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Who Speaks for the Negro? Kelly Miller Smith
Hero of the Civil Rights Movement
When I saw the name Kelly Miller Smith among the interviews conducted by Robert Penn Warren in 1964, it reminded me of the biggest disappointment of my college years. I attended Fisk University in Nashville, where I was surrounded by Black history, art, music, and living participants in the Civil Rights movement, and I barely noticed at the time. I met Kelly Miller Smith, who was then a preacher at Nashville’s largest Black church, on a few occasions. I did not know of his role with the Freedom Riders, the Nashville sit-ins, and his other activism. My only interest was hitting on his beautiful daughter, Lin, and I was unsuccessful at that.
I entreat young people, in particular, to become aware of the histories of family members and the elders around them. They are a living recording of history that won’t always be around. Below is a link to the audio. The full transcript follows.
Kelly Miller Smith | Who Speaks for the Negro?
Smith provides a brief personal history; then he describes nonviolence training and sit-ins in Nashville. He explains how students came to be a part of this movement, as well as Vanderbilt Divinity School student James Lawson’s central role. He tells about the boycotts against downtown stores that came in the wake…
