Eye for an Eye: The Role of Armed Resistance ... - Freedom Archives

local activist broke the vow of nonviolence, by defending herself after being
shoved by a police officer's nightstick . Laura McGhee had to be restrained by
entertainer and activist Dick Gregory, after she wrestled the nightstick from the
police officer.
Like the Greene family, Mrs. McGhee and her family were in the center of
the Leflore County freedom movement . McGhee, a widow and small farmer, was
one of the first local Leflore County residents to support the SNCC/COFO voter
registration campaign . McGhee's land was used for voter registration classes,
meetings, and rallies . Her three sons, Silas, Jake, and Clarence, were militant
supporters of voter rights and desegregation . The McGGhes were known to "take
no shit ; they gave shit out." Mrs. McGhee was a clear example that the Black
armed resistance tradition was not solely a male phenomena. To protect herself
from nightriders, Mrs. McGhee would sleep in the day and from her porch protect
her life and property at night armed with a Winchester rifle sa
While segregationist Greenwood police violated the Black community's
right to peacefully demonstrate it is interesting that, unlike other Southern towns
and cities, white civilians did not attack human rights demonstrations that oc
curred in the Spring of 1963 . Hollis Watkins analyzed that once "the word got
out" that there were armed Black bystanders at marches and demonstrations, it
served to prevent violence by civilians . Due to the presence of armed Blacks,
Watkins stated the police had to "worry about making sure these crazy white folks
don't come and attempt to do nothing `cause some of them could be killed in the
process . .." To prevent the loss of white life and the escalation of violence, local
law enforcement discouraged white terrorism . When SNCC workers were shot at
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