Compiled`By

Helen L. Bevel

The Father of the 1965Nonviolent Right-to-Vote Movement, Selma, AL

October 16, 1936 - IttaBena, Mississippi - December 19, 2008

ISBN: 978-1-105-18354-6

The Spiritual Significance of the Nonviolent Right-to-VoteMovement, Demonstrated by, Reverend James L. Bevel,Father of the 1965 Nonviolent Right-to-Vote Movement,

Selma, AL

Published By: The Nonviolent Human & Community Development InstituteFounded 1976 by Reverend James L. Bevel, Helen L. Edmond and Marcellus Brooks652 E. 89th PlaceChicago, IL 60619312.880.7806

DedicationThis booklet is dedicated to the building of the

James L. BevelNonviolent Library & Restorative

Justice Healing Retreat Center

“I went to Selma to be government. I wasoperating in Selma as government.”

—Reverend James L. Bevel

IT’S TIME FOR TRUTH IN HISTORYPlease help support the creation of the “James L. Bevel Library and RestorativeJustice Center,” to further his work, by educating a new generation on the powerof nonviolence. Send your donations to: James L. Bevel Nonviolent Libraryand Restorative Justice Center, 652 E. 89th Place, Chicago, IL 60619. Onlineat anewbeing.com/bevel-library.html

For further information read: The Nonviolent Right-To-Vote MovementAlmanac, by Helen L. Bevel. Available at lulu.com. 50% of all proceeds

will go to the above library fund.

My thanks to Reverend Mother Joy Segur-Ramza, Ellen Shivers, YesseYehudah and AmiRa Bevel for their input into the production of this book.

The Voting Rights Actof 1965

TABLE OF CONTENTAll truth carries proof ........................................................1

Yeshua the Christ ...............................................................3

Theological Presupposition ...............................................8

The Definition and Purpose of Man ..................................9

Self-hood: Who are you really ........................................10

Who is James L. Bevel ....................................................12

Timeline of James L. Bevel .............................................16

History of the Right-to-Vote Movement .........................19

Foot Soldiers ....................................................................34

Churches & Organizations ...............................................35

Proposal for the Right-to-Vote ........................................36

Self-knowledge vs Self-concept ......................................40

Man As Government ........................................................41

The Laws Governing A Nonviolent Meeting ..................43

Where Do We Go From Here? ........................................44

The Nonviolent Clinical Process .....................................45

From Boss/Boy to Brother/Sister .....................................54

Twelve Laws of Natural Education .................................55

Education: Which Side Are You On? ..............................56

Nonviolence As A Christian Principle ............................58

The Nonviolent Court ......................................................59

Precinct Council: The New Frontier ................................61

Precinct Council: An Idea Whose Time Has Come .......64

8 Steps of Atonement .......................................................70

Bevelian Nonviolence .................................................... 73

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“ALL TRUTH CARRIES PROOF.”James Bevel may be the most important civil rights activist in the 20th century thatyou've never heard of. This is a snippet into the true life story of a man, a living legendwho won constitutional rights for his people, as he interpreted the works ofYeshua/Jesus, Tolstoy and Gandhi. A true story, the kind that myths and legends aremade of. A man born in the bowels of slavery, “the Delta in Mississippi.” (Theconstitution of the state of Mississippi was revised in 1867 with the following statedpurpose, “The purpose for the revision of this constitution is to destroy the manhoodof the Negro citizen through to success.”) A man who struggled to unshackle the chainsof slavery from himself and his people, in-order to exit slavery (Egypt), to live in the(Wilderness) for forty years in order to purge and heal himself of emotional wounds,scars, shackles, limitations, perversions and errors that slavery and colonialism heapedupon him and the masses, but like Moses did not enter the Land of Freedom, Justiceand Equality (The Promise Land). He and his brother (Dr. King) however did leave aroad map for those who would enter.No people can endure four hundred years of chattel slavery and come out unharmed,unscarred and whole. James L. Bevel, did not come out of Mississippi unscathed bythe violence he experienced as a child. Each movement that Bevel initiated andparticipated in, was a sort of therapy to regain full manhood and son-ship with God.Forty nine years have passed since the signing of the Voting Rights Act, which isproclaimed the most effective piece of civil rights legislation of the 20th century. Theseforty-nine years are reflective of the wilderness experience that Moses and the peopleendured.All Jews are hard pressed to know that Moses delivered them from Egypt. All Indiansknow that Gandhi delivered them from the British. All American’s know that GeorgeWashington delivered them from the King of England. All Americans know that AbrahamLincoln emancipated the slaves. And yet those of us who enjoy political enfranchisementhad among us a man who liberated us from segregation, discrimination anddisenfranchisement, using the principles and methods of Christ, and like Christ he cameamong his own and his own received him not. This reveals to us our own non-relationshipto Christ.James Bevel, is somebody who needs to be known. as a theologian, statesman,agricultural scientist, clinician, scholar, husbandman, father, grandfather and brotherto all of humanity. His voice was that of reason, his thoughts are those of nonviolentliving, and principles (love, truth, peace, freedom, justice), his work was that of healingand educating, and his vision was of the beloved community and world peace.

The most basic right of a citizen in a democracy is the right to vote. Without thisright, people can be easily ignored and even abused by their government. This, infact, is what happened to African American citizens living in the South following

Civil War Reconstruction. Despite the 14th and 15th amendments guaranteeing thecivil rights of black Americans, their right to vote was systematically taken away by

white supremacist state governments.

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Because the masses have rejected nonviolence at the personal and social level andcontinue to build on the old archaic violent structures of colonialism and slavery,seeking advantage and control over others, while complaining, conspiring, comparingand competing, they have missed the teachings and works of James Bevel.This book is designed to introduce James Bevel, and at the same time create a valuefor freedom, the freedom won with passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Afreedom that is slowly slipping away, because the tool that was used to secure it-nonviolence- has been thrown into the garbage heap of time. It is not to late, to unearthand utilize this valuable science for achieving peaceful co-existence between brothersand sisters in Christ. “It’s either nonviolence or non-existence, "Martin Luther King,Jr. has told us, and if we are to truly honor his legacy we must take serious his teachings.It is past time for us to remember who we are as a people and continue the work offorging “An Authentic Nation Under God.”

—Myeka, 2010

The nonviolent revolution begins in your mind. Youmust first redefine yourself. When people redefine

themselves, slavery is dead. Then the power structuremakes a motion, but doesn't get a second.

–Reverend James L. Bevel

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YESHUA THE CHRIST

The Sermon on the Mount, by Yeshua the Christ (generally referred to by hisGreek name of Jesus), can be found in what is now called the book of Matthewin the Bible. It covers chapter five through seven in the book. Matthew was aJew who collected taxes for the Roman occupiers and most Jews hated the typeof person Yeshua represented.

Yeshua (who was also a Jew) went one day and told Matthew, “Well they canget someone else to do the tax collecting. There will always be someone to dothat. You come and go with me for a few years, and I'll wake you up.” SoMatthew went and got spiritually cleaned up.

When he wrote his book about his experience with Yeshua, he gave account ofa long speech that he gave to a lot of people on a hill, because in those daysthey didn't have microphones to amplify his voice, so a speech to a largeaudience had to be done either indoors or in a quiet location away from the cityand village noises.

People generally call this speech the Sermon on the Mount. It is however muchmore than a sermon, it is a scientific lecture. Every item in it can be workedout scientifically, and is usable in life for solving seemingly unsolvableproblems. We used it in the movement as our main teaching, our textbook andour guidebook. We used it like a chemist would use his chemical formulas.

Reverend James Lawson introduced me to the real meanings of this lecture.During the Nashville Movements, we studied it daily. We began to dig deepinto the Sermon on the Mount, not to memorize it, but to study the points andbe in compliance with it, and then we adjusted our lives so that we followed itas closely as possible. Remember, we were students experimenting withnonviolence, to see if it worked. We were both explorers and scientist in ascience which had very little field study done. We had to do most of the basicfield work, just to see if it actually worked.

For instance, Yeshua uses the phrase, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they

Artist Daniel ben Israel

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shall see God.” We had to acknowledge that we weren't pure hearted enough,because none of us had seen God.

Well, I haven't seen God, so God cannot be seen,” the issue arose. “Yeah, wellwe don't know, because we have not met the requirements of being pure inheart. We have ill motives. We have motives to cheat, to get even with peopleand to engage in physical injury. We have all kinds of motives. We even havemotives to be successful in a system of segregation, which we all recognize tobe unjust.” So we started working on the areas of fear in ourselves and on theareas of hate, of emotional attachment to things and to concepts. We addressedthe whole problem of embarrassment, shame, guilt, blame, jealousy and regrets.We began to challenge ourselves on these negative emotions using the “Sermonon the Mount.”

Historically, men have said that if somebody violates you, as the nation wasdoing to us with segregation, you should violate them. Nonviolence said, “Notso.” It wouldn't work for everybody's health, interest, rights and needs. Thismeans that when others are being irresponsible, you must assume theresponsibility to be responsible.

The theology of old would say that if somebody curses you, you curse them.Nonviolence says no. The person that curses you is having a problem. So whyshould you take on their problem? Why don't you continue to do what you'redoing? Keep on respecting them and thus you teach them to respect peoplefrom the way you respect them.

When somebody hits you, turn the other cheek. In the movement, a goodexample of this is, if in a demonstration somebody throws a brick and hits alittle girl in the head. Instead of acting up about this, keep on demonstratingand assign someone to get an ambulance for the little girl. This way, when thelittle girl is taken to the emergency room of the hospital to save her life, she'llhave the ambulance and the attention of the emergency room staff all to herself.If the crowd reacts, they are likely to cause a chaotic scene and many moreinjuries, and the little girl could die from lack of proper medical attention.

When guys persecute you for something you are doing, be glad about this. Itgives you an opportunity to serve. When somebody sues you for your coat, letthem have it. Don't contend with people over things.

Don't be concerned about what you're going to eat or drink or wear in themovement. Stay concerned with the health, interest, rights and needs of thepeople. Don't judge other people, because if you are judging others, you

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certainly have not worked out the science of creating your own reality and takingresponsibility. If people oppose you in a movement, don't yell and scream andsing taunting songs. Take them aside, walk that mile with them, respect theirpoint of view and show them your point of view. These are the kind of thingsthat we learned. The strategy was to bring ourselves into active compliancewith the spirit and the attitude of the “Sermon on the Mount.”

Once we did this, the Nashville Sit-in Movement became natural. We were notsitting in because we were black, we had actually gone through a process oftransformation, and we were men.

For the first time, I really understood what it meant to believe in Yeshua theChrist, in the Divine. For the first time, I really understood nonviolence, thescience of love. It had to do with living the gospel. The science is taught in allenlightened texts of value in every culture. Should we wait or should we liveit? We were just living the gospel.

So, in the movement we learned not to believe in the historical drama that wenton, and what the status quo was suppose to be. We accepted Christ's principlesand applied them to our own lives. We then acted on these principles in a largerarena and called this movement. These actions brought us more knowledgeand that further knowledge brought more experiences, and so on.

I began to see how our instructors at the Nashville American Baptist TheologicalSeminary, pretended that Yeshua's suggestions were not for this time period.They contended that it was just history. They could not imagine anybody actuallydoing what Yeshua said. As we began to practice it, we came out of darknessand then we began to apply natural common sense to the situations that we foundourselves in.

All throughout the 1960's movements, we'd open our SCLC meeting withreading from the “Sermon on the Mount.” We taught everybody who was takingmovement classes and citizenship education classes that the “Sermon on theMount” was the centerpiece, our textbook.

The movement leaders all know that this is true, but few have used it since, orcontinued to ground people in it. They leave that out of their public actions.What has been missing in movements since 1968 is making sure that the“Sermon on the Mount” is instilled in people.

The religion of Christ is the religion of love. The science of Christ is the scienceof what love does when it is applied. This is what creates a scientific working

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mind. According to the science, when we negate or leave out this point of love,we then get off into our own ego, or into some kind of national or group religion.Most people play at religion. They are not practicing the religion and the scienceof Christ. As a result, you get all the whole disorder of man and nations.

When we don't deal with our personal, social or economic problems throughinstitutions like clinic, government and business, we are not able to maintain apoint of love. This has now been field tested. When you follow the science oflove, it causes society to follow logic and love to its logical conclusion andfreedom, justice and intelligence follows.

—Reverend James L. Bevel

“The first insight is that the world as it is inits current form cannot be fixed, no matter

how profound or far-reaching the revolutionmay be. The very bedrock of our modernsociety is founded upon a species that has

always made decisions rooted in fear. In thisrespect the whole civilization is rotten from

its core. The only way for a new future to becreated is to begin from scratch.”

—Richard Rudd, Gene Keys, page 383

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We develop our sense of being individual by interactingwith our world and with specific models of individualpeople. Once we can maintain the integrity of ourawareness and move into these inner fields of openpotential, we can enter into the final section of nature’sagenda; development of autonomous awareness.Autonomy means self-sufficiency. Only when we are nolonger dependent on our bodies and the outer world forsustenance are we truly autonomous.

Our biological development has been seriously disruptedthrough our ignorance of any goal or direction forpost-biological development. We have created an allpervasive cultural dysfunction. Having no concept ofnormal functioning, we propose as a model for ourchildren our own dysfunctional state; thus dysfunction ismirrored back from every direction. Taking ourabnormality as our norm, we look on human life as asequence of mounting crisis, disasters and problems.

If your years up to now have been a bad dream, all we areasked to do is leave that dream behind. The post-biological path to maturation is a process of waking up.In no way are we required to go back into that dream andstraighten out its mess. Once we make the shift to thenew agenda, we can walk away from that dream(nightmare) with impunity.

—Joseph Chilton Pearce, From Magical Child To Magical Teen

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THEOLOGICAL PRESUPPOSITIONThe earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, and the world and those who dwelltherein. And God created man in the same image and likeness of itself to have dominionover the earth; male and female they (Man) were created, and God blessed them andsaid to them, “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and assume stewardshipresponsibility over the whole earth.

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THE DEFINITION AND PURPOSE OF MANMan (male/female) is a living soul, created by the Creator to reflect the image andlikeness of the Creator, which is love, truth, righteousness and justice. Man is thusthat which is created by the Creator to manifest love (being committed to the freedomand growth of self and others), truth (honoring the right knowledge of reality),righteousness (doing the right thing, the right way, for the right reason and getting theright result) and justice (giving what is needed and receiving what is needed). Theseare “Divine Attributes,” which are reflected through human character when the personmaintains the four definitions and purposes upon which the character of man rests.Those definitions are; the definition of man; the definition and purpose of sex; thedefinition and purpose of correct diet and the definition and purpose of work.

The purpose of man's existence is to exercise stewardship responsibility over the earthwhich is naturally done when man simultaneously works for his/her health, interest,rights and needs and that of others.

—Reverend James L. Bevel

Person To Bevel: “Don’t you know the Klan is after you?”

Bevel: “No, I’m the one that’s after them. They’re the guys whoare breaking the law. If somebody was violating the Klan’s rightsto the same extent that ours are being violated, I’d be helping theKlan”

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SELFHOOD: WHO ARE YOU REALLY"The true value of a human being is determined primarily

by the measure and the sense in which he hasattained liberation from the self."

