daughterofthedelta

“One of the scariest situations that we found ourselves in during all of the racial incidents was at Mississippi Valley State College in February, 1970. The all-black college had been founded in 1950 and Dr. J.H.White, a black, had been president since its beginning. The school had done well under his leadership and he got along very well with the county’s white population. He was a quiet, dignified man from Tennessee, and my relations with him when I had to get news from him had always been good. When he later wrote a book about his life and the college, he asked me to write something to be included in it. I declined because I was too busy at the time and not too sure what to write.

“The college’s troubles began when the students, under the leadership of Tyrone Geddis, Student Government Association president who later went on to Ole Miss to law school, made certain demands of President White, threatening a boycott if he did not meet them. They staged a 99 percent effective boycott of classes for one week. That boycott resulted in student arrests, threats of dismissal and suspension. Black activist Fannie Lou Hamer spoke to the students and promised to bring thousands of people to MVSC in support of the students. ‘You are dealing with beautiful young black men and women,’ she told President White. She described the education at the college as ‘pretty lousy.’ She urged the students to stand behind their leaders, saying ‘You will have to demand because no one is going to give you anything.’

“Geddis warned that if Dr. White did not submit to his demands by a certain time, ‘I’ll march on your like Sherman marched on Richmond.’ Later when Geddis announced to the students that the demands were not met, he told them, ‘We intend to do something about it. Until we get some kind of compliance there ain’t gonna be no class.’

“The situation continued to become very tense. Dr. White called me one Saturday night and asked that I be over there on Monday morning because the students had threatened trouble. MVSC was a state school so there were highway patrol cars all around, and the State College Board was in almost constant contact with Dr. White. Russell and I felt that we would be safe in going to Dr. White’s office since there was so much law enforcement around but we arrived before the Administration Building opened. There were signs all over the doors denouncing Dr. White. After we got in his office he locked the door since crowds of angry students were outside hitting on the windows and shouting insults. I really wasn’t sure how we were going to safely get out and back to the car. As we did leave some of them began hollering ‘honky’ at us, and I was glad to get in the car and head back home.

“The trouble continued to escalate, and I asked the Commercial Appeal to send a man in to help me cover the story. They sent Ken Tolliver from the Greenville bureau over the afternoon that more than 900 students were arrested and piled in buses and brought to Greenwood. Judge Clark ordered the county to release them, and law enforcement folks worked all night handling the papers releasing them. After things finally settled down over there the student population dropped pretty drastically as many dropped out of school.

“Dr. White remained as president until he retired some time later, but the whole affair really took its toll on him. He was a nice man.”

“The St. Francis Mission is entirely separate from the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, and most of those at the mission had come to Greenwood from other parts of the country. They played an active role in all the civil rights activities and published a weekly newspaper, The Center Light, which was sold on the downtown streets and which often attacked local officials. It carried news of the black community.

“One of those involved in the Greenwood Movement was a crippled black man named James Moore, who did not work but was on disability. He decided that his main target would be the Liberty Cash Grocery, owned and operated by a friend of ours, Sam Killebrew. The store was one of Greenwood’s better grocery stores with a large white trade as well as a good black trade. Moore stood near the entrance every day for days and kept white folks from wanting to trade there. Sam Killebrew had more black employees than any other tore, so this could not have been the reason for selecting this store. Russell and I got on on the telephone and called all of our friends and asked them to please shop with Liberty.

“After this, the store became more and more of a black store, and Sam sold it  and purchased an interest in the Piggly Wiggly on Park Avenue, but we felt he never got over what happened to a thriving business when he really had done nothing wrong. He died a few years later with cancer. Today [1990] James Moore sits on the City Council, as does another of the leaders of the Movement, David Jordan.”

“On June 5 [1968] sixty-one merchants asked Chancery Judge William Bizzell for an injunction against twelve individuals, the ‘Greenwood Movement,’ and all those acting in concert with them. I attended a hearing on the matter which began on June 12 and lasted several more days. The complainants called 39 witnesses and the defendants six. Witnesses included 12 white store owners or managers, one Chinese store owner, two Negro employees of complainant merchants, two white doctors, two white postmen, nine Negro citizens who testified as to experiences in connection with shopping or attempts to shop, six named defendants and several others. One of the defendants was Father Nathaniel Machesky.

“The boycott ended finally after Judge Bizzell in July ruled that a temporary injunction was being issued against picketing or marching in this cause in the areas affected and against persons stationing themselves or anyone else as a lookout for the purpose of observing customers doing business with any of the merchants.

