Denise Lewis Patrick - Mahalia Jackson: Freedoms Voice

No one believed that such a crowd would show up that hot August day in 1963. The famous gospel singer Mahalia Jackson had come to Washington, DC, because her good friend Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. asked her to.

She had come because this day was special. From the moment shed met the young reverend years ago, shed believed in his messagethat African Americans should speak out, sit in, and march to protest prejudice and unfair treatment. Now people from all over the United States and the world had gathered for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. They believed that all Americans deserved good jobs, good schools, and equal rights.

She had come to help bring people together. As Reverend King sat nearby, she stood and grabbed the sides of the microphone stand.

She had come to sing.

Ive been buked, and Ive been scorned... She began to sing slowly. Her voice rose powerfully, fell to a soft tone, and then rose again. The crowd recognized the words. They came from an old song once sung by enslaved people, and they meant, Ive been treated badly, and Ive been ignored.

When Mahalia Jackson sat back down, Martin Luther King Jr. smiled at her. A few minutes later he was at the podium. Everyone, including Mahalia, listened with excitement as he began.

Tell them about the dream, Martin! she shouted. Then her friend gave the most unforgettable speech of his career.

I have a dream! he preached. Mahalia clapped and cheered.

She remembered being a poor little girl growing up in New Orleans. Shed dreamed of a better life for herself. Shed dreamed that her incredible voice was a gift she could use to make life better for other African Americans. At that moment, she knew that she had come to the March on Washington because Martins dream was her dream, too.

New Orleans, Louisiana, was a big, busy city in 1912. Boats and barges of all sizes ran up and down the Mississippi River, carrying everything from bananas to coal. Workers on the docks sang and sweated as they loaded and unloaded cargo. Musicians and singers in the citys famous French Quarter entertained visitors from all over the world. In one neighborhood along the river, near the levee that held the waters of the mighty Mississippi back, the Clark family welcomed a new member. A baby girl was born to Charity Clark and Johnny Jackson on October 26. She was named after one of her mothers sisters, Mahalia.

Baby Mahalia wasnt healthy at first. Haley, as her family called her, was born with eye problems. Her legs were not straight. Doctors told her mother that she might need surgery to correct them. Mahalias parents didnt have the money for that.

Many African American women like Charity Clark and her sisters worked as maids or cooks for wealthier white families. Johnny and Charity werent married. He lived with his parents. During the day he worked one job as a stevedore, loading and unloading ships on the docks. He also worked part-time as a barber and a preacher.

When Haleys mother had to go back to work, the Clark family stepped in to help take care of Haley. Her aunts rubbed and massaged the babys legs and fed her healthy food. As she grew, Mahalia recovered. She and her older brother, Peter, had aunts, uncles, and cousins all around. Soon, the bright, curious little girl was a lively part of her family and her community.

Like Haleys family, their neighbors were all poor working people. Everyone knew each other. Many families grew their own vegetables in small gardens. The children played together. But their big excitement wasnt school or the playground. For them, the riverfront was the place to be.

Sometimes they watched the trains traveling upriver to and from the nearby coal yard. When they waved to get the engineers attention, the trains would often stop to give them a ride on the engine or caboose. Those rides came with sweet treats, like sugarcane. After a quick trip, it was back home again!

At other times, Mahalia gathered with the neighborhood children by the levee. They collected driftwood from the riverbanks to make campfires. One boy played a ukulele, while everyone sang as they snacked on pecans and baked sweet potatoes.

Even as a small girl, Mahalia loved singing and tried to repeat from memory any song that she heard. She sang in the childrens choir at church, too. The congregation at Plymouth Rock Baptist Church knew that Mahalia Jackson had a great big voice. Haley felt good inside when they clapped and swayed and sang along with her.

However, when Mahalia was only five years old, her mother, Charity, suddenly died. What would happen to Mahalia and Peter? Where would they go?

The Clarks made an important decision. While they agreed to let Haley visit her father and his family, they determined that she and her brother would live with one of their aunts. The children only had to move a few blocks away. Mahalia and Emmanuel Paul took them in. Haley shared her aunts name, but everyone called the grown-up Mahalia Duke.

Mahalias life changed without her mother. She missed Charitys love and encouragement. Aunt Duke had different ideas about children. Mahalia soon discovered that her days of carefree playing were over.

Aunt Duke taught her to dust the furniture, scrub the floors, and iron clothes. She had to make sure there was enough wood and coal in the house for cooking and heating. Since music was already an important part of Mahalias life, she hummed while she did the chores. When she was old enough to attend school, she got in trouble with her teachers because she hummed songs in the classroom, too.