Honoring the Natchez Deacons for Defense and Justice

Unveiling of Mississippi Freedom Trail marker set for Nov. 9

James "Big Jack" Jackson 

Founding president of the Natchez Deacons for Defense and Justice. Photo courtesy of Janet Herbert and Dr. Lance Hill 

NATCHEZ, Miss. -- A Mississippi Freedom Trail marker honoring the Natchez Deacons for Defense and Justice will be unveiled Saturday, November 9, with a ceremony at 2:30 p.m. at Zion Chapel A.M.E. Church at 228 North Dr. M.L. King Jr. St. 

The ceremony will be followed by the unveiling of the marker at 319 North Dr. M.L. King Jr. St., which is the site of the two-story building that was home to Donnan's Barbershop, the meeting place for the Deacons. This event is free to the public. It is organized by the Natchez Civil Rights Trail Committee.

Speakers will include Dr. Akinyele Umoja, author of “We Will Shoot Back: Armed Resistance in the Mississippi Freedom Movement” (NYU Press, 2013); Willie Carter, owner of Donnan's Barbershop; Alderwoman Felicia Bridgewater-Irving, Ward 4; Rev. Dr. Robert James, president of the Mississippi NAACP; Joyce Arceneaux-Mathis, president of the Natchez NAACP; John Travis Spann, program and outreach officer for Mississippi Humanities Council; and Mayor Dan Gibson.

Other program participants include Dr. Neifa Hardy, community liaison to the Mayor; Rev. Birdon Mitchell, pastor of Zion Chapel A.M.E. Church; Dr. Roscoe Barnes III, culture heritage tourism manager for Visit Natchez; Rev. Clifton Marvel, pastor of Greater Macedonia Baptist Church; and Tony Fields and the Zion Chapel AME Ensemble.

The Deacons for Defense and Justice was a paramilitary organization that provided armed protection for the civil rights workers and the Black community in the 1960s.

The new Freedom Trail marker will be the second one erected in Natchez. The first one, which recognized the NAACP Headquarters at 9 St. Catherine St., was unveiled in April 2023.

The Mississippi Freedom Trail markers are approved by Visit Mississippi and Mississippi Humanities Council. The markers serve to commemorate the people and places in the state that played a pivotal role in the American Civil Rights Movement.

For more information on the November 9 unveiling ceremony, call 601-492-3004.

It’s time to honor the legacy of Prince Ibrahima

Top of the Morning column published in The Natchez Democrat (Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, page 4A)

(Click on image to enlarge.)

Top of the Morning
 
It’s time to honor the legacy of Prince Ibrahima
 
By Roscoe Barnes III

The story of Prince Abdul Rahman Ibrahima Sori (1762-1829) is one of the most well-known stories to come out of the Natchez-Adams County area, but surprisingly, there is no historical marker or plaque that bears his name. There's nothing in Washington (Adams County) or Natchez that shares his extraordinary life history and nothing that honors his legacy.

This is unfortunate, but I'm hopeful this will soon change. A historical marker or monument for this important figure in our history is long overdue.

As most of us well know, Ibrahima was an African prince who was captured in 1788 and sold to slave traders. He eventually wound up in Mississippi. He spent 40 years enslaved on the Thomas Foster plantation near Washington in Adams County, just outside of Natchez, before he gained his freedom.

The world learned of Ibrahima through Dr. Terry Alford's book, "Prince Among Slaves: The True Story of an African Prince Sold into Slavery in the American South (Oxford University Press, 1977). In 2008, Unity Productions Foundation produced the film, "Prince Among Slaves," which was based on Alford's book. In May 2024, the film “From Prince to Slave” was shown at the Natchez Convention Center. The film was a collaboration between the elders of Timbo, the home of Ibrahima, and the U.S. Embassy in Guinea.

Over the last few decades, much has been written about the prince, and many parts of his story have been documented. Today we know about his descendants in the Natchez area and other parts of the United States, as well as those in West Africa. His story, including his faith as a Muslim, continues to generate interest among writers, historians, and scholars of multiple disciplines.

