I Will Unite Them Together Without An Anti-lynching Bill! — FATHER DIVINE

Given Whilst at the Holy Communion Table of the Unity Mission Church, Home and Training School, Inc., Pennsylvania,
907 North 41st Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
Tuesday Evening, WednesdayMorning, Augusr 4th and 5th, 1953 A.D.F.D. — Time 1:50 A. M.

Song

The Shrine to Life

We shall have the same rights,
Not only equal but the same!
Side by side we shall ride
On the same car, bus or train.
We shall play in the same park,
Study our lessons in the same school;
Thjere shall be the same equal rights
For you, and you, and you!

Forevermore we shall have the same rights
We all shall dine, face to face!
Eternally ther shall never be
Know a creed, color or race.
We shall live together
And worship GOD in the same pew;
There shall be the same equal rights
For you, and you, and you!

(FATHER Speaks as follows:)

Peace Everyone! I would just like to say once again, that little composition is well worth considering! I would like to say to our visiting guests, and especially to those of you who have not been in these audiences heretofore, it says, "We shall have the same rights, not only equal but the same!" And we know in some parts of the country segregation and discrimination goes rampant through the land and rules with a mighty treacherous, nefarious hand! But oh, glorious it is to realize you can see that wall of partition, yea, that line of demarcation being obliterated and coming to an end! (Tuunderous applause rings out.) GOD is in the midst of you and bringing about equilibrium to be established on every hand; and the scale of Justice is every percent of a fraction of a grain of a penny-weight with the spirit of Equity and Justice for all! ("So glad God Almighty!" exclaimed the joyful congregation with thunderous applause.)

There are many things I could say but time will not permit at this instant. I wish to convey to you a thought: such as you have seen, even in the southern states, the time that has been will be no more! I came to free you from all limitations, from all barriers, from all adverse and undersirable conditions!— for as long as there is a line of demarcation on account of so-called race, creed or color, oppression follows and there is not an expression of equality! ("So true, Lord!" came the sanction.)

There are many things I could say! Some have said Equal Rights: but we do not call for Equal Rights— we shall have the very Same Rights! (Loud applause and cheers resound.) I have broken the line of demarcation! I have brought an end to localization! Localities and barriers have no boundry for ME, for I came to set Every Prisoner Free! (Thunderous applause rings out.)

The little composition says, "We shall study our lessons in the same school!" Aren't you glad! ("so glad, GOD Almighty!" came the declaration.) I think I had better stop! And ride on the same car, bus and train! I AM bringing it about! (Again thunderous applause and cheers ring out.) You may not have known from whence it came, but least heard of, the better it is, for I came not to represent Personality, Individuality or MYSELF from a Personal point of view, but to bring to you and all of the peoples of the earth, just what I AM doing and what I AM going to do! I desire to see all nations— not only these here, but all nations enjoy the abundat life— and we shall enjoy it! After awhile there shall be no more warfare and no more bloodshed! There shall be no more race riots or lynchings, for I will unite them together without an Anti-lynching Bill, so they will love one another! — (FATHER stand there with HIS Beautiful Arms outstreached, high in the air, and a beautiful smile on HIS lips. HE then exclaims dynamically through the powewr of HIS Own Holy Spirit:) Hey! — Just as you love your sisters and your brothers! I think I had better stop! ("No, no! Please go on!" pleads the vast assembly.)

The Anti-Lynching Bill need not be a question. We need no Anti-Lynching Bill! Hey! I will cause the brutes and savages of humanity to love each other! Aren't you glad! ("Yes, so glad GOD Almighty!" declared the adoring congregation.) They shall love each other and they will not even so much as think about an Anti-Lynching Bill, after awile! No one will wish to hurt nor harm, as predicted prophetically, "In all MY Holy mountain!" (Thunderous applause and cheers ring out, making it impossibele for our Beloved Savior to continue for a moment. At last when the noise of rejoicing has somewhat subsided, FATHER continues speaking:)

This is a wonderful world in which to live! You can see how it will be, Beloved Ones! It is better revealed and done and told in the actuated words of expression, than to continue to try to tell you Personally — for "Actions speak louder than words." and words are inadequate, of all the human race; of every language, every tounge and every people, all of their accents and dialects are inadequate to explain or depict the fulness of the Mystery of GOD'S Presence among the people! For I AM reincarnating in them — GOD is the reproduction of HIMSELF in HIS Temples! I thank you.