—Albert Einstein

Freedom from the self means freedom from all the neurotic, toxic fear-basedemotions such as hate, envy, egotism, blame, prejudice, jealousy, hate,repression, greed, possessiveness, guilt, malice, resentment; the fear ofintimacy, loss, loneliness, abandonment, success, failure, power, commitment;the need to control others; and all obsessions, dependencies and addictions. Allof these are delusions and the purpose of our human existence is to cast off alldelusions. When delusions are eradicated pure love, our true nature comes tothe surface.We were all born into a world that had fear based programming that weinherited from our parents, teachers and others. This programming is relatedto what happened in the past and carries with it a host of fear-based emotions.You say, “I am jealous.” You have to separate what you feel from who youreally are. You're not the jealousy. The jealousy is programming from the pastthat you inherited. The jealousy is a fear-based emotion. It represents thefalse-self. By detaching yourself from the feeling, through a process of self-observation you will be able to let the jealousy past through you, or you canuse EFT (The Emotional Freedom Technique) to eliminate the jealousyaltogether.You are as you believe. Your beliefs create the experiences you have. Beliefsare a result of what you have been taught. Many of them are faulty anddestructive. These beliefs do not allow you to experience happiness andsuccess. When you change your beliefs, you change your experiences. This isthe power inherent in all people.

“There is no vitality to the past except the life our minds give to it. Theonly thing the past is good for is to keep us stuck in the old patterns from

which we’re trying to liberate ourselves.Our personal histories are the parts of our lives

which hold us where we are.”—Swami Chetanananda

It takes courage to live in the now and give up the past. Rehashing the past islike sifting through garbage. There is always a past that is flowing from a nowexperience so we must become diligent about clearing our past in order to getthe most out of our present experiences. Take the time to examine your beliefs,

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your reactions, your concerns and your behavior. You have to be able torecognize what is happening before you can change it.If you continue to indulge your neurotic fear-based emotions, you will continueto draw to you the situations that contain them. For example, if you hatesomeone, you will continue to draw the hated person or someone like them intoyour life until you release the fear. Universal Law states, “Where yourattention goes your energy flows.” So you attract what you are, and what youconcentrate on into your life. You always attract the same qualities that youpossess. Be the peace that you want.

“All of us arrive on earth with souls inperfect form, but from the moment of

birth we are assailed by deforming forcesfrom within and without We are assailed

by racism, sexism, economic injusticeand other social cancers and from withinby jealousy, resentment, self-doubt, fear,and other demons of the inner life. We

don’t have to collaborate with the thingsthat can damage our souls.”

—Parker Palmer

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“We would have never gone to Selma, and there would not have been aVoting Rights Bill today if James Bevel had not conceived of the idea. Jim

Bevel was the originator of the idea of the march from Selma toMontgomery. Dr. King could not have done the things he

did unless he had a James Bevel.”—Dr. Ralph David Abernathy,

Co-Founder SCLC, Close friend and confidante of Martin Luther King Jr.

“I'd say 98% of the plans and activities in Selma were Bevel's.The Selma Movement was Bevel's baby.”

—Reverend James Orange, Project Coordinator, Organizer SCLC

“James Bevel is a young Baptist minister who has been involved in the civilrights movement since the lunch counter sit-ins in Nashville, TN in 1960. Hequickly became known for his abilities as an organizer, particularly of youth,and his eloquence as a speaker. In 1962, he joined SCLC as a close aide of

Martin Luther King, Jr., until the latter’s assassination in 1968.

“As a civil rights leader, Bevel has received little publicity, though he hadthe charisma to have been on the front pages of newspapers all around the

world. But he has never sought publicity or projected hisown personality into the public arena.”

—Julius Lester, Author, Evergreen Magazine, May, 1971, p.4

“I went to a meeting at this church, and they announced about thisimportant mass meeting, something we wasn’t use to, and said James Bevel

would be speaking that night. James Bevel did speak and everything hesaid, you know made sense.”

—Fannie Lou Hamer, Voting Rights Activist and Civil Rights Leader

“I don't think we would have had a movement without him. He played avery important role, and that role was translated into

a successful movement.”— Ambassador Andrew Young, Civil Rights Leader, U.S. Ambassador

“Even the March on Washington was Jim Bevel's idea.”—Dr. Bernard Lafayette,

Co-founder the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

“He was a great philosopher, an unbelievable philosopher.”

WHO IS JAMES L. BEVEL

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“Bevel could do more with young people than anyhuman being on the face of the earth.”

— Reverend Hosea William, Civil Rights Leader, Organizer SCLC

“We were trying to map out some strategy about what we were going to doto retaliate, and that’s when Rev. Bevel came and stood up on the car to

speak to us. He said that we were brave in the dark, we were going to shootsomebody in the dark or hit somebody on the head in the dark. He

challenged us to do something in the light, if we had the guts. He said wecould take that energy and go to the bus station and buy a ticket in the main

waiting room which was on the white side. He said we could take thatenergy and go buy a Coke in the restaurant where it was suppose to be opento the public. That was in 1961, when the Freedom Rides were just coming

into Mississippi.”— Stranger At The Gate, A Summer In Mississippi, Author, Tracy Sugarman

“Reverend Bevel was the real creative genius of that period.”

“I was inspired by Jesus, Gandhi and James Bevel.”—Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Civil Rights Leader, Founder Operation PUSH

As a historian who has focused on James Bevel's career in the 1960s CivilRights Movement, I'd like to correct the data referring to Bevel as “a toplieutenant of Martin Luther King Jr.” Rather than being any type ofunderling, Bevel and King held a meeting in 1962 and agreed to work asequals. From that point on James Bevel initiated, directed, and strategizedSCLC's major movements, as well as teaching their participants the scienceand art of nonviolence and how to carry it out.

The ongoing but discredited habit of giving James Bevel less credit thanhistorically accurate remains interesting. Imagine Madison and Adams foreverpraised but Jefferson not mentioned, or Gehrig without Ruth, or PaulMcCartney without a fellow musician/songwriter named John. This still remainstrue about Bevel and King, although the truth has emerged. Historian DavidGarrow affirms much of it, and even Taylor Branch, in his book “At Canaan'sEdge” confirms it when he quotes King as saying about the ill-fated Memphisactions: “You don't like to work on anything that isn't your own idea. Bevel, Ithink you owe me one.”

For accurate summaries of James Bevel's work, see my papers on the internet orobtain my 1984 paper, with '88 addendum, in David Garrow's 1989 book “WeShall Overcome Volume II”.

—Randy Kryn, Historian, December 5, 2008

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“The Bevel story does revise the history of the civil rightsmovement and it needs to be told.”

—Robert St. John, (Author & Broadcaster) in a letter to Randy Kryn

“Someone who really shakes things up…this man was there. He wascommitted. He trained these people. He trained many of the so-called leadersthat you see out there today.”

–Alton Maddox, Jr., Esq.Former Director of the National Conference of Black Lawyers Juvenile Defense Project.

“I heard preacher after preacher. The fourteenth sermon was the best.James Bevel…delvered the greatest speech I have ever heard in my life.”

–Gary Wills, Author, Under God

“James Bevel was a pioneer for an American Revolution. It’s the bad boyswho cause revolutions. A person would have to be a tad bit insane to go upagainst Jim Clark, Bull Connor, police dogs and fire hoses. The culture ofslavery created post-traumatic stress syndrome of slavery. The affect of theplantation system was disconnection. America and its structures had noavenue for healing. Only novelty can get you out of slavery. Bevel was borninto slavery and inherited all the slave tendencies. His work was designed tobring healing to the nation.”

—Dr. Nkosi Ajanaku, Esquire, Future America Basic Research Institute,www.futureamericatoday.com

“You (James Bevel)were like an angel to me. God sent you to me to talk about a day of atonement.”—Minister Louis Farrakhan, Leader of the Nation of Islam

“Rev. Bevel was the one who really came up with the idea of theNational Day of Atonement.

–Minister Benjamin Chavis Muhammad

“I’ve…been touched by the words of Reverend Bevel…we thank him forthat most powerful, powerful message.”

–Secretary of State Colin Powell

“There is nothing you can do to repay this man for what he hasfought for, and secured…for you.”

–Dr. Abdul Alim Muhammad

“James Bevel was a blessing in my life in so many ways. He challenged meto grow up and take responsibility as female man; to give up the curse of

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irresponsibility (blaming others for my shortcomings); to make primarydecisions and to think for myself and be Man (male/female) created in theimage and likeness of God, and give up being woman, created out of theimagination of Adam in Genesis in the Holy Bible. Even though weexperienced many breakdowns in our relationship, we stayed together forover fifteen (concentrated) years and continued to communicate and work onprojects together. Today, I think I may be one of the first free females, as aresult of the challenges he made to my conditioning, that made slaverycomfortable. James Bevel was a master at breaking down the ego so that ithad no hiding place and getting at those idiosyncrasies that we learn to hideunder, that keep us from being real and authentic human beings. He wasable to do this because he had worked so hard on uprooting the “nigga” inhimself to eradicate the common fears that caused immobility and illmotivation.

I can say unhesitatingly that here was a truly remarkable man, a rarespecimen of humanity forged from the muddy waters of the Mississippi Delta,where manhood was outlawed and sentenced to death. James Bevel raisedhimself out of the murk and mire of his environment and worked tirelesslyto uproot vestiges of his slave past and conditioning. His successful effortsare evidenced by the humongous contributions that he made to humanity.Here was a man who gave unselfishly to anyone who was in need. There wasnever a question of what do I get for helping you when he was asked for help.He just gave. He was always accessible to anyone who sought his assistance.His life was dedicated to removing any impediments that would hinder himfrom serving God. Being human he erred, but his intent was always to do hisbest and to give his all in a spirit of love.”

—Helen L. Bevel, Bevel, Student of Nonviolence, Wife and Mother of Six

James Bevel fathered the following children. Bonny Shellman (Betty Biggins),Don Glenard Bevel-El (Barbara Jean Talley), Jacqueline Harris (EvelynHarris), Sherrilyn Bevel and Douglass Bevel (Diane Nash), Chevara Orrinand Bacardi L. Jackson (Sue Orrin), Segena Ponder (Annelle Ponder),Masavia N. Greer (Mary Greer), Shalay H. Bevel, James L. Bevel, Jr.,Jamese L. Bevel, AmiRa Bevel and Enoch Bevel (Helen Edmond), StephenJackson (Stormy Jackson), Jamerica Bevel (Erica Henry). Bevel hasnumerous grandchildren. May his tribe increase.

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TIMELINE OF JAMES L. BEVEL1936 - 1972

Born, October 19th to Illie and Denise Bevel in Ittabena, MS, on Joe Pieu’s

Plantation. He had seventeen siblings. Attended Palo Alto St. John Christian

School

Moved to Cleveland, OH, and attended Raleigh Junior H. S. and graduated

from East Technical High School

Received B. A. from the American Baptist Theological Seminary, Nashville,

TN

Licensed to preach

Ordained into the ministry.

Pastor, Chestnut Grove Baptist Church, Dixon, TN 1959-1961

Attended class on nonviolence taught by Reverend James Lawson

Co-organizer, Sit - In Movement, Nashville, TN (which led to desegregation of

lunch counters)

Chairman, Nashville Student Movement and Director, Open Theatre

Movement (which led to desegregation of theatres)

Co-initiated continuance of Freedom Rides under the auspices of SNCC (the

Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee) after CORE called them off (led to

ICC Ruling Against Segregation in Interstate Commerce)

Chairman of the Nashville Freedom Riders

Co-organized SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee)

Graduated from the American Baptist Theological Seminary, Nashville, TN;

Director of SNCC Mississippi Delta Project; developer, Ruleville and Greenwood,

MS Voter Registration Project

Field Secretary in Mississippi for SNCC

Director of the Mississippi Project out of which came COFO and the Mississippi

Freedom Democratic Party.

Co-organized the Mississippi Free Press along with Paul Brooks and Medgar Evers,

Jackson, MS

1936

1955

195619571959

1961

1961

1962

1963

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Married Diane Nash and had two children, Sherrilyn and Douglas. They divorced in

1968.

Field Secretary SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) MS.

Wrote the original proposal for the Mississippi Delta Ministry Project

Developer, Ruleville, MS Right To Vote Movement, Greenwood, MS

Recruited Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer and others to join the movement

Became the Director of Direct Action and the Director of Nonviolent Education for

SCLC.

Architect of the 1963 Children's Crusade in Birmingham, Ala. Originated the idea for

“D” Day, which consisted of student demonstrations where masses of students

became involved in the Birmingham Movement to make it a success (led to passage of

the Civil Rights Act)

Gave birth to the idea of a March on Washington, although he did not participate.

Co-wrote the original proposal for the Selma Right-To-Vote Movement

Developed and directed the Selma 1965 Right to Vote Movement (led to passage of

the Voting Rights Act); received the Rosa Parks Award for Selma Movement from

SCLC. He is called the “Father of Voting Rights.”

Developed and directed the Chicago Open Housing Movement and tenet union,

Chicago, Illinois (led to Supreme Court Ruling Against Segregation in Housing).

Took a leave of absence from SCLC and became Director of the Mobilization to End

the War in Vietnam (led to draft resisters movement and U. N. protest

demonstration of 1/4 million people)

Director of Nonviolent Education, Poor People’s Campaign, Washington, DC

Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. Assassinated in Memphis, TN April 4, 1968.

Associate Director, Environmental Mental Health, Jefferson Hospital, Philadelphia,

PN (Received 2nd Place Award for best mental health program by Educational TV)

Announced that James Earl Ray was an innocent scapegoat and did not kill Dr. M.

L. King, Jr. and persuaded SCLC to defend him under the leadership of Reverend

Ralph David Abernathy. The King family were offended by the idea and

denounced Bevel. Bevel was tricked to a suppose to be board meeting of SCLC

held at the Metropolitan Psychiatric Hospital in Atlanta, Ga., and agreed to stay if

1964

1965

1966

Jan.27,

1967

1968

1969

18

one of his lieutenants stayed with him. They did stay and three days later Bevel

was released after observation and evaluation by the director, who said there was

nothing wrong with him and that he was simply attaining full consciousness.

Word had spread that he had been in a mental hospital and people began to call

him crazy because he had been in the hospital. Years later, Mrs. Coretta Scott-

King and her family joined Reverend Bevel’s movement to free James Earl Ray

(the scapegoat), because they too realized that he was innocent. Rev. Bevel

advocated justice for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his family, because Dr. King

was a “Drum Major for Justice "and should not get anything less.

Reported that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. visited him, and he asked Dr. King the

following. “In that you said we as a people would get to the Promised Land, where

is the roadmap? At which point Dr. King provided him with the Six Institutional

Development Process “Roadmap to the Freedom Land.”

Helped form the Coalition to End the Murder of Black People, Chicago, IL, after

the death of Michael and Johnny Soto.

Studied for Masters of Theology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

Strategized the movement to get Black History put into the curriculum in schools

on the Westside of Chicago, IL.

Director & Co-founder of the House of MAN (Making A Nation), Mental Health

Clinic, Baltimore, MD, with Herman O’Neil

Married Patricia Churchill, his second wife. They were divorced in 1972

Worked with Reverend Curtis Burrell, Director of the Kenwood-Oakland

Community Organization (K.O.C.O.) to address gang violence on the south side of

Chicago

Dis-illusioned by the denial of his work in the movement and all the credit going to

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., he received a compilation of books, magazines, and

newspaper articles attesting to his work in the civil rights and nonviolent

movement as researched by Helen L. Edmond

Participated with Helen L. Edmond in recording hundreds of hours of lectures,

institutional (church, business, government, clinic, home and school) meetings,

commentaries on the movement, sermons, private sessions and more. They

married and had five children.

