The Rev. Ralph Abernathy of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) speaks at a rally following the opening of lunch counters to African Americans in Nashville. Sit-ins at department store lunch counters in Nashville had begun on February 13, 1960, some two weeks after similar sit-ins in Greensboro, North Carolina, caught the nations attention and set off a series of sit-ins throughout the South. While there had been 15 sit-ins in the three years prior to Greensboro, in the two and a half months after the Greensboro and Nashville sit-ins began, there were more than 100 sit-ins in the South with at least 50,000 participants. Martin Luther King, Jr. called the Nashville movement the best organized and most disciplined in the Southland. Scholars of the movement believe that its success was due to the pre-existence of a cohesive social structure including churches, colleges, protest organizations, and dedicated leaders. In his talk, Rev. Abernathy emphasizes the need for unity among blacks and liberal whites, the importance of authentic leadership, and the willingness to suffer in order for African Americans to win freedom and overcome prejudice. The talk was recorded at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference on October 18, 1960, by folksinger Guy Carawan.
