GEORGE EDMUND HAYNES
New York, N. Y.

411 Convent Ave. New York 31

BRONX CENTRAL STATION

Mrs. James Weldon Johnson

"Five Acres"

Great Barrington, Mass.

"THIS I BELIEVE"

I BELIEVE IN PEOPLE, whether they live in the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia or the islands of the sea. They all have potential genius, which needs only opportunity to unfold and to enrich the world.

I BELIEVE IN THE PEOPLE OF THE AMERICAS, especially those of the United States; for here, "we the people" have declared that the common man, irrespective of race, religion or national origin, has the divine right to determine his own way of life without benefit of any divine right of kings or Stalins. After half a century of study and interracial work in the United States, Europe and Africa, I know that thousands of devoted men and women have faced prejudice, greed and even death to show that equality and freedom for all men can become a practical reality.

I BELIEVE IN TRUTH, IN BEAUTY AND IN GOODNESS. Truth, whether found through science, philosophy or religion, is stronger than error, and will make men free. Beauty, whenever experienced, lifts one out of sordidness and gives joy. Good men march breast forward to solid satisfaction even in the face of wrong, because they are mindful of the law of love which is as real as the law of gravitation.

Without some such belief in goodness, men and women are defeated. Those who believe in the law of love set their faces like flint against the idea that some races are inferior. They live by the lift of the vision of all men up to higher levels.

More than forty years' experience in the classroom, in government office, and around city and state conference tables, set by religious and social welfare agencies, has taught me that attitudes can be changed; and that reason, justice and good will can replace force and violence in dealing with racial, national and international relations. Non-violent methods have brought advancement in human relations exceeding our hopes.

I BELIEVE IN PEACE. It is not an armistice between hot or cold wars. Peace will come through the give and take of conference based upon justice and good will. It is grounded in the integrity and faith of those who hold high places of trust and honor, and the united strength of peoples and nations, who place liberty of the individual above wealth or power or glory.

I BELIEVE IN LIFE, IN GOD, AND IN ETERNITY. Body, mind and spirit are only sides of the triangle of life. Death is only the shadowy valley between life here and hereafter; because God who holds the distant stars in their courses and gives power to the invisible atom, allows nothing to be destroyed. The form and function of life apart from our planet we do not know; but science, reason and religion give grounds for an unshakeable faith that Life marches on into the Great Beyond. My personal experience in the departure of loved ones strengthened my lifelong search leading to these convictions.

Words are only symbols expressing my beliefs in people, in truth, beauty and goodness; in peace, in life, God and Eternity. Such beliefs have to be experienced to be known.

Radio Broadcast, Edward R. Murrow's CBS program,
April 30, 1954 — Copyright, Help Inc., 1954