1971

1972

1972-

2006

1969

19

The introduction of Birmingham’s children into thecampaign was one of the wisest moves made. It broughta new impact to the crusade and the impetus that weneeded to win the struggle. Jim Bevel had the inspirationof setting D Day, when the students would go to jail inhistoric numbers.

Why We Can’t Wait, Martin L. King, Jr.

When the four little girls were killed in a Birminghamchurch bombing on September 15, 1963, Reverend Beveldecided that it could not be ignored. He could see theinter-relatedness of the bombing and the movement actionsbeing carried out in Birmingham. Bevel decided to step upthe action of the nonviolent movement. His overridingthought was to provide Black people with a tool that they

could use to nonviolently protect themselves. He decided that getting thesouthern Black people the right-to-vote would go a long way in providingthis protection. On the day of the bombing, he and his wife Diane Nashdrew up a plan for getting the right to vote. He sent his wife DianeNash-Bevel to present the proposal to Dr. King, asking for his and SCLC’ssupport for such a plan.

“My former husband (Jim Bevel) and I, cried when we heard about thebombing, because in many ways we felt like our own children had been killed.We knew that the activity of the civil rights movement had been involved ingenerating a kind of energy that brought out this kind of hostility. We decidedthat we would do something about it, and we said that we had two options.First, we felt confident that if we tried, we could find out who had done it,and we could make sure they got killed. We considered that as a real option.The second option was that we felt that if blacks in Alabama had the right tovote, they could protect black children. We deliberately made a choice, andchose the second option. We weren't going to stop working until AlabamaBlacks had the right to vote.”

Diane Nash-Bevel interview in Voices of Freedom, p. 173

HISTORY OF THESELMA RIGHT-TO-VOTE MOVEMENT

Ye have heard that it hath been said, “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for atooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite

thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.Matthew 5;38-39

But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: forof such is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 19;14

20

“King’s SCLC gave serious consideration to a national civil disobediencecampaign (the right to vote proposal) drafted by Reverend James L. Beveland his wife Diane Nash-Bevel, Field Secretary of SNCC…but a weeklater was forced to reverse itself when virtually every other civil rightsgroup rejected the idea.”

House Divided, Lionel Lokos

Selma, Alabama, is the seat of Dallas County. It is also the unofficial economic,political, and cultural capitol of the western portion of Alabama's Black Belt (similarto Greenwood, the political center of the Mississippi Delta). The County was 57%Black in 1961, but of the 15,000 African-Americans old enough to vote only 130 -less than 1% - are registered - and some of those few actually live and workelsewhere. More than 80% of Dallas County Blacks lived beneath the poverty line.Most of them worked as sharcroppers, farm hands, maids, janitors, and day-laborers.Only 5% of Dallas County Blacks had a high school diploma, and more than 60%never had the chance to go to high school at all because neither Alabama nor thelocal school board saw any need to educate the "hewers of wood and drawers ofwater." By contrast, 81% of Dallas County whites lived above the poverty line and90% had at least a high school education.

In the rural counties surrounding Selma, the Black majorities are even larger - over80% in some cases - and in many of them not a single African-American isregistered. Adjacent Wilcox County is 78% Black and has not had an African-American voter since the end of Reconstruction, neither has next door LowndesCounty which is over 81% Black.

Judge James Hare dominated Dallas County politics, and the county wassometimes referred to as a "political plantation," with Judge Hare as master andSheriff Jim Clark as whip-cracking overseer. Hare was a self-proclaimed"expert" on racial eugenics. He asserted that the Blacks living in Selma weredescended from Ibo and Angolan slaves who (in his publicly-stated opinion)were genetically incapable of achieving an IQ of higher than 65. Jim Clark isa brutal, hard-core racist, whose strategy for maintaining rigid segregation is toviolently beat down and arrest anyone who dares question the established order.And through bribery, intimidation, and blackmail, Clark built a network ofBlack snitches who would inform on their neighbors.

In addition to his paid deputies, Clark relied on his Sheriff's posse of more thantwo hundred armed volunteers - some of them members or supporters of racistorganizations such as the Ku Klux Klan. Possemen wear cheap badges issuedby Clark, construction helmets, and khaki work clothes. They are armed withshotguns, pistols, and a variety of hardwood clubs including ax-handles.

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.Matthew 5;4

21

Originally formed after World War II to oppose labor unions, the posse's missionwas to defend white-supremecy and supress all forms of Black protest. Theposse wasn’t limited to Dallas County. Clark would send them on missions farand wide. In 1961 some were part of the mob that beat the Freedom Riders inMontgomery, others rushed to join the massive violence in Oxford Mississippiwhen James Meredith integrated 'Ole Miss in 1962, and Bull Connor calledthem in to help crack the heads of student protesters during The BirminghamCampaign of 1963.

Supporting Hare and Clark was Selma's powerful White Citizens Councilcomposed of bankers, businessmen, politicians, landlords, clergy, and otherpillers of the community. The Council stood ever vigilant against any attemptto undermine the "Southern way of life" which they defend with economicterrorism - firings, evictions, foreclosures, blacklists, and business boycotts.Together, Judge Hare, Sheriff Clark, the posse, the Citizens Council, and thesnitches created an interlocking reign of economic, judicial, and violent terrorthat imprisoned Dallas County Blacks in an iron grip of fear.

Judge Nathan Hare had an illegal and unconstitutional injunction in effect inSelma. It prohibited Black leaders and freedom organizations from meetingwith three or more people at one time to talk about civil rights or voterregistration. Organizing and registration efforts were thus crippled. There hadbeen no public meetings, no protests, no mass registration efforts since theinjunction was issued six months earlier. Hare's order was being appealed, butthe case was moving through the courts very slowly with no end in sight.

“I'd actually heard about Selma before [deciding to work there]. It wasduring the Freedom Rides when the bus I was riding ... was stopped bystate police who said it needed to take another route ... because there wasa white mob waiting in Selma and they couldn't protect us. I'm saying tomyself, 'Oh Lord - even the State Troopers are scared of that city.' Buteven remembering that, I decided I'm going to work in Selma ... and getmarried. Colia who I married was not afraid of anything. And we married.Our honeymoon was going to be Selma.”

— Bernard Lafayette

Bernard and Colia Lafayette went to Selma, in February 1963 to begin avoter education effort. Throughout the spring their monthly Dallas CountyVoters League clinics drew an average of forty people, and by mid-Junethey were able to draw seven hundred people to a mass rally at which JamesBevel of SCLC spoke.

Protest At Selma, David Garrow

Love your enemy, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hateyou, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you.

Matthew 5;44

22

Strong local leadership developed in Alabama, in thatthe NAACP was banned. Local leaders and Rev.Bernard & Colia LaFayette of SNCC were alreadylaying the groundwork in Selma, when Bevel arrived.

Although Selma had been declared "offlimits" as an organizing district by theSouthern Christian Leadership Conferenceearlier, Amelia Robinson, with herhusband, S. W. Boynton, had labored forthe right to vote in that area for over thirtyyears prior to the campaign of 1964.

–Mrs. Amelia Boynton Robinson

The one thing SNCC did not have to do in Selma was identify and developgrassroots community leadership. As I said, this was a self-containedcommunity, and its Dallas County Voter's League had a mighty impressivegroup of leaders. Some proud, fearless black leaders who, against allodds, had never quit and never backed down. Nuff respect. They weremostly professional people: ministers like the Reverend Mr. Lewis andthe Reverend Mr, Reese; Dr. Jackson, who I believe was a dentist;tough-talking, indefatigable attorney J. L. Chestnutt; and of course, thepresident, Mrs. Amelia Boynton, a former teacher and widely respectedleader.

Mrs. Boynton was a gracious, elegantly spoken lady. A teacher deeplycommitted to her people's uplift; Mrs. Boynton had been president of theDallas County NAACP. When the NAACP was outlawed in Alabama, shedidn't miss a beat. She merely led the membership into the Voters Leagueand became president of that. She was demure, highly "cultured," and quiteunintimidatable. The entire Boynton family were warriors. Her husbandalso had been a highly respected leader, who managed — with the ingenuityof his widow — to continue the fight literally from his grave.

Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael)

Violence, jail, and economic terrorism was not able to entirely suppressthe spirit of resistance in Selma. The Boynton family (Sam, Amelia, andtheir son Bruce) were not intimidated. While a student at Howard LawSchool, Bruce Boynton was arrested for using a white-only lunch counter

The Courageous EightErnest Doyle, Henry Shamon,

Marie Foster, F. D. Reese, JamesGildersleeve, Amelia Boynton, J.D. Hunter and Ulysses Blackmon

Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil:for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Psalms 23:4

All things work together for good to them that love God, to them whoare the called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28

23

at the Trailways bus station in Richmond VA. He filed Boynton v. Virginia,the landmark Supreme Court case that overturned segregation in interstatetravel and formed the legal basis for the Freedom Rides in 1961.

After several months and no support from SCLC leadership, ReverendBevel decided to move on the plan without the consent of Dr. King or SCLC.He took some of his staff to Alabama and started organizing people andresources to bring the plan to fruition. Official approval of the voting rightsmovement didn’t come until November, 1964, just after the presidentialelection.

Our Direct Action Department, under the direction of Rev. James Bevel,then decided to attack the very heart of the political structure of the stateof Alabama and the Southland through a campaign for the right to vote.

The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr., Martin Luther King, Jr.

First the government was asked to remove all barriers that kept blacks fromvoting. The Congress was petitioned, the state of Alabama and GovernorGeorge Wallace were petitioned. This way of asking and engaging in clearcommunication before any demonstrations began, was proof that the barriersto voting did exist.

As director of nonviolent education, James Bevel had the responsibility ofeducating and demonstrating nonviolence.

But at one, the Ward Four meeting held in the back of Brown Chapel, theygot a reception from an SCLC staff member named James Bevel. Bevelwas on Dr. King’s executive staff, and was in charge of the SCLC workersin the city; although short and unimposing in appearance, he was one of

OrganizerRev. James Orange

OrganizerDorothy Tillman

AdministratorRev. Richard Boone

Co-AuthorDiane Nash

HistorianCharles Fager

Bevel’s Direct Action Staff/SCLC

OrganizerRev. Harold Middlebrook

SCLC staff not pictured: Andrew Marrisett, Willie Bolden, Lester HankersonSNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) organizers who were already inSelma: Reverend Bernard LaFayette, Colia LaFayette, John Love, Worth Long, AveryWilliams, Prathia Hall, Silas Norman, and Maria Varela.

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth inHis way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lordupholdeth him with His hand. I have been young, and now am old; yet

have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his sreed begging bread.Psalm 37:23-25

24

King’s most eloquent and fiery spokesman known especially for the vigorand force of his denunciation of racism. Before a small dumfoundedaudience, Bevel stood up and ordered the deputies to leave. One of themraised a camera to take his picture and he angrily told him to stop andrepeated the order to leave. The deputies were wary of getting involved insuch surrounding, and they left. The news of this unprecedented act ofdefiance quickly spread around the city.

Selma, 1965, Charles Fager

Past experiences had taught Bevel that once a campaign was started, it hadto be completed. He had come to Selma, with his staff to gain the right tovote, realizing that they would be offered everything but that. He however,was resolved that nothing less than the right to vote was acceptable. Nextan injunction was issued by Judge Thomas.

“...the injunction represented a major attempt by the white leadershipto head off the demonstrations in Selma. It contained what seemed tobe real concessions, which would open up the voting rolls to largernumbers of Black citizens. Even the SCLC workers weren’t sure at firstwhat its impact would be. Andy Young told the people at Brown Chapel,when they heard it was imminent that, “In every battle there are manyrounds, and this round may have come to an end. We may have a littlebreathier.”

James Bevel who had tossed the deputies out of a ward meeting, was themain preacher at the mass meeting that night, and he was in a combativemood! The order, he said, “may make it more difficult for us to do someof the things we have done before, and we might be cited for contempt ofcourt. But I don’t mind being cited for contempt because Negroes wereborn under an injunction in Alabama. If Judge Thomas plans to connivearound with letters of the law in order to deny us our rights, he has a baddream coming. We mean to vote and have representation in government,and we will settle for nothing less. I’m saying here and now," he finished,“that we must be prepared to fight and die for everything that is ours. Andthere is going to be rabble rousing all over Alabama until we get the rightto vote.”

Selma, 1965, Charles Fager

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in haven is perfect.Matthew 5:48

Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that withall boldness they may speak thy word. Acts 4:29

25

The only act of violence was when Mrs. Annie Lee Cooper, a 224-pound,54-year-old African-American woman, threw a punch to the jaw of SelmaSheriff Jim Clark and knocked him off his feet. Clark had hit her in theback of the neck with his billy club when she had been standing in line forhours at the Dallas County Courthouse in an attempt to register to vote.

I saw Jim Clark fling Mrs. Boynton around like a leaf a day or two before.Clark was larger than I on the outside, but I was larger than he on theinside. The altercation started. ... Jim Clark could not take me down alone.The town sheriff and I were going at it blow for blow, punch for punch,and lick for lick, with our fists. It was a plain old street brawl. Suddenlyhe cried out to his deputies: "Don'y' an see this nigger woman beatin'me? Do some'um." At the urging of the sheriff the others came to his aid.All four of them closed in on me.

Clark took his nightstick and prepared to land a blow. Before he knew it,I had his arm and held it back with a tight grip. Clark brought his billyclub over my face. He managed to put enough power in his swing to grazeme across the upper part of my eye with the nightstick. The blow stungand was hard enough to draw blood. It struck me over my eye. I wasfiercely holding his hand so he could not strike me again. I heard Dr.King urging the marchers to stay calm. He was afraid the marchers weregoing to turn violent while watching the Policemen attack me. It was fouragainst one. It took everything each of the four had to manhandle me.

The deputies wrestled me down onto the pavement, as the crowd lookedon. Clark planted his knee in my stomach, as the deputies had me on myback. That was the only way he could have gotten his knee in my stomach.He stood no chance of wrestling me to the ground alone. The deputiesrolled me over on my stomach and handcuffed my hands behind my back.They lifted me to my feet and took me to the paddy-wagon. I was takenthrough an alley in town. While walking through the alley, Clark took hisbilly club and landed a blow on my head. It was a fierce lick. The blowcracked my skull. ...

I remained locked up in the town jail the rest of the day. About 11 pm oneof the deputies came to my cell. Jim Clark was nearby sleeping off hisdrunk. He was a heavy drinker. The deputy said: "I'm going to let you gobefore Sheriff Clark wakes up in a drunken stupor and decides to killyou."

Annie Lee Cooper

26

Mrs. Cooper was down in that line, and they haven’t told the press thetruth about it. Mrs. Cooper wouldn’t have turned around and hit SheriffClark just to be hitting. And of course, as you know, we teach a philosophyof not retaliating and not hitting back, but the truth of the situation is thatMrs. Cooper, if she did anything, was provoked by Sheriff Clark. At thatmoment, he was engaging in some very ugly business-as-usual action.This is what brought about that scene there.”

Dr. Martin L. King, Jr., at Brown Chapel

“No matter how justified, retaliatory violence on the part ofdemonstrators weakens the Movement because, then [the press] don't talkabout the registration. We want the world to know they ain't registeringnobody!"

