Mississippi Civil Rights Movement Research Articles

Food Power Politics: The Food Story of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement

Food Power Politics: The Food Story of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement

Bobby J. Smith II: Food Power Politics—The Food Story of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement

Bobby J. Smith II: Food Power Politics—The Food Story of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement

Historical Distance and the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement: Opening Windows into Mississippi's Civil Rights History

Historical Distance and the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement: Opening Windows into Mississippi's Civil Rights History

Food and the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement: re-reading the 1962-1963 Greenwood Food Blockade

ABSTRACTThe relationship between food and the American civil rights movement is often storied within the context of lunch counter sit-ins. Yet, food not only functioned as a backdrop to protests and demonstrations, it also took center stage. In the Mississippi Delta, for instance, an event known by activists as the 1962–1963 Greenwood Food Blockade illuminated the centrality of food to movement politics. Rarely remarked upon or discussed in detail, scholars read the blockade as an isolated disruption to the Mississippi Civil Rights movement, overlooking the significance of this event. In this paper, I attempt to recover the Greenwood Food Blockade from narratives of the civil rights movement and offer an alternative reading of the event. This reading is instructive and extends what we know about the civil rights movement in important ways. First, it enlarges our understanding of food as a weapon, tool, tactic, and everyday preoccupation in the civil rights era. Second, it amplifies the role of poor rural black communities, local activists, and women in dictating the civil rights agenda in tandem with national activists. Third, it shows how these actors engaged in everyday food politics central to our understandings of food justice and food sovereignty today.

Jane Hearn, editor. A Past That Won’t Rest: Images of the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi; James T. Campbell and Elaine Owens. Mississippi Witness: The Photographs of Florence Mars.

Jane Hearn, editor. A Past That Won’t Rest: Images of the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi; James T. Campbell and Elaine Owens. Mississippi Witness: The Photographs of Florence Mars.

Jon N. Hale, The Freedom Schools: Student Activists in the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement

Jon N. Hale, The Freedom Schools: Student Activists in the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement

Lending a Hand: How Small Black Businesses Supported the Civil Rights Movement

A large literature has detailed the seminal roles played in the Civil Rights Movement by activists, new political organizations, churches, and philanthropies. But black-owned businesses also provided a behind-the-scenes foundation for the movement’s success. Many black-owned businesses operated across the South because they provided goods and services to black customers who could not attain them from white businesses because of segregation. These small business owners very often played roles in civic matters that their counterparts in larger firms did not. Their civic participation and support contributed far more to the potential for political progress than scholars have recognized. Some accounts of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, for example, underestimate the significance of the role played by Montgomery’s community of black-owned businesses, from taxis to pharmacies. Examples from the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi also illustrate the importance of local small businesses: black business owners were on the front lines, resisting strong pressures from the white community. This paper analyzes these episodes and places them in the context of black-owned businesses in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s, albeit descriptively given the unevenness and unavailability of standardized statistics. It also traces the debates over “Black Capitalism” and how the decline of segregation led to dramatic reorganizations of black businesses.

Jon N. Hale. The Freedom Schools: Student Activists in the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement.

Jon N. Hale. The Freedom Schools: Student Activists in the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement.

Jon N.Hale. The Freedom Schools: Student Activists in the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement. New York: Columbia University Press, 2016.

Peace & ChangeVolume 42, Issue 4 p. 586-589 Book Review Jon N. Hale. The Freedom Schools: Student Activists in the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement. New York: Columbia University Press, 2016. Staughton Lynd, Staughton LyndSearch for more papers by this author Staughton Lynd, Staughton LyndSearch for more papers by this author First published: 01 September 2017 https://doi.org/10.1111/pech.12261Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Volume42, Issue4October 2017Pages 586-589 RelatedInformation

The Freedom Schools: Student Activists in the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement

In the historiography of the civil rights movement, no other state has received as much attention as Mississippi. In particular, the 1964 Freedom Summer project of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which brought hundreds of white volunteers to the Magnolia State to register African American voters and to teach black children in so-called Freedom Schools, has been the subject of numerous studies. Yet, a few historiographical gaps remain, and the Freedom Schools is one of them. Jon N. Hale is to be applauded for authoring the first scholarly monograph on this important aspect of the Mississippi movement, since his study reveals that the Freedom Schools were just as important as voter registration drives in SNCC efforts to foster local black activism and develop black leadership. Hale argues that this educational initiative not only helped motivate thousands of black children and teenagers to join the movement but also influenced their activist careers well beyond Freedom Summer. Thus, he rightfully highlights the significant role that youth and education played in the Mississippi freedom struggle.

