Loren Cahill Day Seventeen

You can still see the blood splattered on the driveway. Hate is what drives us apart but love is necessary to keep us together. On June 12th 1963, Medgar Evers was shot in the back as he got out of his car in the driveway of his home in Jackson, Mississippi. Despite a life fully consumed with admonishment and the Jim Crow South he continued to give his best and advocate for change. He sought to organize all blacks to acquire their right to vote in Mississippi. First thing this morning we went to his house and got a glimpse of his life. I will be forever changed by his humility and all his efforts that allow me to exercise all my rights.

Next we met Hollis Watkins the head of an agency called Southern Echo. His entire life was dedicated to the movement. He began his work with the youth chapter of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) and later took on voter registration advocacy with SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee). His organizing efforts scared Caucasian officials so much that he was sent to Parchman penitentiary, arguably the worst prison in the state. His experiences never got to the point of disillusioning him though. He achieved Medgar Evers dreams and helped to make voting rights accessible to all. He respects the fact that young people are not only the future but also a part of the present. Afterwards as a special treat he taught us a couple of Freedom Songs that were sung during the marches. I will never forget his kindness nor his unremitting confidence in the power of people to change.

Later on we met with Mr. Jerry Mitchell an investigative reporter. His interviews and findings lead to the convictions of several members of the Klu Klux Klan including the assassin of Medgar Evers. He readily stressed the point that racial reconciliation is what is truly necessary for society to move on from the ills that we all as a country have experienced either first hand or vicariously through our ancestors. Forgiveness is our redemption. Lastly, we met former Governor William Winters. While in office he moved Mississippi up 5 rankings in their educational system and told of his first hand experience of changed his segregationist mindset to one inclusive to all. He said that we must began to trust each other and move away from believing that one group of people wants to take advantage of us. All in all today was great I gained a wealth of knowledge and with everyday here I continue to affirm my belief that change is ever attainable.