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

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cases that was the beauty of it . . .In some cases they'd call and say ` we'll have two or three of the brothers at y'alls rally or at y'alls meeting. . .You don't know who they are, because you don't know all the people from the community.'° Since secrecy was essential for the mission of the Deacons, it was important that the organization selectively recruit its member and that its membership did not reveal its secrets . Because the initial group only recruited men they had grown up with and knew their background and character . "Everybody we had, we knew" said James Young . A Deacon recruit had to be sponsored by someone already in the group . Anyone with a history of abusing alcohol or a criminal past was not allowed to join . The Deacons did not want to have members who could be easily compromised by police pressure.°' Before induction into the organization, a member was informed about the seriousness ofjoining the Deacons . The Deacons informed their recruits that revealing organizational secrets could result in death for the informant. At the first meeting of the Natchez Deacons, in late August of 1965, a founding member by the name of "Otis" expressed his seriousness about protecting the integrity of the organization . On that occasion "Otis" stated : Your tongue is the worst weapon against you . . .I mean it from the heart, that I. . . swear before God, may he kill me now if I don't mean it, for something as important as this, I'd burn my brother. I'd blow his damn brains out . . .Before I'd let one guy mess up a whole lot of guys. . . '`2 In an interview, James Stokes also emphasized how serious the Deacons viewed internal security. Stokes stated " . . .if he (a Deacon) leaked anything out, we let it
e known, you better figure on dying." Stokes believed no member of the Dea- cons ever divulged information about the Deacons to local, state, or federal law enforcement . The Deacon's internal security methods were apparently effective and prevented the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, the FBI, local police, and the Klan from receiving an adequate assessment of the size and capability of the Deacons. Also, in order to maintain security, small groups within the membership made all of the plans. Individual members knew their assign- ments, but not the entire security plan . This also prevented information from leaking to the opposition. Unlike the informal defense group which protected Black communities in places like Harmony, McComb, and Greenwood, women and youth were not involved in the Natchez or most other Deacons groups in Mississippi . All mem bers in the Natchez group were male and over Twenty-one years of age." As earlier stated, the proliferation of arms in the Black community in Natchez was a response to the white supremacist reign of terror which heightened in Adams County around 1963 . The Natchez Deacons believed it was important for them to be well armed in order to meet the demands of protecting the Black community and the leadership and workers of the Movement. One unidentified source in the Natchez Deacons revealed the organization possessed "hand gre- nades, machine guns, whatever we needed." According to this source, only one store in Natchez would sell ammunition to the Deacons . If white supremacists knew the Deacons had a limited supply of ammunition, the Deacons defense would be compromised . To counter this the Natchez Deacons received ammunition from outside sources . According to the above unidentified source Fidel
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Eye for an Eye: The Role ofArmed Re
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This is an authorized facsimile, ma
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ABSTRACT Although, the Civil Rights
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Light and Power on their spirits Mo
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Eye for an Eye: The Role ofArmed Re
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Ch
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armed resistance in Black struggle
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Review of the Literature The Litera
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from advocates of armed self-defens
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the Movement. Each of these authors
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whom were committed to and practice
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and enforced against Black humanity
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transcript" of insurgency that has
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Chapter One: Historic Armed Black R
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to Kongolese armies. The use of arm
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people who were antagonistic to the
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nation, and to promise Africans fre
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coons to chattel status. Rather tha
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South legal . The Seminoles prepare
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more than slaves or mercenaries . A
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maroons, calling themselves the "Ki
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Adams county, Mississippi, in 1861
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The same year abolitionist and fugi
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separate Black army with its own "c
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soldiers defended their sisters and
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Southern whites were not willing to
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die where they stood before they wo
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teers throughout Hinds county. Real
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supremacy was not secure without th
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hours . While in each case there we
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of Alabama, to be armed at their me
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initiated gunfire after hearing rum
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apists . In February of 1948, Mrs.
