A horse-drawn carriage carries the body of U.S. Congressman John Lewis across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala. for the final time. Lewis was beaten as he attempted to cross the bridge with other voting rights activists in 1965 as they attempted to march from Selma to Montgomerey, Ala.

A horse-drawn carriage carries the body of U.S. Congressman John Lewis across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala. for the final time. Lewis was beaten as he attempted to cross the bridge with other voting rights activists in 1965 as they attempted to march from Selma to Montgomerey, Ala.

Mrs. Geardie Mae Carter, 95, was the first black teacher in the Lafayette County, Mississippi school district when she began teaching mostly white students in 1968

Mr. Nathaniel Hawthorne Jones, 101, is a WWII veteran from Russom, Mississippi. After serving in the Pacific during the war, he returned to Mississippi to farm. He and his late wife, Julia, were instrumental Civil Rights leaders in the area and among a group of black citizens who led a boycott of local merchants in Port Gibson, Mississippi because of unfair treatment toward black customers. He was among a group of black citizens who opened, Our Mart, a co-op grocery store, in response to the unfair treatment. He was also instrumental in rescuing students after they were attacked by police during a 1960’s protest on Alcorn State University.

In 1970, Constance Slaughter-Harvey became the first Black woman to graduate from the University of Mississippi Law School.

In 1970, Donald Cole was one of 50 black University of Mississippi students who took over a concert at Fulton Chapel on the Oxford campus to protest the treatment of black students. Cole, along with eight other students was arrested and expelled. He later returned to the university in 1995 as an administrator after earning his PhD from the school.

In 1970, Kenneth Mayfield, Theron Evans Jr. Henriese Roberts, Linnie Liggins and Donald Cole were arrested, jailed and expelled from the University of Mississippi after taking over the stage of Fulton Chapel during a performance. They returned 50 years later to commemorate their sacrifices which led to improvements for Black students.

Dr. Charles Ross, a history professor at the University of Mississipp, stands near a statue commemorating the admission of James Meredith, the school’s first African-American student who was admitted after a bloody riot in 1962. Ross is advocating the removal of the university’s nickname, “Ole Miss,” because of its history as a name given to slaveholder’s wives by enslaved Black people in the South.

Janice Carr is originally from Columbus, Mississippi but decided to retire in Abbeville, Mississippi after a long career in California. After settling in to her new community, she noticed an old, abandoned building and learned that it was the original school for Black children as well as part of Mississippi’s Headstart system. She organized others in the community and together they acquired and renovated the property which is now the Gordon Community and Cultural Center in Abbeville, Mississippi. They hold cultural and educational summer camps for children with plans to expand to include adult educational and vocational classes.

Janice Carr is originally from Columbus, Mississippi but decided to retire in Abbeville, Mississippi after a long career in California. After settling in to her new community, she noticed an old, abandoned building and learned that it was the original school for Black children as well as part of Mississippi’s Headstart system. She organized others in the community and together they acquired and renovated the property which is now the Gordon Community and Cultural Center in Abbeville, Mississippi. They hold cultural and educational summer camps for children with plans to expand to include adult educational and vocational classes.

Rev. Willie Blue used the military to escape his anger at the racial injustice he experienced growing up in Mississippi in the 1950s and 60s. After returning to the state, his mother encouraged him to channel that anger to action. He joined the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee and worked with Civil Rights leaders to end those injustices.

Rev. Leonia Harris, a native of Holly Springs, Mississippi spent much of her youth living and working in Chicago and traveling through Africa. After returning to Holly Springs in the late ’70s, she started giving slideshows of her travels in the community. A group of community elders encouraged her to expand those shows into something more organized to educate the youth. Together they formed the Ida B. Wells-Barnett Museum and Cultural center in Holly Springs. The focus of the organization was to not only educate the community about Ida B. Wells-Barnett who is also a native of the town, but to educate about local culture and history. An after-school tutoring program was also a part of the groups mission. In 2000, the museum moved into a house built by the father of Wells-Barnett who was a slave when the house was built but later started his own carpentry business after gaining his freedom. Harris has served as the director of the museum since its creation.

