Once Upon a Time... When We Were Colored (1996) | A Tim Reid Film

[Music] me [Music] once upon a time not so long ago when southern plantations were plentiful and cotton was king colored sharecroppers still dream small towns had designs on becoming grand southern ladies of commerce and prosperity never forsaking the cherished and unchanged ideals of the old south glen allen mississippi was such a place and it was my home i was born during the harvest of 1946 [Music] oh [Music] you better come [Music] going to be all right my pops here how long you been having a pain most often i thought it was just too many old cakes that ain't no okay y'all that's your baby salmon one get misled at the midway hey mary's baby's on the way run hard now hurry [Music] don't you [Music] is [Music] anyhow i don't know why guards named this girl had to feel like she two weeks earlier mr lester you're surely sorry about this happening on your time son you don't think that i've been up for a whole day work do you know it ain't even 12 o'clock noon yet and i ain't paying you with that boy he'll run off at the time you and him ain't waking either no so we don't expect that tall no stuff come on [Music] [Applause] you did fine little girl [Music] good girl i sure didn't need this today look at this baby he ain't got much hair not bro how come man got much here well sammy i think maybe the good lord made him that way just so your grandpa could love him fornicating is a sin in the eyes of the lord girl yes it surely is but before you condemn him to everlasting health find damnation justice one tiny little look at this pretty new thing [Music] you kind of look like me usually [Music] got about as much hair as i do uh jones elder young i guess you know my uh my wife pearl and my granddaughter mary me and pearl uh raised my granddaughters since he was not that high we uh tried to bring her up in the way of the lord and uh well i guess everybody kind of stumbles and falls back iron again oh mary here she's gone and had uh this little baby all myself but you didn't get that way all by itself now your boy willie is uh it's a daddy baby i guess i don't know that for sure well let's ask your boy then no reason to dad that baby's mind i reckon you don't know that for sure now get on back to your charge although we got nothing more to talk about what you just held your boy this is a tenant farm we don't hardly grow enough to keep a dog alive last thing we need is two more mouths eating that's what little would you got that's all i got to say on the matter you know i'm back in the car wow having nothing don't mean you don't know what's right and that's all i got to say on the matter [Music] i think you're on the road yesterday but you act like you didn't see me i seen you larry online's just too sad to weigh it back what was she sad about cause i put you in so much awful pain well really child pain is a natural thing preachers say it's punishment for eve giving the apple to adam it's okay pain goes right away soon as that baby comes out i named him clifton he's a good baby one him no not now i got something to tell you first i'm leaving i'm running away where you going north i reckon they got decent jobs in the north good wages a man can beat somebody's up there's what i hear you have to go willie what is that here i hold onto that hole for so long it's like a part of me chopping cotton picking cotton hard man i'd rather die to be like my dad but i'll be back as soon as i get a job i'll come back and get you you end that baby boy i promise promise willie feel like a chain hanging onto me [Music] [Music] look like you got a wiggler over there elder we're trying to do the best we can that's about all we can do i guess yeah the boy got a good head of hair on him knowing it yeah that's cause he takes after me what you talking about ellen you ain't got no hands hold still for now as i grew up papa became more than my best friend he was the center of my existence my experience with the world and all its wonders was most often at the knee of this man [Music] i was certain he possessed all the knowledge that was to be had we got this here new electricity just like that where look at here cliff i saved this one special for you thank you papa [Music] is hi baby mama swing me oh honey i'll swing you only first i gotta tell you something i'm getting married to moses tauber he's a good man and he loves me i know he does i got a job too i'm going to be teaching school out to peru plantation miss saks retiring and they need somebody who's gonna stay a while can you imagine that me a school teacher i'm glad mama i'm glad you're glad anyway with me visitation school all day mama pearl and papa me we thought it best you stay here and live will i ever see you again honey you'll see me every day i won't live so far you can come see me anytime you like but the rest of the time you're gonna be staying right here with mama pearl and papa that'd be the only difference swing me mama all right [Music] [Music] um [Music] i watched the windows pop up and dusted off the fenders and sweeped up the insides too i guess i'm about ready to go to greenville now yes i was like you about ready cliff how much money you got to spend oh nature why don't you go on out onto the porch and count up all that money until pop was ready to go to town [Music] mm-hmm hell now who's going to greenville this friday morning i am well let's get in the car time's wasting ah cliff slide over behind the wheel there for me now turn the key you gotta go we before we go you sure all that i am or ever will be stems from