The Freedom Schools: Student Activists in the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement by Jon N. Hale

Reviewed by: The Freedom Schools: Student Activists in the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement by Jon N. Hale Dwana Waugh The Freedom Schools: Student Activists in the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement. By Jon N. Hale. (New York: Columbia University Press, 2016. Pp. xvi, 300. $60.00, ISBN 978-0-231-17568-5.) In The Freedom Schools: Student Activists in the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement, Jon N. Hale deftly argues that many civil rights advances "were not won in the halls of Congress on Capitol Hill but in the rooms of grassroots schools across Mississippi" (p. 71). Hale examines the development, implementation, and legacy of the Mississippi Freedom Schools from 1964 through [End Page 1018] the 1970s. The book explores seven Freedom School locations that served as viable, independent alternatives to the state's segregated public schools. Using Freedom Schools as a key vehicle for analysis, Hale identifies African American primary and secondary school students as crucial activists on the front lines for educational liberation. This book adds to the growing body of long civil rights movement scholarship. Hale uses organizational records, volunteers' memoirs, oral interviews, and a wealth of secondary sources to assert that Freedom School students learned participatory democracy from the everyday functions of their curriculum. The author's richly detailed account of the day-to-day work of Mississippi Freedom Schools demonstrates that black students studied and engaged in direct-action protest tactics, acted in plays dramatizing the stories of slain activists, canvassed for votes in their local communities, and advocated for the same academic curriculum that white students had in public schools. Remarkably, Hale traces the experiences of some of the volunteer teachers as well as a handful of students after the demise of the Freedom Schools. Many of the participants remained deeply committed to civil rights causes and activism. The author's examinations of the Freedom School curriculum and innovative pedagogy in chapters 4 and 5 are the most exciting aspects of this study. Hale illustrates the challenges posed by racial and gendered stereotypes. Organizers perceived Freedom Schools as a safer space for incoming white female volunteers. Many of the white volunteers brought their racial prejudices to bear by assuming the "inferiority of black education," often leading to an initial dismissal of students' academic abilities (p. 91). Between 1965 and 1966, the schools suffered from growing racial divisions between students and teachers. Students felt abandoned by some of the Freedom Summer volunteers who returned home in 1964. White volunteers who remained experienced fatigue and faced the shifting, separatist ideologies of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Yet Hale demonstrates that daily interactions between predominantly white teachers and predominantly black students shifted racial perceptions and resulted in candid, eye-opening conversations. While there is a dearth of studies of the day-to-day work within integrated schools, Hale's study offers an examination of early faculty desegregation not often reflected in desegregated schools until after the Supreme Court's decision in Green v. County School Board of New Kent County (1968). Freedom Schools provide insight into the early relationships between a black student body and white teachers as well as early implementation of "culturally relevant teaching" (p. 211). While Freedom Schools continued as an alternative to segregated public schools in Mississippi until 1966, the 1964 student-led Meridian conference decided that black students would organize around existing public schools. Students joined the Mississippi Student Union (MSU), a statewide, student-led union, which used direct-action tactics to demand equity within public schools. It is not clear how and why black students chose to abandon Freedom Schools. Students' choice of public education over alternative Freedom Schools may indicate their interest in compelling the state to act in behalf of their educational interests, undergirding Hale's argument for the continuity of students' civil rights activism. [End Page 1019] Hale's account is a welcome addition to the study of educational, civil rights, and southern history. Understanding the curriculum and pedagogy of Freedom School volunteers offers a glimpse into practical classroom strategy for diverse learners in this age of global diversity. Moreover, the study also signals a sense of hopefulness that training primary and secondary schools for participatory democracy can address the...

