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

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under his pillow."" Probably the most dangerous trip taken by Evers and Hurley was to the Mississippi Delta county of Tallahatchie in 1955 to investigate the lynching of fourteen year old Emment Till. Till's body was found in the Tallahatchie River, three days after being apprehended from his uncle's home by two white men, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam . Bryant and Milam kidnapped Till for the purpose of punishing the young Black male for allegedly whistling at Bryant's sister. After the body was found, Evers, Hurley, and Cleveland, Mississippi, NAACP activist Amzie Moore left for the Delta to investigate . The three activists disguised themselves as sharecroppers, all wearing overalls and "beat up shoes," with Hurley wearing a red bandanna. Moore borrowed a car with registration and license plates from a Delta town . Armed security was organized to protect the three activists . Describing the security, Hurley stated "(P)rotection was there for me all the way. . .There were men around with shotguns standing in various spots to be sure that I got where I was going and back ." 16 Evers would play a significant role in making the Eminent Till case known internationally . He believed publicizing Mississippi's crimes against people of African descent was necessary to win support outside the state, and was critical to pressuring the white power structure to eliminate segregation . Medgar would investigate and publicize many other offenses against Mississippi Blacks, including the 1959 lynching of Mack Parker in the small Mississippi town of Poplarville .'-' He also played a leading role in assisting individuals and communi- ties of color to take legal action to gain access to educational institutions which had been designated "white only," including the successful effort to admit James
Meredith to "Ole Miss." Because of his visible profile, Evers would not only need security on the road, but would need protection while at his home in Jackson. A security network was formed in the state capital to protect Evers and local NAACP leaders, includ ing Sam Bailey and Robert T. Smith . Medgar was generally assigned three to four men to watch his home and to travel with him . Bailey, who had been active in the Jackson NAACP since the early 1940's, described the home protection . Information came that there was the possibility of attack, security was organized guard the homes of targeted individuals during the evenings . According to Bailey, in order to conceal themselves, the "nightriders" raided during the evenings "cause they wasn't coming in the daytime ." The armed security team would sit in cars across the street from the home they were protecting while others sat on the porch of the house . The armed watch would look particularly for "stray cars coming ." Generally this would deter the invading terrorists who noticed the presence of the guard . Over thirty years later Bailey reminisced "(T)hat white man he wasn't gonna get no blood if he can help it, cause they know we would shoot ." Special armed body guards were also organized to protect special guests and NAACP leaders like Dr. Gloster Current, NAACP President; Roy Wilkins, NAACP chairman ; Attorney Thurgood Marshall ; and entertainer and friend of the Movement Lena Home .' In addition to assistance from local NAACP members and supporters, Evers was also prepared to defend his family and his home from violent racists . He owned several guns and was often on alert at home . John Salter, a young NAACP activist in the early 1960's, remembers coming to the Evers home in
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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
Page 37 and 38: South legal . The Seminoles prepare
Page 39 and 40: more than slaves or mercenaries . A
Page 41 and 42: maroons, calling themselves the "Ki
Page 43 and 44: Adams county, Mississippi, in 1861
Page 45 and 46: The same year abolitionist and fugi
Page 47 and 48: separate Black army with its own "c
Page 49 and 50: soldiers defended their sisters and
Page 51 and 52: Southern whites were not willing to
Page 53 and 54: die where they stood before they wo
Page 55 and 56: teers throughout Hinds county. Real
Page 57 and 58: supremacy was not secure without th
Page 59 and 60: hours . While in each case there we
Page 61 and 62: of Alabama, to be armed at their me
Page 63 and 64: initiated gunfire after hearing rum
Page 65 and 66: apists . In February of 1948, Mrs.