Reverend James Bevel, at Brown Chapel

Bevel took SCLC to Selma with one goal in mind, to win a strong federalvoting rights law that would provide for executive branch enforcement ofsouthern Blacks constitutionally guaranteed right-to-vote. Again and againthey were offered everything else.

Over the weekend there was quiet negotiations between Black and Whiteleaders over the use of an “appearance book.” A number of the localleaders, including Reverend Reese, were momentarily persuaded that theopening of the appearance book a week early would constitute animportant sign of good faith on the part of the Whites, and the Whitesbelieved that the Black leaders had agreed to end demonstration once itbecame available.

Selma, 1965, Charles Fager

The instituting of an appearance book was not the equivalent of federalprotection of voting rights and to end demonstrations or take a breatherwould have left Black people at the mercy of the already riled up Ku KluxKlan and the White Citizens Council. There was a position of nocompromise in the movement. This circumvented people who were nottotally committed to nonviolence or who didn’t understand it from givingin to less than the goal, the right to vote.

But things didn’t work out as the Whites had hoped. The SCLC staff in thecity particularly James Bevel, argued vehemently that the appearance bookwas just another White man’s trick, a delaying tactic like so many othersand no concession at all. On Monday morning, February eighth, they held

Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinnerdestroyeth much good. Ecclesiates 9:18

27

a press conference to denounce it, and to call for the holding of registrationin other locations as well, the appointment of deputy registrars, some ofwhom would be Black and the elimination of all voting requirements exceptage and residence. Bevel said he would lead a group to the courthouse tomake explicit their boycott of the book.

Selma, 1965, Charles Fager

As a result of the visibility that came to Reverend Bevel when he would notgo along with other Black leaders concessions when they were fooled bythe White man’s tricks, he was severely beaten, and received a concussion.He was jailed on the day of the appearance book protest.

James Bevel, had been beaten insensibly by sheriff’s deputies and hadsustained a concussion of the brain. Bevel was chained to his bed.

Selma, 1965, Charles Fager

Not only was Bevel chained to his bed, he was the target of unremitting abuseand degradation. H e was also watered down and stripped of his clothes andcaught viral pneumonia in an unheated cell. His wife serving him divorcepapers caused this inhumane treatment to come to light, as her lawyer foundBevel near death. This was Diane’s strategy for getting help for her husband.She was not actually divorcing Bevel. She managed to get him transferredto an infirmary where he is shackled with iron chains to a bed until she isable to get them removed.

The first real causality of the Selma movement was theshooting and subsequent death of Jimmie Lee Jackson inMarion, AL. His murder threatened to destroy the nonviolentmovement, as people began to purchase bullets fromneighboring states. (In 2007 [42 years later ] former trooperJames Fowler was indicted for Jackson's murder. In 2010 he plead

guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to six months in jail. None of theother whites involved ever faced charges for the police-mob violence in Marion.)

Give not that which is Holy unto dogs, neither cast ye your pearls beforeswine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn

again and rend you. Matthew 7:6

I send unto you prophets and wise men; and some ye shall kill andcrucify.. behold your house is left unto you desolate. Blessed is he that

cometh in the name of the Lord. Matthew 23:34

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that yepresent your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which

is your reasonable service. Romans 12:1

28

The Black community had armed themselves in Marion, and were readyto kill some policemen or White people. I (Bevel) convinced them thatthey should march instead and that, that would keep the question of theright to vote before the nation and would force President Johnson not tojoin the southern White folks in crushing the movement under the pretenseof upholding law and order if some white folk were killed. This wouldhave caused a restriction of travel and thus we would not have been ableto keep the people at the courthouse. This was a tactical maneuver in thequestion of the right to vote, aimed at bringing the whole state governmentand the rest of the nation into the movement.

Interview with James Bevel, by Helen L. Edmond

As ministers we felt it was important to make a pastoral call to the familyof the slain Jimmy Lee Jackson, to have prayer with them and give themspiritual encouragement. Jimmy was a young man who was the breadwinner for the family and was now dead. He had a sister, a wife, andmother who had been beaten. Before leaving the Jackson’s, Bevel askedthe family, “What do you think we should do? Do you think we shouldcontinue to march?” Cager Lee Jackson said, “Oh yes, we have to marchnow, I have nothing to lose, I’ve lost everything I had.” So Bevel said,“If we march would you march with us?” He said, “Yes, I’ll march.” Soon our way back from the Jackson’s house, Bevel said, “I’m going tomarch, and I’m going to march all the way to Montgomery.” He asked,“Do you think I’ll get anyone to march with me?” I said, “I’m just oneperson, but I’ll march with you.” So Bevel at the mass meeting that verysame night made the announcement that he was going to march all theway to Montgomery. He asked, "How many people are going to marchwith me?" The whole church (Zion United Methodist Church) stood up."

Account by Dr. Bernard LaFayette, Co-founder of SNCC

“Who killed him? He was murdered by the brutality of every sheriff whopracticed lawlessness in the name of law. He was murdered by theirresponsibility of every politician from governors on down who has fedhis constituents the stale bread of hatred and the spoiled meat of racism.He was murdered by the timidity of a Federal Government that is willingto spend millions of dollars a day to defend freedom in Vietnam but cannotprotect the rights of its citizens at home. ... And he was murdered by thecowardice of every Negro who passively accepts the evils of segregationand stands on the sidelines in the struggle for justice.

Martin Luther King, Jr., at Jimmie Lee Jackson’s funeral

If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any manminister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all

things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise anddominion forever and ever. Amen. I Peter 4:11

29

Dr. King endorsed Bevel's proposal for a march from Selma toMontgomery demanding justice for the murder of Jimmy Lee Jackson andto confront Wallace over voting rights. But SNCC opposes the SCLC plan.They see it as a dangerous grandstand play by King that will do nothingfor the local people. John Lewis disagrees, "I knew the feelings that were outthere on the streets. The people of Selma were hurting. They were angry. Theyneeded to march. It didn't matter to me who led it. They needed to march.”Lewis stands alone and is outvoted. The SNCC meeting does agree that SNCCmembers can participate in the march as individuals, but not as SNCCrepresentatives. SNCC sent a letter to King stating that: We strongly believethat the objectives of the march do not justify the dangers ... consequently[SNCC] will only live up to those minimal commitments to provide radios andcars, and nothing beyond that.

Marches began in Selma, AL onMarch 7, 1965. About 600 black andwhite civil rights protesters passedthrough Selma and began to cross theEdmund Pettus Bridge spanning theAlabama River. They were met onthe other side by a large force ofAlabama state troopers, who orderedthe marchers to return to Selma.When the marchers refused to turn

back, the troopers attacked, some on horseback, knocking down peopleand beating them with billy clubs. This was all filmed by TV news camerasand shown that evening to a shocked American public. The third marchwas approved by Governor George Wallace on March 21, 1965.

“Dr. King's speech [in Montgomery] was impressive as usual, but theremarks of James Bevel got closest to the whole point of the struggle.Waving up at the capitol, Bevel said, “Those police up there on the stepsknow we belong inside. Thirty-four percent of the seats in there belongto us. We don't want these steps. We want the capitol.”

Black Activism, Robert H. Brisbane

“For Bevel, the march to Montgomery was not the end of the SCLC’sAlabama Project, but only the beginning. But once the march was

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and locethe other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye

cannot serve God and man. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thoughtfor your life…but seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His

righteousness; and all things shall be added unto you. Matthew 6

30

completed, Bevel returned to his original plan. In fact, in light of themomentum developed by the march, he decided its sights should be raised;the Black citizens of Alabama should not settle for simply a federal votinglaw, he felt, they should demand the impeachment of Governor Wallace,the resignation of both houses of the state legislature, and a new, federallysupervised election for all state offices. To reinforce the impact of themass arrest in Montgomery, Bevel wanted SCLC to institute a nationwideboycott of the states industries and products, to add economic chaos topolitical disruption as the campaign heated up. The weekend after therally at the capitol, Dr. King announced that he would call for a boycottof Alabama products and industries; and ask the federal government towithdraw its funds from programs in the state.”

But there was resistance to this program within SCLC, led principally byHosea William. Williams urged Dr. King to give him command of all theSCLC field staff, including those in Alabama, to help implement SCOPE.SCOPE was given a budget of $480,000. This meant putting an end toBevel’s Alabama Project. SCLC’s SCOPE Project did not turn out nearlyas well as its sponsors had hoped. Everybody was waiting for the [votingright] bill to be passed. With almost a half million dollars to play with,SCLC’s legendary disorganization became an industry in SCOPE.

Selma, 1965, Charles Fager

SCLC pulled out of Selma and the people of Selma and the Blackbelt wereleft to suffer under the racist tricks and ploys of those elected officials whohad a 400 year jump start on keeping them oppressed. In addition the stateconstitution was founded on the oppression and enslavement of AfricanAmericans. The mayor of Selma in 1965 was Mayor Joe Smitherman andhe served as mayor until 2003 (38 years). He maintained the racist policiesin new ways. In an interview with local Selma residents it was reportedthat people were encouraged to keep their children out of school and receivecrazy checks. One young lady said, that her mother use to beat her whenshe voiced a desire to go to school. She became a resident of a mentalinstitute.

Had Bevel’s plan to hold new elections for all public officials beenimplemented Mayor Smitherman would not have served for forty more yearsand the people would have been able to move forward towards truedemocracy in the state of Alabama. To this day African Americans continueto suffer under the cruelty of unsavory politicians and unjust laws.

On January 14, 2014, the city council of Selma voted to award land to the

Wherefore by their fruit ye shall know them. Matthew 7:20

31

Daughters of the Confederacy, for building of a statue to honor Nathan B.Forest (Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan) in a African Americanneighborhood and African American members of the council voted for this.

The Voting Rights Act, is a landmark piece offederal legislation in the United States thatprohibits racial discrimination in voting. It wassigned by President Lyndon Baines Johnson onAugust 6, 1965. Johnson opening the way forgreater political participation by blacks in southernpolitics. He also established an Office of EconomicOpportunity, increased educational spending, andestablished the Medicare and Medicaid programsto benefit the poor and elderly.

For with a country as with a person, "What is a man profited, if he shallgain the whole world, and lose his own soul ?"

There is no Negro problem. There is no Southern problem. There is noNorthern problem. There is only an American problem. And we are methere tonight as Americans—not as Democrats or Republicans--we aremet here as Americans to solve that problem.

This was the first nation in the history of the world to be founded with apurpose. The great phrases of that purpose still sound in every Americanheart, North and South: "All men are created equal"—"government byconsent of the governed"—"give me liberty or give me death." Well, thoseare not just clever words, or those are not just empty theories. In their nameAmericans have fought and died for two centuries, and tonight around theworld they stand there as guardians of our liberty, risking their lives.

Those words are a promise to every citizen that he shall share in thedignity of man. This dignity cannot be found in a man's possessions; itcannot be found in his power, or in his position. It really rests on his rightto be treated as a man equal in opportunity to all others. It says that heshall share in freedom, he shall choose his leaders, educate his children,and provide for his family according to his ability and his merits as ahuman being.Wednesday I will send to Congress a law designed to eliminate illegalbarriers to the right to vote.

This is one Nation. What happens in Selma or in Cincinnati is a matterof legitimate concern to every American. But let each of us look withinour own hearts and our own communities, and let each of us put our

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shoulder to the wheel to root out injustice wherever it exists.

But even if we pass this bill, the battle will not be over. What happenedin Selma is part of a far larger movement which reaches into every sectionand State of America. It is the effort of American Negroes to secure forthemselves the full blessings of American life.

Their cause must be our cause too. Because it is not just Negroes, butreally it is all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotryand injustice. And we shall overcome.

President Lyndon Baines Johnson, Excerpt, Voting Rights Speech

The Voting Rights Act is a complex piece of legislation that was developedin response to the failure of earlier legislation to remedy discriminationin voting. It strengthened judicial remedies, but also provided for directFederal action through a variety of administrative remedies to counterimmediate and potential barriers to full and effective minority politicalparticipation. The Voting Rights Act was adopted in 1965. By makingthese practices illegal, the act seeks to give all Americans a fair chanceof electing representatives. The Voting Rights Act has been used bycommunities across the country to challenge unfair election rules, andcreate more inclusive governments. The Act prohibits discriminationagainst African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans and NativeAmericans. Since 1964, the number of black elected officials nationwidehas increased from 300 to more than 9,100.

Reverend James Bevel and Diane Nash received the SCLC Rosa ParksAward for having conceived, initiated and successfully executed the SelmaRight To Vote Movement.

Thousands of African Americans have been elected to office since thesigning of the Voting Rights Act. They have shuned nonviolence and manyhave neglected the needs of the people and pursued self-interest while in office.Many gains have been lost as a result of this.

When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes his enemies to be atpeace with him. Proverbs 16:7

Let your light shine that men may see your good works and give gloryto your Father in Heaven. Matthew 5:16

L-R Diane Nash, Dr. King, James Bevel, Rosa ParksDiane Nash & Rev. Bevel receive the Rosa Parks Awardfrom SCLC for initiating and successfully executing the

Selma, AL Right-to-Vote Movement

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Barack H. Obama was elected 44th president of the U. S., on 11/4/08. Hewas elected to a second term on 11/6/12.Forty-six years prior to Mr. Obama’selection, it was predicted that this wouldoccur."The Irish were not wanted here. Now anIrish Catholic is President of the UnitedStates. There is no question about it, in thenext forty years a Negro can achieve thesame position."

Attorney General Robert Francis Kennedy, 1962

In June of 2013, the Supreme Court declared a provision of the VotingRights Act unconstitutional. With the understanding of “government” asa living principle (beyond racist politics and self-promotion), “voting” as onlyone aspect of government, a “statesman” as the servant of the people forthe public good, and “precinct council government” as the new frontier,African American people will be able to establish and maintain full equalityand obtain justice.

s

So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Romans 14:12

Eyes have not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart ofman, the things which God hath prepared for them that Love Him.

I Corinthians 2:9

Let your light shine that men may see your good works and give gloryto your Father in Heaven. Matthew 5:16

Other casualties in Selma.Mrs. Viola Liuzzo - On the evening of March 25,1965, while transporting marchersback and forth between Montgomery and Selma, on a lonely stretch of road in LowndesCounty, a carload of Klansmen pulled up alongside Liuzzo’s Oldsmobile and fired twobullets into Liuzzo’s skull.

Reverend James Reeb - While in Selma on March 9, Reeb was attacked and beatenby a white mob armed with clubs. He suffered massive head injuries, and died in aBirmingham hospital two days later.

