2026 MLK parade will honor Natchez Deacons for Defense

Jackie Posey to serve as grand marshal

By Roscoe Barnes III
Natchez, MS, USA / ListenUpYall.com
December 4, 2025 | 2:35 PM

(Click on image to enlarge.)

NATCHEZ, Miss. -- The 2026 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parade will honor the Natchez Deacons for Defense and Justice, with community leader Jackie Posey serving as grand marshal, announced Parade Chairperson Jacqueline Marsaw.

The parade, which is sponsored by the Natchez Branch of the NAACP, starts at 3 p.m. Monday, January 19. Participants will line up at 2 p.m. on Broadway Street on the Bluff.
 
The theme for the parade is, “The Fierce Urgency of Now,” a phrase taken from a speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It appears in this excerpt: “We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there ‘is’ such a thing as being too late. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action.”
 
The grand marshal was selected because of her leadership and commitment in helping people throughout the community, said Marsaw.
 
She noted that when Posey is not working her regular job, she serves the Natchez community as the director of the Black Mustard Seed Community Service Group. Through the group’s Southwest Diaper Bank of the Miss-Lou, she and other volunteers help single mothers and others in need by donating pampers and milk, said Marsaw.
 
Posey said she is grateful to Marsaw for the recognition. “It’s a surprise and an honor,” she said. “I feel very privileged to do this.”
 
Posey is an administrative assistant at the Adams County Sheriff Office. She also directs the Adams County Sheriff Office Junior Cadet Program through which she works with students ages 10 to 18. In addition to providing them with training, she guides them in community service projects, including the “Stop Gun Violence” program presented recently by Grieving Mothers & Fathers, Positive Impact, and the Natchez NAACP.
 
In regard to the Natchez Deacons, Marsaw said it is fitting to honor them in the parade because of their courage and their contribution to the Civil Rights Movement in Natchez. The Deacons provided armed protection for the Black community and civil rights workers against the violence of the Ku Klux Klan.
 
“Their history is very interesting and inspiring,” said Marsaw. “When I was in school, I didn’t know this history. But they were there for our community when it counted.”
 
Marsaw said she interviewed some of the Deacons in 2016 and 2017 for a book project led by Judge Mary Lee Toles and the NAACP. However, Toles died in 2017, and as a result, the book was never published. Still, Marsaw noted, what she and other NAACP members learned was impactful and will not be forgotten.
 
“The Deacons told us that they didn’t hide from the KKK. They got on roof tops and watched the Klan. Sometimes they stayed up all night, taking turns watching the Klan,” she said, adding, 2026 is a good time to honor them.
 
The parade route will start at North Broadway and Franklin streets and will travel along Franklin to N. Dr. M.L. King St., where it will turn left and proceed up to Minor and Spring streets, where it will end.
 
Anyone interested in participating in the parade must register by January 15. Entry fees include $50 “for unlimited entries.” The fee is $10 for a single car or truck and $5 for a single horse. No four-wheelers allowed.
 
First- through Fifth-place awards will be presented for the best floats.
 
For more information, call 601-443-1350.

See more at this link: https://listenupyall.com/2025/12/04/2026-mlk-parade-will-honor-natchez-deacons-for-defense/

 

 

Wreaths Across America ceremony set for December 13

By Roscoe Barnes III
Natchez, MS, USA / ListenUpYall.com
December 4, 2025 | 10:46 AM
 

As participants in the Wreaths Across America program, Home with Heroes volunteers placed wreaths on the graves of more than 700 U.S. military veterans in December 2024 at the Natchez National Cemetery.

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Home with Heroes will host the annual Wreaths Across America ceremony at 11 a.m. Saturday, December 13, at the Natchez National Cemetery. The annual event is part of a nation-wide program in which millions of people pay tribute to U.S. military veterans by placing wreaths on their graves.

Saturday’s program is free and open to the public.

“As a veteran and the widow of a veteran, Wreaths Across America is more than just a patriotic act—it’s a deeply personal way to honor the veterans who have passed,” said retired Army Major Gabi Crousillac. She is the vice president of Home with Heroes and chair of the Mayor’s Veterans Task Force.

Retired Army First Sergeant Ben Tucker participates each year in the Wreaths Across America program. For him, it is more than a tradition.

“I do it because I am a soldier, a retired soldier,” he said. “I understand the contributions the soldiers have made to this country and the future we all share. It’s more than worth the sacrifice.”

Tucker is a board member of Home with Heroes, and he also serves on the Mayor’s Veterans Task Force. He is the first vice commander of the VFW Post 9573.

Crousillac said the day’s ceremony will be held on the old side of the Natchez National Cemetery at the Committal Service Shelter. It will open with a prayer by Vietnam-era Army veteran Doug McAlister and the welcome by Mayor Dan Gibson.

Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Herman Curry, Jr. will serve as the guest speaker. Curry is the instructor of the Natchez High School’s AFJROTC program. The ceremony will include a presentation of wreaths by Boy Scout Troop 158.

Crousillac said members of the local Dirt Broke motorcycle group, many of whom are veterans, will also attend the ceremony. “Taps” will be performed by McAlister, who is president of the Point Man International Ministries of the Miss-Lou.

Crousillac will serve as the Mistress of Ceremonies.

Following the ceremony, over 200 wreaths will be laid on the graves of the veterans.

This year, Crousillac will place a wreath on the grave of her husband, Brad Cromie, who died in 2024. He served in the Marine Corps. She said the volunteers will also be sure to lay a wreath on the grave of G. Mark LaFrancis, the founder and former president of Home with Heroes — and energetic promoter of the Wreaths Across America program. LaFrancis passed in June 2024 following a long battle with cancer.

Speaking last year, retired Army Lt. Col. Larry Smith, former president of Home with Heroes, praised LaFrancis for his contributions to the Natchez community. “Mark lived his life with purpose, providing support to local veterans and their families, as well as to the broader community, through his writing and his filmmaking, he said. “His example has been an inspiration to us all.”

LaFrancis was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. His wife, Eileen Mary Maher, died in August. Her name appears on the opposite side of LaFrancis’ headstone.

See more at this link: https://listenupyall.com/2025/12/04/wreaths-across-america-ceremony-set-for-december-13/

New details reveal exact location of George Metcalfe’s 1965 car bombing in Natchez

Top of the Morning column published in The Natchez Democrat (Sunday, November 30, 2025, page 4A)

(Click on image to enlarge.)

Top of the Morning

 

New details reveal exact location of George Metcalfe’s 1965 car bombing in Natchez 

 

By Roscoe Barnes III

Ever since I learned of George Metcalfe's attempted assassination in 1965 at the Armstrong Tire & Rubber Company, I have wondered about the location of his car. Where exactly was it parked when it was bombed?
 
It is often reported that it was “in” the parking lot of the Armstrong plant. One source notes it was “parked on an adjacent street” and another states it was “parked just outside the plant.”
 
Now, thanks to two eyewitnesses, I know where this horrific incident occurred.
 
Metcalfe's car, a 1955 Chevrolet sedan, was parked in the area that is now a triangle between Kelly Avenue, Brenham Avenue, and South Concord Avenue, across from the Old South Winery. The site is on the west side of the plant -- outside the company fence.
 
I learned of this location in October 2025 during an interview with Frances Bailey and Paul Bacon, both of whom were teenagers in 1965.
 
As many of us know, Metcalfe was the president of the Natchez NAACP. He was targeted by the Klan because of his activism and the fact that he led a voter registration drive that added over 8,000 Black residents to the local rolls.
 
On August 27, 1965, he completed his shift at Armstrong and walked to his car. He turned the ignition and a bomb, planted inside the car by the Klan, exploded. Metcalfe survived with severe injuries. Unfortunately, no one was ever charged with the crime.
 
Historians believe the bombing became a turning point in the local Civil Rights Movement. It galvanized the Black community, prompting them to rise up in protests. They organized rallies and boycotted white-owned businesses. Their work led to one of the most successful civil rights campaigns in Mississippi.
 
According to Bacon, Metcalfe’s car was parked outside the company fence on South Concord, facing west. This location – and position of the car – aligns with an old black-and-white photo of the mangled vehicle. In the background of the photo, a house on South Concord sits atop a ridge above the car.
 
Bailey said the site at the time was not a triangle: it was simply a grassy area where Metcalfe and others parked. She recalled that she, her brother, and other teenagers were outside her home on Brenham when they saw Metcalfe enter his car. After the explosion, they ran to the car and saw a bloody sight that she will never forget. She said Metcalfe was conscious and asking for help. Bacon, who was 17, was walking nearby when he heard the explosion. He said he ran to the scene, and like Bailey, he saw Metcalfe asking for help.
 
Now that we know more about the location of this tragedy, we can mark this site and use it to pay tribute to the man who risked his life in the struggle for civil rights.
 
I have two suggestions. First, we must preserve the testimonies of the eyewitnesses by doing an oral history. Such a project can be funded by a grant from the Mississippi Humanities Council or the America250 grant program. Second, we can acquire a historical marker through the Mississippi Department of Archives and History or purchase one from a business like the Natchez Monument Company.
 
Because there is currently no sign or marker near the plant that tells the story of Metcalfe, now is an ideal time to implement these suggestions or find other tangible ways to honor his legacy.
 
---------------
 
ROSCOE BARNES III, Ph.D., is the cultural heritage tourism manager at Visit Natchez.

HISTORY LESSON: Rosenwald, Washington honored with historical marker

A new historical marker in Natchez honors Julius Rosenwald and Booker T. Washington for funding Black schools in Adams County, highlighting their lasting impact on education and community progress.

