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One of the things that we were talking about, we and the SCLC, Andy and I came up with the idea that we should have a big Mother's Day march, that we should make Mother's Day a national concentration. So the labor unions around the country were geared to come into Charleston for that day, and also the City of Charleston was to participate in the march. We were going to name the Mother of the Year, the back of the bus, Rosa Parks would be named the Mother of the Year, and we would have one of the strikers present her with the roses, that she is the Mother of the Year, and Coretta would speak and Ralph. AFL-CIO wanted to know will they be permitted to speak. We said, “Of course you can speak.”

This was a period when the UAW and the Teamsters had formed the Alliance for Labor Action. Reuther, who was on vacation in Denmark, flew from Denmark to Charleston, to be there for the Mother's Day march. Meany did not come. Kircher spoke for him. I remember in the hotel room. Al Heaps came down too, to put in the words, that since I would be in control of who speaks when, to see that the AFL speaker would speak at the best time, you know, that kind of thing. And I was playing everybody against--I was, “Sure, we'll do that.”

AFL-CIO came and announced a check for $25,000 to the strikers. Reuther came and announced a check of $25,000 to the strikers. I remember I said to Andy, “Andy, if the labor movement would split two more ways, we will make a profit.”

But the Mother's Day march, there were really about 14,000 people marching. Unions came, but mostly the people of Charleston. Someone said that there wasn't an able-bodied citizen of Charleston who did not participate. There were people marching on crutches. You saw nurses and the strikers. It was a beautiful sight to behold. Jesse Jackson came in with a band. I told him recently, I said, “The last time I saw you, we were marching in Charleston.” I have a picture of him in Charleston, marching.

What I remember vividly is that Andy and I, we tailed behind the march. We're the behind-the-scenes people. I remember I said to Andy, “Andy, what do you think? Can we lose this thing? Can we win here?”

He looks at me, he says, “Moe, I don't know if we're going to win, but we sure can't lose.”

It was a highlight of that march. Mother's Day, that's May. It's still early on the strike.