Senate Concurrent Resolution 699

(As Adopted by Senate and House)

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ACKNOWLEDGING THE 40TH YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE GIBBS-GREEN MEMORIAL OBSERVANCE AND REMEMBERING THE LIVES AND LEGACIES OF PHILLIP GIBBS AND JAMES GREEN.

WHEREAS, the year of 2010 serves as a milestone for the Jackson State College (now Jackson State University) Class of 1970 as the class acknowledges the memorial observance of the lives and legacies of Phillip Lafayette Gibbs and James Earl Green, victims of the May 14-15, 1970, Jackson State College tragedy; and

WHEREAS, in the Spring of 1970, campus communities across the country were characterized by protests and demonstrations as a result of the escalation of the war in Vietnam and the United States' invasion of Cambodia, the ecology, racism and repression, and the experiences of women and minorities in the educational system; and

WHEREAS, no institution of higher education was left untouched by confrontations and continuous calls for change, and the progressive movement for change that occurred at Jackson State College in Jackson, Mississippi, where students were protesting these issues, as well as the May 4, 1970, tragedy at Kent State University in Ohio, claiming the lives of four Kent State students, Alison Krause, Sandra Scheuer, Jeffrey Glenn Miller and William K. Schroeder; and

WHEREAS, on May 14-15, 1970, Jackson State College students were protesting these and other issues, as well as the tragedy that occurred at Kent State University in Ohio, when 75 city police officers and state troopers opened fire on students and other citizens gathered in front of Alexander Hall, a women's dormitory on the campus, killing Phillip Gibbs, a 21-year-old Ripley, Mississippi, prelaw major, and James Earl Green, a Senior at Jim Hill High School who was taking a short cut home from his after-school job; and

WHEREAS, following the investigation of the incident by federal authorities, J.R. Lynch Street, which at the time bisected the campus, was closed to through traffic. The Gibbs-Green Plaza, or Plaza for short, was erected shortly thereafter and named for Phillip Lafayette Gibbs and James Earl Green; and

WHEREAS, the Jackson City Council voted to close Lynch Street to through traffic, and the initials J.R. were added to the existing street signs, denoting J.R. Lynch Street, in honor of one of Mississippi's leading black statesmen who served during Reconstruction, Congressman J.R. Lynch; and

WHEREAS, shortly after the closing of J.R. Lynch Street, a plaza was constructed near Alexander Center, and today Gibbs-Green Plaza serves as the site of many outdoor programs and activities. To the north of the plaza and directly in front of Alexander Hall, the Gibbs-Green Monument stands erected as a permanent memorial to the slain students and a tangible reminder to all students that the Jackson State Tragedy must never be forgotten; and

WHEREAS, we join Jackson State University in honoring the memory of Phillip Gibbs and James E. Green:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby acknowledge the 40th Anniversary of the Gibbs-Green Memorial Observance, and remember the lives and legacies of Phillip Lafayette Gibbs and James Earl Green to be celebrated on April 29, 2010.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be transmitted to Dr. Ronald Mason, President of Jackson State University and to the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, and made available to the Capitol Press Corps.