“The hearing lasted four days. After listening to all the testimony it was evident that the Movement did not have the support of most of the blacks who said that they were afraid of those taking part in it. I was in Gibson’s Discount Store one day and saw an old Negro man who was checking out and trying to see if anyone was waiting outside. The boycott also affected the white customers, who did not want to have to get through the picket lines to go in a store. Some of those picketing and carrying signs were school kids.

“The merchants lost a lot of money and were bitter that half of the demands being made were not things over which they had any control. The members who attended the local Catholic church, some of whom were affected merchants, were very bitter toward the priests and others from St. Francis taking part in the boycott and picketing.”

“A few days later an open letter to the citizens of Leflore County was widely distributed, urging representatives of the white community, particularly city officials and businessmen, to meet with representatives of the Movement to discuss steps to ‘remove the evils of segregation and discrimination and to insure peace and to promote love and mutual respect.’ They tried to have it published in the Commonwealth with no success and made some personal contacts with the white community. When no response was received they decided to start a boycott on behalf of the goals of the Movement.

“The boycott, or ‘selective buying campaign,’ began on April 10, 1968. Their original goals were described as ‘to eliminate segregation and discrimination; to make all men free; to create fair employment practices.’ Later they added others directed mainly toward city officials concerning city employment and services, things which the merchants had no control over. They carried on a very intensive program of picketing with pickets marching on both sides of Howard Street and on the business side of Carrollton Avenue, the two main business streets. They also boycotted the Highland Park Shopping Center.

“They carried a variety of signs with objectives such as ‘Justice in our Courts,’ ‘Negro history in schools,’ and ‘Negro police.’ Some said such things as ‘God is with us,’ ‘Black is beautiful’ and ‘All men are brothers.’ The Movement officially called for non-violence, but the pickets stopped Negroes who were shopping and threatened them. Sometimes they would go in a store to speak to the Negro customers or to bring them out, and instances were reported of pickets examining purses or bags to see if anything had been purchased.

“There were instances of violence or threatened violence during the boycott, and a fire bomb was thrown into one home whose occupants had shopped. The boycott lasted more than two months, and merchants said there was considerable loss of business, depending on the proportion of Negro business formerly enjoyed by them. Five merchants said their estimated loss of business ranged from 20-50 percent.”

“In late 1967 ‘The Greenwood Movement for Progress’ was organized by some of the black activists along with Catholic priests and nuns at the St. Francis of Assisi Center. An effort was made to boycott downtown merchants during the Christmas buying season, in support of the objectives of the Movement. The boycott did not prove to be very successful, but the Movement continued with their activities. Regular meetings were held and some open letters to the community were distributed, advocating removal of racial discrimination, equal courtesy regardless of race, equal employment opportunities, both public and private, equal municipal services, and other aims.

“In early April [1968], when Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis, no one knew what to expect. Riots were breaking out all over the country, and there were increased fears of violence. I was seated at the teletype machine in my kitchen when Kenneth Toler, head of the Commercial Appeal’s Jackson bureau, typed a note saying he had heard that King had been shot. The Memphis Commercial Appeal office confirmed the report and at about the same time it was flashed on TV.

“We got word the next morning that the blacks were planning a march through downtown Greenwood. The tension and fears that followed the slaying just gave impetus to the programs being advocated by the Movement, which was renamed ‘The Greenwood Movement in Honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’ A group of Negroes, along with the white nuns and priests from St. Francis, marched down to Howard Street and after a few speeches honoring King, disbursed with no trouble.”

“King again came to Greenwood two weeks before his slaying and spoke to a large gathering at one of the black churches. He was picked up at the airport under pretty heavy security because we certainly did not want anything happening to him here and were relieved when he left town. I sat in the car with Carol Franklin [reporter for the Greenwood Commonwealth] and [Police Commissioner] Buff Hammond and we listened to a loudspeaker. All of the crowd could not get inside the church.

“While we were sitting there, Ida Holland, who had been some prominent in the earlier marches, came over to the car and said, ‘Well, if ain’t the old commish,’ referring to Hammond’s position as Police Commissioner. Buff laughed and said, ‘Ida, where in the hell have you been?’ ‘Michigan, in school,’ she replied.

“[Martin Luther] King led the group up the wide front walk of the Court House and took his stand on the steps. A large crowd gathered around him, including marchers, some Court House employees, law enforcement personnel, and newsmen and me and Russell. A dirty white bodyguard put his arm across Russell as we stood right by the Reverend King. I was scared at this point and began to wonder what we were doing there when we had two children at home.

“At one point we were looking down on a sea of hundreds of black faces when they began raising their fists and shouting, ‘Black Power!’ It became a chant and I was really getting nervous. King made an impassioned speech and urged the crowd to go inside and register to vote. Four Federal examiners had set up headquarters in the Post Office the day before to register persons to vote, and one examiner said they would be open through Saturday.

