We were pleased that President Obama asked that we celebrate the National Day of Service on Saturday, January 19, 2013, which enabled me to glue myself to the TV to watch the events of the Inauguration from Sunday, for the official swearing in of the president and vice president through Monday, January 21, 2013.
Cheers to Charles Hampton, president of the Winston County Branch NAACP, and its membership for planning a wonderful parade in celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s Birthday which was held on Saturday, January 19, 2013. It was rejuvenating as the crowd gathered at newly rebuilt Mt. Moriah MB Church to line up for the parade. Many of us shared stories of what it was like before and after the death of the civil rights leader. Many of us were very much involved in the Civil Rights Movement with Dr. King and other leaders. There were marchers in the parade from many of the Historical Black Colleges in Mississippi, i.e., Rust College, Tougaloo College, Alcorn University, Mississippi Valley State University, Jackson State College and of course, many alumni from the Louisville Colored High School. Dr. K. C. Morrison and his wife Johnetta also shared about their experiences in civil rights while at Tougaloo College.
What was most exciting to me was that a Mississippi non-clergy woman was selected to deliver the inaugural invocation - Myrlie Evers-Williams. We know her for the relentless work done by her to see that Byron De La Beckwith, the man who murdered her husband, Medgar Evers, was convicted and sentenced. Medgar Evers was the NAACP Mississippi Field Secretary who was assassinated by a sniper in front of their residence on June 12, 1963, following years of investigations into hostility against blacks. It took approximately 30 years for justice to be served when Bryon De La Beckwith began paying for his crime on February 4, 1994.
Roslyn M. Brock, Chairman of the National Board of Directors, commends the President in a letter to the membership: Myrlie Evers-Williams embodies the essence of the civil rights movement and the struggle toward the more perfect union our Constitution envisions. We are thrilled she has received this honor and applaud President Obama for this inspirational selection.
Ben Todd Jealous in the same letter to the membership affirms the magnitude of this moment for history and current civil rights movement: Myrlie is a heroine. She represents the best qualities of the American people and the transformative possibilities of American democracy. Her selection for this sacred task will serve as a reminder to our nation that civil rights must remain at the forefront of our society.
In 1995 Myrlie Evers-Williams became the third woman to chair the NAACP, a position she held until 1998. (This writer became acquainted with her during this time by attending Regional NAACP Meetings and trainings for office, as a member of the El Cerrito Branch NAACP, El Cerrito, CA). Myrlie’s greatest accomplishment with the NAACP was to restore the tarnished image of the organization. She raised enough funds to eliminate the debt, which of course, improved its financial status.
She has established the Medgar Evers Institute in Jackson, Mississippi and is presently serving as a Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence at Alcorn State University. My family and I have been inspired by her autobiography, titled Watch Me Fly: What I learned on the Way to Becoming the Woman I was Meant to Be (1999).
Best wishes to President Barack Obama as he embarks on another term as president of these United States of America. We pray that our nation will move forward under his leadership. God Bless America.
Elmetra Eichelberger-Patterson
Louisville, MS