In an effort to determine the best way to honor him and display his story for years to come, I have spent several months doing research. During this time, I have had great conversations with local historians and Ibrahima descendants, all of whom agree that something needs to be done. Alford has been especially helpful in answering questions and guiding my research. David Dreyer, local historian, graciously gave me a tour of the places visited by Ibrahima, including Thomas Foster's plantation, where Ibrahima was enslaved. I’ve also received help from Historic Natchez Foundation, the Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

As I think about this topic, I am drawn to several sites that played a pivotal role in Ibrahima’s life. They are all noted in Alford’s book. They include:

* Under-the-hill. This is where Ibrahima arrived in Natchez as an enslaved man, and it’s also where he and his wife, Isabella, departed Natchez in 1828 with their freedom. It was from this location that they boarded the Neptune and waved goodbye to their children, who remained enslaved.

* Andrew Marschalk’s printing shop. Marschalk was a newspaper publisher. This building, which no longer exists, was located at North Wall and Franklin streets. It is where Ibrahima met with Marschalk and read from a book with text in Arabic. Marschalk initiated efforts that resulted in Ibrahima’s freedom.

* Pine Ridge Presbyterian Church. This church is located at M.L. K. Jr. Road and Airport Road. The original building no longer exists. Ibrahima visited the church with the Foster family.

* Area near Historic Jefferson College. It was in this area between 16 Old North St. and Highway 61 North in Washington that Ibrahima recognized Dr. John Coats Cox in 1807 at the market place. Cox tried for many years without success to buy Ibrahima’s freedom.

Obviously, there are other important sites, but the ones listed here deserve serious consideration when we think about honoring the prince.

---------------

ROSCOE BARNES III, Ph.D., is the cultural heritage tourism manager for Visit Natchez.

Expert to tell forgotten story of Gulf South during American Revolution at Historical Society meeting Sept. 24

By Roscoe Barnes III
The Natchez Democrat
Published 4:18 pm Wednesday, September 11, 2024 

Mike Bunn
(Click on link to enlarge.)

NATCHEZ — Mike Bunn, director of Historic Blakeley State Park in Spanish Fort, Alabama, will give a lecture at the Tuesday, Sept. 24 meeting of the Natchez Historical Society. 
His topic is, “Fourteenth Colony: The Forgotten Story of the Gulf South during America’s Revolutionary Era.” Bunn’s presentation is part of a lecture series that is funded by a grant from the Mississippi Humanities Council through funding by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
 
The program will be held at Historic Natchez Foundation, 108 S. Commerce St., Natchez. It will begin with a social at 5:30 p.m. and Bunn’s presentation at 6 p.m. It is free to the public. All are welcome, members and non-members alike.
 
“The Gulf South played an important part in America’s revolutionary period, though most of us are not as acquainted with this chapter of regional history as we perhaps should be,” Bunn said. “I’m excited to share my research into this important era of our past in historic Natchez, a place which has its own special connection to this remarkable story.”
 
The forgotten 14th colony of the America’s Revolutionary era was “the British colony of West Florida, which once stretched from the mighty Mississippi to the shallow bends of the Apalachicola and portions of what are now the states of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana,” noted Bunn. His presentation will include a discussion of the affairs in Natchez during the Revolutionary era.
 
Bunn is the author or co-author of several books, including “Fort Stoddert: American Sentinel on the Mobile River, 1799-1814; “Fourteenth Colony: The Forgotten Story of the Gulf South During America’s Revolutionary Era,” and “The Assault on Fort Blakeley: ‘The Thunder and Lightning of Battle.’”
 
Bunn is the editor of Muscogiana, the journal of the Muscogee County (Georgia) Genealogical Society. He is a recent recipient of the J.Y. Sanders Research Scholar Award presented by The Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies of Southeastern Louisiana University.
 
As a historian, Bunn has worked with the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the Historic Chattahoochee Commission, and the Columbus (Georgia) Museum.
 
In addition to chairing the Baldwin County Historic Development Commission, Bunn is treasurer of the Friends of Old Mobile, and a member of the board of the Alabama Historical Association.
 
Bunn is a resident of Alabama. He holds an undergraduate degree from Faulkner University and two master’s degrees from the University of Alabama.
 