Commentary in bold print by Helen L. Edmond-Bevel.Information about Selma, AL was taken from Civil Rights Movement Veterans website,

http://www.crmvet.org

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Annie Lee CooperJohn Jackson

Charles MauldinJoAnne Bland

Barbara HowardPrincella HowardCharles A. Bonner

Bennie Ruth JohnsonVeronic SmithMattie Atkins

Willie Neal AveryP. H. Lewis

John HewlettBessie McMeansSheyanne WebRachael West

Bruce Carver BoyntonMargaret Moore

Reverend Lorenzo HarrisonJohn HulettJesse Farrior

William CosbyMatthew Jackson

Elzie McGillFrank Harrison.Lonnie Brown

Monroe PettwayWillie Ed Pettway

Timothy MyersRoman Pettway

C. J. AdamsReverend S. L. Johnson

John HeadWilliam M. Branch

John ChambersVassie KnottAnnie Brown

Elmer HawkinsWendell ParisLeonard Hatter

Tommy JacksonReverend J. J. Simmons

Theresa BurroughsCarrie Johnson

William HarrisonOliver PringerMartin RuffinVirginia ColeJesse DixonLena Frost

Malloy JonesAnn Braxton

Robert Jones, Jr.Carl Jones

Henry HaskinsErvin Harris

Child VolunteersSNCC VolunteersSCLC VolunteersCORE VolunteersCOFO VolunteersFOR Volunteers

NAACP VolunteersQuacker VolunteersAlabama Volunteers

Mississippi VolunteersSouthern VolunteersNorthern VolunteersForeign Volunteers

Church, Mosque, Temple VolunteersThanks to the thousands of

Unknown and Unsung Foot Soldiers

The foot soldiers were students, laborers, housewives and others who filled in thebattleground, namelessly, behind the more celebrated leaders. They are those

marching, waving pickets, ducking water hoses, going to jail, but never with a pageof their own to recognize their fearless and heroic efforts.

FOOT SOLDIERS

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CHURCHES & ORGANIZATIONSIn The Struggle For Human Dignity

SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee)

SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference)

CORE (Congress of Racial Equality)

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

NAACP Legal Defense Fund

Dallas County Voters League

Alabama Improvement Association

Perry County Civic League

Brown Chapel AME Church, Selma, AL

Tabernacle Baptist Church, Selma, AL

First Baptist Church, Selma, AL

Zion United Methodist Church, Marion, AL

Countless other churches and organization throughout the UnitedStates are not listed here and deserve to be recognized.

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PROPOSAL FOR THE RIGHT TO VOTESeptember 15, 1964

ByJames L. Bevel and Diane Nash

PROGRAM FOR ACTION IN ALABAMASOUTHERN CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE (SCLC)

Alabama Movement for Political Enfranchisement

PRESUPPOSITONS - The people of western culture and white people in particular are sick, and thewhole world needs for them to be healed and free. They are without excuse; a few know this. Theirbecoming and their freedom depends on them taking seriously the wisdom of western culture and theirbeing able to act our of it, as seriously as have black Americans. They need some leadership, but muchmore they need help along the way towards doing their own thinking and acting.

INTENTIONS OF PROJECT: 1) To build mutual confidence among concerned white people inAlabama; 2) To enable them to learn to discern issues; 3) To allow the context for them to bring to speechand deed the provocation for practical impact; 4) To discover what internal authorities are causing thesepeople to mis-construe the revolution in their day.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION - This one month experiment is aimed at answering the questions: Is itpossible to get a movement begun and grounded in white middle class America in order that it can sustainitself by its own autonomy and motion? The experiment has three phases: 1) the gathering and collectionof persons; 2) the presenting and discussion of data (knowledge); 3) the observation of intellectual abilitiesand skills in the appropriating of the knowledge.

The gathering of the persons will require the efforts of field staff to do leg work and re-establishrelationships with known contacts. This work will require to weeks time and financial resources fortraveling and communications.

The presentation of knowledge can be described as follows: 1) the bringing to mind appropriate material;2) the objective is to enable the persons (missing page).

INTRODUCTION:In the building of a movement from the point where we are now, there are certain steps and activities thatmust be carried out.

Listed below are some activities which, if carried out, would unite the people of Alabama, prepare themfor suffering, in a prolonged nonviolent campaign, appeal to the conscience of white people in Alabamaand the nation, and keep the opponents and participants informed. Such a campaign would not allow theobjective to become obscured. It would eventually lead to the education and enfranchisement of nearlyall people outside of Alabama to become active in the cause. This program will only be effective if it iscarried through to its conclusion.

I. ADULT PREPARATIONThe meeting for all of the Alabama affiliates that will be held on March 4 and 5 will serve as the imitationfor the project. At this meeting an action program should be outlined for the affiliates and adopted bythem.

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The office has to keep in mind that the affiliates by and large are not action orientated; therefore it isunreasonable to expect that once an action program is submitted to them that they would automaticallygo back home and carry it out. Since past experience has taught us that students are the ones who usuallyprovide the man power, the home office must keep in mind that our main responsibility is reaching,organizing and preparing the students in Alabama for action with the assistance of the adults, of course.

II. STUDENT PREPARATIONField secretaries should start contacting high school and college students and organizations introducingthem to and getting their commitment to the program. The students should be organized into groupselecting their leaders and starting training programs. They should work with adult groups whereverpossible.

There should be several state-wide or regional student meetings for the purpose of building cohesion andenthusiasm.

III. COMMUNITY PREPARATIONThe white and Negro communities should be reached to the farthest extent to which we are capable… A. People to people tours by Dr. King, Rev. Abernathy, and Rev. Shuttlesworth should be taken.There should be three kinds of meetings in each community: 1) a meeting with students & adult leaders 2) a student mass meeting 3) a regular mass meeting

B. Letters to white and Negro ministers and other strategic leaders should be mailed regularly,constantly defining to them the issues and the movement.

C. Pamphlets, leaflets, stickers, buttons and paid newspaper advertisement should be freely used.D. Mass meetings should be going on in almost every community. The right to vote as a fight

should be kept constantly before the people the affiliates can accept the major responsibility forthis

IV. NEGOTIATIONA. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference and all of its affiliates and all organizations within

the state should send a letter to Mr. Wallace and all appropriate state officials akin; that all lawsbe repealed and tactics stopped that tend to discourage and disenfranchise any citizens who are21 years of age. An effort to contact these officials and talk with them personally should bemade. Another letter should be sent to the state board of elections and county boards of electionand county registrars, asking them to register any legal resident 21 years of age who applies.

B. President Johnson should be requested in writing to insure voting rights for anyone 21 years oldwho is a resident of his locate and to promptly send federal officials to an area where testimonyis given to the effect that any 21 year old citizen is being denied the right to vote. The federalofficial should be empowered to register any person who is being illegally denied.

V. DEMONSTRATIONSThere are two types of demonstration that we probably should consider: mass demonstrations in onecity and demonstrations in many places simultaneously.The advantages of concentrating in one city are:

1. The romance of leaving home to go demonstrate would detract more Negro males.2. The news media could cover more thoroughly and effectively one city than many.3. Extensive coverage would tend to prevent brutality, or if it occurred it would be well covered.4. Because we lack many well trained leaders it would also help in maintain discipline.

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5. It would be more dramatic to have 5 or 6 thousand people in jail in one city rather than in many citiesacross the state in smaller numbers.

The advantage of demonstrations in many places are:1. They would directly involve more communities.2. They would keep the brunt of the entire resources of the state from falling on one place; it would splittheir forces.3. They would help keep the state off balance in trying to anticipate what will happen next and where.4. More leaders would probably be developed.

It seems to me that both of these approaches can be used at different times. Although the kinds ofdemonstrations will be varied (Picketing, sit-ins, mass-marches on the capitol, etc.) the results will probablybe jail-ins, therefore, it is important to involve large numbers of people who are committed to staying injail for at least 4 or 5 months. It should also be noted that once the leaders get out of jail the morale dropsand people get restless and want to get out also. Because so much energy, money, time and effort aredissipated in arranging bonds, the movement loses its soul force. It also loses the opportunity of holdingthe nations attention and pricking the conscience of the opponent and the nation.

VI. FINANCES AND NATIONAL ACTIONIt’s a known fact that once real action starts, people begin to raise money in the north and they hold largemass rallies for the movement. The rallies should also be used to get people involved at a much deeperlevel. Since we will be demonstrating in the south for the right to vote, it would be easy to inspire peopleto put on mass voter education and voter registration drives in large urban centers. There should beliterature (pamphlets, etc) prepared by the movement that will help direct voter education in the north.

TITHINGThe concept of tithing as expressed by the Jewish prophets was that man should at least five ten per centof his earning back to the source that gave him whatever he had earned. So the prophets reasoned thatGod gave food, then ten per cent should be given back to God. This concept was also carried into businessif as well. Therefore, if a man harvested ten bushels of wheat, he was expected to save ten per cent forseed. That is, he was to replant at least one tenth of his harvest. This of course meant that farmers wouldalways have new crops.

This concept of tithing should be adopted by any nonviolent movement or organization. The organizationshould put at least ten per cent of its earnings back into the source that produced it. If the young peopleof Alabama, because of their nonviolent action and commitment made it possible for an organization toearn a certain amount of money, then that organization should put at least ten per cent aside to be usedfor putting the weapon of nonviolence back into the hands of other young people in Alabama. If this wasdone then the organization would never have to worry about “FLUNKING.”

The organizations that worry about flunking in a tough situation or worry about whether the people willrespond in a time of crisis are those organizations that ask “wherein have we robbed Him?” Of course theanswer is in “tithing and offering”, and therefore the organizations have become impoverished for theylack the responding nonviolent human resources in which they have failed to re-invest.

If it becomes necessary for Dr. King, Rev. Abernathy to remain in Alabama over a period of time, WyattWalker, and CT Vivian could take the major responsibility of raising funds.

It would be helpful if Bayard Rustin and Walter Fauntroy organized mass marches in Washington (Capitol)and New York (UN).

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VI. IMPLEMENTATION OF PROGRAMA. Headquarters in Montgomery or Birmingham should be set up almost immediately.

The office should be responsible for:1. Coordination the staff.2. Getting out mailings and other literature and correspondence3. Materials, such as pamphlets, films, projectors, books, etc.

B. StaffSeveral of the field secretaries should be sent to Alabama to work full time. Their jobsshould be carrying out the adult, student and community preparation as se forth in I, II,and III of this memo.

The field secretaries should be responsible for setting up the meetings for Dr. King, Rev.Abernathy and Rev. Shuttlesworth

CONCLUSION:We should expect to be vigorously involved in the struggle of this campaign for at least eight months.We should keep in mind that the objective of this particular battle is enfranchisement of Negro people inAlabama; therefore, the most important part of this battle is to actually see that obstacles are removed andto get members of Negroes in Alabama registered… This is our responsibility. Only then will the staffbe free to go home. We must keep in mind that unless we can in fact get Negroes registered, we cannotstop bombings of churches, unjust court proceedings, police brutality, etc. We must also keep in mindthat unless large numbers of Negroes get registered, there will not be the climate for peaceful, large scaleschool integration, integration of public commendations and employment of Negroes on many city, countyand state jobs.

Watch your thoughts, they become your words.

Watch your words, they become your actions.

Watch your actions, they become your habits.

Watch your habits, they become your character.

Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.—Author Unknown

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SELF KNOWLEDGE VS. SELF CONCEPT

Constantly, we are challenged by men of wisdom to know ourselves. For withoutself-knowledge nothing else can be known. For all knowledge must be the extensionof self-knowledge.

We do not exist in history, we exist in our biology, and from the biology comes thepsychology, and from the psychology comes the ecology, and from the ecology comesthe sociology, and from the sociology comes the anthropology, and from theanthropology comes the theology. So to the degree that we are ignorant about ourbiology, to that same degree we are ignorant about the remaining ologies. When wedo not have self knowledge, we cannot express knowledge about the other ologies; wecan only express opinions or beliefs.

The expressions of opinions and belief come from our self concept. Self knowledgeis the knowledge of what Man, He and She is in space, energy, motion and elementsas they live in obedience to God. Our self concept is our image of ourselves as weperceive ourselves in society.

Self concepts make us compete with others. It makes us defensive, arrogant andresentful. It makes us brag and show-off. It keeps us trying to prove that we are worthyto others. It keeps us constantly fearful of failure. When we become slaves to ourself-concepts, we fall prey to every advertiser and salesman who can detect an aspectof our insecurity.

Self-knowledge gives us knowledge of our Source (God). It gives us knowledge ofour purpose and the knowledge to carry out our purpose. Self knowledge gives us realconfidence for the confidence is anchored in self knowledge and reality. Selfknowledge causes us to know our needs and the needs of our family, race, communityand world. Self knowledge causes us to educate ourselves to initiate, develop, maintainand administrate our six human and community institutions. Self knowledge gives usthe knowledge of others, thus we have the insight to cooperate and share, for the goodof our and others health, interest, rights and needs.

The struggle to know the self, our Source, our purpose and the means for carrying outour purpose is what gives us our authenticity. It affirms our commitment to truth.

—Reverend James Luther Bevel

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“Precinct Council, government of, for and by thepeople is the new frontier.”

—Reverend James L. Bevel

MAN AS GOVERNMENTIn order to intelligently participate in your ward, city, county, state, nation or UnitedNations, you must responsibly participate constitutionally in your precinct. Payingtaxes and casting ballots are empty irresponsible acts if these are to the exclusion ofprecinct responsibility and accountability. The voter and tax payer cannot hold anelected official accountable if they don’t have the knowledge and means to hold themaccountable.

Freedom is not a gift that can be given by another, nor is it something that can be wonby murder or war. Freedom is a gift to those who have the faith to accept their definitionand purpose as man (male/female) and the courage to face the lies and perversities thatdeveloped in the self as a result of having denied their true definition and purpose.

The precinct council is made up of the people in the precinct who come together totake responsibility for God’s definition and purpose for man, and to address the health,interest, rights and needs of themselves and each other in democratically run institutionsand communities. The precinct council will have six major institutions andcommunities. The precinct council will have six major committees and as manysubcommittees as is necessary to address all of the questions, issues, problems andneeds of the people in the precinct.

The primary purpose of the precinct council is to create a sane, peaceful, andknowledgeable populace in the precinct. The policy of the precinct is to be set by thegeneral body, and polices will be experimented with, in the appropriate communityinstitutions (Worship center, government, business, clinic, home and school).

Because of the nature of problems in the inner cities and because of the devastatingeffect historical and present day tyranny has had on each of our development, it isrecommended that people who vote to constitute a precinct council enroll in a“Nonviolent Clinic.”

The precinct council is man’s expression of love for God, self and fellow man. Forwhen we love God, we will seek to know and do the will of God, and we will seek tocarry out the purpose for which we were created. If we love our children and neighbors,then truly we must create order and contexts so that constructive work and cooperationcan go on.

The tyrannical forces are always competing with each other for military dominanceover each other and people, however, we are called to serve God and the health,interests, rights and needs of all, and we must not get involved in supporting tyranny

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“Constitutionality is the sum total of all law that sustains man in astate of integrity, and allows man (individually and collectively)

to attain to definition and purpose.

With the loss of constitutionality, an individual becomes an animatedpersonality without the ability to comprehend their own or anyone

else’s health, interest, rights and needs. Freedom is lost by anindividual to the exact degree to which the person compromises or

contradicts the definition and purpose of their being.”—Reverend James L. Bevel

in any form.

As we build our precinct councils, the clearer it will become to all tyrants of the futilityof this misguided misconduct, for as it is written, “When the perfect is come, theimperfect will pass away.” We need not fight the imperfect; we need to manifest theperfect.

—Reverend James L. Bevel

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THE LAWS GOVERNING ANONVIOLENT MEETING

1. At the meeting, anyone is allowed to speak. They can only discusswhat they and their Creator intend to do. They cannot discuss themisconduct and misfortune of other people, unless they show how thatmisfortune and/or misconduct creates separation, and unless they explainwhat they did or are doing to cause reconciliation in the situation, i.e.,discuss a healing method for every disorder and misconduct. Otherwise itwill be classified as gossip. All flattery is pseudo gossip, an attempt tosophisticate gossip.

