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

activist in his own right . '6 This job that prepared Medgar for some of his most
important political work . Evers became a door-to-door insurance agent throughout
the Delta . This work would prepare Evers for the grassroots organizing he was to
do in building NAACP chapters throughout the state . Just as important in terms of
preparing him fir his tasks was his observations of Black life in the Delta. The
conditions which Blacks lived in the Delta, the poverty, hunger, hopelessness and
squalor, horrified Evers . Months after taking the insurance job, Evers began to
blend selling insurance with recruiting members and organizing chapters for the
NAACP
Being a NAACP member in post-World War II Mississippi was a hazard-
ous venture . While the NAACP was the main human rights organization in the
state, prior to World War II , it operated in a virtually clandestine way, in most
places in the state . Those who were economically dependent on whites could not
represent or be associated with the NAACP without fearing reprisal . After World
War II, a new militancy and optimism invigorated new life into the organization .
Not only were more chapters formed, but with independent farmers, profession-
als, entrepreneurs and World War II veteranstaking the lead, the organization
began to function more openly and began to coordinate statewide efforts for
voting rights and desegregation . This is the environment in which Evers began to
be more active in the organization.
During Evers' years in Mound Bayou, he began to follow African inde-
pendence movements, particularly the nationalist struggle in Kenya . In these days
Evers, unlike other NAACP or Mississippi activists, saw the necessity of an
offensive armed struggle . He dreamed of forming a clandestine Black commando