Charles and Medgar Evers
In most cases when we think of someone who is deemed adventurous, courageous. great and charitable, we usually
look to that someone and label that person the founding father or mother of what have you. However, when we look
to Mississippi and black people’s struggle for freedom in that state, there are two black blood brothers who are at the
very forefront: Charles and Medgar Evers. Medgar was murdered back in 1963 while fighting for freedom and dignity
for black people there.
Medgar and Charles decided early in their childhood that they were not going to allow fear to be instilled into them;
which they knew would only be put there for the purpose of controlling them by certain vicious white people. The
attempts that were made to inject fear into these two strong brothers only served as a spark to ignite that inferno of
black strength and determination in each man. This was a process of development of Charles and Medgar Evers.
This truly made them the men they wanted to be. They proved as Fannie Lou Hamer did, that sometimes the way to
bring out the best in a person is to unjustly force upon them the ugliest of the ugly.
At the time Medgar was killed, Charles was residing in the north. He then returned to Mississippi to pick up where
Medgar left off and continued to fight for the freedom of black people in Mississippi. He also became a successful
businessman; a powerful official in the NAACP, and Mayor of Fayette, Mississippi.
Mississippi and Black America, by and large, should be proud of these two black brothers for their contributions to the
black freedom struggle in Mississippi.
See Medgar Evers monument statue in downtown Jackson, Miss. near the State Capitol.
Suggested Reading:
For us, the living by Mrs. Medgar Evers