2. All references to history should be to prove that there is an intelligentlife force that has created all things to live in harmony with each other onearth. (If historical references don’t prove the above then the person has afalse sense of history which should not be allowed.)

3. Each person must willing to honestly discuss their position, dispositionand proposition.

4. The person speaking must be willing and open to let anyone at anytimequestion their motives and intentions.

5. If one is not prepared to speak under these terms, they must listen, andbe contemplative, for they are not yet ready to speak.

6. The songs and music must be the same as the speech.

7. Prayers must be within the framework of the Lord’s Prayer andDavid’s 23rd Psalm. The Lord’s Prayer is a private request and the 23rdPsalm is the public expression of it. Any prayer vibrations less than this isan outside show to an unfriendly world.

—Reverend James L. Bevel

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America is built on the true definition and purpose for which God created man. At thecore of America are the righteousness of God, and the responsibility of man to upholdthat righteousness. This is why no cause in America is as strong as a civil rightsmovement that addressed the responsibility and rights of citizenship. In other words,love is the fulfillment of the law and when we love and work for the health, interest,rights and needs of all Americans and all mankind, the very best comes out of Americaand Americans. This being true, the loving, righteous, serious, scientific andcourageous regardless of gender, race, religion or age can give leadership in this nation,whether it be through the electoral process or through social, education or religiousmovements.

America was theologically conceived when God said, “let us make man in our imageand after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the earth. So God created manin His own image. In the image of God created he them male and female and namedthem Man when they were created.”

America was sociologically born as she broke the chains of colonial rule and declaredthat all men were created equal and that they all have the inalienable right to life, libertyand the pursuit of happiness. After the declaration of 1775 and the confrontation of1776 and the reconstruction of 1787 (we the people in order to form a more perfectunion...), a new nation was born from a colonial mother and a divine father. Withinher were character flaws like slavery, indentured servitude and the disenfranchisementof female man. These flaws being in conflict with her divine nature erupted in theconfrontation of 1863 which led to the Emancipation Proclamation of 1865 and thesubsequent “malice towards none and charity for all and a nation of the people, by thepeople and for the people never to perish from the earth.”

Still clinging to her colonial nature but having lost the flaws of slavery and indenturedservitude, she still had the blemish of segregation and disenfranchisement based ongender and race. Segregation and disenfranchisement being in conflict with her Divinenature led to the confrontation of the 1960's. So God called forth the youth of thenation to use the Divine tool of nonviolence to address the blemishes of segregationand disenfranchisement and this began the healing process of America.

Now we are faced with the third reconstruction that will take America and allAmericans to the Promised Land seen from the mountaintop by the late Dr. MartinLuther King, Jr.

What will this look like? It will be a movement that will teach the American peopleand youth to be prayer mates rather than playmates. It will lovingly and lawfully workto put prayer and education in every American public school in the form of nonviolenteducation. It will work to help put legally sanctioned precinct councils in each precinctwith six democratic committees of church, government, business, clinic, home and

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?By Reverend James L. Bevel

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school so that all citizens can have a government tool through which to volunteer theirgifts, skills, talents and time and to provide a government laboratory for our youth toapprenticeship in self government. It will commit our theology, constitutionaldemocratic republic and free enterprise economy to science and make it available toall deprived and oppressed people of the world.

Presently, our local and national communities are going through a very serious crisis.The basis of this crisis is an obsolete educational system that does not produce graduateswho are skilled in developing and maintaining character, institutions and communities,because of the predominate villain/victim psychology that could prove to be disastrousto mankind. For as needs go unfulfilled and problems continue to go unsolved, thefrustration of citizens and elected and self appointed officials become more intensified.Given the predominating psychology of villain/victim we do not look for cause andsolution, but instead assume that someone is the cause and thus seek someone to destroyor punish. This dynamic uncorrected will lead to escalated internal and internationalclass and race wars.

The immediate need is a scientific nonviolent research and educational center thatwould research the problem, educate the people to the problem and educate people touse the science of nonviolence as an effective social tool for bringing about socialchange.

The long range need is a nonviolent movement that brings to social consciousness thecontradictions of our present educational system and struggle until school boards,administrator, teachers, students and parents comprehend, understand and agree on theneed for character and community development education. This is a process that teacheschildren and adults to initiate, develop, maintain and administrate their six human andcommunity development institutions of church, government, business, clinic home andschool.

Nonviolence being the science of applying intelligent thought to the fulfilling of needand the solving of problems, needs a clinical and educational process in order to getpeople to understand it and effectively use it.

Presently most people think of nonviolence as a religious concept that flows from greatpersonalities from time to time. As a result much lip service is paid to nonviolence,but very little, if any effort is put into understanding and teaching it as a science.

The present misunderstood events in the south are also the reason nonviolence is notunderstood as a science. The research, clinical and educational processes that wereused in the Sit-in Movement, Open Theater Movement, Freedom Rides, MississippiProject, Birmingham Movement, Selma, Alabama Movement, Chicago Open HousingMovement and the movement against the Viet-nam War are not known, because thepress promoted Dr. King as the source and cause of the movement. However asystematic search of history would immediately dispel that assumption.

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It is not my intention to minimize the commitment and effectiveness of Dr. King as astudent and practitioner of nonviolence. I simply want to clarify the fact that the successand outcome of those social movements was the result of nonviolence having beenscientifically employed in the given situations.

Nonviolence simply understood rests on the premise that man is born for a purpose andthat that purpose can be known, understood, attained and maintained without violating selfor others. Furthermore, one who is about their purpose has the power to heal and educatethose who for whatever reason may be engaged in a violation. Nonviolence is based onthe law of truth and original cause. That is, if we know the problem and cause, we canbring forth a solution by healing and educating. It brings personal and social errors toconsciousness and creates a non-threatening context and environment so that the error canbe understood and corrected and a just solution can be negotiated.

The reason that violence in all forms (spiritual, tongue, attitudinal, militaristic) isdestructive is because it causes people to have secrets, causing them to misinterpretself, situation, events, circumstances and people and is designed to destroy the ideamaking capacity of a person.

When man violates definition, he/she cannot execute their duty, obligation andresponsibility to self and others. This reality was comprehended by Yeshua ben David(Jesus) when he said, “Man must live by every word that proceeds from the mouth ofGod.” and “man ought always pray and not faint.” We accept these statements to beself-evident truths. Therefore, we must conclude that definition must be understoodand respected and methods must be congruent to definition and purpose.

So when we look at the prayer that Yeshua taught and his statement that “man oughtto always pray,” we can see the logic and reality in the principle.

By taking prayer out of the mystic realm and putting it on a scientific basis, we can bevigilant about our health, interest, rights and needs. How then do you stay in prayer?You stay in prayer by initiating, maintaining, and administrating a church, government,business, clinic, home and school and by asking questions, getting answers, makingdecisions and doing work in each of your six institutions. In this process spirit, mind,emotion and body will be exercised and all needs fulfilled and all problems solved inthe appropriate context.

Our Father Theology Church Thy Kingdom come Sociology Government Give us our daily bread Ecology Business Forgive us, as we forgive Psychology Clinic Lead me not into temptation Biology Home Deliver me from evil Anthropology School

PRAYER SCIENCE INSTITUTION

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In that we do not have an intelligent self regulated social order, we must ask thequestion, “What false assumption do I have and what is the missing factor?” Presently,we approach all our problems assuming that someone else is the problem, rather thanseeking to know our own false assumptions, the areas in which we are deficient inknowledge, and how we contribute to the creation of the problem in our personal andsocial life and work towards a solution.

Many will debate the relationship to flesh eating as being the source of man's presentsocial crisis, but it does not take much to see what happens when we agree to preyupon animals for food and people for economic gain and sexual pleasure. It is thisagreement that causes us to be unable to build a scientific institutional social processthat will fulfill needs and solve problems peacefully. For when we prey upon animalsand people we violate definition and what we do after that contradicts our purpose,and out of this grows conflict, which leaves needs unfulfilled and problems unsolved.This leads to fear, defensiveness, attack and counter attack.

The immediate need is for a scientific nonviolent research and study center for thefollowing purposes.

1. To recruit and educate people to the methods and science of nonviolence.2. To research the constitutional violations.3. To educate the general public to the nature and cause of the constitutional violations.4. To disseminate information and educate the general public to the use and methodsof nonviolence.5. To teach leaders and groups the science of solving problems and resolving conflictthrough the use of nonviolence.6. To teach leaders and groups the science of character and community developmenteducation.7. To develop, print and disseminate nonviolent educational material.

If you have love and a sense of history, who knows whether you have come to thepresent moment for just such a times as this to bring peace on earth and goodwilltowards all.

Nonviolence must be advanced order for “peace on earth” to become a reality.Nonviolence is the science of freedom.

“It’s either nonviolence or nonexistence.”—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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THE NONVIOLENT CLINICAL PROCESSBy Reverend James L. Bevel

The Nonviolent Clinical Process is designed to assist people in removing blocks totruth and love, which keep them in a state of internal and external violence. TheNonviolent Clinical Process when used with the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)is designed for males and females of all ages, as a tool for discovering the authenticself and for achieving wholeness and selfhood, which leads to real and lasting peace.The problem of violence will not be resolved until: 1) Our child rearing practices change to produce people with self-respect, highself-esteem instead of deep core fear, guilt and shame. 2) Adults commit to their inner healing work, which involves healing the woundedaspects of the self that resorts to fear, hate and violence when threatened.

The process is based upon the understanding that all misconduct comes from ignoranceand illness. Correction of misconduct within ourselves and others is achieved throughdiligent application of clinical and educational processes to root out the cause of themisconduct.

The law of clinic is: “Forgive me as I forgive.” It is a scientific equation that isequivalent to the principle that whatsoever I reap, that shall I sow. Therefore, one mustenter the clinic confessing errors and injuries to self and others and come to learn howto forgive injuries and errors made by others. It is only in a state of confession (studyingto know the fissure of one’s character and comprehending the source of that fissurethat they are able to heal themselves.

One starts the process by agreeing not to accept any assumptions, true or false, but toinitiate a series of questions that produce scientific evidence to the validity or invalidityof all assumptions. Scientific evidence is that which is grounded in the basic logic oflove and truth, which can be examined, known and built upon. One must not come tothe clinic attempting to bring charges, evidence and proof that they have been violatedby others, for this will circumvent the process. No clinical work can go on with theassumption of others violating you. The clinic is not a place to wage war with others,be vindictive, competitive and above reproach. These all lead to the bitter fruits thatdo not allow one to maintain an integral work relationship, kept one disconnected toSource. Rather than claiming that it is the unrighteousness of others and their inabilityto recognize your righteousness that prevented you from working, you must admit thatit is you who is disconnected to Source, it is you who is a liar, and it is you who is angry.Thus you have been ignoring the law that whatsoever I sow, that shall I also reap.Realizing that this is a result of a lack of wisdom, one must still the mind and meditateon the words of truth.Thus a questioning process begins. In that I am in pain, what law or principle am Iviolating? What law or principle am I ignoring? What is the specific nature of myviolation? How am I injuring myself? How am I injuring others? What is the sourceof my ignorance? What is the source of my illness? What false assumptions do I hold?

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What false actions and attitudes have I initiated, developed, maintained andadministrated, based upon those false assumptions? How am I paralyzed? What workprocesses are frozen as a result of my paralysis?

As the questions come, the answers come. It is your sincerity and comprehension thatthere are no secrets, that allows the truth about all things to be known and brought toconsciousness. When you learn what laws and principles you are violating, you donot judge yourself, but investigate and correct them using therapeutic methods andtechniques. Thus “Physician heal thyself.” is a reality. For if you do not initiate aprocess of correcting and making amends for the errors that you have committed, whoin the universe has the power or the authority to do so for you. Sure others can lockyou up and punish you, but restoration is not accomplished and your gifts, skills, talentsand time are lost to the human community.

FOREWORD

Nonviolence is the science of applying love and truth to the solving of problems. The“Nonviolent Clinical Process” (NCP), is based on the clinical findings of the “1960’sCivil Rights and Nonviolent Movement,” and is developed to deal with the aftermaththat has come as a result of segregation and disenfranchisement. Segregation anddisenfranchisement left attitudes and dispositions in people that is the cause ofnon-communication of authentic needs and thus contradictory decision makingprocesses are still in place in both private and public institutions that lead to violenceand abusive tendencies, as people attempt to suppress their anger and fear. With anunderstanding of this process, any person or community can radically and quickly bringabout a solution to any problem that hampers the character and human developmentprocess.

This process was used during the movement of the 1960’s, here in America asnonviolent scientist analyzed, defined and addressed themselves to the social ills ofsegregation and disenfranchisement. The movement used three systems of law: 1. Psycho-analytical Law 2. Theological Law 3. Constitutional LawThe use of these three systems of law brought solutions to the problems they wereapplied to, namely the removal of the legal barriers that restricted the natural socialmobility of black people.

This process causes the unconscious to be made conscious by interpreting all falsestatements and misconduct for what they are, and by showing there source and origin.The unconscious is then translated into a conscious, logical form and is able to negotiatea new social agreement that does not violate either party involved is worked out.

Nonviolent Steps To Problem Solving 1. Perception of a problem

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2. Do an analysis of yourself to determine the way in which you are contributingto the problem. 3. Remove all anger and fear from the self. (EFT can be used effectively for this). 4. Do a historical analysis of the false definitions that created the problem andwhich causes the misuse and abuse of people and energy. 5. Do an analysis of the social institutions that reinforce the false definitions thatuphold the problem (the decision making process of institutions are reflections of thepeople who run them.) 6. Determine what real human need is and the necessary conduct that would fulfillthe need. 7. Apply constitutional law to restrain and or rejoin those who cause injury as aresult of their false definitions and misconduct. 8. Advocate need educationally and legislatively.

Nonviolent Hypothesis and OperationsHypotheses:The Creator had an original intent in the creating of MAN (male/female).The Creator has a definition for MAN.The Creator has a purpose for MAN.

Facts:1. The male man misperceived the creation of the female man.2. The male man falsely defined the female man.3. The female man misinterpreted the diet for man.4. The misinterpretation of female man false definition and incorrect diet, created astate of guilt and shame in both the male and female.5. The state of guilt and shame led to hiding and deceit.6. The state of hiding and deceit, did not allow cooperation to take place between themale and female.7. The inability to cooperate led to fear, distrust, competition, jealousy, false worshipand murder.

Hypotheses:There is a point of truth and a place of love at which to begin in order to arrive atjustice, while revealing all hidden factors and contradictions, and further revealingprinciples, ways and means. Mental fragmentation, emotional debris, concepts, falsebeliefs, and opinions which are ingrained, do not allow definition and purpose to beknown qualities.

Therefore, the point of truth and place of love are not comprehended or experienced.This being true, reasoning is not possible and without reason, democratic governmentis impossible. Democratic government is based on indisputable self-evident truths,and understanding and agreements arrived at and shared in consciousness.

Facts:The principle of Christ known and applied brings one to consciousness.

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1. Seek first the Kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof and all things will beadded unto you.

2. Man must live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.3. Man must always pray and not faint.4. Man must do the Will of the Creator.

Principle One:By seeking first the Kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof, man loses theillusion of society and discovers that s/he is the creator in space, energy, elements andmotion, as the Creator is the creator of space, energy, elements and motion.

Principle Two:By living by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, man discoversdefinition, purpose, principles, and ways and means to facilitate work.

