Lessons from Martin Luther King and Johnnie Tillmon

Jean Stallings is a long-time member of ATD Fourth World and recently joined the International Committee of October 17. She first became an activist in the Civil Rights Movement in the sixties, working with Johnnie Tillmon’s National Welfare Rights Organization. She attended the 1968 Democratic Party Convention, worked registering voters and participated in the NWRO’s meeting with Dr. Martin Luther King. Our Communications Director spoke with her recently about the protests in Ferguson and New York and the legacy of Dr. King.Dave Meyer: What do you think we can learn today from Dr. King’s message?Jean Stallings: It’s a time of such hatred and violence now that it would be good for us to stop and reflect on the times when Dr. King was traveling throughout the South and preaching nonviolence. It had such an impact on the future of everyone’s lives. It changed laws, it instilled a sense of peace, it showed that things could be done by talking and compromise. And hopefully this will be a turning point for the young people now that are demonstrating, especially throughout the United States, concerning the Ferguson and “I Can’t Breathe” protests in New York.DM: After the events in Ferguson and New York City, do you have the impression there is a real movement growing now?JS: Yes! I’m overjoyed to see it, and by the fact that it’s people from all walks of life, from the poorest to some of the wealthiest young kids. It’s all these cultures, not knowing each other but getting together for a common cause, to get justice done and have a safer environment for all. I think it’s great. And they’re not doing anything but walking here in NY. Peaceful walking!I am just overjoyed to see them walking. How they came together in New York City like that was just beautiful. It brought back a lot of memories. So many good things can come out of one step forward together. One step forward together can open up doors that you cannot imagine. Unfortunately there were some incidents in New York recently with the two police officers killed, and people took it out of context. The movement built up through peaceful walking could have accomplished a lot and I still hope it will. But unfortunately it’s very difficult here in New York now. Young people are on edge, as well as the police department – as they should be.When are we going to stop and think that each one of our lives is valuable? That each one of us has the right to walk the streets in peace? To come together to express our views? It’s heartbreaking. And this is the terror that is going on in France right now too. It’s heartbreaking when lives are being lost because of a view that is different from yours. I only hope that the young people understand that what they do today is going to affect their lives and the future for their children in the years to come, so I hope they’ll be a good example. DM: Can you tell me more about the National Welfare Rights Organization?JS: It was started by a woman named Johnnie Tillmon. She was a force, I was so privileged to meet her. I met her because I got a flyer in the mail about a thrift shop, and I had 3 children at the time, and I was going to see what I could get – clothing and everything. And I went to this community center in Inwood and at that time they were a chapter of the National Welfare Rights Organization. And they just said to me, “You have young children, are you getting any help?” I told them I was getting public benefits and they said, “Come to the meeting.” And I went to the meeting and – brother, what an eye opener! I had never been to a meeting like that where other people like me who were struggling were talking about it together, and that is how I got started. I was terrified to talk, but I kept going back. There were two other women from Inwood who got involved then, Mabel and Addie, and we all supported each other.  And as I kept going back I started talking about things, the injustice and the punitive manner in which the social services workers were dealing with us when they came into our home, it was like an invasion. They would walk through and look into the refrigerator and not ask anything – looking for proof that the father wasn’t in the home or that you didn’t have a Cadillac outside. It was rough. It was very hard. And of course the highlight was meeting Dr. King and talking with him and asking him for recognition. This was a time when it wasn’t popular to have children and not have a marriage license. It was shamed, and a lot of us were single mothers. But we spoke, and we knew that we wanted to have a voice at this table. We wanted to be as important and worthy with him speaking out for our benefit too. We got a feeling he was liberal, but conservative at that time too. It was a hard thing for him to listen to some of our complaints. We talked about the poor people’s campaign at that meeting, but unfortunately he died months later. It’s great to have these memories of meeting with these people, but the real benefit is the change in your community, the real change. Because I was able to see children going into that Head Start program that I helped bring to the community. There is real joy in working together and learning you have a voice.