on december 5th 2020 is the 65th anniversary of the montgomery bus boycott to commemorate this important part of our history we focus on how music played a vital role during the civil rights movement black enterprise magazine lists 15 top civil rights songs that promote freedom and justice it's not surprising that several of those songs on this list are gospel songs this is because many churches were used as spaces to organize and plan strategy during the montgomery bus boycott tonight we talked to billboard's hot 100 artist who is also a richmond virginia law enforcement officer to discuss how music helps press the social agenda in the fight for injustice and he will sing one of those songs from this list it's good to have you here welcome to everybody with angela williamson a public affairs program produced in partnership with pbsla this program is made possible by viewers like you thank you and now your host dr angela williamson thank you so much for watching this special edition of everybody and tonight we have reverend mervin mayo reverend mervin thank you so much for being on the show tonight and i want to congratulate you on your top 100 hit on billboard thank you thank you for having me i appreciate it thank you so much well before we get started i want the audience to learn a little bit about you so tell me a little bit about yourself i am a citizen of richmond i grew up in richmond virginia um i always want to be a police officer i was uh befriended by officer curtis simmons um curtis simmons and alfonso collins they were back then i think it was called snap but it was like the police athletic league program and um they came in and they would take us to places like uh kings dominion water country uh busch gardens and um basically they gave us a different perception of what police officers were because we were used to um just police officers patrolling the area not actually being able to have a conversation so uh they kind of kept me grounded and you know i always said when i grew up i wanted to be a police officer a lot of people say that but i actually really meant it and um i started uh i actually used to sing with one of the officers curtis simmons and uh we used to every time we'd be on the car we were riding places we would sing songs and um and uh it kind of that's when i realized i could sing a little bit and um we were saying gospel songs and eventually i joined the church the church choir at um 31st street baptist church i was there first then i went to fourth baptist church and then i started playing the piano i think about 9th grade 8th and 9th grade and um it's just just my love for music my love for for gospel music has been going on ever since i'm 45. i'm 45 now so it's i've been doing it for a long time i love doing it i'm not going to stop doing it and um i'm excited to be here today well i'm so excited to have you this is just such a wonderful opportunity for us and you know you mentioned so much in your introduction and my question to you is how important is mentorship um when you are also a law enforcement officer um well you know it's extremely important i truly believe that had i not had the mentorship from those police officers that i wouldn't my perception of police officers will stay tainted um because we did have some growing up there were some officers that that that picked with us gave us a hard time and i mean my perception of all officers were the same because you know salt and sugar looks the same so but once you get a chance to to uh to get to know a police officer or get to know somebody outside of their uh official capacity then um it helps you know i work at i'm a school resource officer um sro at richmond alternative school and um i work with a lot of kids that made bad decisions not bad kids but kids that made bad decisions and a lot of those kids come from broken homes a lot of those kids do not have fathers in their lives um and just for me to to try to mentor them and you know talk to them teach them how to tie a tie um teach them how to tie bow tie teach them how to wear their clothes you know and um it means a lot to them you know in the beginning it's like man i don't want you to tell me how to tie no time because i don't need the tie tie but then eventually after a while they get to know you know get to know me and they learn and small things like that that that goes a long way um because there's things small things like that that went a long way with me so um it's it's really important it's really really really important and actually right now they're talking about taking the um the sros out of the school uh because of everything that's going on with the police and uh i i don't agree i think it's a bad idea um because when you think of um sros in the school for some reason a lot of people think that sros are in the school simply to um keep the peace and arrest kids and that's not the case we're actually in the school to to mentor the kids to have we call school resource officers so they come to us because we are a resource you know we don't walk around like prison guards and for some reason the the the public has that perception that we just walk around trying to find kids to arrest and it's definitely the opposite way we keep kids out of jail and um i'm going on and on and on but uh but yeah uh mentorship from police officers it's it has to happen it cannot stop it has to happen no and i love how my one question just motivated you to tell me so many different stories but what i'm thinking too reverend mervyn is how important not only your role is right now but you're almost on your own mission and journey to because the way that law enforcement has looked over the last year i mean how difficult has it been for you because you know that there are good officers there are officers out there that want to work with the kids in the community and you actually work with at-risk kids in the community so what do you think that people should think about when they are thinking about taking out that resource i mean what would you suggest that they think about well you know according to my research the uh the people that are asking us that wants to take us out of the schools their kids don't even go to schools where there's