The other day I tuned in to 'The View' and Myrlie Evers-Williams was a guest and Whoopi Goldberg and Barbara Walters were interviewing her. The anniversary of Medgar Evers assassination is officially Wednesday, June 12th. What got my attention and admiration was her honesty about her feelings regarding his assassination and where the country stands 50 years later. She has stated in several interviews that she was not only angry about the circumstances that led to his death but what we are seeing now with voter suppression issues and emergence of overt racial hostilities towards not only African-Americans but other minorities in this country. She's made peace regarding the man who shot her husband after her 30 year crusade to bring him to justice which she did in a determined and justifiable manner. The anger lingers as she so emphatically stated because of "those things within the system, not that it embraces, but that it allows prejudice and racism to persist."
I searched again for her autobiography published in 1999; Watch Me Fly to refresh my memory regarding the trials, tribulations and triumphs of this graceful woman. There were articles and interviews during that time when she was on speaking tours and continuing to live a full life which entailed college, parenting, remarriage, solidifying a declining NAACP, endeavors that led to Byron De La Beckwith's conviction in 1994 and again enduring widowhood in 1995.
Medgar Evers: July 2, 1925 ~ June 12, 1963 |
It's important that we continue to encourage our young folks to read about Medgar Evers for the very inequities that he fought against are emerging with the suppression of voter rights and other progressive advances possibly by the Supreme Court and enacted by the republicans in state legislatures with Raleigh, N.C. leading the pack. The multi-racial group in Raleigh who were peacefully protesting those retrogressive changes were also moved by the earlier warriors to ensure the rights and privileges of first class citizenship for all. They sung "I shall not be moved" and “This Little Light of Mine” as they were arrested on May 5, 2013.
Medgar and Myrlie Evers during happier times and as they embarked on their journey and struggle for human rights. I must surmise that they really had no idea of what they were in for as they particpated in one of the rituals of "becoming as one". We need images of the beauty of their relationship to mollify the tragic demise of his life and their family as they knew it.
Betty Shabazz, Coretta Scott King & Myrlie Evers |
2 comments:
What a stunningly beautiful couple they made! And what a great picture of the three women!!!
As the song says " nobody knows the trouble I've seen".and nobody feels the pain of inequality unless one lives it.
This post just brings tears to my eyes.
"Mans inhumanity to man" nobody knows .....
@Desertflower..."As the song says " nobody knows the trouble I've seen".and nobody feels the pain of inequality unless one lives it".
No truer words spoken. I remember one of her statements was that there are a lot of women who've gone through similar losses and continue on. Men are killed with families everyday somewhere in the world and it's the wife or grandmother who usually steps up and rears the children.
Take care and bountiful blessings.
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