growing up among my extended family in the section of glen allen known as coloredtown oh it was a community populated by maids domestics field hands teachers farmers and [Music] preachers and all set apart by the painful and humiliating barriers of racial segregation but it was also a place where people nurtured and protected each other and just enjoyed life together so what did i just ask you 10 minutes ago once we crossed the railroad tracks and turned onto the paved surface of old route 4 we had crossed an invisible boundary for now we were uptown what can i get you elder oh about a dollar and a half worth of regular there mr bob thank you elder how much longer are you going to drive this old heat till i have to shoot her i reckon hey hey hey boy where are you going boy told me he's had to go i guess i just wasn't listening now elder he ought no better than that what if ford got around out loud things like that now i told you you was gonna have to wait look at that though you see those words i can't read papa well i know that i know that but now we're going to be at a field pretty soon now you're just going to have to hold it till then go in the city to spend that money huh i don't get no trouble [Applause] uh okay now look this is a w that's the first letter of the word white now when you see this whether it's on a door or a sign or a water fountain you don't use it now this is the letter c this is the first letter of the word color now that's what you look for hmm that's what you use um all right [Music] [Music] [Music] don't go ahead hold that money burn a hole in your pocket watch this like that yeah [Music] [Music] okay i do it right yeah son come on you a learning papa so [Music] [Music] so today's hanging mr hot and cotton effigy that white newspaper man bit writing stuff about equal rights for colors [Music] that won't ever do what you're looking at hey i'm talking to you what are you looking at [ __ ] you deaf [ __ ] i'm talking to you answer me you're a real uppity sword ain't your boy we got special ways to take their pity out of your kind come on in look not now take care of this one [Music] um come on get you some more ice cream [Music] [Music] oh pearl feeling kind of poor cliff she won't be able to take care of us where she used to no more fact about it is i'm gonna have to be looking after her [Music] but with me having to look after my pearl and all that and ain't gonna leave too much time to be looking after you [Music] and your mama mary will see most travelers got one baby and another on the way so they don't leave too much room you pray that no she got this brave big house all to herself look after things i remember my first day of school and how excited i was all my life i had watched the older children make the three-mile journey down the old road to the colored school where miss maxey dispensed her wisdom and knowledge my great aunt whom i called my punk had taken over the responsibility of raising me her own two sons were grown and moved away and now i was the child in her life she was determined to keep warm regardless of the temperature outside well i'll tell you getting hard and hard to sell every year some white forecast refrigerators nowadays makes their own ice but i guess yes that's progress you're gonna be having business in this part of town a long time cleve because nobody i know got refrigerated even think about it hold on boy right where you stand come here i got to go to school i don't know where you got to go but you listen to me you keep these socks rolled up like this yeah i probably i got to go now they don't do you a bit of good old water in the bottom of your shoes boy i bet this is your very first day of school in it korean listen to me now if you study real hard you hear go all the way learn how to draw buildings or be a doctor now you can be anything you want to be but just remember they ain't nothing to be a work ain't nothing huh don't say us miss max don't leave the school yard then we cut them in your seat and you come straight home and school is out understand yes i'm all right [Music] look at this shrimp where you think you're going little one going to school you can't go to school you're a baby i'm five years old that's a swell head what the flaps on it for to keep the bugs out of your ears look i got his pants tucked in the socks and high top shoes too maybe we let him know if he gives us something give me that let's just see what we got in here might be something i want flap jacket pot of ham crunch you want something sure i do give me that give it back you heard me i said give it back we just have fun sammy come on we give you some too how you boys like it is someone come along and took what belongs to you give it back come on here thanks uncle sammy hide this some witch put your socks down okay that's good you'll be all right now the first years of my education were conducted in a one-room schoolhouse miss maxey taught all of the grades one through eight and in that room children of illiterate farmers dirt poor field workers maids and servants came to learn all of the wonders that an education offered us and we were continually motivated to be the best colored people we could be we were forever reminded of four great colored americans the lives of george washington carver mary mcleod bethune marion anderson and jackie robinson became the subject of countless essays and reports four of our great colored americans i hope you all have done your reports for today sammy will you please come read your report jackie roosevelt robinson was born in cairo georgia in 1919. he