Footsoldiers remember the movement

Metro Atlanta

Footsoldiers remember the movement

Footsoldiers of the civil rights movement remember the struggles.

At the SCLC offices in downtown Atlanta, Willie M. Bolden (from left), Lula Joe Williams and J.T. Johnson reminisce in a hallway lined with larger-than-life images of past SCLC presidents, beginning with Martin Luther King Jr. The three are unsung warriors of the civil rights movement.

"I just have to be able to stand on that ground," Willie M. Bolden said about going to Washington to see Barack Obama's inauguration.

"I thank God for letting me be here to witness it," Lula Joe Williams said of Barack Obama becoming president. "Nobody knows but us what we had to go through. The many times we were beaten down in the street and thrown into jail because we wanted to register to vote. It's just overwhelming to me."

"We marched morning, noon and night," J.T. Johnson remembers. The three civil rights veterans shared some of their photographs from the movement, which follow:

J. T. Johnson (from left), Andrew Young, Rev. James Orange, (unidentified man). Photo courtesy of J. T. Johnson

Otis Redding (second from left) listening to Rev. William Bolden (second from right). Photo Courtesy of Rev. William Bolden.

Bernard Lee (from left), J. T. Johnson, (unidentified man), Rev. Ralph Abernathy. Photo courtesy of J. T. Johnson

Lester Hankerson (from left), J. T. Johnson, Hosea Williams. Photo courtesy of J. T. Johnson

James Orange (from left), Rev. William Bolden, unidentified man, John Lewis, Hosea Williams and Andrew Young. Photo Courtesy of Rev. William Bolden.

Rev. William Bolden leading a march. Photo Courtesy of Rev. William Bolden.

Unidentified man in hat (from left), Rev. Hosea Williams, J. T. Johnson, Leon Hall. Photo courtesy of J. T. Johnson

J. T. Johnson (kneeling), Ralph Abernathy (holding hammer), Judge Benjamin Hooks (over Abernathy's shoulder), Bernard Lafayette, Juanita Abernathy, Bill Rutherford, Rev. Al Sampson. Photo courtesy of J. T. Johnson

Rev. William Bolden leading the Mule Train into Tuscaloosa, Ala., May 28, 1968. Photo Courtesy of Rev. William Bolden.

Rev. William Bolden (center) conferring with Tuscaloosa police. Photo Courtesy of Rev. William Bolden.

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At the SCLC offices in downtown Atlanta, Willie M. Bolden (from left), Lula Joe Williams and J.T. Johnson reminisce in a hallway lined with larger-than-life images of past SCLC presidents, beginning with Martin Luther King Jr. The three are unsung warriors of the civil rights movement.

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