In Order To See Where We Are

I, Perhaps, At That Stage, Had The Kind Of Ambition That Others May Have Had; You Know, Namely Based On The Concept That If You Were Trained The World Was Out There Waiting For You To Provide A Certain Kind Of Leadership And Give You An Opportunity. But With The Depression, I Began To See That There Were Certain Social Forces Over Which The Individual Had Very Little Control.

You Didn't See Me On Television, You Didn't See News Stories About Me. The Kind Of Role That I Tried To Play Was To Pick Up Pieces Or Put Together Pieces Out Of Which I Hoped Organization Might Come. My Theory Is, Strong People Don't Need Strong Leaders.

After The '57 Initial Meeting - I Was Up This Way Working, Not As A Staff Person - There Became The Need For A Much More Definite Organized Office. What You'd Had Prior To That Time Were These Big Meetings In Different Places, And There Was Nobody To Pull Anything Together. Everything Was Left To [martin Luther] King And The Group That Was Around Him.

Martin [luther King] Wasn't, Basically, The Kind Of Person - Certainly At The Stage That I Knew Him Closest - Wasn't The Kind Of Person You Could Engage In Dialogue With, Certainly, If The Dialogue Questioned The Almost Exclusive Rightness Of His Position.

I Have Always Felt It Was A Handicap For Oppressed Peoples To Depend So Largely Upon A Leader, Because Unfortunately In Our Culture, The Charismatic Leader Usually Becomes A Leader Because He Has Found A Spot In The Public Limelight.