Civil Rights Leaders Reflect On Obama Nomination

By: Chris Pollone/NBC 13 | Alabama's13.com
Published: June 03, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.-- As a foot soldier in the fight for civil rights, the Reverend Abraham Woods shed a lot of blood, sweat and tears so that all Americans might have the same opportunities.

And at 79, he remembers the fight like it was yesterday.

“The dogs, the water hoses, the billy clubs, the Klan, the dynamite, the jailhouse and all of that,” Woods recalled Tuesday night.

But throughout the struggle, Woods never thought he'd live to see the day that someone who looks like him could possibly be President.

“Absolutely not,” Woods exclaimed. “It was a dream. It was part of the dream we embraced that Doctor King had.”

Woods says America has come a long way, but he still didn't think the country was ready to embrace a black candidate for President.

“This is a historic day in America, not only in America but in the eyes of the world,” Woods said.

It was foot soldiers like Woods who made this history possible.

“I'm happy that I was part of the struggle, a part of the effort, and it gives me a great sense of accomplishment that I might have made a little contribution to the coming of this day,” Woods said proudly.

He hopes to witness more history in November.

“Absolutely so. Absolutely so. And I’m very optimistic about it.”

Abraham Woods isn't the only civil rights leader happy to see this day.

The Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth told us that “anything is possible in this country.”

He said he didn't think he “would be alive to see this kind of history in the making.”

And that he thinks it would be a “great thing to have both senators Obama and Clinton in the White House.”

Civil Rights Leaders Reflect On Obama Nomination

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