Principle Three:By staying in prayer and not fainting, man brings the six intuitive drives of principle,order, work, health, life and knowledge to scientific consciousness.

Principle Four:By doing the “Will of the Creator,” man applies the scientific consciousness oftheology, sociology, ecology, psychology, biology, and anthropology to space, energy,elements and motion, causing the defining, initiating, development, maintenance andadministration of a church, government, industry/business, clinic, home and school.

The Basic Operation of NonviolenceNonviolence does not begin with accusations, charges and blaming. It begins withconfession, repentance, forgiving and inquiry.

Sample ScenarioA male and female meet and both have areas of illness and ignorance out of whichflow irrational thoughts, incoherent language, and illicit conduct. This creates a stateof reactionary actions. The irrational thoughts, incoherent language, and illicit conductof the male aggravate the illness and ignorance in the female causing a secondaryreaction of irrational thoughts, incoherent language and illicit conduct. In this state,no questions can be asked and answered, no problems can be addressed andsolved, no issues can be aired and resolved, and no needs can be comprehendedand fulfilled. A cold or hot war thus ensues. The person that has the most physicalstrength or who has amassed the greatest technology dominates the other. (In thisexample we will assume that the female is being dominated.)

If the female would (rather than react to the illicit conduct coming from the male)address her own illness and ignorance, she would be able to bring self-knowledge,health and intelligence when addressing the illicit conduct of the male and furtheraddress the illness and ignorance of the male, rather than being a secondary reaction,the female would become a primary, responsible person.

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Being the primary, responsible person, the female would be the authority, giveleadership and be able to create a context by which both could address the illness andignorance, the irrational thought, incoherent language and illicit conduct. Thus, themale and the female would be brought to a state of cooperation for the good of both,rather than stay in a state of illness and ignorance while working against themselvesand each other.

In cases where the female feels inferior to the male, the female will mimic the male,compete, seek victory over him and thus lock herself into a permanent secondary,reactionary state of oppression. In nonviolence, the one who gets injured, violated oroppressed, must assume the position of healer or educator, and become the authorityin a new, cooperative relationship. If the female does this, the male would be trustingand if and when the female acts out of illness and ignorance again, their example ofhow to respond would have been learned by then and he would be able to assume therole of the responsible person in a cooperative relationship.

Violence is a symptom reflective of mental and emotional disorder. This disordercomes about when a person cannot translate inner feelings and promptings intothoughts, then translate thoughts into a meaningful language that develops a plan thatis then translated into a meaningful language that develops a plan, that is then translatedinto the acquisition of work skills and tools that creates a meaningful work processthat enhances life, and fulfills real human needs.

The only true experience a human being has is in the now, as time, space, elementsand motion happen, even though the person has the mental power to recall the past andproject into the future. The ability to experience the present tense through the humanbody is dependent upon the activation of all the senses. We can only interpret realitybased on what is now known. The senses that allow for this experience are those offeeling, sound and thought. Most people however are only aware of the senses of sight,hearing, smell, taste and touch, while the other three senses are not brought toconsciousness and used in the process of living. When the awareness is focused oneight senses, it is at this point that we become aware of our potential for selfdevelopment, creativity and purpose. We thus, conclude that violence is the result ofeight sense people operating on only five (or less) senses, relegating them to thephysical realm.

The purpose of The Nonviolent Clinical Process is to help people become consciouslyaware of their eight senses and how to effectively and meaningfully use them to solveproblems of violence in themselves, their families, their communities, the nation andthe world. Until an adult person is actively caring for his/herself, and aiding in a processof human and community development, the person cannot be considered well, becausea void exists that allows for secondary activities.

The human being is both the subject and object of life happening and each person mustget to know themselves in this manner. Man as subject and object, must have theability to completely act with enough verbs and adverbs to describe the action and

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enough adjectives to use as tools in times of trouble.

The acquisition of language skills is thus primary to the process of human developmentand health. Language is mathematical in that it is logical when spoken in truth withlove. Native Americans had a saying about the melanin deficient race, “they speakwith forky tongue, and have a hard heart.” The “forky tongue "signifies a person whosays one thing and does another, or a liar, and the “hard heart "means one who isincapable of feeling, that is one who is out of touch with their inner being and theirown creative powers. A person in such a condition is driven to survive at the expenseof others. As a result these people tell and live lies in order to subdue other creativepeople who have created things that allow them to live happy, fruitful, abundant,harmonious lives. The “forky tongued-hard hearted "person in their inability to create,must thus steal, murder, pillage, rape and destroy, for they are incapable of creatingthat with brings peace and the fulfillment of real needs.

The ability to speak a language (create sounds) is dependent upon a person’s abilityto tune into self and speak from the heart, and not from memorizing words and theirmeanings. The word language comes from “land—gauge "which is the ability toaccurately ascertain what one needs in terms of that which is provided by our land(food, clothing, shelter, transportation, energy, communication and tools), in order tocarry on a work process. Language is thus logical, reasonable, truthful and loving andwithout a language, it is impossible to discuss the past, plan for the future, or discussthe present in a meaningful way except in fear-based emotional terms.

Music another sound produced by man has the quality of rhythm, which is also a qualityinherent in nature. The body harmonizes with music through dance or motion. Thosepeople who are incapable of maintaining harmony and rhythm with music are usuallythe same people who are incapable of speaking a truthful language. They are alsoincapable of harmonizing with the rhythm of nature and thus create destruction in termsof air and water pollution, soil, erosion, ozone layer depletion, endangered species,destruction of the rain forest and diseases and epidemics of various proportions.

The present society has been incapable of harmonizing with nature or people of othercultures. As a result the plans, actions and outcomes of this society lead to the socialproblems plaguing the world.

This is a brief introduction to the Nonviolent Clinical Process. It is printedin its entirety in The Nonviolent Right To Vote Almanac, which is availableat lulu.com

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In educating young people on the basics of nonviolence, James Bevel constantlyemphasized that real learning begins within one’s own being. Perspective on oneselfis essential to any meaningful liberation and that in turn affects others.

The first step is always dealing with yourself. We did not assume that segregation wascaused by white people. We assumed that segregation was the result of an illicitrelationship between us and white people. So we said, “okay, the first person we haveto clear up is our self.” If you call me a ‘boy’ and I say ‘yes sir’, then I’m a boy. SoI’ve got to stop my ‘boyism’ and my ‘yes isrism’, so that I can address you for beinga bully. So if I don’t address me first, I don’t have the means by which to address you.That’s straight across the board. People say, ‘go to the back of the bus’, and we went;so we’re crazy. So, we have to acknowledge that we are crazy. To go to a back doorbecause someone suggests it to you, means you are crazy. So, the first thing we do, isstop being insane, because we have to confess first. You’ve got to confess, then you’vegot to repent. That is, the foolishness that you are doing, you’ve got to stop doing it.We were holding up segregation. So we assumed that responsibility.

The next move was to say to the other guy, “Look, what you’ve been telling us to dois incorrect. We are no longer going to do that. We have corrected some things withinourselves. We suggest that you correct some things within yourself. So, we’re goingto witness. Our witness will be in the form of sitting-in until you stop falsely definingus and decide that we are not going along with your previous false definitions of us.”

Now the advantage of that is simply this. If you get rid of being a cowardly blackboy/man, you can address a white mean bully, because you have some data that youdidn’t have before. So you say, “Look, we were wrong. I was a boy and you are abully. Now I’m going to be a brother and you’ve got to be a brother. Now that I haveworked through my psychological disorders, and my fear, hostility and resentments, Ihave some information that will help you work through yours.”

So now you come to the guy with new data that comes from correcting yourself, andthat is what makes it work. If you don’t come with this new data, you can’t make itwork, because you’re going to aggravate the person or confuse the situation. It’s ascience.

—Reverend James L. BevelThis dialog was taken from an anonymous interview.

FROM BOSS/BOY TO BROTHER/SISTER

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THE TWELVE LAWS OFNATURAL EDUCATION

True education is designed to facilitate a structurefor the orderly fulfillment of these basic laws.

INDEPENDENCE1. To Be. To Know The Self. To Stand Alone.

Self-Knowledge2. To Know Your Environment and its Resources

Self-Awareness3. To Know The Laws, Limitations & Boundaries Of Your Environment

Self-Control4. To Know Your Place In The Environment

Self-Acceptance5. To Creatively Express Yourself In Your Environment

Self-Expression6. To Be Of Service To Your Environment

Self-Responsibility

INTERDEPENDENCE7. To Know Another/Others

Self-Love8. To Join Resources, Gifts, Skills And Talents With Others

Self-Unification9. To Create Laws of Exchange And Reciprocity With Others

Self-Liberation10. To Create Institutions With Others

(Worship Center, Government, Industry/Business, Clinic, Home, School)Self-Empowerment

11. To Creatively Express With Other Through InstitutionsSelf-Confidence

12. To Reap The Harvest, Truths, Fruits Of The Previous Cycle AndPrepare To Begin Again With Greater Wisdom And Understanding

Self-RegenerationCOPYRIGHT 2007 Myeka

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NONVIOLENCEAS A CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLE

The principles found in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) formulated byJesus the Christ guided the direction and decisions of the movement. Here isan outline of these principles which have the power to transform unjustAmerican policy without the use of violence.

Matthew 5:11-12 Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute youand utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and beglad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophetswho were before you.

Matthew 5:21-22 You have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘Youshall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.’ But I say to youthat every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment;whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says,‘You fool!’ shall be liable to the hell of fire.

Matthew 5:38-39 You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and atooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist one who is evil. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also…

Matthew 5:43-44 You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love yourneighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies andpray for those who persecute you…

Matthew 6:14-15 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenlyFather also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses,neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Matthew 7:3-5 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but donot notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to yourbrother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in yourown eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then youwill see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

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THE NONVIOLENT COURT

The “Nonviolent Court” seeks to understand the cause of misconduct toeliminate its effects.

Following are some of the tents of the “Nonviolent Court”:s Recognizes two enemies of the state; ignorance and the illness it creates.s Offers two solutions; education and healing.s Seeks to restore those who break the law to a state of wholeness and peaceof mind.s Seeks to restore those violated to a state of health (forgiveness and peace ofmind) and wholenesss Operates from a holistic viewpoint in addressing any violent action orviolent human behaviors Does not punishs Recognizes that punishment causes people to lie and hide their error, thusan understanding of the cause is unattainables Acknowledge that all people are born with a pure essence and thatenvironment, family, economic conditions, education or the lack thereof, andinstitutions shape and condition individuals to engage in violations againstself and otherss Recognizes that violence is an illness that starts as apsychological/emotional conflict in the minds Recommends mental and emotional remedies to deviant behaviormodification and eliminations Recognizes that the violence that exists in individual is also in the societys Recognizes that in order to end the problem of violent human behaviors,the root must be eliminated. If the root is not addressed, then the problemremains. The problem is not criminal, family, tribe or national or some otherform of social violence. The problem is human violence and human violencemeans psychological and emotional violence (toxicity)s Asks the questions: Is it possible to bring an end to psychological andemotional violence?s Recognizes that every form of violence whether it is the violence of war,terrorism, murder, rape, anger, hatred, incest, or jealousy has a single rootcause and thus has a single solutions Recognizes violence as a state of fragmentation, separation and divisions Recognizes psychological identification that consists of various thoughts(culture, opinions, mental images, beliefs, rationalizations, judgment,methods, plans, theories, conclusions, concepts and all that makes up the

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total conditioning of the mind) personal opinions, ideas that define and whichinfluence and direct the decisions you make are all past conditionings or theplayback of memorys Recognizes emotional toxicity that fosters past conditioning as fear, anger,hate, shame, blame, guilt, sadness, remorse, jealousy, lying, cunning, hurt,selfishness, greed and envy

The “Nonviolent Court” thus seeks to view human violence and itsperpetrators in light of the societal conditioning and the elimination of toxicemotions and psychological biases assisting individuals to connect with theiroriginal essence.

As we raise our consciousness and activate our light body, werealize we are our own creators made, or making ourselves,in the image and similitude of the one Creator. Indeed, since

in a hologram the part contains the whole, we are the oneCreator. By learning this truly transformative lesson, we

return to unity consciousness while mastering physicality. Inother words, we achieve god-realization as the light of souldescends into a divine or soul body healed of duality and

freed from the instructional cycle of karma.—Conscious Healing: Book One on the Regenetics Method , by Sol Luckman

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PRECINCT COUNCIL THE NEW FRONTIER

It is in fact truth that sets people free, and any lie not detected, error not correctedand any liar not suspected are the enemies of truth, freedom and justice.

Any person asked how many branches of government we have, will respondthree, which is the patented lie. This is the lie that has kept the American peopleenslaved to tyrants for two hundred years, victims of chattel slavery,disenfranchisement, racial segregation, wage slavery and discrimination. Theseirrational practices are possible and new and even worse social abuses willmanifest as long as the people believe that there are only three branches ofgovernment.

Because of the nature of man as spirit, mind, emotion and body and the realityof nature as space, energy, elements and motion, a just constitutional democraticrepublic of necessity must have four active branches of government, thelegislative, the executive, the judicial and the people (precinct council) as aorganized force to present on a consistent bases, their legitimate needs,problems, interest and will. As long as the people do not know or understandthemselves as the fourth branch of government, they will be a foolish crowdthat is polled, manipulated and intimidated into all kinds of irrational actionsthat are against their health, interest, rights and needs.

Man (male/female) is a four dimensional being of spirit, mind, emotion andbody. The universe in which man lives is a four dimensional reality consistingof space, energy, elements and motion. Therefore, in order for man tocomprehend their health, interest, rights and needs and to appropriate their gifts,skills, talents and time to cooperate with each other in the enterprise of beingfruitful and multiplying, there has to be a four dimensional government systemthat allows love, truth, equality, justice and other principles to be a functioningadministrative reality. It follows therefore, that a one, two or three dimensionalgovernment cannot appropriately serve the needs of four dimensional beingsliving in a four dimensional universal system.

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s culminated in the 1965 Right to Votelegislation. This legislation removed the last vestige of disenfranchisement fromevery segment of the American community. While this legislation gave greatopportunity, it also has created a crisis that is even greater. By enfranchisinga large segment of the American community who do not have a theological orconstitutional base (manhood or nationhood consciousness), we have allowedfor the exercising of privileges without the responsibility for freedom. Thefranchise in the hands of a people who have no theological, constitutional or

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industrial base is a danger to a constitutional democratic republic.

The disenfranchisement of one segment of the American community effectivelydisenfranchises the whole community as it was prior to 1965. Thisdisenfranchisement blinds the total American community to manhood andnationhood consciousness.

It allows the republican aspect of the government to develop while stifling thedemocratic aspect. While representative government is doing very well, people’sinvolvement in government is doing poorly.

It must be remembered that America is a constitutional democratic republic,with a system of law that allows the people to lawfully govern their own affairs.It is not, however, a system of law predicated on the assumption that the majorityrules, neither is it predicated on the assumption that the elected officials rule.It is the law itself that establishes the rule.

