Today marked 60 years after venerable civil rights activist Medgar Evers was killed outside his home — a devastating loss that impacted the movement for generations.
The legacy of Evers, supported by his widow Myrlie Evers-Williams over the past six decades, was honored at Shady Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Jackson, Mississippi on Sunday.
Last week, Evers-Williams also unveiled the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument in Mississippi, which is now part of the National Park System.
Evers was the first field secretary of the Mississippi NAACP, and led investigations into brutal acts of violence perpetuated by Whites in the segregated South. Evers, backed by his wife Myrlie, was also tasked with helping Blacks register to vote and organizing demonstrations.
Evers was assassinated by a White supremacist who fatally shot the civil rights activist outside of his home in Jackson on the night of June 12, 1963. The killing of Evers sent shockwaves through the civil rights movement, and forever changed Evers-Williams.
Evers-Williams later became the first woman to lead the NAACP after he husband’s death, and continues to honor the legacy of the slain civil rights activist.
More about the life of Evers and the new monument honoring his legacy can be found here.
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