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U .S . Army, was known as a sharpsh
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11 . Kenneth Wiggins Porter, The Ne
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31 . Edwin S. Redkey, AGrand Army o
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North Carolina Press, 19903, 44-45
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in the Age of Jim C,Eow, states tha
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S 1,614 for whites . Close to two-t
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ers his father would not allow him
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ist mob continued their intimidatio
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unit designed after the Mau Mau of
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the 1954 U .S . Supreme Court decis
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he refused to persuade the thirty r
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Meredith to "Ole Miss." Because of
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eturned home around midnight . Myrl
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11 . C.O . Chinn, interview by the
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crime . He was abducted by a mob of
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Chapter Three: The Non-Violent Move
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as the popular leader of this new o
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ments for protest based on moral an
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ticed some form of self-defense cov
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and NAACP organizer. Moore had assi
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On Moore's recommendation, Moses fi
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house, under pillows, under chairs
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lacks to challenge Amite's white po
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including Medgar Evers and Roy Wilk
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practice of self-defense . To warn
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Mississippi officials, charging the
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Anyone participating in the march h
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and harassed, local police did not
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Blacks alike were amazed that the g
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ase for SNCCICOFO and the Mississip
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with its own identity in the state
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military soured after Chinn openly
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Besides this group of protective gu
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for younger activists to challenge
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9, 1984, 1-B- 10B ; Chuck McDew int
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47 . Ibid, 178-179 ; Dennis, interv
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demonstrate that disenfranchised Mi
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franchised Black voters, the organi
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themselves and advising SNCC activi
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massacre as implied by Hall . Other
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to be a force in the Southern movem
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CORE also was engaged in debate con
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Schwerner, and one Freedom Summer v
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Goodman . Another element of this c
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Black history, Movement politics, a
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Harmony school and bused Harmony's
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economic arena was also displayed i
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on, in Brown's words, the "organiza
Page 163 and 164: There was a fine line . There was a
Page 165 and 166: (formerly known as Stokley Carmicha
Page 167 and 168: Union Baptist Church, led by its pa
Page 169 and 170: terrorist violence was initiated by
Page 171 and 172: Reeves family had a history of bein
Page 173 and 174: and Movement activists of McComb .
Page 175 and 176: friend by pretending he was only pa
Page 177 and 178: and cohesiveness of each community.
Page 179 and 180: lenge the credentials of the segreg
Page 181 and 182: 5 . Hollis Watkins, interviewed in
Page 183 and 184: 28 . Dovie Hudson, interviewed in B
Page 185 and 186: 56 . Bob Moses, interview by the au
Page 187 and 188: turn followed a different posture t
Page 189 and 190: cials were uneasy about Charles bec
Page 191 and 192: Cooper stated " We had 30.06. We ha
Page 193 and 194: Charles Evers's stated: He encourag
Page 195 and 196: the boycott. Arange of coercive tac
Page 197 and 198: thereby silenced and neutralized by
Page 199 and 200: crushed when a police car led a Kla
Page 201 and 202: Robert Williams . Thomas had read a
Page 203 and 204: of the Deacons in Bogulusa. The lea
Page 205 and 206: McKeithen also called for negotiati
Page 207 and 208: settlers . Natchez was the hub for
Page 209 and 210: would spark an acceleration of acti
Page 211 and 212: Even though the police officers wer
Page 213: U.S . Constitution [including the S
Page 217 and 218: situation that day: These pecker wo
Page 219 and 220: of the Deacons capabilities, provid
Page 221 and 222: unless City government acted favora
Page 223 and 224: Black community to enforce its deci
Page 225 and 226: claiming victory , announcing the m
Page 227 and 228: teams to enforce the boyott1 In Cla
Page 229 and 230: argument between Shields, and a whi
Page 231 and 232: Jackson also led to near uprising b
Page 233 and 234: implementing the Natchez model, Rud
Page 235 and 236: Okolona, Tupelo, and Byhalia. The U
Page 237 and 238: 18 . Porter, Interview with Deacon
Page 239 and 240: 44 . Ibid ; Young, interview by aut
Page 241 and 242: 73 . Ibid. 74 . James Scott, interv
Page 243 and 244: CONCLUSION ". . ..the armed liberat
Page 245 and 246: existence of armed resistance in th
Page 247 and 248: Some may argue that the evidence pr
Page 249 and 250: ofthe Movement and doesn't apprecia
Page 251 and 252: it was necessary for the Black comm
Page 253 and 254: the white power structure but also
Page 255 and 256: Significance of "Eye forAn Eye" It
Page 257 and 258: 4 . Comel West, Progb= Deliverance
Page 259 and 260: Herman Leach, July 30,1994, Yazoo C
Page 261 and 262: Correspondence Letter from Sundiata
Page 263 and 264: Carson, Clayborne, et al. The Eyes
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Jordan, Winthrop, Tumult and Silenc
Page 267 and 268:
Payne, Charles, 1've Got the Light
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DissertationslTheses Barksdale, Mar
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