I tried to go up to the house. So one of the detectives jumped up on the steps of the house with a sawed-off machine gun and he says, "The first son-of-a-bitch that sets foot on these stairs is going to have his head shot off.''

Well, you can't let that go unchallenged! So I stepped forward, and behind me comes a young white man, and behind him comes a black man and his wife. And the four of us marched up, right in the face of the sawed-off gun.

When we four went on the stairs the people came out of their houses. They came swarming out and they surrounded the police. And the detective didn't dare kill us. He just held his gun uselessly in his hand. The four of us stood triumphantly up at the top of the stairs and were kicking on the door.

And then the chief, or whoever was in charge, said, "Now look. We've arrested hundreds of people here today. The hell with it." He took off his hat. He said, "Take up a collection. Whatever we collect, that's going to be the rent." They took up a collection among all the policemen and everybody who was there.