They were going into Baker County, and they let me know. So one night I
was over in Brunswick and they called me and asked me to come. And they
said, "We've had bad trouble today. We went down to
the courthouse to try to register, and they beat up Charles Sherrod and
several other people. And it was just terrible. And do you think you
could come?" I said, "Yes, I'll be there soon as I can get there." So I
got in the car. They gave me the directions to this little church out in
the country. And I rented a car. I remember the only one I could get was
a convertible, red, and I didn't want a red convertible. You know, I
wanted to be as inconspicuous as possible.
Well anyway, I got there and they had everything blacked out at the
church so nobody could see in, and it was hot as Hades in that church.
And it was packed solid, packed, and oh, they were so glad when I came
in. But I just went in and sat down. I didn't say anything. And Charles
Sherrod had a towel around his neck that was bloody, and he kept dabbing
places that were still bleeding, where he'd been beat up. And he made a
speech on why you were a bigger man if you didn't fight back. It was the
most wonderful speech on nonviolence I ever heard in all my life. I'd
just give anything in the whole wide world if I had a recording of it. A
couple of men in the audience argued with him about it—quite an argument
on nonviolence.
In the meantime, one kid keeled over and fainted. Well, I just thought it
was from the heat. Well, they took him out, and I didn't even go out
because, you know, a lot of people took him out, and I thought as soon
as he got outdoors in the air he'd come to. Well, the meeting was
shortly over, and they said, "So-and-so is still unconscious. Would you
take him to the hospital?" I said, "Sure, put him in the car. So they
put him in the car. It was late at night. And I
started, and I was scared to go fast because I was scared a cop might
come out of the bushes somewhere. And yet I was scared not to go fast,
and I was wondering if he was dying or what. And once he sorta came to
and said that he was cold. But there wasn't anything I could do. It was
hot as hell. But probably he was soaking wet. There wasn't anything I
could do about him being cold. I had that damned convertible. And so
then I realized I didn't know the kid's name. So I thought, "Well, I'll
go by the SNCC office and I'll get somebody to come out and look at him
'cause if I take him to the hospital, the first thing they'll do is to
ask him his name." So I went by the SNCC office when I got to Albany. A
couple of kids came down and looked at him and said, "Oh, that's
so-and-so." And they got in the car and went with us to the hospital.
But the hospital wouldn't take him.