Those words by Mavis Staples still give me chills as they bring back memories of the resilience of those who came before us. It is fitting in this weekend where the country is commemorating the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington. “Organizers intend to remind the nation that the original march wasn’t just about dreaming of a country that lived up to its promises of equality and liberty to pursue happiness. They wanted legislative action then, and they want the same now.”–By Aaron Morrison AP National Writer (ABC News)

I imagine a time will come when some will find the songs and the hymns of the movement offensive, but they will not be able to move those from deep in our souls any more they can remove our history that has seared into the minds of those who pass on our history.

I learned these songs and much of our history listening to and watching the lives of my grandfathers and grandmothers, my mother and father, my aunts and uncles, the sermons of clergy, my teachers, Coach Bryant and Mrs. McIver, Ms. Mary on the corner…we will not be moved.

With every ballot I cast, I remember the shooting of Evers Medgar Evers in front of his home, I remember the deaths of student activists Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner in the backwoods of Mississippi, and the many other civil rights activists who would not be moved.

We know about the horrors of slavery, the 16th Street Church bombings, the lynchings, Jim Crow laws, the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, and that we as a people would not be moved.

But that is not the only history we know.

We know that thousands of students and many others came to Mississippi to protest. We know about the Brown vs. the Board of Education, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and subsequent legislation that gave rights and protections to women and other oppressed people in America. We know they were joined in the fights with people of all races, religions, gender, etc. And still, we know that there are battles in our nation right now, today, where people are showing they will not be moved.

The nation is looking at the Governor of Georgia to see if he will not be moved in a court case where he and his Secretary of State have been steadfast in the contention the Georgia election was fair. Gov. Kemp has been asked to weigh in on the removal of District Attorney Fani Willis from the case against former President Trump. This is the biggest test of the Kemp’s governorship and his fitness to be a future President.  He has the ability to stop the wrongdoing in Georgia in its footsteps. Gov. Kemp knows of Trump’s involvement in Georgia’s election. The question is, will he be moved?

A bigger question, is will we be moved? Now is not the time to slow or to rest…we shall not be moved.

“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetuate it.”

—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“…We shall not, we shall not be moved
We shall not, we shall not be moved
Like a tree that’s planted by the water
We shall not be moved

The union is behind us, we shall not be moved
The union is behind us, we shall not be moved
Just like a tree that’s planted by the water
We shall not be moved

We’re fighting for our freedom, we shall not be moved
Fighting for our freedom, we shall not be moved
Like a tree that’s planted by the water
We shall not be moved

Fighting for our children, we shall not be moved
We’re fighting for our children, we shall not be moved
Like a tree that’s planted by the water
We shall not be moved

Black and white together, we shall not be moved
Black and white together, we shall not be moved
Just like a tree that’s planted by the water
We shall not be moved, oh

We shall not, we shall not be moved
We shall not, we shall not be moved
Just like a tree that’s planted by the water
We shall not be moved…”

-Mavis Stapleton