was the first color to be allowed i would be a grown man before i fully realized that these four people though they were great trailblazers by no means represented the sum total of colored achievement by most accounts the big four had one very important person missing and his opponent wayne 207 wearing purple trunks always a credit to his chosen profession and the race he represents former heavyweight champion the detroit [Applause] right right all right all right here we go here we go [Applause] you got to move joe you got to stay on your toes you got to move punching punching more [Applause] come on [Applause] oh [Applause] good colored folks had so few heroes we took it real hard when one of them failed they say that even marciano cried for joe after the fight but nowhere could you find more grief and sorrow in the world than was in our house the night joe lewis fell in the eighth round cliff honey time to wake up and get moving come on go into the pots and feed the chickens while i start to fire come on now mr walter won't be waiting for us if we're not ready [Music] right up front with me here we go boy let's go oh yes sir hey uncle sammy come down here and sit right beside me will y'all hush up some of that noise here i'm trying to sleep are you looking mighty different this morning i'm feeling that way my son's coming home to visit today now that's the boy that went off to college oh no that's sydney it's my oldest boy melvin oh how long have you been on open ten years since would you tell him mr walter asked about it [Music] every colored person worked from the time he was old enough to drag a sack through the cotton fields wow take this bucket boy be sure to get plenty of water heavy [Music] stay close to me now baby let's get as much as this dude cotton week can my fingers get wet and cold but wet cotton weighs more than a second he gets paint and sometimes degrading but nearly everyone clung to the idea that if you worked hard you would get a slice of the american dream [Music] well it don't hurt to do for a man maybe if you were a little more attentive to tom he'd still be around for you to bake biscuits for i'd rather be alone and wait a hand and put on a man the way you two jim the man got arthritis in his ankle he can't hardly stand up no more telephone i'll touch up both of you i want him more about mr jim his ankle so who butters his best kids i rather hear about that fight that broke out of gaston's cafe what's so special about a fight in a juke joint when they fighting over atlas bay baylor something special all right it's like nova alex baylor two men from greenville one of them got good hair like ella's got oh sarah is right hanging out in a place like that anyhow of course you're the hush up the boys is coming how you girls doing today i think we're going to have us a crop this year el nino oh yes i just got finished telling the girls what a good crop you sure bought in this year mr lester right girl yeah um we did good yeah i'd say it sure did won't pester you girls no more gotta get we did good i'd say he said hey he done done the work himself oh he ain't nothing but a redneck trying to be a white man you better stop that yeah [Music] okay that's good work done boy you better not let nobody see you snapping them bowls like that you got to pick that cotton out nah guess i don't know how been picking it all my life then you ought to know then not to put them scraps and bowls in your sack ain't that cool man yes sir hi you sir don't give me 400 pounds today i sure not gonna be trying sir you hail this boy ain't you yes sir dude no look here you keep at it someday you're going to be another cooter man what you think he's so not good my scrap and that magmar sorry mr lester sorry well sorry don't feed the bulldogs and we paying you good money for our day's work and we're expecting a full day's i work a mind to send you home right now without no pay and i can do it i got to write i find any more scrap in your bag you do work into my fields again is that clear don't make it free to sleep say something boy no sir you sassing me [Music] so [Music] please no mom i can't i need one more bm live to explode all over this place i will have some more of this cornering though is that sweet potato pie i see over the stove there and what are the pie ever made for you butt sweet potato pie did you finish eating your supper first i just worry about you not eating good without somebody up there to cook for you number i eat fine stop worrying i go worried gets unnatural cold up there in detroit show hope you know how to dress for the winter up there mama i dress fine don't worry boy boy don't be calling me names she keep you wrapped up tight in the caterpillar cocoon too i heard what you said and it's all right i keep saying baby one you ain't see you got the pluralistic do you no mama you never got plenty how long is you around yeah put some gravy on these potatoes come on mama hush now mama i can't have another bite except for slice that sweet potato well i think it's a shame you don't have somebody up north cooking sweet potato pie food girlfriend up in detroit no man but i got the girl though you do yep they're right here mississippi go come oh you're just a terrible [Music] thing [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] oh yes jesus is on the main line no matter what you want don't be ashamed to dial up the law if you've been sent in and you want forgiveness get down on your knees and put a little call into jesus when you put a call in the mail and in detroit it might be some static on the line