By Roscoe Barnes III
The Natchez Democrat
Sunday, November 23, 2025

A marker honoring Julius Rosenwald and Booker T. Washington for their support of Black schools in Adams County and the American South was recently unveiled in a special ceremony. The marker is posted in front of the administrative office of the Natchez-Adams County School District on Homochitto Street. Pictured from left are Dr. Cecile Dianne Bunch, Dr. Brenda Robison, Tony Fields, LLJuna Grennell Weir, Superintendent Zandra McDonald, Phillip West, Bobby Dennis, and Mayor Dan Gibson. Photo by Albert L. Jones (Click on image to enlarge.)

NATCHEZ – Officials of the Natchez-Adams County School District unveiled a historical marker Thursday, November 20, that pays tribute to Julius Rosenwald (1862-1932), who funded five Black schools in Adams County in 1921. Rosenwald was a wealthy businessman, philanthropist, and owner of Sears, Roebuck and Company.

His relationship with Booker T. Washington (1856-1915), founder of Tuskegee Institute, which is now Tuskegee University, led to the creation of the Rosenwald Fund in 1917 that provided financial support for African American schools in the South.

Bobby Dennis, the director of the Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture, said the marker unveiled in Natchez honors “the significant educational legacy of the Rosenwald Schools of Adams County.”

The marker is posted in front of the administrative office of the school district at 10 Homochitto Street.

“This marker is in front of the school district office to recognize the fact that Rosenwald Schools were located in each of the five county districts,” said Dennis before the unveiling ceremony. He noted Fitts School, Kingston School, Milford School, Pine Mount School, and Roseland School, were all funded by Rosenwald. 

“It is important for us to include the educational progression of the county as well as the city,” Dennis said. “Education is still our most important asset for preserving the forward movement of the city, and our youths are the future.”

A close-up of the new marker. (Click on image to enlarge.)

Dennis said Philip West, vice president of the district’s school board, was one of his biggest motivators in getting the Rosenwald story out correctly “because of the way he helped pioneer the building of the new Natchez High School.”

Dennis conducted the research for the new marker and organized the unveiling ceremony that was hosted by the school district. He said the marker was sponsored by Jerry Klinger of the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation, in partnership with the museum and Regions Bank.

Superintendent Zandra McDonald attended the ceremony along with board members and several officials of the school district.

“It’s inspiring to see the intersection of our history and our present moment,” said McDonald. “We honor and celebrate the contributions of those who laid the foundation for formal education in the Natchez-Adams School District. We also celebrate the forward-thinking vision of our Natchez-Adams School District Board of Trustees, who continue to reimagine what education can and should be for the students of Natchez and Adams County.”

McDonald offered thanks to the founders and current leadership of the Natchez-Adams educational system. “And most importantly, we acknowledge that progress is a collective effort,” she said. “It takes all of us—educators, families, community members, and partners—to ensure that the Natchez-Adams School District continues to grow, continues to evolve, and continues to keep its focus on preparing our students for success in a dynamic and ever-changing world.”

Mayor Dan Gibson also participated in the day’s ceremony. Speaking on Friday, he said, “The story of Mr. Rosenwald and his passion for education is truly inspiring. It speaks to our time today. Without a doubt, education and exceptional opportunities are the answer for all of our citizens. I am grateful to Bobby Dennis and NAPAC for bringing this little-known story to light. May it inspire us as a people to do all we can to see that our children have every advantage they can be afforded.”

Dennis said it is important to acknowledge the contributions of both Rosenwald and Washington. Together, they built nearly 5,000 schools across the South, he said, adding many of these schools were isolated and existed in rural communities “where educational opportunity had been intentionally denied for generations.”

The Rosenwald Schools marker was designed and manufactured by Lake Shore Industries of Erie, Pennsylvania.

See more at this link: https://www.natchezdemocrat.com/news/rosenwald-washington-honored-with-historical-marker-12585e43
 
 

Mississippi Historical Society

The board of directors of the Mississippi Historical Society met on November 14 at the Two Mississippi Museums. Don't miss the annual meeting in Meridian on March 5-6, 2026. More soon! (Click on image to enlarge.)
 

Proud to serve

Many thanks to Jan Griffey and The Natchez Democrat.

I was proud to serve, and I am both grateful and humbled to be part of this Veterans Day feature.

 
#VeteransDay

(Click on image to enlarge.)

(Click on image to enlarge.)

See more at this link: https://www.natchezdemocrat.com/news/from-mississippi-to-germany-roscoe-barnes-iii-on-finding-purpose-travel-and-education-in-the-army-dc30494f

Prince Ibrahima honored with historical marker near Historic Jefferson College

by Mississippi Monitor | Oct 28, 2025 | Capital/River
By: Roscoe Barnes III, Ph.D., Visit Natchez
 
 

Descendants of Prince Ibrahima and Dr. John Coates Cox join members of the Natchez Historical Society for a photo in front of Ibrahima's marker. Photo by Albert L. Jones (Click on image to enlarge.)

