Video Transcripts

0:00On screen: White text on a black screen: “Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.” — Booker T. Washington.

0:00[Choir sings "Ezekiel Saw the Wheel"]

0:05♪ Ezekiel saw the wheel, way up in the middle of the air ♪

0:12On screen: An aerial view over a dense green forest, with a narrow path leading toward the Gulf.

0:12In the heart of Mississippi, amidst the resounding echoes of a past fraught with struggle, a beacon of hope stood: Gulfside Assembly.

0:20On screen: An archival photograph of a large crowd of men, women and children gathered in front of a two-story building with columns and wide porches.

0:22Here, among the whispering pines and the gentle lap of ocean waves,

0:26On screen: A sepia portrait of a young man in a dark suit and bow tie.

0:26Bishop Robert Elijah Jones envisioned a sanctuary.

0:30On screen: Segregation-era photographs: a café storefront marked “Farmers Cafe, Quick Lunch,” with separate doors labeled “White” and “Colored”; a bus-station sign reading “Colored Waiting Room”; and a protest sign reading “We want white tenants in our white community.”

0:31In the shadows of the Jim Crow laws, a brutal reality of segregation and oppression reigned. These laws, a bitter legacy of the post-Civil War era, enforced racial segregation in the southern United States. In this rigidly divided society, the mere act of dreaming was an act of defiance. Against this backdrop, the story of Bishop Robert E. Jones

0:54On screen: A sepia portrait of a young clergyman in a dark suit and clerical collar.

0:56gains profound significance. His determination to build Gulfside Assembly was a bold challenge to the very foundations of segregation. From the humble beginnings in the town of Greensboro,

1:09On screen: A white wooden church. Then an older man in glasses speaks at a pulpit crowded with microphones, and a group of men in suits stand together at a church altar.

1:11his voice, once a mere whisper amidst the din of inequality, grew into a roar for justice. Jones’s vision soared beyond the confines of pastoral duties.

1:24On screen: The crowd photograph in front of the columned building returns. Then archival photographs of leisure at Gulfside: families picnicking under the trees and swimmers wading in the Gulf.

1:24In 1923, he founded Gulfside Assembly in Mississippi, cultivating a place where African Americans could gather for spiritual, educational, and recreational purposes.

1:36On screen: Interview inside a church sanctuary with arched windows. An older man in a striped navy shirt speaks. On-screen name: “Art Philip Clementine.”

1:37Art Philip Clementine: Gulfside was the center of our educational, theological, religious, and social activity, social life. Everything that happened in Hancock County for Black folks happened in Gulfside.

1:57On screen: A black-and-white photograph of a woman in a dark dress and pearls, smiling with one hand raised, as the narrator names Constance Baker Motley. Then a large white-columned building.

1:57This serene sanctuary played host to leaders like Constance Baker Motley, who strategized legal battles against segregation, including the pivotal University of Mississippi Law School case.

2:09[Soft wordless singing over gentle music]

2:12On screen: A photograph of a young man, with on-screen text: “CORE held its training sessions at Gulfside January 8, 1966.” Then a young man reading on a floor among folding chairs, labeled “Bob Moses (SNCC & CORE),” and a man in a sweatshirt printed “Freedom Now, C.O.R.E.”

2:24On screen: A sepia photograph of a great moss-draped oak with an old car beneath it. Then four young women in 1930s dresses pose beside a vintage car, and a crowd of bathers stands in the Gulf with a beach ball.

2:24In the resolution of Gulfside’s story, we find a beginning rather than an end. It’s a continuous journey of hope, unity, and perseverance. A story that resonates with every wave that laps its shores.

2:36On screen: Title card: “On God’s Great Gulf of Mexico: The Gulfside Assembly Story.” Then: “Coming September 2024.” The screen fades to black.

2:38[Music swells and ends]

0:00[Somber music]

0:09Narrator: Hurricane Katrina made landfall in southern Mississippi on Friday, August 29, 2005, causing the worst natural disaster in United States history at that time. 120-mile-per-hour winds and a storm surge nearing 30 feet resulted in the confirmed deaths of 238 people, with 67 recorded as missing. Insured economic losses totaled more than $13.6 billion, excluding flood damage, and more than 60% of housing stock was lost. However, more devastating than these losses was the devastatingly poor response of government leaders and agencies that were responsible for the care and recovery of Katrina's most vulnerable survivors, who were residents of predominantly Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

1:03This commemoration at the Gulfside Assembly, a sacred, safe space that was lost during Katrina, aims to memorialize the community's losses, honor its survivors and heroes, and chart a course for community resilience and resistance so that we never experience such devastating losses ever again.

1:29Speaker: I must begin by respectfully acknowledging and honoring the Choctaw Indian Nation, the original inhabitants of this space. The Choctaw Indians skillfully adapted and lived in harmony with the world around them. The Choctaw were forced from this land by the Indian Removal Act, signed by Andrew Jackson in 1830.

1:54[Music]

2:07Gulfside Assembly was founded by Bishop Robert Elijah Jones, the first African American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in 1923. He purchased this property of 300 acres for $4,000. This property was originally owned by a nephew of Andrew Jackson. Gulfside was established on the Chautauqua principles of faith, education, culture, and recreation. Today, Gulfside continues to be an advocate for the underserved, not just here in Waveland, but throughout the region, throughout the region, throughout the region.