the land might be busy but he might not house at all but when you put a little call into jesus he's 60 seconds in a minute 60 minutes in an hour 20 more hours in a day 365 days a year he always called on you his mind is never business [Music] [Music] [Music] me [Music] hey hey hey don't y'all younger let that flag touch the ground like that now they don't mention it but a whole lot of them colored boys [Music] [Music] and pick up that flag [Music] [Music] [Music] oh good to hear you this morning preacher hearn thank you miss henry i was just telling them what a wonderful service that was yes jesus was on the main line this morning tell him what you did yeah okay sure for a picnic yes sir god bless you i knew it all the time i told you not to play no cars today now you know the day is sunday all right here you go i know what you want but i ain't finished cooking [Music] thank you [Music] one of my pearls that's what i call real handsome come here honey let me try the sweater on here [Music] i reckon he'll get a winner out of it before he gets too big [Music] thank you mommy all right run along run along like this look at me play with us baby i don't wanna play not gonna stop pestering me on my union card 329 united all the workers local this here gives me the right to work in any order line in detroit michigan i saw the wages up here man up in detroit no 1.77 cents an hour go ahead on that mona half day spillway just down here sure it is i always heard the color don't have to take the back end of the bus up now that's right preacher you can sit right behind the driver if you like to shut your mouth every now and then that driver is a colored man go ahead now that's something i really like to see up north the colored man is treated like a man down here still a slave they call your [ __ ] spit on you yet they still want you to chop their cotton spend your money in their stores you can't sit down have a sandwich next to them can't use the fountain or the washrooms they want someone to clean out their toilet though you good enough for them that hate you i really write on that i guess that's reason enough for me to be living up there instead of down here well it seemed like to me sooner or later white folks is going to act like white folks no matter what it is north or south now that's the god's truth amen you just got to go out captain tonight son i ain't captain mama there's anything i miss beside you is the brand of blues they sing down here i'm just going to listen be careful zayn is always telling us about the fights that break out down there why don't you come with me mama oh that'd be today el naboo set foot in the juke joint i ain't talking about gaston's cafe i want you coming north of me to detroit now you best close your mouth for fly flies in there well i i can't do that why can't you well uh i got cliff to take care of bring him too oh honey but his mama's here and his papa and his small pearl and probably my family too and you know my pearl's been awful bad sick yeah you're right don't wait after me [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] ah [Music] [Music] yeah all right y'all i guess y'all had your fun now for a minute let me listen to the sweet sounds y'all been keeping to yourself [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] didn't think i'd see you again i told you i'll be back you didn't say it take 10 years it seemed like 10 years to me it's more like 10 minutes yeah well it's been 10 years you haven't changed he's still the prettiest girl ever walked the streets of glenn out then allen hell you're the prettiest girl in all mississippi and about five other states besides [Music] what is the northern girls you've been talking all your trash to these years and the girl in michigan and hold the candle to you the way you move to the blues the way you smell [Music] know pardon me my friend i believe you interrupting the music what are you doing dance with my girl well until you showed up i was having a real good time [Music] you want to be yeah big man melvin you've been here 10 minutes you're in trouble already go and get out of here if it wakes up and kills all them it's gone [Music] so [Music] so who is that man anyhow i'm just some fella from down greenville ain't nobody special you must be awful special to him cause he was willing to cut me for you yeah well lots of men willing to fight over me he just ain't nobody special is still the same melvin boos you can still charm the birdies right out of the trees only problem is i don't live in the trees no more yeah i guess you don't you look like a lady's got both feet planted firmly on the ground simply think he might be stuck in the mud and what you mean by that come on alice i can't believe you're still here you hate this town more than me i thought you would've ran off long time ago run off to where north like you chasing your dreams you know it's easier for a man melvin not for a woman all alone my sister went up north and it wasn't long before she was lost to the streets how come you ain't married have a pass for the kids how come you never i guess i just never thought i met the right lady melvin would you come back here for see my mama is that all mostly i came back here to remind myself why i left you remember now oh yeah ain't no doubt why i left i'm just starting to regret who i left [Music] [Music] wish you didn't have to go uncle melvin me too cliff but i got them socks take me with you i wish that kid you got a melvin promise not to be no bother i can if you don't take me i think i probably die on this place that's your cab [Music] get some chicken cornbread [Music] oh looks like i don't have to worry no more about who's gonna be cooking sweet potato pie for you up in detroit i guess i never did get out my blood moment i love her [Music] hope you happy i love you bro [Music] so [Music] come here [Music] changes are coming i don't know when or how but then the wind can't hold people on the thumb for as long as we've been and something not happened now you stay down here do you old enough to make it on your own don't let nobody beat you down hear me you know i'm not gonna leave here till you smile for me come on [Music] i never failed to marvel at the variety of people who populated my life i was so hoping you get this yard cleaned up before the sun comes out tomorrow well come on round the back let's eat some lunch cliff you hungry yes give me a thing you wash your hands yes yes you do today annie we need two glasses of lemonade please [Music] johnny hazeltine used to keep my yard don't you know before soul just got too old work anymore oh but when he would rake my yard there wouldn't be one solitary leaf to be found anywhere inside my fence but i suspect there's only one joining easel time thank you oh lord for the bounty of our blessings amen amen you like gumbo don't you yes sir will then eat um it's wonderful annie oh your cousin annie here tells me you're a good worker you prove to me and you take care of my yard full time i don't feel there's no place for a child to be working anyway well it feels no place for anybody to be working where's that soul well now might that be your very own opinion or are you just repeating what you've been told well uncle sammy say so he say dogs and mules get more respect than a field worker do and we all are just to sit down and stop doing it well now wouldn't we be in a sorry state if everyone thought the same was your uncle sammy i'm sorry no don't you ever be sorry for what you truly believe it's it's just that somebody's got to pick the country and nobody makes them do it they all get paid don't they yes well then there slave wages slave wages indeed i suppose your uncle sammy told you that no ma'am uncle cleve say that oh oh miss mayberry oh now you know you have to take this out of my wages i'll do no such thing and uh what else might your uncle cleve have to say on field work well uncle cliff said there ain't a future to it he tell me go all the way in school and learn to be something that's excellent advice you expect to follow it yes sir you like to read yes what do you read well i read about the little engine that could and i read about john henry's hammer no no child i mean literature do you read books great books for famous authors no ma'am well then you must be lazy public library is just bursting with good books but color's not loud in the library miss mabry you come with me [Music] don't dawdle come on now i'm certain we can find some books for you to read now oh here the iliad by homer he's greek don't you know are you familiar with it no ma'am oh well now perhaps this is too ambitious to begin with um right now oh this is it i love a twist by mr charles dickens it is perfect for a boy your age now you take this home you keep it as long as you like if there are any words you don't understand you just ask your teacher to help and when you're finished with it i'll give you another thank you i'll check out some books from the library for you too my granddad once told me the whole world's written down in books but like eggs you've got to crack them open to get anything out well now you go on eat your suit and you finish raking up those leaves and i'll drive you home oh no ma'am i walk see papa told me never ride in the same car with you why might that be well he said you a crazy woman driver he say you drive like a bat out of hell get out of here get get get long him hey uncle cleve all right can i have guys well have i ever said no just 15 pounds today hey let me let me help you down here can i carry it well i don't know let me feel your muscle first yeah i guess that's a 15 pound muscle all right there you go have a piece of pie it's your apple pie babe miss bespoke well since i lost my may i want you to know i considered my greatest pleasure of the whole week is bringing you ice on your apple pie day cleave mormon seems to me you said pertinent the same thing last tuesday on my cherry pie day uh-huh and i meant it on your cherry pie day too cherry apple sweet potato don't make no difference fact is i get a pleasure bringing ice to you on any day my punk i gonna be the ice man when i grows up oh you decide that [ __ ] turkey's gonna be a preacher like your papa well i'm gonna be the preacher on sunday and iceman on all the other days uh-huh you know cliff that gave me an idea maybe i'll start dishing up a little scripture when i deliver the ice i'll tell you business keep pulling off the way it has i'm gonna have to start thinking about preaching or doing something else oh you can't mean it please no i'm afraid so i'm losing customers over in metcalf on account of this outfit over in greenville wanting to spread out i just don't know where it's all leading to ah hey you boys we're going to be needing sleeping arrangements for about four colored girls think you could find some rooms for us around where you live yes sir you can count on us yeah we get you all you need i'll be right here hey let's ask my spoons first no i'm going home tell mama i want to get one of those girls but they all gone but wait for me i want one too [Music] hmm [Music] lead the way kid [Music] don't be looking at me