Page 67 and 68: U .S . Army, was known as a sharpsh
Page 69 and 70: 11 . Kenneth Wiggins Porter, The Ne
Page 71 and 72: 31 . Edwin S. Redkey, AGrand Army o
Page 73 and 74: North Carolina Press, 19903, 44-45
Page 75 and 76: in the Age of Jim C,Eow, states tha
Page 77 and 78: S 1,614 for whites . Close to two-t
Page 79 and 80: ers his father would not allow him
Page 81 and 82: ist mob continued their intimidatio
Page 83 and 84: unit designed after the Mau Mau of
Page 85 and 86: the 1954 U .S . Supreme Court decis
Page 87: he refused to persuade the thirty r
Page 91 and 92: eturned home around midnight . Myrl
Page 93 and 94: 11 . C.O . Chinn, interview by the
Page 95 and 96: crime . He was abducted by a mob of
Page 97 and 98: Chapter Three: The Non-Violent Move
Page 99 and 100: as the popular leader of this new o
Page 101 and 102: ments for protest based on moral an
Page 103 and 104: ticed some form of self-defense cov
Page 105 and 106: and NAACP organizer. Moore had assi
Page 107 and 108: On Moore's recommendation, Moses fi
Page 109 and 110: house, under pillows, under chairs
Page 111 and 112: lacks to challenge Amite's white po
Page 113 and 114: including Medgar Evers and Roy Wilk
Page 115 and 116: practice of self-defense . To warn
Page 117 and 118: Mississippi officials, charging the
Page 119 and 120: Anyone participating in the march h
Page 121 and 122: and harassed, local police did not
Page 123 and 124: Blacks alike were amazed that the g
Page 125 and 126: ase for SNCCICOFO and the Mississip
Page 127 and 128: with its own identity in the state
Page 129 and 130: military soured after Chinn openly
Page 131 and 132: Besides this group of protective gu
Page 133 and 134: for younger activists to challenge
Page 135 and 136: 9, 1984, 1-B- 10B ; Chuck McDew int
Page 137 and 138: 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
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There was a fine line . There was a
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(formerly known as Stokley Carmicha
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Union Baptist Church, led by its pa
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terrorist violence was initiated by
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Reeves family had a history of bein
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and Movement activists of McComb .
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friend by pretending he was only pa
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and cohesiveness of each community.
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lenge the credentials of the segreg
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5 . Hollis Watkins, interviewed in
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28 . Dovie Hudson, interviewed in B
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56 . Bob Moses, interview by the au
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turn followed a different posture t
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cials were uneasy about Charles bec
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Cooper stated " We had 30.06. We ha
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Charles Evers's stated: He encourag
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the boycott. Arange of coercive tac
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thereby silenced and neutralized by
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crushed when a police car led a Kla
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Robert Williams . Thomas had read a
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of the Deacons in Bogulusa. The lea
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McKeithen also called for negotiati
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settlers . Natchez was the hub for
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would spark an acceleration of acti
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Even though the police officers wer
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U.S . Constitution [including the S
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e known, you better figure on dying
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situation that day: These pecker wo
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of the Deacons capabilities, provid
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unless City government acted favora
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Black community to enforce its deci
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claiming victory , announcing the m
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teams to enforce the boyott1 In Cla
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argument between Shields, and a whi
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Jackson also led to near uprising b
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implementing the Natchez model, Rud
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Okolona, Tupelo, and Byhalia. The U
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18 . Porter, Interview with Deacon
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44 . Ibid ; Young, interview by aut
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73 . Ibid. 74 . James Scott, interv
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CONCLUSION ". . ..the armed liberat
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existence of armed resistance in th
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Some may argue that the evidence pr
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ofthe Movement and doesn't apprecia
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it was necessary for the Black comm
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the white power structure but also
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Significance of "Eye forAn Eye" It
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4 . Comel West, Progb= Deliverance
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Herman Leach, July 30,1994, Yazoo C
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Correspondence Letter from Sundiata
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Carson, Clayborne, et al. The Eyes
Page 265 and 266:
Jordan, Winthrop, Tumult and Silenc
Page 267 and 268:
Payne, Charles, 1've Got the Light
Page 269 and 270:
DissertationslTheses Barksdale, Mar
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