Lewis
Segregation, you just couldn't go into a large department store and take a seat at a lunch counter. You couldn't try on clothing. You didn't like the conditions, but you did what was required. And we felt it was a affront to our own dignity, to our own worth. Every Tuesday night, I started attending these nonviolent workshops. And it was there that I met Jim Lawson. We saw a wrong, and with our bodies, we went into the situation to correct it. And he kept saying what we could do as students, as young people. He told us all about what Gandhi had attempted to do in South Africa. We were trained in nonviolent direct action focused on the lunch counters. And that's what our training was about. Nigger! - Nigger!
Lewis
The role playing was conditioning us, preparing us, 'cause we were gonna face opposition. Possibility of us being beaten. We had to be prepared. The first morning that we went downtown to participate in the sit-ins, I was assigned to go to Woolworth's, and we would go in and take our seats. Orderly, peaceful, reading a book, writing a paper. All day. And then we would come back the next day waiting to be served. The white people in Nashville were stunned. I mean, they were more than stunned. Their way of life, they felt, was being disregarded. There's something deep down within me, moving me, that I could no longer be satisfied or go along with an evil system-- that I had to be maladjusted to it. And in spite of all of this, I had to keep loving the people who denied me service.
Lafayette
We knew that we were sticking our necks out, realized that you could get blind or your teeth could get knocked out.
Lewis
We had to make the point that sometimes you have to put yourself in harm's way. And in the process, you may stir up some violence, but you would not engage in the violence. We were attacked. People were beaten. Lighted cigarettes put out down people's back, Poured ketchup and hot sauce on people. The police officials came in and arrested all of us.
Lewis
Holding my head high, I felt so free. I felt liberated. I felt like I had crossed over.
Man
This little light of mine I'm gonna let it shine This little light of mine I'm gonna let it shine...
Lewis
My mother felt that it would bring shame and disgrace on the family name for someone to be arrested.
Man
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine...
Lewis
I would never forget the letter she wrote saying, "You need to get out of that mess." And that's when I wrote her back and told her that I was doing what I thought was right.
Man
Over my head Oh, Lord I see freedom in the air.
Passport
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