Selma, Lord, Selma : girlhood memories of the civil-rights days

164 Pages·1997·7.334 MB·English

by  Nelson, Rachel West, Webb, Sheyann, Nelson, Rachel West, Sikora, Frank, Webb, Sheyann

SELMA,
LORD,
SELMA

Sheyann Webb
Rachel West Nelson
SELMA,
LORD,
SELMA
GIRLHOOD MEMORIES OF THE
CIVIL-RIGHTS DAYS
as told to
Frank Sikora
THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA PRESS
TUSCALOOSA
FRONTISPIECE: On March 21, 1965, Sheyann Webb, left, and Rachel
West receive a victory hug from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., just before
the start of the march from Selma to Montgomery. [© 1979 Vernon
Merritt-Black Star]
Paperback Printing 1997
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Webb, Sheyann.
Selma, Lord, Selma.
1. Webb, Sheyann. 2. Nelson, Rachel West.
3. Afro-Americans-Civil rights-Alabama-Selma.
4. Selma, Ala.-Race relations. 5. Afro-Americans
Alabama-Selma-Biography. I. Nelson, Rachel West,
joint author. II. Sikora, Frank, 1936- III. Title.
F334.S4W3 301.45'19'6073022 [B] 79-19327
ISBN 0-8173-0898-9
Copyright © 19 80
The University of Alabama Press
Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487-0380
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
3 4 5 01 00 99
To our parents and brothers and sisters,
and to the memory of Dr. King who said,
"Walk together, children, and don't ya grow weary."

CONTENTS
List of Illustrations viii
Foreword ix
SELMA, LORD, SELMA 1
Afte rword 14 5
ILLUSTRATIONS
Martin Luther King, Jr., Sheyann Webb, and
Rachel West, March 21, 1965 frontispiece
Sheyann Webb, 1965 5
Rachel and Sheyann, 1965 9
Rachel West, 1965 13
Jonathan Daniels 52
Martin Luther King in Selma, February, 1965 65
Sheriff's deputies keep prospective black voters in line 65
Sheyann and Rachel at street meeting near church 78
"Bloody Sunday," March 7, 1965 89, 90, 91
Deputies hem in demonstrators in wake of Bloody Sunday 109
The Selma Wall 113
A prayer vigil near Brown Chapel 113
Ms. Sheyann Webb, at age 19, with Mrs. Coretta King 135
Ms. Sheyann Webb, 19, during tenth-anniversary observance
of Bloody Sunday 138
Mrs. Rachel West Nelson, 1979 141
,
Brown Chapel AME Church and Memorial, 1979-
" ... a tribute to those who planned, encouraged, marched,
were jailed, beaten and died to change black Americans
from second class to first class citizens." 147
FOREWORD
On January 2, 1965, Reverend Martin Luther King,
Jr., came to Selma, Alabama, to recruit an army of
nonviolent soldiers to wage a war against laws and
customs that prevented blacks from voting.
Being a black American living in Selma didn't mean
you automatically became a part of this army. The
decision to join up was a matter of individual con
science for each man, woman, and child. Many did
not volunteer.
Those who did made the choice at different times
and under varying circumstances. This is the story of
two members of that army, two young girls: Sheyann
Webb, who was eight, and her friend and next-door
neighbor Rachel West, age nine.
Neither emerged from her experiences an Af
roamerican Joan of Are, but both of them saw the
battle erupt, both saw it through, and both lived to see
the concl usion.
It could be argued that both merely took part, that
they merely followed their elders, that neither could
be described as a heroine.
But it also could be argued, just as surely, that to
characterize their actions as anything less than heroic
would be to do them both an injustice.