resource officers um they're they're only their only information their only input is from hearsay uh they haven't had the first hand opportunity to meet me or the other resource officer so you got people that's that that doesn't even belong in public schools people that somewhere else are saying um you know i don't think it's a good idea for police officers to be in the school but that's because they don't know our role and they've never took the time to to find out what our role is um i've been a resource officer for 12 13 almost 14 years i've been with the police department for 17 years so 14 years of my 17-year career i've been working with kids i'm in the police athletic league program we take kids everywhere i do the same thing for kids that curtis simmons did for me and uh my goal and my objective is to save somebody save one of the kids um kids are having especially right now with covet and everything's going on kids are being stuck in a house it's man it's rough you know and um we got a lot of kids going through depression we got we got kids talking about suicide and you know and it's and for you for the people to say you know we don't want you in the school i need to be in the school i know for a fact that the kids need me just as i need the kids i i saw there was an episode last week i believe you were in georgia and it was regarding law enforcement appreciation week and you talked a little bit about the importance of just really understanding how law enforcement's there for the good of the community with your message do you find that when people start talking to you and hearing your message that then they get a different like perceived notion of what law enforcement is and what they can do in the community indeed if you know the issue is being able to strike up a conversation um once they get past the uniform and they get to see the man and we have a conversation their whole perception is like completely different um but the problem is you know sometimes i'll try to have a conversation with somebody and just when i walk up they they first thing coming to that office you need to quit your job you know and i'm like let me talk to you about my job and you don't want to hear anything but i do feel like once i start talking to people and uh and explain it to them that there are bad cops you know and they're good cops and bad cops make good cops look bad so i task the good cops to find the bad cops and get them up out of there you know because they're destroying they're destroying what police officers are about you know we're about protecting and serving the community we're not about beating people up and and that's the perception of the of the community that we're just here to just enforce and force and force but we're not here for that we're here to protect save and serve and uh if i can just if i can get you know if i could get three minutes with the person that curses me out just because i'm walking past in a uniform if i can get a three-minute uh conversation where you would just listen to me without cutting over me without you know just being angry if you just listen to me i know for a fact i could turn your your entire mind around about police officers but the issue is getting past the uniform so maybe i have to come with some jogging pants on a hoodie and i could have that conversation or something i don't know it's the uniform that you know and it's i don't in the beginning i did take it personally um um i was telling them when i preached last week i went to go talk to a a little four-year-old kid and his mom snatched him away and said you know we don't we don't talk to police officers and when i tell you that thing broke my heart you know and uh but when i went home and i i prayed about it and it's not me so i can't take it personally it's what the bad stands for and and we and we as police officers we need to fix it there's a lot of there's a lot of uh or general orders that uh a lot of training that needs to be fixed needs to be rewritten so that we can make things better there is a problem and it needs to be addressed and it needs to be fixed i love that and you said so much there and before we go into our break what the reason why i think you're so important especially with this special show right now is because you have used your talent for music to actually get your message out about the the good in law enforcement and about the relationship too but also too i find that your music has been uplifting during a time where people really need it and that was pretty much what we looked at when i looked at the civil rights movement and the music that was really important as well so when we come back we're going to talk about that and you promised the saying so you will sing right i will def well i don't sing i minister i don't think i minister so i will minister in song today yes a wonderful wonderful wonderful okay so hold tight stay right there reverend and we will come back after this break [Music] and so your word in hebrews 4 16 says therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness so that we may receive mercy find grace to help us in time of need [Music] i felt like i couldn't take it no way i couldn't break give some strength to me welcome back and we're here with reverend mervin reverend mervin i want to talk about the reason you're here with us today and the use of music just to help heal people's soul and how it was used in the civil rights movement you have a top 100 billboard hit right now and a lot of people who have listened to this hit says it is there because it uplifts people and so my question to you is why do you think this song is so important right now with everything going on right now i i truly believe a lot of people are losing faith um you know i've talked to some people that are very like not religious but people that have a relationship and they are um they're losing faith um but the bible says if you have faith of a mustard seed you can say to the mountains move from here to there and they have to move they have to obey and i think that uh some people need to hear a word um so when it when i wrote this the song the words to this song i need you lord it was it was almost like hey look i'm i'm lord i'm going through