Good Lord Bird

I had this dream the other night.

I was in church and they was having a funeral for me.

There was two coffins.

And both of them was me.

In one coffin was my heart, beating,

and all my veins and blood was moving around,

but with no body.

Looked like some sort of sea creature.

Then in the other coffin was my body.

Uh, skin, muscles, brain and lungs.

My eyes was empty.

The lungs were still trying to breathe.

Like...

Like, wheezing-like.

A breathing body with no heart or blood on one side

and a beating heart and a box of veins and blood

with no body on the other.

And a preacher said,

"You need your prayers."

And I looked at both these parts of me and said,

"But who is he?"

Who are you? What are you?

Atmospheric music

Wake up.

Are we there?

No. Uphill grade.

When the train slows down, we're gonna jump off.

Hallelujah, come on, children, let's sing

About the goodness of the Lord

Come on, children, let's shout

All about God's rich reward

Guide our footsteps every day

Keeps us in the narrow way

Come on, children, let's sing

About the goodness of the Lord

Yeah, come on, children, let's sing

About the goodness of the Lord, mmm

Come on, children, let's shout

All about God's rich reward

Guide our footsteps every day

Keeps us in the narrow way

Come on, children, let's sing

Come on, children, let's shout

The Lord Almighty has brought us out

There's none like him without a doubt

Come on, children, let's sing

About the goodness of the Lord

Bet you never jumped off a train before. Huh?

Isn't that fun?

See, I want them all thinking we're out west.

Why?

'Cause we're up to no good, in their eyes.

But the Lord of lords

is smiling down upon us.

But where are we?

Pennsylvania. The Allegheny Mountains of my youth.

The Lord put forth his thumb and pressed these hills

and made these passages for the poor.

Now a small band of Negro revolutionaries

could hide out in here

and fight off an army of thousands for years.

These the first mountains I ever seen up close.

They were mine, too.

Now, Mr. Douglass,

he showed me a few tricks about putting on a show,

speechifying, so I'm gonna raise us some money

and we'll go back, get the men, carry on the fight.

- Yes, Captain. - Mm-hmm.

When I'm giving my talks,

I may ask you to testify, you know, about your life.

Deprivation and starvation as a slave,

being whipped scandalous and such.

Dutch ain't never whipped me.

And fed me good.

Never been cold

before sleeping in the woods with you and the boys.

Yeah, well, I-I... I-I wouldn't mention that.

And I ain't never been shot at till I met you.

No? Yeah, I wouldn't mention that, either.

Truth be told,

I ain't seen a person murdered till I met you.

I would stay off that subject

- entirely. - Mm.

While the old man was hidded out on the plains,

he was a hero back east.

My name is Osawatomie John Brown

and I am here to fight slavery.

They couldn't get enough of his stories.

You would've thunk that every pro-slaver,

who mostly lived off of pennies and generally didn't treat

the Negro any worse than they treated each other

was a bunch of cranks, heathens and drunks

who run around murdering one another,

while the free staters spend all day sitting in church

making paper cutout dolls on Wednesday nights.

We must defeat slavery!

If any are bound, we are all bound!

It made me a bit sad, truth be to tell it,

to watch all them white folks crying for the Negro.

There weren't but one Negro 'sides me present.

And we both knew to be quiet as mouses.

Except for Frederick Douglass,

it seemed like everybody got to make a speech about the Negro

except the Negro.

It has been a long time since I've had any ice cream.

- Can we afford it? - I think we can.

I've heard some news.

Federal agents are after me.

Mm. I'm gonna need you to keep a lookout.

Well,

what does a federal agent look like?

The federal man...

he smells like... like bear.

They use bear grease

to oil their hair.

But they live indoors. They're clean. Mm-hmm.

- Sickly, pale, yellow. - Captain,

about half the white folks up north seem like that.

Mm-hmm. True.

Recognize this?

This is Frederick's old Colt.

He'd want you to have... Now be careful.

It's primed and loaded... Uh-uh.

Keep it down. There's eyes about.

Look at this.

I'm sorry.

No need to see that...

Now, if you see a federal man while I'm...

givin' my show,

I don't want you interrupt me.

Just take out your Good Lord bird feather and wave it.

I'll know.

Course,

if they try to apprehend me, start shooting.

You want me to draw down on a federal agent?

Just... Not at first. Just fire up in the air.

- Okay. - They'll run, they'll scream,

we'll make our escape... If they arrest me,

I'm gonna need you to, point-blank, fire.

John Brown... No, no, please! Please don't shoot.

I-I'm Deacon Lee, with First Methodist

and the Hartford Abolitionist Society?

A deacon.

And an abolitionist.

- Yes, sir. - Pleasure.

Likewise. This is my wife

- Temperance. - Temperance.

- Hello. Pleasure. - Hmm. What a wonderful name.

- If you are John Brown... - I am.

...could you spare a few words at our meeting this afternoon?

Love to.

Well, uh, l-let me buy you some ice cream.

Hello.

My name is Osawatomie John Brown

and I'm here to fight slavery!

I have been warned

that federal agents are hunting me

and that there may even be a federal man

here with us this afternoon.

Federal man,

if ye be here, make yourself known!

Good. Now,

I demand the immediate emancipation

of every soul pining for freedom on American soil!

Those in the fields of Maryland,

the cotton plantations of Arkansas,

Louisiana, Georgia,

Alabama!

Not some, but all,

without limitations, without restrictions,

for their inalienable right

to pursue their absolute equality!

My grandfather,

he served with General George Washington.

Yes. Thank you, thank you. Yes.

They railed against a three-penny tax on tea.

Hmm.

They used that to justify

seven years of bloody war with England.

Suspenseful music

Imagine if those men

had the cause that we have.

They would take action.

Violence, that's not what any of us want.

It's an extreme measure.

However, sometimes, a limb is sick.

It has to be excised.

If thine own eye offends thee,

pluck it out!

I am offended!

And I will pluck it out!

Amen.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Let us, let us pray.

Dear Lord, we thank you for this time together.

First I want to thank Temperance and Deacon Lee

for in-inviting me here today.

I... What fine people.

We thank whoever made those, uh, sugar cookies,