Civil Rights Movement -- Letters From the Field ~ ///

This is one in a series of "Letters Home" written by Joyce Brians (now Maria Gitin) from my field work with SCLC- SCOPE,and Selma SNCC and in rural Alabama in the summer of 1965 used as the basis for my memoior This Bright Light of Ours Stories from the Voting Rights Fight (University of Alabama Press). These were written when I was nineteen years old in the summer of 1965, using the language of the times and have not been edited. All rights reserved by the author. [annotations in parentheses]

July 12, 1965

Dear Family —

I hope my last letter didn't upset you too much. It was an honest appraisal of the situation, but I was quite depressed when I wrote it.

I received the pink dress & the recipes today. Thank you so much. Everything you sent has fit perfectly.

Right now we are in a cooling off period after a recent staff split — really almost a Civil War. I won't go into details cuz it'll just give the people at the post office grist for their mill, but we have a staff problem so bad that the county has been practically immobilized.

I am trying to get out to Boiling Springs, a good-sized Negro community that needs lots of work done. If I do, I will live with a Negro family who has a teenage girl. I'll set up canvassing for voter registration, get the community mobilized, and let the local people run everything. I am really beginning to see SNCC's objections to Northern white folk coming down & trying to run the Movement. If the local folk aren't the grassroots leaders when we pull out, everything will be lost.

Our emphasis may be voter registration, but as I see it unless we work on developing leadership & self respect & independence (even from SCLC) we won't have any movement left in a few years.

I keep telling folks if they are going down to register because I have a white face & a pretty smile, that I don't want them to go. If they are going because they want to take a stand & say to the world "I am a man." Then I'll do everything in my power to help them.

Unfortunately, most of the (white) staff does not feel this way. This is one of our points of contention. It is sad to see people in position of influence become ego-centric & power happy.

We re-opened our church Sunday & had services again. Rev. Freeman, the Baptist minister, did some fine preaching. He's a good Movement man but he's a circuit rider, so he really can't help us out too much anymore.

My letter from S.F. finally got here. I've spent the last three nites here at the Academy & will probably continue to do so off & on. When I'm here I usually end up doing all the cooking for whoever happens to be hanging around. Unfortunately, I also seem to end up doing lots of buying of the food. I can't very well sit down & eat in front of local people who I know will do without if I don't feed them. Usually they try to pay me back but I tell them that the $ I have with me was sent by people who want to keep the Movement alive & this is one of the ways they can help.

I hope you are saving any & all newspaper clippings about Alabama, I seldom if ever see a newspaper, hear a radio or TV. We just don't know how much of the news we report ever hits the mass media. Do you suppose the Argus or the Press (Sonoma County newspapers) would print a letter to the editor if I wrote one?

What is Ron's [Rev. Ron Barton was a Congregational minister in my hometown of Penngrove while I was in high school] new address & phone number? I don't have any for them.

I've got lots more letters to write so I guess I'd better get started cuz after today I won't have much time. I'm anxious to get down to some serious work.

I appreciate your prayers and letters. Much love - Joyce

ANNOTATED BACKSTORY

SCLC headquarters told us our letters would be opened and read but I sent all of mine airmail and they seemed to arrive without delay.

Request for clothes: I only brought 3 dresses, all quite worn to start. I gained weight from the high carbohydrate food and the birth control pills so nothing fit. We had to wear dresses all the time. No pants were allowed for SCLC girls.

The staff split was between the two white seminarians who were nominally with SCLC but hadn't gone to the Orientation and between them and local Black leaders. One white reverend wanted to work with the local leaders but our SCLC project leaders, Dan & Juanita Harrell had a hard time getting other local leaders to accept them. We students quickly tried to divorce ourselves from the white ministers who were not actually in charge of anything. But since we were based at the Academy together and they were older than us, that didn't work out too well.

After my book was published: I met a third seminarian who was there and told me he was in charge of publicity and interacting with local police! John Worcester. He gave me his field notes and slides which are included in my Stanford archive.

By the time I wrote this letter, I totally identified with SNCC and did what their field directors said. Chuck Bonner, Bob Block and I worked with local leaders like Ethyl Brooks. As our 'adult' leadership disintegrated, there was increasing opportunity to team up with whatever was going on and to freelance.

My arrogance about 'letting' local leaders lead is incredible to me now. I was in no position of power or ability 'let' anyone do anything. I chalk it up to youthful arrogance and the influence of the white adult leaders making us think we were more important than we were.

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