Summer of ‘64: A Mississippi Freedom Fighter Remembers the StruggleYou never know when something's going to happen that will change your life completely. If I had stayed in Florida canning tomatoes, I wouldn't have been here when the civil rights workers came to Mississippi in the summer of 1964. …
[Ladd] Freedom is Just Another WordWhen I was living in New York, we heard that the Klan was coming to march in Manhattan. This, predictably, caused an outrage in the city with folks screaming about why the stupid yuck-yucks shouldn't be allowed to march there. …
'Mississippi Burning' and Other Tall TalesIn one of those bizarre twists of fate that keep happening to me since I returned to Mississippi, I ended up recently spending a Saturday afternoon in Neshoba County with a camera crew from Glamour magazine. As if that weren't …
[Hutchinson] What is ‘the Truth,' Mr. Cosby?Comedian Bill Cosby's partial recant that his knock of allegedly bad behaving blacks was a call for action and not a broad brush stroke indictment of all poor blacks, came too little, too late. Rightwing shock jocks, conservative black apologists …
I Felt the Earth MoveIt was like old home day in Neshoba County Sunday … with a few twists. The usual suspects—the people I've gotten to know in the struggle for justice and racial reconciliation in the state—were there to honor Chaney, Goodman and …
Down a Southern Road<i>Monday, June 21, is the 40th anniversary of the deaths of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner.</i>
Bigotry of Low ExpectationsI was about to start my second year at Mississippi State when Ronald Reagan came to the Neshoba County Fair in 1980. My gut instincts told me one thing. "The Republicans are playing Mississippians for fools," I told my oldest …
Neshoba County Coalition Calls for JusticeThe newly formed Philadelphia Coalition of blacks, whites and Choctaws released the following statement calling for justice and issuing a long-overdue apology for the tragic murders that happened there on Father's Day 40 years ago. See http://neshobajustice.com for a schedule …
The Next GenerationThose are six words I never expected to say. I grew up, like many restless kids, thinking my town was the most backward place on earth. That's normal. But when I was 14 and found out what occurred in Philadelphia, …
‘Philadelphia Coalition' Calls for JusticeThe Neshoba Democrat is reporting that a multi-racial coalition of leader, business owners, newspaper editors and citizens in Neshoba County today issued a long-overdue statement, calling for justice for the murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner. The …
[Irby] Trouble in MindI set foot back in Jackson on Feb. 10, 2004, after a year and a half of moving around. I had traveled to what I considered the most liberal parts of the country, California and New York. I left in …
Black Monday: Mississippi's Ugly Response to 'Brown v. Board' DecisionIt was the late spring 1953, and Gov. Hugh White had called a crucial special session of the Mississippi Legislature. He needed to mobilize a group of moderate lawmakers. If he could get the numbers right, White would ask them …
[Ladd] Thin Line Between Love and HateI was talking to a young woman the other day who is in the family of a Jackson man who toiled and lobbied and prodded and threatened for many years to try to block school de-segregation and then to encourage …
‘Thurgood's Coming:' Tale of a Hero LawyerWhen Thurgood Marshall hung out his shingle in 1933 as an attorney in his hometown of Baltimore, he immediately became a very popular attorney among fellow African Americans. One problem, though: His clients couldn't afford to pay the young man …
JPS, Then and NowThe 1957 Murrah High School yearbook is filled with happy white faces, and names like Hederman, Copeland and Mize. One photo shows the yearbook staffers cutting up and having a good time; one young man's grinning face is painted black. …