Natchez community celebrates Medgar Evers' 100th birthday

The slain civil rights leader was honored by panel discussion and film

By Roscoe Barnes III

Participants in the panel discussion on Medgar Evers included, from left, Dr. Marcus Ward, Dr. Shirley Evers-Manly, Dr. Tracy M. Cook, and Olivia Spann. Dr. Roscoe Barnes III served as moderator.

NATCHEZ, Miss. -- A recent panel discussion on slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers presented him as a family man, a fearless leader in the Civil Rights Movement, and a thriving student at Alcorn State University, where his legacy is recognized to this day.

 
About 70 people attended the event where they heard discussions about Ever’s family, his investigative work on civil rights cases throughout Mississippi, as well his -- and Myrlie Evers’ -- time at Alcorn.
 
Joyce Arceneaux-Mathis, president of Natchez NAACP, said she was excited about the panel discussion, and she praised all of the participants. She said she was also happy to see the turnout for the program.
 
Flora Terrell, co-publisher of The Bluff City Post, said the panel discussion was engaging and thought-provoking. “The Moderator, Dr. Roscoe Barnes III, presented the topics and the well-versed panelists showed enthusiasm and made the audience know just who Medgar Wiley Evers was,” she said. “I left the event feeling uplifted and grateful for all those who fought so hard that we may have the ‘right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’”  
 
The panel discussion was held Tuesday, July 1, at NAPAC Museum. It was one of two programs held in Natchez as a celebration of Medgar Evers’ 100th birthday. The second program, which included a showing of the film, “The Evers” by filmmaker Loki Mulholland, was held on Wednesday, July 2, at Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church.
 
The two-day event was titled, “A Centennial Celebration of the Life and Work of Medgar Wiley Evers (July 2, 1925 – June 12, 1963).” It was presented by the Natchez Branch of the NAACP in collaboration with the Natchez Business and Civic League, NAPAC Museum, and Visit Natchez.
 
Medgar Evers worked as the first NAACP field secretary in Mississippi. He was assassinated on June 12, 1963, at his home, which he shared with his wife, Myrlie, and their children, in Jackson.
 
Ben Tucker, a retired Army veteran, was one of many people who said he enjoyed the panel discussion. “I think it was well organized,” he said. “The moderator did an excellent job, and the presentations were set up really well, which made it possible for all the panelists to get engaged. There were good questions and the panelists answered them by providing information that was of interest to the audience."
 
Tucker said the panelists held everyone’s attention.
 
The panelists included Olivia Spann, supervisory park ranger at the Medgar & Myrlie Evers Home National Monument in Jackson and two Alcorn administrators: Dr. Shirley Evers-Manly, interim dean of the Alcorn State University School of Nursing; and Dr. Marcus Ward, senior vice-president of Institutional Advancement and executive director of the ASU Foundation at Alcorn State University.
 
Dr. Tracy M. Cook, president of Alcorn, also joined the panel. He commented on Medgar Evers’ bravery and sacrifice, describing him as a “remarkable individual.”
 
“As a leader, so often individuals want the title and the money, but not the responsibility,” Cook said. “We’re talking about an individual who took on that responsibility, spending so much time away from his family. … I get security escorts when I go to different places, I have a security detail, but think about an individual traveling up and down that dangerous highway, knowing that every day could be his last day. But he did it for a common goal, for a better way of life and opportunity for his kids.”
 
As moderator of the panel discussion, Barnes, cultural heritage tourism manager at Visit Natchez, presented the panelists with a list of pre-prepared questions on Medgar Evers’ life and legacy. He also invited questions from the audience.
 
Spann talked about Medgar Evers investigative work on several civil rights cases, including the 1955 murders of Emmitt Till and the Rev. George W. Lee. She said he also assisted James Meredith in 1962 in his effort to enroll at the University of Mississippi.
 
Spann mentioned a colorful anecdote about Medgar Evers having his car “souped up” so he could speed out of town when faced with danger.
 
Spann said Medgar Evers was a busy man and always on the road. He even tried to integrate the beaches on the Gulf Coast, she said. People should know that this civil rights leader was a young man with his own family, she said, stressing he was only 36 when he was assassinated.
 
“It’s important to know that he was out doing his work, working the cases, and working with widows and these mothers while his own young wife was at home raising their three children just so he could try and create a better world for them,” Spann said.
 
Ward focused on Medgar and Myrlie Evers’ time as students at Alcorn, which was previously named Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College. In addition to sharing the actual 1951 yearbook that Medgar Evers edited at Alcorn, Ward discussed how he and Myrlie began dating and fell in love.
 
Medgar Evers was a business major, along with his brother, Charles, and they both were very athletic, he said. Ward also outlined the many ways in which the Evers’ legacy is recognized at Alcorn, including the erection of a monument in his honor.
 
Evers-Manly, a cousin of Medgar Evers, spoke about his courage and commitment to the cause of civil rights and human rights, and how he and his brother, Charles, were inspired by their parents to be fearless in the face of danger.
 
The Evers family was one of pride, strength, and compassion, according to Evers-Manly. She noted the children in the family grew up learning about strategies and the struggle for freedom and civil rights. She said the philosophy of fighting for a good cause was instilled in the family.
 
Near the end of the program, Mulholland shared remarks by Zoom about his film, “The Evers.” He asked the audience to remember Medgar Evers’ final words, “Turn me loose.” Medgar shared those words as he was being taken to the hospital after being shot.
 
“In this time that we are in and trials that we are facing, those words seem to resonate with people,” Mulholland said. “I think when those of us who truly believe in the America that Medgar dreamed of and believe in the freedom that he was fighting for, pray that we all have that same spirit and that we say inside of ourselves, ‘Turn me loose’ and ‘Let me get to work.’”