By Christopher Young,
Contributing Writer,
A press conference was held on the second-floor rotunda of the Mississippi Capitol Friday, August 28, 2026, at high noon. At its core was the naming of the Mississippi version of National Voter Registration Day – September 15, 2026 – for our very own living legend, Dr. Flonzie Brown-Wright. Brown-Wright is known the world over for her courage and determination as a civil rights activist and voting rights activist. She is a highly respected educator and author, who at fourscore and four, shows no signs of slowing down. In 1968, she became the first African American woman elected to public office in Mississippi since Reconstruction when she was elected as Election Commissioner in Madison County. She was accompanied her son, Lloyd Goodloe and her niece Vanessa Edmond.
State Representative Justice Robert Gibbs (D-72) served as moderator for the event. The revered Pastor of New Hope Baptist Church, Dr. Jerry Young, provided a powerful opening prayer with a special focus on the responsibility to vote and the need for selfless elected officials. Brown-Wright’s niece, Vanessa Edmond, shared “today is a day to honor a legacy…a Mississippi civil rights pioneer….honor the legacy, register the future…Flonzie Brown Goodloe Wright inspires me to move beyond words, and to see her legacy continue while she is here, and receive her flowers while she is on this earth, makes a difference in all of our lives.”
The Call to Action was provided by Pauline Rogers, Co-Founder of the RECH (Reaching and Educating for Community Hope) Organization. “To me today is about honor. When you don’t honor you lead with dishonor. We have dishonorable leadership all across this country…today we name this states voter registration day in honor of Dr. Flonzie Brown-Wright. It will be a day of honor every year and it will be about education and registration leading to participation. If you can’t honor the person, you can’t honor the purpose. If you’re honoring what voting is, what it stands for, and the price that has been paid for it, you cannot honor going to the polls and checking a box. We’re trying to take you back to a place of honor that was dropped in our spirits years ago. We memorialize too much. Legacy is for the living, and we are glad that she is still here. We are putting purpose behind the name, acknowledging the sacrifices she made, the barriers she confronted, the doors she walked though, and the responsibility and the sacrifice…she carried the weight of voting in this state…today this gives worthy credit…honor must become action, honor is carried forward.”
Gibbs reminded the audience that “Dr. Brown Wright helped thousands of Mississippians to register to vote. She moved Mississippi forward…she ensured that generations received greater opportunities.” State Senator Kamesha Mumford (D-26) shared that the very first time she heard the name of Flonzie Brown she was in the fourth grade at Holy Child Jesus School in Canton, and her teacher, Mrs. Starling, told the class that when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was coming to Canton he called Flonzie Brown and asked her to arrange for housing and food for 3,000 people. Even as a fourth grader I knew that was a big deal, not like some after church potluck, and in true Flonzie Brown fashion, she gave a resounding yes. Her yes is now part of history.” She spoke about the relationship between fear and courage, the terror that was going on in 1966, and the importance of remembering the people who fought so that people like her could one day have a seat at the table of democracy.
State Representative Tamarra Grace Butler-Washington (D-69) gave remarks focused on the right to vote and the price that was paid to obtain that right. She honored Brown-Wright for her courage, persistence, and reinforcing that our voices matter. She spoke about the appropriateness of Mississippi’s Voter Registration Day being named in her honor, a day that will be celebrated for the power of civic participation.
Mississippi’s Director for The Southern Poverty Law Center, Waikinya Clanton, came next and drew attention to the importance of dates, and focused on August 28th. Emmitt Till was abducted and brutally murdered on August 28, 1955. Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his I Have a Dream speech on August 28, 1963. And in 1968, Dr. Flonzie Brown-Wright was elected to public office as Beat 1 Election Commissioner in Madison County. “Her’s is a legacy of courage, sacrifice, and participation…”
Prior to concluding the press conference, Gibbs gave thanks to the family of Brown-Wright. He provided a closing prayer asking for strength as we try to move our state forward. Lloyd Goodloe presented a proclamation from Jackson Mayor John Horhn to his mother. Dr. Brown-Wright gave thanks for the event and all the attendees before leaning in hard. “No matter what goes on at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, I am not going back.” She spoke very briefly about the importance of voting, and encouraged voter participation in a way we don’t often hear. “Go for your ancestors who couldn’t vote.”
An excellent article about Dr. Brown-Wright’s life can be found at https://voicesofthecivilrightsmovement.com/articles/voting-rights.
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