A Hero of the Civil Rights Movement

He served as spokesman for Natchez Deacons for Defense and Justice
 
By Roscoe Barnes III
Special to The Natchez Democrat

(Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023, pages 1A, 6A)

James Lee Stokes (1928 to 2023) was an Army veteran, a businessman, deacon, minister, and spokesman for the Natchez Deacons for Defense and Justice during the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Photos courtesy of Courtny Smith, Stokes’ granddaughter

NATCHEZ, Miss. -- The Rev. James Lee Stokes will be remembered for his  leadership and the sacrifices he made in the struggle for freedom and justice during the civil rights movement of the 1960s, according to the people who knew him.
 
He will also be remembered as an armed protector of the Black community and the much-quoted spokesman for the Natchez Deacons for Defense and Justice. The Deacons were a paramilitary organization that provided armed protection for civil rights workers and the Black community.
 
"James Stokes done gone, but his human rights work lives on," said his longtime friend, Ser Seshsh Ab Heter-Clifford M. Boxley. He described Stokes as a "Natchez Mississippi modern civil rights movement hero." 
 
Stokes died on Thursday, Sept. 21, at the age of 95. His funeral was held Tuesday, Oct. 2, at Zion Hill Baptist Church #1.
 
Stokes was born in 1928 to parents who were share-croppers on a plantation near Natchez. He served in the U.S. Army and later graduated from Natchez College, according to his obituary. In addition to working for many years as a car salesman, he served as an active member of the NAACP. During the civil rights movement, he reportedly ran a gas station. He also became a deacon and associate minister at Zion Hill.
 
Courtny Smith, granddaughter of Stokes, said he was "a very loving and caring person that loved all of his family dearly." As he grew older, he became more of a comedian, she said, noting he always had a good story to tell. 
 
"He was a man of God," Smith said. "He wanted everyone to know the word of God and to hear about how good God has been to him and how much of a blessing it is to be here at 95."
 
Smith said her grandfather will be remembered by all the things he has done in this community as a minister, NAACP activist, and as a veteran. "He will forever be remembered and missed daily," she said.
 
Pillar in the community
 
William Terrell,  publisher of The Bluff City Post, said Stokes was a great friend, a family man, and a fearless leader in the civil rights movement.
 
"I have known Mr. James Stokes for most of my life," Terrell said. "He was a friend of my late sisters and brothers-in-law. They traveled in the same circles during those early days, and I had a chance to also develop a relationship with him. 
 
"Mr. Stokes was a bold advocate for civil rights, and he was not afraid to speak out about the injustices that were so prevalent during those times. His journey led him to become a member of the Deacons for Defense. In addition, he was also a minister who voiced his concerns for justice."
 
Terrell said Stokes would often come by the Bluff City Post just to talk and make his views known. "We have lost a trailblazer, one who taught us that determination is better than fear," Terrell said.
 
According to Bobby Dennis, director of the Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture, Stokes was a man with a good reputation and a strong community leader. "He was one of our community's less talked-about leaders during the civil  Rights Era as well as a pillar of the Woodlawn District," Dennis said.

James Lee Stokes

Denise Jackson Ford, daughter of slain Natchez civil rights leader, Wharlest Jackson Sr., described Stokes as a "gentle giant" who was involved in the safety of many Blacks who fought for the rights to vote. 

 
"He didn’t mind speaking his voice or standing up for others," Ford said. "Reverend Stokes will be truly missed. There was already a void due to his absence from his church and community."
 
Recognized by scholars
 
As the official spokesperson for the Natchez Deacons, Stokes was often quoted and featured in articles and books about Mississippi history.
 
Dr. Lance Hill featured him in his book, "The Deacons for Defense: Armed Resistance and the Civil Rights Movement" (UNC Press, 2004).
 
"Stokes was a natural choice as a spokesperson for the Deacons," Hill wrote. "A well-spoken, articulate man with a flair for the dramatic, he had honed his leadership abilities as a church deacon and choir director and union steward, and he had traveled extensively around the world in the army's entertainment unit from 1953 to 1955."
 
Hill noted that in 1965, the same year the Natchez Deacons officially organized, Stokes established a chapter of the Deacons in Woodville. This chapter, Hill wrote, went on to recruit about 40 members from Woodville, Centreville, and rural areas in Wilkinson County.
 
Stokes also appears in Richard Grant's book, "The Deepest South of All: True Stories from Natchez, Mississippi" (Simon & Schuster, 2020).
 
When Natchez teetered on the brink of a race war following the bombing of George Metcalfe's car by the Ku Klux Klan in August 1965, Stokes found himself in "the thick of things," wrote Grant. He said that Stokes was "trying to stop white motorists from getting hurt and trying to keep the white police from attacking the rioters."
 
The civil rights movement in Natchez became the most successful movement in Mississippi, and the Deacons played a significant role in that success, according to historians.
 
Years after the movement, people in the black community held "vivid and powerful" memories of the civil rights era, including the contributions of the Deacons, noted Grant. "James Stokes, and the other surviving Deacons, were often approached in public and thanked for their courage and achievements," he wrote.
 
When Grant learned of Stokes' passing, he shared these words: "It was my honor to meet him. May he now rest in peace."
 
Stanley Nelson, author of "Devils Walking: Klan Murders Along the Mississippi River in the 1960s" (LSU Press, 2016), commented on Stokes' work as a Natchez Deacon. He explained that Stokes and the other Deacons were committed and ready to do what was necessary for their cause.
 
"Men like James Stokes through their work with the Deacons provided protection and support to many communities by making sure marchers, activists and ordinary citizens were protected from harm in the quest for equal rights," Nelson said. "The Deacons’ mission was to protect and not to attack, but if the Klan wanted a fight, Deacons like Mr. Stokes were always ready to battle."