2:45Speaker: I was moved by the faith leaders. Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, in unity. They came with their loving and compassionate hearts, and I could feel that caring energy in the room as he addressed the needs of the most vulnerable.

3:02Speaker: And it was people from all over the country coming here to help us out. All colors, all faiths. Now, God, as a people of faith, we are called into covenant with one another. Your covenant of faithfulness and love extends to the whole creation.

3:21Speaker: I began to be immersed with the research of learning not only about Gulfside —

3:31Speaker: which this is a historic landmark for the United Methodist Church as of 1980.

3:42Speaker: And here we are, 20 years later. Many of us have rebuilt from the impossible.

3:47Speaker: We saw helicopters going around up in the air and everything. No one stopped to help us.

3:54Speaker: By understanding the past, we can make informed decisions about the future.

3:59[Music]

4:07Speaker: And I thank God for the people that came and helped us recover after Hurricane Katrina.

4:13Speaker: It did bring people together because it hit everybody. Regardless of your faith tradition, your economic status, it didn't matter. Everybody got that.

4:24Speaker: Behold how good and pleasant it is when we come together in unity.

4:30Speaker: We are united. We are powerful. What we're doing here, gathering to remember, reflect, and envision, are the little things, the small, persistent, unrelenting, ordinary acts that will help to prevent disasters from becoming tragedies in the days to come. May we rise up and bloom beautifully, boldly, brilliantly.

4:55[Choir sings with clapping] ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪

5:00♪ The storm is passing over ♪

5:04♪ The storm is passing over ♪

5:09♪ The storm is passing over ♪

5:15♪ Hallelujah ♪

5:18[Music]

0:00[Gentle piano music]

0:09Narrator: What is a People's Movement Assembly? A People's Movement Assembly, also known as a PMA, is a gathering of various social movement organizations and individuals who meet to collectively identify problems, brainstorm solutions, and decide on actions to govern themselves and achieve shared goals. Unlike other forms of assemblies, a PMA is a dynamic and inclusive convergence of social forces that fosters collective critical thinking, leading to organic synthesis of ideas and commitments for community action and power building.

0:46Source: Project South.

0:48[Music]

0:59Jonathan Green: Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for joining us this afternoon. My name is Jonathan Green. I'm executive director of the Steps Coalition. How has your recovery been after Katrina?

1:11Speaker: You're allowed to take up space. Because you're allowed to be. You're allowed to take up space. This is what it feels like to take up space in community and make room for each other. Can you feel the person next to you?

1:30Speaker: I mean, it's something I've never really thought about until we got to this moment in time, 20 years later.

1:35Speaker: We all carry this trauma with us. So this space is for us to reflect and then figure out a plan going forward so that we don't feel like we felt in those days after Katrina.

1:49[Music]

1:58Speaker: We saw the storm coming. We saw it go from a Category 1 to a Category 5, and we knew it was going to be something serious.

2:05Speaker: So our home was still standing, and the church was still standing. But when we got to Gulfside, there was nothing left. My sister and I, we came, we parked here, and we walked all the way to the back, and we just stood in the middle of the grounds and just cried.

2:23Speaker: Just feel like there's a string connecting you to the sky. Breathe that in. You're allowed to be tall. Take a deep breath in. Hold it. One, two, three. Let it go. You're allowed to feel your feelings. You should know your feelings.

2:48Speaker: Optimistic.

2:50Speaker: Blessed.

2:53Speaker: Joyful.

2:53Speaker: We no longer let our car's gas tank go below half.

2:59[Laughter]

3:01[Music]

0:00[Somber music]

0:09Narrator: These are the stories of Katrina survivors and heroes in their own words.

0:14[Music]

0:23Speaker: I left prior to the storm hitting. Upon my return, I seen the destruction with my own eyes.

0:29Speaker: One of the most challenging moments I remember was just coming back to the Gulf Coast and seeing the devastation. I mean, it was pretty terrible. All of the vegetation was dead.

0:39Speaker: What I remember most is packing up the kids and my father-in-law and the goldfish and driving to Jackson, 'cause we didn't know what happened to our home. We were just so relieved to see that our house was still standing. He could barely get into the front door 'cause there was so much debris.

0:54Speaker: My sister and my brother-in-law had moved to Atlanta a few years prior, and so they were gracious to open up their home, and within a matter of a few days, we probably had 21 people in the house.

1:05Speaker: The National Guard who were housed in our hospital, they spoke with us, saying that we have a certain amount of time to come up with a plan because we expect to have water up to two floors in the hospital.

1:16Speaker: I was sitting in my house, listening to the news. I told my husband, "This hurricane is coming our way." I guess about seven o'clock that morning, I saw this water. I got up and looked out the door. I said, "The ditch is not even full of water. So where is this water coming from?" And by the time I said that, it like, it started coming down the fireplace. And I screamed and told him, I said, "The water's coming in this house."

1:39So he jumped out of the bed, and by the time the back door — it hit my back door, and the water just burst in on us, hit me in the chest. I told my grandson, I said, "Run, Trey." So we went to our attic. We have a ladder, so we pulled the attic — the ladder down and got in the attic.

1:54[Music]