Peace Everyone: Those of us who have dined will arise, take the back seats and back stand, or pass out and pass on; while there are many others , especially those who came in late and were thinking about dining — you may come forward and take our seats, if you desire to eat. We will be happy to serve you! I thank you.

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Editor's note: This is reproduced here with the August 5, 1953 Message as evidence of the results of FATHER DIVINE'S Will and the Power of HIS Thoughts.

 

The Time for Waiting is Gone . . .

The Time for Justice Has Come . . .

 

 

Righteousness, Justice and Truth, Marching On

 

Editorial from the New York Post of March 16, 1965

Only when the histories of the modern battle for equal rights are written may the address delivered by President Johnson to a joint session of Congress last night receive adequate recognition and reverence.

For then it will be clear, as we can only begin to discern now, that this eloquent passionate call for justice marked a fateful turning point in our national existence.

It will be seen as the moment when the grim debate ended and the great decision was proclaimed — when the federal government and Congress declared total war against those who have so long violated the rights and thwarted the dreams of "Afro Americans."

No such sweeping, unequivocal commitment to the cause of "Afro American" rights has been uttered by a Chief Executive in the 102 years that have elapsed since the Emancipation Proclamation.

Nor was this a cry in the wilderness, or a token gesture. It was spoken in the tones of a man confidently leading the forces of freedom into a new, climatic stage of their struggle. It was President Lyndon B. Johnson, not Martin Luther King, who last night pronounced — to Congress and the country — the phrase that has become the slogan of embattled people in so many cities and hamlets: "We shall overcome!"

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The drama of the setting has rarely been excelled. Too often in the past such joint sessions have been occasions for somber announcements of national emergencies produced by conflict with foreign adversaries. Mr. Johnson choose to use such a forum to herald his confrontation with the brigades of bigotry and prejudice abroad and in our own land.

"I speak for the dignity of man and the destiny of democracy." he said , in a time when "history and fate" have met as a result of the recent tragedy in Selma, Alabama. His ensuing words were worthy of that preface.

The ostensible reason for his appearance was the imminent presentation of a bill to secure for "Afro Americans" the right to vote so long denied to so many of them in so many places. Mr. Johnson spelled out the basic provisions of the measure — Provisions that will apply to federal, state and local elections alike. He conceded that there might be some differences over the details of the projected legislation. But he made it plain that there would be no retreat on fundamental principles and he insisted, calmly but firmly, there must be "no delay, no hesitation, no compromise with our purpose."

The nation has long heard the "cries of pain and the hymns of protest." Now he summoned all the resources and majesty of a free nation "to right wrong, to do justice, to serve man." Beyond the immediacy of the voting-rights conflict he renewed his plea for a better day for all the have-not's of this affluent nation who are doomed from birth to second-class living.

Mr. Johnson affirmed his vision of a nation — and a world — in which the fires of hate would be quenched and the drums of discord stilled. But what distinguished his address from so much political oratory of the day was his willingness to identify those primarily responsible for domestic strife — those who have compelled "long suffering men and women" to protest the denial of their rights and to engage in a peaceful quest for liberty. His tribute to the "heroism" of "Afro Americans" who have risked their lives in the front lines of this conflict was unqualified; without their valor and their "faith in democracy" the progress already won could not have been achieved and the basis for future advance laid.

To those obsessed with military maneuvers abroad who would seek a domestic "truce" at home, his answer was clear; no matter what our victories on earth or our conquests in space, "we shall have failed as a nation" if the battle for American justice is lost.

Most of Mr. Johnson's speech was addressed to the die-hard racists and their allies who cling to a dying past. But its impact should not be lost on those scattered, isolated demagogueries in and around the civil rights movement who prefer to preach that all is futile within the democratic framework and who have scorned the labors of Dr. King, Roy Wilkins, James Farmer and others who refused to abandon all hope. There will be those who justly say that some lives would have been spared if these words had come sooner; but at least there is new assurance that the martyrs did not die in vain. There must also be a new awareness of the resources and resiliency of a democracy which produces a president from Texas who chooses to lead this struggle.

We have not seen the end of the ordeal; but surely we have seen the end of the beginning, and a glimpse of real daylight. In the bi-partisan Congressional cheers and applause that so often greeted the President's most challenging and forthright words last night, there was the sound of a new America. Like most Presidents, Mr. Johnson, will have bleak days as well as peaks. But few Americans will dispute the over-all magnificence of these moments, and of what they portend.

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