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

Charles Evers's stated:
He encouraged it [an overt armed presence] . The fact that I think
folks knew that there was a possibility if they ( white supremacist
terrorists ] did something to Charles; someone was gonna get hurt.
That was beneficial to the whole effort down there [southwest
Mississippi] .s
Rudy Shields and "Da Spirit"
While Charles Evers received more publicity and notoriety than any
person ofAfrican descent in the state of Mississippi in the mid-1960's to the early
1970's, it could be argued that the mostfeared man in the state during this time
was Rudy Shields . Shields, whose name is almost synonymous with boycott in the
state of Mississippi during this period, was personally involved in over thirty
economic boycotts in various parts of the state from 1965 to 1970.9
RudolphA. Shields was not a Mississippi native. He was born December
12, 1931 in Columbus, Ohio, in a household of eleven children . Between 1950
and 1953, Shields served as a paratrooper in the United States Army. After mili
tary service, Shields resided in Chicago and worked as a mechanic. In Chicago,
Shield joined the NAACP, and in 1965, was recruited by Evers to come to
Belzoni, Mississippi as a boycott organizer.10
Shields was the primary organizer and a participant in the team of enforc-
ers who maintained the discipline of the boycott in the Black community. After
1964, the economic boycott was the primary weapon utilized by Movement
activists and Black communities to achieve the goals of the freedom movement .
Generally, a boycott was initiated after the local NAACP, often with Charles