The Freedom Schools: Student Activists in the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement by Jon N. Hale

The Freedom Schools: Student Activists in the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement by Jon N. Hale

Education for Liberation

Education for Liberation Jill Ogline Titus (bio) Jon N. Hale. The Freedom Schools: Student Activists in the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement. New York: Columbia University Press, 2016. xi + 300 pp. Figures, notes, and index. $60.00. Crystal R. Sanders. A Chance for Change: Head Start and Mississippi’s Black Freedom Struggle. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2016. xii + 250 pp. Figures, map, notes, bibliography, and index. $27.95. Crystal R. Sanders’ and Jon N. Hale’s excellent new books on grassroots educational projects in Mississippi during the 1960s paint a vivid picture of the centrality of education to civil rights activity in the state. Taking education for liberation and participatory democracy as central themes, both books delve deeply into the relationship between the education of African American youth and the unfolding struggle for racial justice. While both books stand alone beautifully, when read in tandem they offer a particularly rich interpretation of the connections between classroom programs and grassroots empowerment. While Hale focuses on the Freedom Schools and Sanders on Head Start, both ground their respective stories within the rich history of black Mississippians’ lengthy quest for freedom in all forms; both define “education” expansively—looking beyond the students immediately served to examine the impact of these programs on the larger community; and both explore the long-term legacy of these investments in human capital. Both authors have conducted impressive oral history work, grounding their accounts in an extensive and diverse interview base, and both tell their stories with passion and vigor. Pushing back against the short shrift that was historically provided to the Freedom Schools in accounts of the 1964 Mississippi Summer Project, Hale argues that this minimization of the schools’ role has obscured the extent to which “young people still in middle and high school were on the front lines of the civil rights movement” and served as catalysts for local action in communities across the state (p. 2). In fact, the book makes a compelling argument that “the schools were by far the most successful initiative of the Freedom Summer campaign,” as measured by their success in cultivating new forms of protest among attendees (p. 15). While the story of the Mississippi Freedom [End Page 348] Democratic Party’s rejection of the compromise offered at Atlantic City and the impact of the summer’s tensions on the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) are well known, by emphasizing the continuing activity engendered by the Freedom Schools, Hale shifts the narrative from the costs of the summer project to its gains. The Freedom Schools carries the story beyond August 1964, highlighting ongoing activity after Atlantic City and the schools’ impact on the development of federally funded educational initiatives such as Head Start. While highlighting antecedents such as Highlander Folk School workshops, the Citizenship Schools operated by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), McComb’s Nonviolent High, and the Freedom Schools organized by Northern blacks boycotting urban school systems in protest of systemic segregation and discrimination, Hale argues that Mississippi’s Freedom Schools—originally proposed by SNCC organizer Charlie Cobb—constituted “the most significant network of schools that illustrated the extent to which the civil rights movement incorporated education into its overarching goals and organization” (p. 35). Yet he is careful not to denigrate pre-1964 activities by portraying the schools as students’ first introduction to democracy in action. Indeed, he devotes an important chapter to following seven students whose exposure to civil rights activities in their hometowns throughout the early years of the 1960s eventually led them to the Freedom Schools as a channel for expanding their involvement in the movement. Once enrolled, the students encountered “one of the most progressive curricula in American history”: an educational experience built around citizenship, creative expression, and African American history and literature (p. 93). Developed in consultation with such luminaries of the movement as Ella Baker, Septima Clark, Bob Moses, and Bayard Rustin, the schools were intended to supplement, not replace, the instruction students were receiving in the state’s public schools. Academic subjects received coverage, but instructional models were more horizontal than vertical, with teachers encouraging students to take the lead in deciding what to study, how to approach...

The Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi

The Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi

Documenting the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi: An Overview of the Collections at the University of Southern Mississippi