a lot i know you said you know you're going to do this i know you're going to help me out i know you're going to come through because you're not a man that you should lie however um how much longer can i i can't hold on a lot longer i need you like right now so the song was like lord i need you i need you right now you know even in the song it says every sunday morning i close every sunday morning i'm giving it all i got i'm the first to scream your name with my hands held up high and it says now i know that this don't mean that i shouldn't go through anything but right now it's getting the best of me and definitely your song does speak to so many people right now because you know based on the people that have listened to your song and the downloads that you have right now obviously people want this this song right now so i'd like to ask you can you play that song for us please all right let's see um this is i need you lord i woke up this morning clothing my right mind could have been dead and gone but god stepped in right on time then there's been moments i thought i wasn't gonna make it i felt like i couldn't take it no way i couldn't fake it i need you lord oh i need you lord give some strength to me in this time of need oh i need you lord oh i need you lord give some strength to me in this time of need oh i need you lord that's i need you lord and the other is um bow down it goes like this it's me lord [Music] and i'm standing in need [Music] i know i don't call you like i used to but i need you to wrap your love and arms around me this world is scoop went through some things and it's getting a little too hard to that [Music] we've searched all over for the remedy but it looked like we can't find it nowhere and then i remember you said to me you said call out my name son and i'll be there and so i'm calling on the name of jesus imma stay right here and wait i ain't going nowhere have on an earth adore you i bow down before you you said in your word just call your name jesus jesus said heaven and earth adore you i bowed down before you you said in your word just call your name that's bowed down so we're calling on the name of jesus we're calling on the name of jesus jesus jesus that's not in it but it's in my heart oh jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus we're calling on your name oh jesus we're calling on your name and here's the part of the song that touches me it's actually a question to god because the bible says you have not because you asked not a sword i said tell me how long will it be i need to hear a word from you lord tell me how long how long will it be how long must our children die how long will it be lord i believe that your word says if my people which i call by my name shall humble themselves and seek my face and turn from that wicked ways you said you'll hear the landlord how long will it be i can do that all day so i'm gonna cut it right there wow that was so amazing i have a question for you before we go in and talk a little bit about how the music was used during the civil rights movement and in your opinion why do you think that song went viral oh because that song is like you know when i wrote that song i was i'm not gonna say i was mad but i was questioning god you know it's like i get i get fueled every time i talk about it i was questioning god it's like god you know everything you've asked me to do i've done um and you said you'll you'll never put more on me than i can bear but you know i was i was broken um and in the midst of that song was when everything kind of hit and i was broken um and a lot of people are broken and i think that it went viral because so many people were at home um during this pandemic and um they had a lot of time on their hands and um because i've been doing videos a long time um and for some reason during this season it um it just touched people that it wouldn't normally touch you know and and i think it has something to do with the uniform too um because a lot of people that wouldn't normally click on just a regular guy sitting at a piano singing they see the uniform and they say to them said well let me click on this and see what this what this police officer talking about let me let me see what he's up here talking about and then once once i get him you know and the holy ghost are moving it's kind of hard for them to to come out of it so now boom i got you i was just thinking about how important the songs were during the civil rights movement we have you know we shall overcome which was the anthem for the civil rights movement but then we also have the black national anthem lift every voice and saying and so do you see how your music today maybe it was just as important and had the same meaning in the 1955 civil rights movement do you see a parallel there at all i do see a parallel um i see that my music is a voice for for the people that feel as if they don't have a voice um i feel that my music is an outlet for people that needs an outlet so yeah i just had an epiphany yeah yeah i mean that's that's what i see to you as well so the choice is yours would you honor us with either playing lift every voice and saying or we shall overcome both of those songs were on black enterprise magazine's list of the top civil right civil rights songs anyone would you play that for us please okay lift every reverse and sing i like to sing songs my way killer thing ring with the harmony [Music] [Music] loud as the road [Music] that the dark past has taught us singing a song full of the hope that the present has [Music] be [Applause] [Music] victory [Music] victory he is one [Music] till the tory [Music] bravo bravo thank you reverend mervin thank you so much for everything that you're doing to help with the community but most importantly thank you so much for your music that can heal so much hurt that's happening right now thank you thank you i appreciate it thank you so much and thank you for joining us on everybody with angela williamson viewers like you make this show possible stay in touch with us on social media good night and stay well reverend mervin take us out i can climb a mountain i can reach my goal more than the conqueror down in my soul the devil is a liar we've won the race said i've got