Abdul Rahman Ibrahima Sori, the African prince who spent 40 years enslaved on Thomas Foster’s plantation, now has a historical marker that commemorates his life and legacy.

The marker was unveiled Friday, October 24, near Historic Jefferson College, on the corner of Jefferson College Street and Highway 61 North.

Over 50 people turned out for the event that was hosted by the Natchez Historical Society, the organization that sponsored the marker acquired through the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

Michael Morris, historian and director of the Two Mississippi Museums, served as the guest speaker. He said the story of Ibrahima is one of the most important in American history.

Michael Morris, director of The Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson, was the guest speaker at the ceremony honoring the prince. Photo by Albert L. Jones. (Click on image to enlarge.)

“There are many connections between Ibrahima and Jefferson College, the state’s first institution of higher learning and Mississippi’s birthplace,” he said. “Understanding this story is key to understanding nineteenth century Mississippi. I’m thankful to the Natchez Historical Society for sponsoring this marker to recognize Prince Ibrahima.”

The ceremony attendees included descendants of the prince, historians, MDAH staff, and Alderwoman Valencia Hall, among others.

“What a historic day to honor a man forgotten by the very city that enslaved him, yet by today’s actions he will live in perpetuity,” said Hall after the ceremony. “What a testament to the power of humanity where the descendants of not only Prince Ibrahima were present for this historic moment, but the descendants of Dr. Cox and Mr. Foster standing together as One. A true testament of what it means to bridge races, religions and ethnicities into one through time and healing. Live on Prince Ibrahima!”

Karen Hill, past president of the Natchez Historical Society, shared opening remarks at the event. She said the story of the prince is fascinating and deserved recognition.

“This is the first historical marker honoring the prince. … Many people in this area are familiar with him while others know very little about his life” she said. “His story is one of tragedy and triumph. If this event stirs interest in him and much more, we have succeeded.”

Hill said the day’s ceremony promoted a sense of community, something that is good for everyone. 

David Dreyer is a local historian and genealogist. Photo by Albert L. Jones.
(Click on image to enlarge.)

David Dreyer, local historian and genealogist, commented on the location of the marker. “We come here today to mark the place where a seemingly improbable meeting occurred,” he said. “Two-hundred-and-eighteen years ago in 1807, Abdul Rahman, the enslaved son of King Ibrahima Sori of Futa Jallon, an independent nation in West Africa, came to the marketplace here to sell sweet potatoes and recognized a man he met 26 years earlier in 1781 at his father’s home in Timbo because he had a patch over one eye.”

The ceremony also featured remarks by Adams County Supervisor Warren Gaines, District 5; and Cheri Young Burkhalter, descendant of Dr. John Coates Cox, whose name appears on the marker.

Dr. Artemus Gaye, a descendant of the prince, was scheduled to speak, but could not attend the event. His remarks were presented by Dr. Roscoe Barnes III, cultural heritage tourism manager at Visit Natchez and president of the Mississippi Historical Society.

Rev. Clifton Marvel, pastor of Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, gave the invocation and benediction.

“This historical marker of the prince is a testimonial on these grounds here at Jefferson College that freedom comes with responsibility,” said Gaye. “Freedom has in its letters: Fidelity, Respect, Earnestly, Encouragement, Duty, Obligation, and Mutuality.” 

Members of the Natchez Historical Society pose with the historical marker the society funded for Prince Ibrahima. From left are Albert King, Nicole Harris, Karen Hill, Daye Dearing and Dr. Roscoe Barnes III. Photo by Albert L. Jones (Click on image to enlarge.)

For Gaines, the ceremony was a proud moment. “It’s an honor to be here and be part of this,” he said, adding Ibrahima’s story is one of hope and resilience. “It’s an honor to have this (marker) in my district and in Adams County.”

Gaines said many of Ibrahima’s descendants live in his district.

Burkhalter, the 4th great-granddaughter of Cox, said she loves the story of how Cox and Ibrahima met.

“I follow God, and I read the word,” she said. “God’s hand is so clear in this story it is amazing. What are the chances that Dr. Cox’s life would be saved (in Africa), and what are the chances that Prince Ibrahima would at least be able to die as a free man in Africa. I love the kindness and respect shown by two generations of two families.”

Speaking further, she said, “In this crazy world full of greed and cruelty, two generation of two families tried to do the right thing. They were a good, descent, respectful, loving people, and I just love that.”

See more at this link: https://www.themississippimonitor.com/prince-ibrahima-honored-with-historical-marker-near-historic-jefferson-college/