Later, we ambled down to the Cofo office to check out the latest news from the front, and see who was in town.
It turned out they needed someone to man the Watts line from midnight to the next morning. So I volunteered.
The Watts line was the lifeline for the folks spread out across Mississippi working in the projects. 24 hours a day someone sat in front of the telephone receiving reports on incidents and acting like a central clearinghouse whenever there were call calls for help. There were numbers to notify the SNCC office in Atlanta, the FBI, local police departments, sympathetic press, northern bail possibilities and lawyers. The name of the game was to shine as many lights as possible on a dangerous spot to let the bad guys know they’re were being watched, to hopefully cut our losses and maybe even save someone’s life
The phone rang ,around, another church burned to the ground The night went on with no more incidents. and I decided to do some research and check the files for information about Natchez. Might as well get a better picture of what I might be jumping into.
The first document I encountered about Natchez was the mind blowing deposition of the beatings Bill Ware received from the police on a short visit home from Minnesota in 1963 .” 30 stitches were required in my mouth and gums, my front tooth was broken, two others were deadened, and two lowers were jarred loose and knocked in. I spent the night in jail nude from the waist up on an iron frame with no mattress or pillow or blanket where I remained for the rest of the night in pain. I was found guilty and spent 30 days in jail before I could get an appeal not having any money for bail.” His crime, refusing to buy gas after they prevented him from using the whites only bathroom. His beating because “ you’re a difficult nigger.”
It went on:
That summer two churches were burned down in Natchez. Both ministers proclaimed they had nothing to do with the civil rights movement and neither one was registered. Strangely enough local businessman announced in the same newspaper they were going to raise money to rebuild one of the churches.
. In August George Green tcalled the watts line to report that “the tavern next to Metcalfe’s house where George, Janet Jermott and Lorie Ladner were staying was firebombed and burn downed down by mistake. The chief of police met George on the scene and said, ” This was meant for you George if you don’t get out of here you and your friends are going to get killed. I can’t protect you.” The bombing, gunshots and death threats didn’t scare SNCC away
The courage of my SNCC brothers and sisters and the spirit of the people spoke to me. Natchez felt like the place to be. It wasn’t that I didn’t have fears about bomb’s or bullets. It just seemed it was in my blood to be in the front lines Or when push came to shove, stand up to bullies no matter how big they were.