The following is a brief narrative written by the late Kathryn L. Barrett in 2009 for
the purpose of sharing historical facts of ‘CIVIL RIGHTS’s FOOT SOLDIERS
with an emphasis of recognizing blacks in Gadsden, AL.
The Black race has been stereotyped as being inferior to other races and has been historically persecuted for hundreds of years. Slavery was a period of torture and bondage. However, the stronghold of black slaves was unity and spiritual hope, and faith. Spirituals such as “Nobody Knows The Trouble I See”, “Deep River”, “Go Down Moses”, “There Is A Balm in Gilead” and “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” were some anchors for the blacks and renewed their determination time after time. They were basically moaning and groaning songs. Civilization has always given mankind leaders who were giants in tenacity and were profiles of courage. Many believe they were personally touched by the Lord.
Profiles of courage who made outstanding contributions to the abolition of slavery and to human dignity include Phyllis Wheatley, Sojourner Truth, William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Elizabeth Stanton, in Susan B. Anthony, Ida W. Barnett, Dred Scott, John Brown.
Sacrifices of these giants and others resulted in the January 1, 1863, Emancipation Proclamation. These efforts triggered economic and social progress. Public election procedures were altered, employment and labor were amended. Needless to say, this ‘alegged’ equality trend was short-lived.
White supremacy continued to exit. The temperament of blacks and their sympathizers became intolerable to civil rights groups. They included the NAACP, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; SCLC, Southern Leadership Conference; CORE, Congress of Racial Equality; SNCC, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee; COFO, Council of Federated Organizations, and others. The nationwide freedom climate impacted local communities and their leaders.
Joseph Faulkner, George Woods, Arthur Young, and others decided it was time to take a stand in Gadsden. They were called the “N” word at lunch counters and were refused food in 1960. They were taken from the front of buses and jailed many times. The East Gadsden Brotherhood was
formed by Faulkner and others. They were “grassroots activists”. This group continued to challenge segregation and was continuously arrested. Joseph Faulkner black union worker filed a desegregation lawsuit in 1961. Martin Luther King, Jr., C. T. Vivian, Bernard Lee, and other national civil rights leaders came to Gadsden to conduct mass meetings and strategize with local leaders. Four movie stars also visited Gadsden. They were Marlon Brandon, Ton Franciosa, Paul Newman, and Virgil Frye.
Perhaps the role of Rev. J. D. Cameron, Sr . depicts one of the best descriptions of Gadsden and a few cities in Etowah County. The story of Rev. J. D. Cameron, Sr., part-time pastor at Mount Zion Baptist Church and a laborer at a local pipe foundry. Rev. Cameron’s heroic deeds and others are recorded in the book, “Cradle of Freedom” by Frye Gaillard. J. D. Cameron, Sr. remembered the pain of the first cattle prod-that burning surge that was so intense, so unlike anything he had known, that it nearly made him cry. In the summer of 1963, he was part of a march of more than a thousand people.
Mass meetings were held at Galilee Baptist Church, St. John C.M.E. Church, Union Baptist Church, and a few others. The massive march on August 3, 1963, occurred. There were several marchers before the massive march. The march in 1963 was led by Rev. L. A. Warren down Forrest Avenue. The local police, Al Lingo, Birmingham, Alabama police head, and his assistants arrested the group in front of the Reich Hotel. The marchers responded in a non-violent manner while beaten and prodded. The women were placed in the city and county jails; men were placed at Camp Sibert, the coliseum, and a rural prison camp. The brave marchers were imprisoned for at least ten days. Some of the leaders of the civil rights movement were:
Joseph Faulkner, Rev. L. A. Warren, Rev. Baskerville,
Rev. Smith, Dr. J. W. Stewart, Q. D. Adams,
Floyd Donald, Quimby Berry, Isaiah Hayes,
Rev. E. W. Jarrett, Robert Avery, and Robert Thomas.
Other FOOT SOLDIERS included financial donors, food providers, strategists, and thousands of interracial unsung freedom soldiers.