Special Collections at the University of Southern Mississippi houses a variety of civil rights materials documenting all aspects of the movement. In addition to detailing the activities of civil rights volunteers in the 1960s, in particular Freedom Summer, the collection also maintains collections of those attempting to prevent equal rights. For example, Southern Miss has the papers of Theodore G. Bilbo, a former Mississippi governor and US senator, who actively fought to prevent African Americans from achieving rights similar to the white citizens of the state. His collection, which starts in the early 20 century, provides a glimpse at the other side of the struggle. Bilbo’s papers and other collections relating to segregationist groups like the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission and the White Citizens Council, provide the context in which the civil rights movement existed. By coupling the collections of over 100 civil rights activists with materials pertaining to those wanting to deny equal rights, the civil rights collections at the University of Southern Mississippi provide a comprehensive look at the civil rights era. Introduction In Mississippi, the civil rights movement represents a defining feature of the state’s history. With the anniversary of Freedom Summer this year, the importance of volunteers, both national and local, and their work highlights the sacrifices and accomplishments of these organizers and volunteers. Special Collections at the University of Southern Mississippi contains collections that highlight the work of civil rights workers during the movement in Mississippi especially during Freedom Summer. In addition, the library holds collections from those who fought integration and were the very people the volunteers battled. This article will highlight the manuscripts and books relating to the civil rights movement as well as people and groups who opposed equal rights for African Americans. Freedom Summer Manuscript Collections The University of Southern Mississippi has over 120 manuscript collections from volunteers and local activists participating during the Freedom Summer initiative of 1964 and other civil rights activities. These collections contain correspondence, brochures from civil rights organizations, photographs, The Primary Source, Vol. 33, Issue 1 21

An Earned Insurgency: Quality Education as a Constitutional Right

In the following pages, Robert Moses tells the history of the early civil rights movement in Mississippi, focusing on the individuals, alliances, and strategies that brought about fundamental change in the United States and ultimately made possible the election of Barack Obama to the presidency. Moses describes how the efforts of Justice Department officials working from the "top" of society combined with the day-to-day work of sharecroppers and organizers at the "bottom" to challenge Jim Crow. His story takes us from the front lines of the movement in Mississippi to his contemporary efforts to ensure that all children in this country receive a quality education. While working from the bottom of today's movement for educational equality, he calls on Obama to provide the leadership needed at the top to ensure lasting change. In this"illuminated story" he infuses his narration (in sans serif) with his own reflections and insights about the lessons this story offers.

An Unseen Hand: The Role of Sociology Professor Ernst Borinski in Mississippi's Struggle for Racial Integration in the 1950s and 1960s

Based on archival and interview research, the current article examines the leadership roles of Tougaloo College's Sociology Professor Ernst Borinski, a German-Jewish Holocaust refugee, in Mississippi's racial integration struggles in the 1950s and 1960s. Embodying characteristics of both a bridge leader and a transformative intellectual, Professor Borinski worked behind the scenes and utilized the academy's resources and his status as an `outsider' to contribute to undermining Mississippi's racial status quo. As a bridge leader, Dr Borinski directly linked black and white groups together so that they could regularly meet, talk with one another, and develop critiques of racial segregation. As a transformative intellectual, Professor Borinski ensured that students understood their constitutional rights as American citizens and supported students and colleagues who were involved in the Mississippi civil rights movement. These two interlocking leadership roles encapsulate the contributions of Ernst Borinski to Mississippi's development from a `closed society' to a more racially integrated state.

An “Oasis of Freedom” in a “Closed Society”: The Development of Tougaloo College as a Free Space in Mississippi's Civil Rights Movement, 1960 to 19641

Abstract Based on archival research and in‐depth interviews, this study explores how Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi developed into a pivotal movement center in Mississippi's civil rights movement and the ways in which Tougaloo's faculty and administrators as organic intellectuals helped to create, maintain, and augment such a free space and the social networks who utilized it. The school served as an interracial “safe haven” for those involved in and sympathetic to the civil rights movement who in turn, helped to cultivate networks, ideas, and strategies that contributed to the movement in meaningful ways. The school's heritage, its sources of financial support, and its relative physical isolation allowed Tougaloo College to challenge Mississippi's closed society from within.

“Sowing the Seeds of Discontent”

Based on archival research and in-depth interviews conducted from 1999 through 2007, this article examines the role of Tougaloo College's Social Science Forums as a prefigurative collective free space in Mississippi's civil rights struggles. These Forums offered White and Black integrationists a unique opportunity to come together to hear lectures and discuss provocative ideas, some of which informed and inspired challenges to the state's system of White supremacy. By providing a location where integrationist networks and ideas were established and developed, the Forums helped to sow the seeds of discontent for challenges off campus and offered an interracial microcosm of the world that the Southern civil rights movement was trying to achieve. The article sheds light on specific ways an on-campus free space at a private Black Southern college fostered and mobilized oppositional ideas, interracial networks, and practices prior to and during the development of the Mississippi civil rights movement.

Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: The Mississippi Civil Rights Movement and Its Legacy

Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: The Mississippi Civil Rights Movement and Its Legacy