“John Doar of the Justice Department and a staff of four or five persons had also set up an office in the Post Office. Mr. Doar said, ‘We are here because of the Voting Rights Act, and of course we have been keeping an eye on the freedom march. We don’t want anyone intimidated or harassed while attempting to register.’ He added, ‘And we feel that these people in counties where we have had Federal examiners will feel more free to register here. We had over 600 to register in Grenada County yesterday, and we don’t know yet how the county will handle the registration.’

“The rally did not last too long and there was no trouble when it broke up, but we felt better when they had moved on toward Jackson.”

Leflore County Court House and Confederate Monument. Photo courtesy of Donny Whitehead, aboutgreenwoodms.com

“The following day was very tense as Greenwood awaited the arrival of the marchers, whose numbers had been variously estimated to be between 500 and 1000, led by Martin Luther King. Some of the reporters said De La had been hanging around as they covered the story.

“Russell and I went to the Court House to wait for the marchers to arrive on the south side where Martin Luther King was to speak. The police had tried to see to it that there was no trouble. Then just as they passed the service station across the street from the police station, Booker Riley, who was operating the station, shot a hose at them but that little incident was soon squelched. Of course, the marchers would have loved to provoke an incident, but most of the townspeople just went on about their business and tried to ignore them.

“There were eight of the biggest Negro men I had ever seen stationed around the Confederate monument to see to it that no one attempted to climb it as they had done in Grenada. Justice Department representative Rosenberg, who always wanted to be friendly with me, asked me where the men guarding the monument had come from. I asked my friend Jimmy Green, who was on the Board of Supervisors, and in his best southern drawl he answered, ‘They’re off of my plantation.’ I believed him and relayed the answer to Rosenberg. We found out later they had been brought over from the state penitentiary at Parchman to guard our Confederate Monument.”

“About 2 p.m. three of the freedom marchers, all black, were arrested after they attempted to put up tents for the marchers on school grounds. Among the three was Stokely Carmichael, who had been here before and always spelled trouble. He was Executive Secretary of SNCC. They had contacted a Negro school principal the day before and asked permission to pitch tents on the grounds but were told they could not. About 20 persons arrived at the school the next day and began setting up the tents anyway. Chief of Police Curtis Lary talked to them and showed them the school board’s letter, and they folded up the tents and left.

“Later the group showed up on the school grounds again and Police Commissioner [Buff] Hammond and City Commissioner W.G. Mize went to the school and told them not to set up the tents. They told Hammond that Dr. Robert Green, an aide to Martin Luther King, who was accompanying the marchers, had told them to set up anyway. They also said two FBI men told them to put the tents up. They were about to fold the tents up when Carmichael approached and asked if they had problems. They explained to him that they could not put the tents up, and Hammond said Carmichael replied, ‘That’s no problem. Let’s put the tents up.’ The police commissioner said he then told them they would be arrested if they continued to put up the tents and they ignored him. As they left the grounds, Carmichael screamed ‘I want this town turned upside down.’ One of the other marchers told Hammond, ‘That fellow gets out of line sometime.’

“That night a large freedom rally was held in the Negro park, and it was there that Stokely Carmichael shouted to his supporters, ‘We want black power,’ thus coining the phrase oft heard at civil rights gathering thereafter.’

“Another tense period came during the Freedom March in 1966. The Freedom March developed after James Meredith began a march from the northern state line to Jackson which was pretty widely publicized. After he had gone a short distance he was wounded by a shotgun blast. Thus the march, which was not drawing much attention, was accelerated with calls for persons to come from everywhere to take part in the march to the state capitol. And come they did, an assortment of whites and blacks of all ages marching down Highway 51 with extensive news coverage.

“There were incidents along the way including an episode in Grenada when Negroes climbed the Confederate Monument and spit on the statues. This happened the night before they were expected to arrive in Greenwood. All of the national news media was back in Greenwood as they approached the city. The newsmen had rented a flat-bed truck and had all their equipment and cameras on the truck which was traveling just ahead of the march so that they could focus their cameras on it. Charles Murphy with NBC and I were talking about the events at the Police Station, and he asked if I would like to ride on the truck with them the next morning as they approached Greenwood. I would have loved to have been able to but would not have dared. It was a good thing I let my better judgement rule because after the truck loaded with the news crews left Greenwood the day the marchers were to arrive, someone opened an ice chest on the truck and found a rattlesnake inside. I would probably have died right on the spot. There was a rumor that the fellow they hired to drive the truck was a member of the Ku Klux Klan.”