stores And Certainly Buying Clubs In Various Sections Of The Country. I Was Designated As - I Don't Know What Exactly - I Believe It Was Director. I'm Not Sure What It Was, But It Had To Do With Getting Out The Necessary Mail And All Of That - Organization.

Martin [luther King] Wasn't, Basically, The Kind Of Person - Certainly At The Stage That I Knew Him Closest - Wasn't The Kind Of Person You Could Engage In Dialogue With, Certainly, If The Dialogue Questioned The Almost Exclusive Rightness Of His Position.