Day1 presents a challenging and timely conversation on the life and legacy of the late Civil Rights leader and powerful preacher, Dr. C. T. Vivian, whose posthumous memoir, "It's in the Action: Memories of a Nonviolent Warrior," was recently published by NewSouth Books. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called Dr. Vivian his favorite preacher.
CNN's Don Lemon moderates a compelling panel discussion with Dr. Bernice King, Ambassador Andrew Young, son Al Vivan, and Steve Fiffer, co-author of the book.
Some highlights:
Don Lemon: “To have someone who fought for voting rights, the interests of social justice, criminal justice, just justice for everyone in the country, is so important right now… We have lost so many of our fighters - freedom fighters.”
Andrew Young: “C. T. Vivian lived and breathed his message.”
Bernice King: “What impressed me about Dr. Vivian is his ability to weave together the intellectual, the emotional, and the historical, and that makes for a great preacher…. He was extremely fiery, but in his fire he had a depth of wisdom.”
Al Vivian: “Jesus was a social justice advocate!”
Steve Fiffer: “Because he was such a reader and lover of words, that translated into his ability to captivate an audience.”
Andrew Young: “I'm probably more concerned right now than I have ever been before in my whole life.”
Bernice King: “Let me say we’re all deeply concerned but we are not without hope…. If we persist and if we focus and if we do the necessary work - which is education.”
Don Lemon: “I think this is going to be changed by relationships. You have to get to know people who are not like you.”
Bernice King: “The only thing I hate I didn’t ask her before she left us: ‘Mama, how dark does it have to get?’”
Don Lemon: “The most important things, he said, are the Bible and the Constitution…” Al Vivian: “And if you say you value these things, let's see that in action.”
Al Vivian: “I truly believe it's going to get better, I don't know how long it's going to take.”
Steve Fiffer: “In his confrontation with the Nashville mayor, he kept asking, ‘Are you a Christian? If you are a Christian, how can you countenance this?’”
Steve Fiffer: “Vivian said, ‘we made life miserable to the white establishment; we were miserable, too - the difference was we were happy to be miserable.”
Don Lemon: “What can we learn from a C. T. Vivian?”
Andrew Young: “We can learn to keep on keeping on. From 1947 to 2021 there was never a time when he wavered in his faith or in his action.”
Andrew Young: “There is a nonviolent spirit that pervades all our lives. It not only sustains - it is absolutely necessary and it never lets you down.”
Bernice King: “I love the title of the book [It’s in the Action, but I don’t want listeners to leave with the belief that C.T. also did not respect the power of strategy…. As soon as something unjust happens, people say ‘what can I do,’ and if you don’t have the proper strategy, you can malfunction… We are not stopping to strategize, to organize, to mobilize—and that’s what connected King and Vivian.”
Al Vivian: “I loved his loyalty - his ability to look at others and see the greatness in them.”
Andrew Young: “He was a totally, physically, spiritually disciplined individual that you had to love.”