Status Updates From We Are All Part of One Anot...

"But when James Meredith was shot, for example, any number of observers editorialized: "See, nonviolence doesn't work." Those who have this reaction overlook the fact that nonviolent battle is still battle, and in battle of whatever kind, people do get hurt. If personal safety had been Meredith's main concern, he could ... have stayed at home."

Birmingham, Alabama Summer,1963: They march out of the church, two by two, holding up their signs: WE WANT FREEDOM! The firemen maneuver the heavy hoses into position. "It's a strange thing," one of the leaders has said back in the church, "They have the idea that water can put out all fire. They don't seem to know that there is a certain type of fire water can't get to."

Nonviolence in 1962: "There were several among us who bore the marks of violence at the hands of townspeople. The skull of one of the young Negroes showed, beneath his close-cropped hair, an intricate tracery of scars: he had been hit with a wrench during one of the sit-ins. There were others walking, too, who had suffered such blows; and none had ever struck back."