The Story of 1875

Oh freedom, oh freedom, oh I'm over me, and before I'd be a slave I'd be buried in my grave. Destination Freedom.

The Chicago Defender and Station WMAQ bring you Destination Freedom, a new radio series dramatizing the great democratic tradition to the Negro people, interwoven in the pageant of history, and a part of America's own destination freedom.

Today, destination freedom tells the story of the Reconstruction leader Charles Caldwell, in a chapter entitled The Story of 1875. I am a year. Of course you know all about years. We inherit the habits of history.

Go by names, we go by numbers. I bear the number 1875 AD. I came into the world with my faults, my blunders, my heroes, my cowards, just ten years after the Civil War. I inherited the ideas of the years before me.

I set the seeds for the years to follow me. I was the year 1875 and in Mississippi on January 1st, in the morning of my first day alive. Ten men in odd regalia came to the home of Senator Charles Caldwell and woke his wife. Who is it? What do we want? What do we want? She says that.

You hear that boy? You know what we want? You ought to know. If this is a New Year's joke on that. She thinks it's a joke boy. We got to visit this county more often.

People ain't heard about the organization. Fred, take a look around inside. Sure way. I said what do you want woman what could 10 men with 16 shotguns want to do with a senator who goes up and down the state Preaching race equality and yelling for the new vote laws. Yes, call well. Come on. Where's the senator? Where's your old man?