MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2016 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Senator(s) Horhn, Frazier, Blount, Caughman, DeBar, Jackson (11th), Jackson (32nd), Stone
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING THE DEDICATION OF THE MISSISSIPPI FREEDOM TRAIL "CAPITOL RALLY" MARKER ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE STATE CAPITOL WHICH COMMEMORATES THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE "MARCH AGAINST FEAR" LED BY JAMES MEREDITH AND OTHER CIVIL RIGHTS PIONEERS WHICH IS THE LARGEST SUCH DEMONSTRATION IN MISSISSIPPI'S HISTORY.
WHEREAS, the latest marker on the Mississippi Freedom Trail was unveiled on July 29, 2015. Placed on the north side of the State Capitol Building, the "Capitol Rally" Marker commemorates the 50th Anniversary of the "March Against Fear" led by James Meredith which began in Memphis and ended at the Mississippi State Capitol in 1966, and is estimated to be the largest civil rights demonstration in Mississippi's history; and
WHEREAS, James Howard Meredith (born June 25, 1933) was an iconic Civil Rights Movement figure, who in 1962 became the first African-American student admitted to the segregated University of Mississippi, an event that was a flashpoint in the Civil Rights Movement. In 1966 Meredith planned a solo 220-mile "March Against Fear" from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi, to highlight continuing racism in the South and encourage voter registration after passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965; and
WHEREAS, the Mississippi Freedom Trail is an important asset in helping us tell Mississippi's whole story. These marked trails give visitors a pathway to follow as they learn about Mississippi's history and her story. This marker on the Capitol grounds gives us another page in that story, and a very important one. What is arguably the nation's largest Civil Rights Movement happened in Jackson, Mississippi. On June 26, 1966, James Meredith's "March Against Fear," led by Stokely Carmichael, Martin Luther King, Jr., Floyd McKissick and others after Meredith was shot and wounded, ended its three-week trek from Memphis with a rally at the State Capitol. The crowd was estimated at 15,000, the largest Civil Rights demonstration in Mississippi history. Stirring speeches were delivered by King, Carmichael, McKissick, the wounded Meredith and others; and
WHEREAS, when James Meredith was shot and wounded in Hernando, Mississippi, on the second day of his "March Against Fear," major Civil Rights leaders gathered to continue the march. Large rallies were held along the way, during some of which marchers suffered attacks of violence, in Greenwood, Philadelphia and Canton. When the rallies were widely covered in the national news, activists from across the country came to join the march on its last leg into Jackson; and
WHEREAS, marchers entered Jackson from several different streams led by movement luminaries, as well as hundreds of dedicated veterans. The marchers amassed at the back of the Capitol, as arranged by state officials to hear speeches and join in freedom songs. The Mississippi Highway Patrol, Jackson Police and Mississippi Army National Guard were on hand after the attacks in Philadelphia and Canton to protect the marchers; and
WHEREAS, the "March Against Fear," which brought together all the major Civil Rights figures and organizations and introduced into the movement the new urgency and energy, ended on a high point of black pride and solidarity; and
WHEREAS, during the tumultuous years of the Civil Rights era, many of the movement's most noted leaders took part in events in Mississippi. This marker is significant in that it commemorates both the involvement of leaders such as James Meredith, who was shot on the march, Stokely Carmichael and Martin Luther King, as well as what is considered the largest Civil Rights gathering in the state's history; and
WHEREAS, it is with great humility that we pay tribute to the legacy and significance of this marker which is the first placed on the grounds of the New Capitol Building in many years:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby recognize the dedication of the Mississippi Freedom Trail "Capitol Rally" Marker on the north side of the State Capitol which commemorates the 50th Anniversary of the "March Against Fear" led by James Meredith and other Civil Rights pioneers, which is the largest such demonstration in Mississippi's history.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to the Visit Mississippi Tourism Bureau of the Mississippi Development Authority and the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, and be made available to the Capitol Press Corps.