Aug. 16, 1964 - An overflow crowd of more than 2,500 persons heard Representative Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (pictured) call today for all Negro organizations to unite in a massive campaign for racial desegregation.
Mr. Powell was applauded and cheered many times as he spoke at a rally in his Abyssinian Baptist Church, 132 West 138th Street. The rally was sponsored by the United Council of Harlem Organizations in preparation for a unity demonstration to be held at 3 p.m. Saturday at 125th Street and Seventh Avenue.
“The black man,” Mr. Powell asserted, “has come to the place where he is not going to take it lying down any more. If any more disorders occur in this community — if any more blood is shed, it will be squarely on the in the lap of Mayor Wagner.”
At the same time, the Harlem Congressman told his listeners, among whom were a number of representatives of black nationalist groups, that “we cannot attain real progress through violence.” Observing that there were “hotheads in all groups,” Mr. Powell declared that “through the massive power of united nonviolence, we can win — let us have demonstrations that are well defined, well organized, and well led.”
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