that way nyla you've been in worse that's why i left two nights that's all the other girls ain't gotta know better we're pleased to have you my name is ellen the booze i'm not a fontaine it's a pleasure [Music] i'll pick you up for the show later now you're gonna be staying in my room i hate to put you out there ain't no trouble no trouble man i asked is there any bathing facilities you want to take a bath in the worst way i'll go get the washer just make yourself comfortable that sounds so exciting what you do traveling all over the place i remember when i was a girl this um traveling gospel group came and sang at our church and our choir got to sing along with him the man who managed the group said he liked my voice said he's gonna make a place for me in the group if i want to go on the road oh oh i guess you'll put my eyes oh oh that's louise she our neighbor you ever been to memphis memphis huh lots of times child i've been to saint louis washington d.c even new york city but honey this excitement that you want nothing places from past to chicago illinois huh tell us about chicago oh you don't hear me go on no more i've been running on for an hour okay it's all right we like listening what they have in chicago miss nyla but child you won't believe what they got they got buildings so high there's more shade than sun on the streets and the stores they got this one called marshall fields just as big as this whole time now it's got floor on top of the floor everything you can imagine and elevators take you up and down and they got got uh nightclubs in chicago and they got theaters and and hotels with the palm trees in the lobby you stay in those hotels sure too stayed on the ninth floor one time sat by a window in my room and ate dinner while i looked out over all like missions no it sure is a lot different from down here [Music] oh [ __ ] you just set it all here's your dress oh miss ellie you didn't have to iron that for me that ain't no trouble it's a pleasure just looking at these pretty costumes you know i got something that'll fit you you ought to try it on oh no oh yes you can i wanna hear another word let's say that now before we put you in a pretty dress we gotta make your face look pretty too well what you gonna do oh you just keep your eyes on that mirror you're gonna see what i'm gonna do my mama kept her head long as this where is your mom she's back home well where are you from miss nyla from a little hot spot in alabama town not even as big as lynn allen can you believe it you miss it throw that little town oh no i'll miss it at all you miss your mama sugar hand me that airbrush my mama say to me the day i left she say lady jane that's my real name lady chain hutchin she said letty jame you walk out that door don't you never come back send your tent towards sodom for your dreams and hopes and big talk about being a stage singer ain't nothing but sydney whoever comes with my mama's sad so i just never went back i got an idea she changed her mind she is your mom that's out why didn't you run off with that church choir when you had a chain oh no what else just a girl barely 15. and my papa said no so i didn't go but i always wondered what would happen if i did go that's why i left i guess i just want to go through life in london you know where i'll put you in something ready [Music] [Applause] here ain't you got nothing to say about your auntie my paw about you you are the one word of this to a living soul boy and we gon tangle oh my lord look at the time i gotta get a move on listen cliff can you help me carry some things over to the fairgrounds yes okay now you wait outside for me on the porch sweetheart let me see i'm gonna take this pass to take you to the show tonight i want you to be my guest to the girlie show i mean to the ted show i couldn't only men go to those now how you know unless you've been that starts at 9 30. i want you to come please i want you to see it's not as bad as mama thinks [Music] you can witness some of the most incredible exotic dancers in the world that's right the nubian dancing girls come on in folks just 25 cents two bits is all it takes looks to me my son was trying to get a peek with that tip that's my cousin bobby hello cousin bobby is one of my friends standing in your house too it's gloria i'll miss glowing me just about that luckiest things from staying at home to such a handsome yeah i'd certainly be grateful if you carry this for me [Music] all right thank you boys [Music] you've been perfect gentlemen come on it's a heart elder in her lungs they just can't do the job anymore best let all your people know [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] one in the blue dress is mine i can't even see him [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] great yo home mr walter what you shouting about over there i'm looking for miss elena her mama took a tram for the worse and ella told me to come and tell y'all about it oh bless it lord i don't know where punk is but i'll be sure i'll watch out and i'll tell you as soon as you get home thank you miss annie [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] i don't know [Music] [Applause] [Music] don't be sad love you um [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] i think it's safe now you can go back up front [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] i am the resurrection and the life he had believed in me though he were dead yet shall he live and whosoever liveth and believe it in me shall never die my mom been calling for you punk she couldn't wait any longer my pearl season