For more information on the society’s Sept. 24 meeting, call 281-731-4433 or 601-492-3004 or send email to info@natchezhistoricalsociety.org
 
Read more at: https://www.natchezdemocrat.com/2024/09/11/expert-to-tell-forgotten-story-of-gulf-south-during-american-revolution-at-historical-society-meeting-sept-24/


 

Mike Bunn to discuss Natchez and 14th colony of American Revolutionary era at Sept. 24 meeting of Natchez Historical Society

Mike Bunn, director of Historic Blakeley State Park in Spanish Fort, Ala., will give a lecture at the Tuesday, Sept. 24 meeting of the Natchez Historical Society. His topic is, “Fourteenth Colony: The Forgotten Story of the Gulf South during America's Revolutionary Era.” Bunn’s presentation is part of a lecture series that is funded by a grant from the Mississippi Humanities Council through funding by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The program will be held at Historic Natchez Foundation, 108 S. Commerce St., Natchez. It will begin with a social at 5:30 p.m. and Bunn’s presentation at 6:00 p.m. It is free to the public. All are welcome, members and non-members alike.

The forgotten 14th colony of the America's Revolutionary era was “the British colony of West Florida―which once stretched from the mighty Mississippi to the shallow bends of the Apalachicola and portions of what are now the states of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana,” notes Bunn. His presentation on this topic will include a discussion of the affairs in Natchez during the Revolutionary era.

For more information on this event, call 281-731-4433 or 601-492-3004 or send email to info@natchezhistoricalsociety.org

Alcorn State University to host program on ‘Blues to Southern Soul’

By Roscoe Barnes III
Natchez, MS, USA/ListenUpYall.com
Sept. 10, 2024/10:11 a.m.

Dr. Renardo Murray

LORMAN, Miss. -- Dr. Renardo Murray, associate professor and associate dean at Alcorn State University, will give a talk on “The Transition from Blues to Southern Soul” at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 17, in Dumas Hall, Room 107, at Alcorn State University, Lorman Campus.

The program is sponsored by the Southwest MS Center for Culture and Learning, and Alcorn State University College of Arts and Science. It is free and open to the public.

“Dr. Murray is a talented and experienced musician, teacher, administrator, and a gifted speaker,” said Teresa Busby, executive director of the Southwest MS Center for Culture and Learning. “We are delighted that he has agreed to share his knowledge of the blues and southern soul as part of our fall speaker series.”

Busby said Murray’s presentation will be “informative and entertaining as he explains that in addition to rhythm and blues, southern soul was influenced by country, gospel, rock, and pop.”

Murray is an associate professor of Music and the associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. A native of Jackson, he served as director of Bands at Alcorn from 2011-2018. His experience includes a stint at Jackson State University where he served as assistant band director and later as interim director of bands and music instructor.

Murray also served as band director at Yazoo City High School, Blackburn Middle School, and Clinton High School. He worked as assistant band director for Wilkinson County High School.

With regard to his education, Murray earned his Doctor of Philosophy in music education from the University of Mississippi and a master’s degree in the same field from Jackson State University. He holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from Alcorn.

For more information, call 601.877.6551. To request disability-related accommodations contact the Disability Coordinator at least five days in advance at 601-877-6460 (office) or e-mail at disabilityservices@alcorn.edu.

THE GREEN BOOK: Three local businesses provided services for African American travelers during Jim Crow

J.T. Robinson displays a copy of the Green Book which lists the Riverside Restaurant at 200 S. Broadway St., Natchez. It was the business that was owned and managed by his grandmother, Willie C. Walker, in the 1960s. (Click on image to enlarge.)

The Green Book was a travelers guide for African American motorists that listed safe places for them to visit during the Jim Crow era, when segregation and discrimination were legal. Created by Victor Hugo Green (1892-1960), the book was published from 1936 to 1967.

This article discusses the three businesses in Natchez, Miss., that appeared in the Green Book beginning in 1956. They included Homes Restaurant at 208 St. Catherine St., Mrs. S. Miller Tourist Home at 31 Bishop Street, and Riverside Restaurant at 200 S. Broadway St. Riverside Restaurant and Mrs. S. Miller Tourist Home appeared in each edition from 1956 through the final edition in 1967.

See the full article at this link:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/383696816_THE_GREEN_BOOK_Three_local_businesses_provided_services_for_African_American_travelers_during_Jim_Crow