Therefore, we have America, a constitutional democratic republic system oflaw that allows people to govern their own affairs, however, it is a lack of thepeople’s involvement that allows special interest groups to lobby and put unduepressure on the elected officials without the counter balance of a process toallow the people to keep continually before the law makers the constitutionalinterests, rights, and needs of the people. The people pay taxes, vote, andcomplain, but the people do not have a legitimate context or mechanism withinwhich to formulate their own authentic constitutional rights, interests, and needsand subsequently to have these rights, interests and needs presented to the lawmakers and law making bodies. In this sense, the democratic aspect of thegovernment is lacking. In order to address this need, we the people in order toform a more perfect union shall organize precinct councils in every precinct inorder to address the questions, issues, problems and needs in each precinct andcollectively as precinct council governments present the formulated needs,interests and problems to the appropriate law maker and lawmaking body forappropriate action.

The basis for the precinct council is manhood and nationhood consciousness,and the responsibility that derives there from. Manhood consciousness isaccepting the fact that man is created in the image and likeness of God. Whenthis fact is accepted and no one is related to on anything less than this fact, thenmanhood consciousness evolves. This manhood consciousness leads tonationhood consciousness, the fact that God created man for a purpose, and thatthis purpose is attained and maintained under a system of constitutional law.

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From manhood and nationhood consciousness comes the responsibility tolegislate, adjudicate, execute and administrate our health, interests, rights andneeds by asking questions, getting answers, making decisions and doing work.We then evaluate to determine whether the work done did in fact fulfill theneeds, foster the health, facilitate the interest and protect the rights of the people.

The precinct council being a constitutional democratic republican body is thereto address the problems, questions, issues and needs of the people.

Void of the science of self-government, no person or nation can have peace,health, freedom or natural wealth.

—Reverend James L. Bevel

If there is beauty in character, there will be harmony inthe home. If there is harmony in the home, there will beorder in the nation. If there is order in the nation, there

will be peace in the world.— Chinese proverb

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PRECINCT COUNCIL AN IDEAWHO’S TIME HAS COME

The founders of this nation having rejected every known assumption of falseauthority, created a government based on the definition and purpose of man,with the authority to govern and elect officials, exercised by the people. If weaccept the idea that freedom in the American context is an expanding andextending phenomenon, then we can readily see how the precinct council is thenew frontier in the American Freedom Movement.

Our constitution is set-up on the principle of the definition and purpose of man.However the government only works for those who come to understand theirdefinition and purpose as man. To better understand our constitution, it isnecessary to understand the theological pre-supposition upon which it rests.That pre-supposition is “And God said, let us make man (male-female) in ourimage and after our likeness to have dominion over the earth.”

It is this pre-supposition that produced the conclusion that “we hold these truthsto be self-evident that all men are created equal.”

In that all of us have the same responsibility "to be in the image and likenessof God, and to exercise dominion over the earth," then all of us must have theknowledge and context to collectively and cooperatively assume thisresponsibility and exercise authority.

America is a constitutional democratic republic, a body of law that governs thepeople and the state that is administered by the people themselves.

Therefore, when problems arise, the people must turn to themselves and thelaws that govern the state and themselves. The theological pre-supposition, theconstitutional proposition and come up with a solution that is in keeping withthe presupposition and the original constitutional proposition, that is just tooall citizens.

The precinct council with its major institutional committee, and its subsequentminor committees, I the context, that puts government in the hands of everyonewho accepts and understands their definition and purpose as man. Learning thedefinition of the church, government, industry/business, clinic, home andschool, and learning how to use each to address personal and problems andone’s health, interest, rights and needs and public problems, questions, issuesand needs is the knowledge that is necessary.

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The process can begin as soon as they decide that the context is workable andthat there are problems, questions, issues and needs that are unaddressed andobviously must be addressed by themselves. The people will enter a prayerstudy, work agreement in the precinct, which is the precinct council. Theprecinct council is not political. It is governmental. That is, it does not existfor any candidate or party, it exists as a precinct governmental mechanism tosolve problems, resolve issues, fulfill needs and answer questions, and to helppeople address their health, interest, rights and needs at the precinct level.

The precinct council is a constitutional democratic, republican mechanism andhas a scientific body of knowledge that when known and correctly utilized,heals and educates the citizens; stabilizes, brings prosperity and order to thecommunity.

The present conditions of the world demand that social living and self-government be reduced to science and taught to all people as a right of life. sothat all living people can correctly assume responsibility for the definition andpurpose of man and participate in the science and business of democraticgovernment.

The American form of government takes into account three realities. 1. Asystem of law that governs the health, interest, rights and needs of a person orpeople. 2. The will and consciousness of a community in defining and thinkingthrough and acting on problems, questions, issues and needs, that affect the totalcommunity. 3. A system of law that derives from persons and communitiesthat can be legislated, adjudicated, executed and administrated correctly andjustly that is known as the state.

Therefore, in order for a person or a people to grow based on the definition andpurpose of man, the person and people must scientifically understand the threeabove realities. In order for science to be taught, there must be a correct theory,a class context for thinking through and providing the logic of the theory, alaboratory for testing proving, adjusting and application of the theory, and anapprenticeship context where one can work and serve.

The present condition of the world is reflective of people seeking privileges,advantages, success and survival while being ignorant of the scientificknowledge of addressing their health, interest, rights and needs, and the issues,problems, question and needs facing the community.

The precinct council is proposed as a laboratory context for learning and testingthe science of constitutional democratic republicanism. As the science is learned

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and applied, the precinct council will be theself-governing context and mechanismthrough which the legitimate health, interest,rights and needs of the people are processedinto our city, county, state and nationallegislative bodies, in order to circumvent thepresent day interest groups from invalidatingand corrupting our legislative process withanti-human, anti-community and anti-national interest bills and legislation.

It will also be the mechanism by which theindividual citizen can be called toaccountability as well as the electedlegislative, judicial and executive officers inall levels of government.

The precinct council will be a constitutionaldemocratic, republican. It will exist for thesole purpose of helping the individual thinkthrough their health, interest, rights andneeds, and help the people in the precinct todiscover, define, clarify and address lawfullythe problems, issues questions and needs ofthe people as a whole in the precinct.

As the precinct council is initiated as avolunteer act by people in the precinct, thepeople who initiate such actions shouldlobby to have the city council and thecongress to enact constitutional development legislation so as to aid in creatinga local and national consciousness of the need for precinct council, and to getthe necessary city, county, state and federal input in the venture of creatingprecinct councils throughout our nation.

Because each person has six intuitive drives which are; principle, order, work,health, life and knowledge, the precinct council should have six majorcommittees of (church, government, business, clinic, home and school), so thatany and all personal and social problems have a conscious constitutional contextin which to be discussed, clarified, appropriately defined or correctly workedon within the committee of the precinct council.

As the precinct councilis initiated as a

volunteer act by peoplein the precinct, thepeople who initiatesuch actions should

lobby to have the citycouncil and the

congress to enactconstitutional

development legislationso as to aid in creating

a local and nationalconsciousness of the

need for precinctcouncil, and to get thenecessary city, county,state and federal input

in the venture ofcreating precinct

councils throughoutour nation.

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What then is a precinct council? The people in the precinct must workcollectively on their health, interest, rights and needs to address the problems,issues, questions and needs facing their precinct and the broader community.

Why are precinct councils needed? To educate people to the science ofself-government. To provide the context and mechanism for self-governmentat the smallest governmental unit in our social system. To provide the meansby which the citizen can hold themselves and their elected official accountable.For if one has no way to hold self accountable, then one is not in a position tohold others accountable.

The fact is that everyone with an unsolved personal or social problem lives ina precinct. Because every citizen must be involved in solving problems for selfand community, and must serve the interest of his/her fellow citizens and thenation. Because every junior high school, high school and college student needsa defacto government laboratory to test, apply and prove the proficiency andproductivity of a constitutional democratic republic. Because self-governmentmust be practiced daily by all citizens if it is to survive. Because the mechanismfor massive creative constitutional volunteer ism is one of the greatest needsfacing our nation.

How will the precinct council work? The precinct council will work as ademocratic community, with six major committees that also workdemocratically. Republican work is by majority rule and democratic work isby consensus, so that all of the gifts, skills, talent and time of the members ofthe body can work to fulfill needs and solve problems. In a democracy thereare not winners and losers, there is dialogue, discussion, education, research,study and prayer, until the truth of a question, problem, issue or need isunderstood by the group based on goodwill and truth, and collectively takeappropriate, agreed upon actions.During the sixties the nonviolent principle was applied by people operating inthe capacity of the precinct council. The nonviolent principle and method is ademocratic process that relies totally on truth, knowledge, and reasoning. Itrespects the inalienable right of man in deed as well as in creed. It was thisrespecting man in deed as well as in creed that gave insight into the science ofgovernment. Nonviolence allows a person to overcome the assumption of anenemy, thus forcing one to identify, define and solve personal and socialproblems from a spirit of love. In this the nonviolent movement and the precinctcouncil are alike.

The assumption that government derives its authority from the consent of thegoverned, causes us “the people.” to defer our responsibility and authority to

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govern to elected officials. The definition of government does not allow itsauthority to be derived from the consent of the people. Its authority is inherentin the resumption of the science of human and community development andthis authority can never be transferred or deferred. There can never be asubstitute for people identifying social problems and out of love, volunteeringto address them on a daily basis. With this understanding, the question becomeshow? How do the citizens who agree to engage in the science of character andcommunity development go about their work in a national constitutionaldemocratic republic?

The precinct council is the self-directed, creative goodwill of the people.Therefore the most important thing in self-government is truth and truthfulness.When truth and truthfulness is not the bases of self-government, then harmonyand unity are lost.

The precinct council is based on the intrinsic value and innate worth of thehuman being. Therefore, the precinct council cannot for any reason violate thevalue or worth of any human being. The precinct council by respecting theintrinsic value and innate worth of each person will work for the scientificeducation, institutional sovereignty and economic independence of all citizensin the precinct.

People will begin to ask for instructions on how to set-up a precinct council.They will begin to ask for city guides, county guides, and state and federalguides, because they are afraid to trust their own and neighbor’s ability to meet,pray, think, plan and create. There are no guides for the precinct council, justas there was no guide available for the founding fathers. They had to study,think, pray and we to will have to study, think, pray and trust God.

As precincts begin to organize, they will be able to share knowledge, insightsand information for solving problems and all of us will grow anew. All of uswill lose the illusion that there is an oppressor, and we will begin to overcomethe crippling effects of the historical errors in thinking that government derivesits authority from the consent of the people. We will begin to understand thatwe must take the imitative to call a precinct council meeting. That we mustbegin new industrial initiatives, based on real needs. We will begin to see thatour business committee will need at least seven industrial developmentcommittees (food production, tool making, construction, textile, energy,communication and transportation). We will begin to stop thinking thatsomeone has more authority than ourselves. We will awaken to the reality thatwe the people must organize the precinct council in order to create a moreperfect union. We will begin to see that without our precinct councils we can't

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hold ourselves or our public official accountable. We will begin anew to thankGod for our founding fathers that left us the precious gift of self-government.

Let us share our thoughts, efforts, misgivings, successes, setbacks and victoriesin the months and years ahead, as we think through and create across America,constitutional democratic precincts.

—Reverend James L. Bevel

To the Negroes of the state (Mississippi) was issued a warningthat the Democrats were preparing, through means of the

constitutional convention, to shape the election law to their ownneeds and then “the policy of crushing out the manhood of

the Negro citizens was to be carried on to success.”—J. S. McNeilly, "History of the Measures Submitted to the Committee on

Elective Franchise, Apportionment, and Elections in the ConstitutionalConvention of 1890,”in Mississippi Historical Society, Publications, VI

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October 16, 1995MILLION MAN MARCH

"THE WORLD DAY OF ATONEMENT"(AT ONE MENT),

THE 8 STEPS OF ATONEMENT

ONE: POINT OUT THE WRONGIf I have unknowingly wronged, or mistreated anyone , please bring it to

my attention. I am but a phone call away.

TWO: ACKNOWLEDGE THE WRONGIf I have wronged you and you point out my wrong , then I can and will

acknowledge it.

THREE: CONFESS THE FAULTI will take ownership of it, making no excuses for it, confess it to my

Creator first, and then to you.

FOUR: REPENTI will utilize everything in my power to repudiate that offensive act and

do it no more.

FIVE: ATONEMENT AND RECOMPENSEI will make a sincere good faith gesture to make amends, and make

amends to you.

SIX: FORGIVENESSI will ask forgiveness from my Creator first, then from you because byoffending you I have offended the Creator who's essence animates you.

Hopefully the Creator will put it in your heart to forgive myself.

SEVEN: RECONCILE AND RESTOREAt this point I pray that our relationship will be healed, as we move on in

a positive wholesome way.

EIGHT: A MORE PERFECT UNIONThe atmosphere of love and goodwill, saturates our lives, laced withcompassion and empathy, and cemented with unity and solidarity

returns to then become contagious to the entire community.

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SIX PRINCIPLES OF NONVIOLENCE

Principle One: Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people

Nonviolence is an active force confronting evil. It is aggressive spiritually, mentally and emotionally. It is always persuading the opponent of the righteousness of a just cause. It is only passive in its non-aggression toward its enemy.

Principle Two: Nonviolence seeks to win friendship and understanding

The end of nonviolence is redemption and reconciliation. The purpose of nonviolence is the creation of The Beloved Community.

Principle Three: Nonviolence seeks to defeat injustice not people

Nonviolence recognizes that the enemy is ignorance and illness. The nonviolent resister seeks to defeat evil not people.

Principle Four: Nonviolence holds that suffering can educate andtransform

Nonviolence accepts suffering without retaliation. Nonviolence accepts violence if necessary, but will never inflict it. Nonviolence willingly accepts the consequences of its thoughts, words and deeds. Unearned suffering is redemptive and has tremendous education and transforming power. Suffering has the power to convert the enemy when reason fails.

Principle Five: Nonviolence chooses love instead of hate

Nonviolence repudiates violence of the spirit, tongue and body. Nonviolent love is spontaneous, unmotivated, unselfish and creative. Nonviolent love gives willingly, knowing that the return might be hostility. Nonviolent love is active, not passive. Nonviolent love is unending in its ability to forgive in order to restore brotherhood/sisterhood and community. Nonviolent love does not sink to the level of hate. Love for the enemy is how we demonstrate love for ourselves. Love restores community and brings justice. Nonviolence recognizes the fact that all life is interrelated.

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Principle Six: Nonviolence believes that the universe is on the side ofjustice

The nonviolent activist has deep faith that justice will eventually win Nonviolence believes that justice is a universal principal.

THE EIGHT BEATITUDES

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Gospel of St. Matthew 5:3-10

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BEVELIAN NONVIOLENCE

8 Step Process

1. PurificationPurge yourself of all ill intention and toxic emotions (anger, grief, hate,sadness, embarrassment, a need to rush, etc.)

2. Observation/RecordingAccess the situation. Determine what is a constitutional violation. Keeprecords of when the violation took place and who was involved.

3. Investigation/Examination/EvaluationHas a constitutional violation takes place? If so what is it? Do a test todetermine that the violation is real and to determine exactly who theparticipate.

4. RecommendationClearly inform the violator/s of the violation and what must be done to end itand make amends.

5. EducationInform others of the violation, violators and recommendations offered.

6. CommunicationKeep all avenues of communication open for asking and answering questions,dialogue, brain storming and negotiations.

7. Demonstration/ConfrontationIf the violation persists, demonstrate by operating as a free person. This mayentail letter writing, boycotts, mass gatherings, marches, sing-Ins, etc.

8. ReconciliationWhen the violator/s end their violation/s enter a process of atonement andforgive them, make peace and join together in a spirit of goodwill and love.

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