had come to an end another christian soldier was gone and my punk wasn't there to hold her mother's hand and say the things we do at times like [Music] these my punk and i never spoke of seeing each other in that ten one hot august night we held each other's secret like a trust the one and only minstrel show my aunt ever allowed herself to attend was paid for with years of regret [Music] ms elna i'm gonna be leaving now [Music] i'm awful grateful that you took me in like you did and i'm so sorry my mama always said she hoped it rained when she died she said she want a good lord to wash her tracks away come here child come sit next to me so go visit your mama baby because time is too short and like too precious i will i promise mrs let me go see my mother we measured our lives by the cotton seasons spring was planting time when the earth was broken open and seeded in summer we chopped weeds with our backs bent and our eyes forever aimed only one step ahead of our feet some like my uncle sammy grew restless for change i don't want it tammy i want y'all to read it stanley it's real important it's about i know what it's about and i ain't interested [Music] [Music] um [Music] what's his work that word um is orphanage my orphanage is a place where children go in ain't got nobody to look at oh my god oh geez oh amy sammy let me see you please baby now listen son you can't go aggravating folks the way you do they say next time they're gonna kill me clifford tell his mommy over here no cliff that's why i came here so so mama don't have to see me well she gonna have to see you sometime sweet jesus look at you i thought you learned a lesson when the sheriff arrested you for sitting in the white folk section at the movie house oh i'll have to run over cousin nanny call dr duke no no no no i i don't need no doctor no you don't you need your mama take a stick to you is what you need you gotta get it through your head all folks can't stomach it when one of us stands up to him they're gonna learn how to get used to it because things got to change my palm i know they do honey i gots to get more photo laid for these cuts run get literally go do it this time you hush up don't worry about your coat honey just go oh tell mama phone tell her i love her i'm gonna be all right telling not to worry but i was running away where you going no i can't stay here no more now tell my punk i take ten dollars out of a pocketbook but i send it back soon as i can i swear why you gotta go sammy cause they beat me down cleveland they want me to be a workhorse they want me to be a slave i'd rather die and spend one more day in that field see i just want to walk into any place that i care to and not be called a [ __ ] and i've been spit on and treated like dirt [Music] you'll be a good boy now don't let him beat you down all right right cliff as long as you work for me be a good idea to always be to work on time or before save 50 cents out of every dollar you make my last piece of advice is always take my advice yes sir i remember all that no you won't no you won't that's all right what's that book reading happened a long time ago more than a thousand years before jesus oh number thousand years before jesus and we still find wars we can't wonder why man can't just get along don't it he said would you mind joining me over here for a minute keep on loading that i'll be right back look here uh a little bit of proposition on i can make him that man you were talking to you're on the amdi service over in greenville it's a pretty big outfit yeah 13 trucks what it told me [Applause] [Music] that's a lot of trucks yep uh i guess he going to drive one for him huh nope he wants to buy me out be needing 30 pounds a day yes sir uncle cleveland what's that what's going on that fella anyway what's wrong fella wants to buy you out told him yes same day hell freezes over i consider one of the great injustices of segregation to be the doctrine of separate but equal educational opportunities for although we lived only a short distance from the nearest high school the colored teenagers of glen allen will bust to a colored school in greenville the round trip of 70 miles taken each day certainly emphasized the notion of separate there was very little that was equal in the quality of our schools except maybe the devotion of our teachers which was extraordinary we were urged to better our lives by studying hard and learning all week [Music] wow miss mabry declined my offer to help her update her driving skills she continued to check out books for me i would make long lists which she would fill with her usual haste and enthusiasm i continue to learn life's lessons as well as i witness the strength of character displayed by the many people who guided me step by step someone just thought you can get on out of here hey y'all hold on clay i got to stop you right there i'm not taking delivery today 300 pounds mr stein that's your regular order every friday yeah i know but i got some bad news i won't be buying mice from you anymore a d is bringing their trucks in from greenville now i'm buying from them well no if it's the price we talking about no no it's not the price of the service anything like it's that a d is a white man that that'd be about the size of it huh but i i hate like the devil doing this cleave i mean you are a good honest man but sometimes there's pressure put on a sign you ain't got to tell me about pressure see cause that's something i know a little something about come on there was something in the wind and by the fall of 1962 we all were beginning to believe that something