Sister Patricia Muhammad spent much of her youth as a civil rights and community activist in Mississippi. She now leads the Nation of Islam Study Group in Holly Springs, Mississippi

Ikeria Washington was recently named Valedictorian of her 2021 graduating class of West Point High School in West Point, Miss. Moments before graduation ceremonies, school officials also named a white student to the same honor.

Ikeria Washington, recently named Valedictorian of her 2021 graduating class of West Point High School in West Point, Miss., holds her numerous honors. Moments before graduation ceremonies, school officials also named a white student to the same honor.

Layla Temple, a recent graduate of West Point High School in West Point, Miss. was named Salutatorian of her class of 2021. Just before graduation ceremonies, school officials also named another student Salutatorian who is white.

Justice Grisby, 18, a graduate of Holmes County Central High School in Lexington, Miss., is a witness to the corporal punishment system in the Mississippi school districts. Although she was never paddled during her public school experiences, she was choked by a teacher who took exception to her reaction while he was talking to her.

Ellen Reddy, the Exective Director of the Nollie Jenkins Family Center in Durant, Miss., is a leading opponent of corporal punishment in public schools. Her goal is to abolish the punishment in all of Mississippi schools.

In 2015, Ricky Ball was shot and killed in an alley behind the house in the background by Columbus, Miss. police officer Canyon Boykin who was subsequently charged with manslaughter. Mississippi Attorney General Lyn Fitch dropped those charges in 2020. Ball’s cousin, Ernesto Ball, continues to seek justice for what he and other Black residents believe was an unjustified shooting.

Nsombi Lambright, Executive Director of, One Voice, a voting rights advocacy organization in Jackson, Miss., is working to ease voting restrictions in the state as well as undertaking massive voter registration efforts.

Taylor Turnage, an activist with Black Lives Matter Mississippi, looks forward to positive changes since the retirement of the Mississippi state flag. The Mississippi legislature voted June 29, 2020 to retire the flag with its confederate battle emblem.

Calvert White, an activist with Black Lives Matter Mississippi, looks forward to positive changes since the retirement of the Mississippi state flag. The Mississippi legislature voted June 29, 2020 to retire the flag with its confederate battle emblem.

Timothy Young, an activist with Black Lives Matter Mississippi, looks forward to positive changes since the retirement of the Mississippi state flag. The Mississippi legislature voted June 29, 2020 to retire the flag with its confederate battle emblem.

Carmella Wren-Causey of Gloster, Miss. is one of many residents of the south Mississippi town who say that pollution from the local Drax Biomass plant is making them sick. Drax, which produces wood pellets for the British heating industry was recently fined $2.5 million by the state of Mississippi for releasing more pollution than allowed.

Carmella Wren-Causey of Gloster, Miss. is one of many residents of the south Mississippi town who say that pollution from the local Drax Biomass plant is making them sick. Drax, which produces wood pellets for the British heating industry was recently fined $2.5 million by the state of Mississippi for releasing more pollution than allowed.

Erniko Brown, Regional Partnership Engagement Manager of the Dogwood Alliance in Asheville, N.C., is working with residents of Gloster, Miss. against Drax Biomass, a local production facility that produces wood chips for the British heating market. Residents say the production process is polluting the air and causing health issues. Drax was recently fined $2.5 million by the state of Mississippi for releasing more pollution than allowed.

Jerry White, Presient of the local NAACP in Gloster, Miss. is working with fellow resients of the area against Drax Biomass, a woodchip production plant in the town that produces woodchips for the British heating market. Resdients say that pollution from the plant is making them sick and it was recently fined $2.5 million by the state of Mississippi for releasing more pollution than allowed.