British writer and photographer Johny Pitts whose father is African-American discovers the city of Jackson in Mississippi, a major step on the road to civil rights in the South of the United States.
When visiting Jackson, Mississippi, one of the first things you’ll learn about this city is its pride in its unique role in the civil rights movement. “The strength of a place is something real,” says Robert Luckett, professor of history at Jackson State University.
Jackson played a key role in the 1961 Freedom Rides in which reckless protesters challenged interstate bus segregation. These “Freedom Travelers” risked their lives on Greyhound buses from the American South, 329 of them eventually being stopped in Jackson.
“The atmosphere of Mississippi and Jackson is steeped in this history,” points out Robert Luckett. “It was about empowering grassroots people first to make a fundamental difference and you can learn all of that here in Jackson,” he points out.
Jackson and his civil rights heroes
On the part of the civil rights road As for Jackson, you can learn about the history of the movement in the city, including the home of key leader of this fight, Medgar Evers.
The man is famous for his fight against the “Jim Crow laws” which repressed African Americans in the South, for his fight for desegregation in education and for his exposure of the brutal murder of teenager Emmett Till . A commitment that cost him his life. Medgar Evers was shot outside his home in 1963 by a white segregationist.
“He had the gift of being able to bring everyone together around a table to work on this mission which was to obtain truth, justice and fairness for all,” noted Keena GrahamSuperintendent of House of Medgar and Myrlie Evers National Monument.
“We don’t want people to think only about his death, we want to celebrate his life, to feel that and be inspired to take action,” she insists.
Jackson’s Civil Rights Legacy
Although the civil rights movement is intimately linked to places like the city of Jackson nicknamed City With Soulit is also part of the national history of the United States while being emblematic of struggles for equality around the world.
The Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and the Mississippi History Museumlocated in the same place (Two Museums), tell this specific story, but one of international interest.
“The driving force, not only of the civil rights movement, but also of the legacy of these museums, is to shine a light on these ordinary people who were able to engage in this fight for justice and I believe that is something everyone can take away from this visit,” says Michael Morris, director of public engagement at Mississippi Department of Archives and History.
“The movement that unfolded in Mississippi changed not just this state, or the nation, but the world,” he points out.