had to happen this evening o heavenly father we umly come to thee with knees bent and bodies bowed to ask you to stretch out our hands of mercy and protect us o father and what we are about to do in jesus most precious name we pray amen amen i'll be leaving tonight for baltimore i guess y'all know why i'm going to naacp convention there to hear what they got to say about equal rights some they don't seem to know about down here in mississippi i need your prayers don't fear for me god is going on before me and the devil can't do me no harm [Music] devil do a lot of harm now i'm against it sit down bill gonna wait long enough now sit on down i'm with bill crocker now what we got to complain about anyway we got peace with the whites they don't give trouble us too much and we don't bother them that's right y'all go up there talking that nacp stuff and we're gonna show enough have some trouble how many of y'all been threatened to get fired from your job if you don't buy no ice from a and d from now on speaker come on speak up miss strickland over the wildwood plantation where i cook she told me to buy ice from andy or lose my job [Music] so what'd you do i quit no no no no i can't can't have that i don't nobody lose their job on account of me i just quit the ice business that's all let them take it out please and a soul in this room wants you to quit if they beat you we ain't got as much chance as one of your blocks of ice in hell now brother understand they say we got peace with a white man well he's right he's right we've got peace as long as we do what he say yeah and we've been doing it oh yeah yes sir boss yes sir you're right boss you so right seems like a tall paper roof and some beans in a pot and a pat on the head from a white man just about all some folks deserve they're wrong that ain't all yeah we helped build this country and a lot of black folk died doing it and every time we get a little something they try to take it away from us hey everything we can for them and it is about time we do something for ourselves godzilla you know children's children because if we don't they're liable to forget all about us and you know i'll tell you something they're short now i suggest we take up a collection to help speed brother will on his long [Music] journey [Music] don't you know um hold it right there i do respond i don't quite know how to tell you this cleveland what's that i can't tell you why so no more you can't sell me ice mr bars you don't mean that great so please well i've been buying ice here for what 30 years now you tell me why i can't no more nothing personal clever i swear to it it's uh it's just business that's all uh mr bond so we got to talk about this oh we don't now i real sorry it had to come to this but i thank you to move your truck on out of here and not come back come on uncle cleve found a factory that would sell mice it was owned by a jewish man but it was in cleveland mississippi almost 60 miles away uncle cleve would make the trip every other day and even though he had lost his biggest customers the colored community continued to buy from many people like lily short lost their jobs because of it so glenn allen found itself in the midst of an ice war i've been instructed to inform you all hands who wish to continue to work in these fields must agree to buy their eyes from the amd ice savers anyone refusing to comply is immediately discharged what does discharge mean it means [Music] fire [Music] [Applause] [Music] it's a fine day to be colored ain't it [Music] you picked the wrong day to make this [Music] announcement [Music] um the summer i left home was the summer the great glen allen ice war finally ended it was also the year that the passenger train stopped coming to greenville forever i was among the last passengers to ride north on that train glen allen could no longer be my home my dreams and ambitions stretched far beyond the resources of a small southern town but despite my great excitement the pain and sadness of leaving home would not soon be forgotten for it was the people i would miss uncle cleve and his strong example miss mayberry supplying me with books and forever urging me to get an education [Music] my mother who did not raise me but loved me as if she had strong gentle determination of my punk which would remain a part of me forever papa's great wisdom and loving nature that i would use as a pattern to guide my own life all those wonderful familiar faces would stay behind remaining in a world of which i was no longer apart and as my train clanked and groaned over the gravel rail bed i wondered if living up north would be all that i had dreamed with the security of family fading far away behind me i clung to promises i had heard all my life from those who had nurtured me in glen island mississippi once upon a time when we were colored [Music] i got pride from my [Music] [Music] [Music] a miracle i saw a child coming into life in my two hands [Music] and i saw the future in his eyes so i will teach him about what he's gone before about history's ever-changing plan and maybe his kids will fight serenity [Music] and with the hope of this see i've got to take a chance [Music] tomorrow starts the day [Music] [Applause] [Music] and soon all our head will deal [Music] but with a little bit of time and the strength to speak on mine we'll find brighter days [Music] day after day [Applause] is

Channel: reelblack

Views: 1,384,266

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Id: VNoRjHFFv_g

Length: 114min 4sec (6844 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 29 2020