The second annual Medgar Evers banquet was a history-making event. Held June 12 at the Regency Hotel and Conference Center downtown, it featured keynote speaker Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the son of the late U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy; Ross Barnett Jr., son of the late former Gov. Ross Barnett Sr.; and James Meredith, the first African American to enroll in the University of Mississippi (UM).
“This is what Medgar and others fought and died for,” committee chairperson Charles Evers said after asking the gentlemen to stand together for a photo opportunity. We’re living in a different Mississippi than 45 years ago.”
The historical significance is that Meredith met with opposition in his attempts to enroll in UM by protesters and the then Gov. Ross Barnett Sr.
Held in conjunction with the 46th Annual Medgar Evers/B.B. King Homecoming celebration, the banquet was also a fundraiser for the Medgar Evers museum and the first ever Medgar Evers Book Scholarship Awards.
“I’m really happy to be here in Mississippi. I think my father would be really proud about the gathering,” said Kennedy, an environmental attorney and one of Time Magazine’s “Heroes of the Planet” and critically acclaimed author of such works as “Crimes Against Nature.” “Medgar [and people like him] participated in the battles, not as a revolutionary, but as the same as my father: to try to make our country live up to its original ideals… These people like, Martin Luther King Jr., Medgar Evers, James Meredith and Charles Evers are as much American heroes as the soldiers who died on the front lines during the Civil War because they were trying to complete America.”
He shared the fact that his father wrote them (his siblings) a letter instructing them to carry on Medgar Evers’ legacy after hearing that Medgar was slain.
Robert Clark, retired, first black Representative in the Mississippi House since Reconstruction, challenged the diverse audience by saying: “Today, we are here to keep the dream alive. What are we [African Americans] going to do with this new found freedom?”
Robert Walker from the City of Jackson was on hand to greet Kennedy on behalf of Interim Mayor Leslie McLemore. He read a proclamation proclaiming June 12 Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Day in the city of Jackson. Kennedy was also presented a plaque by Charles Evers for his participation and commitment to environmental responsibility.
“Every nation, like every individual, has a darker side and a lighter side. The easiest thing for a politician to do is to appeal to our greed, to our bigotry, to our hatred, to our xenophobia, to our pride,” Kennedy said as he surveyed the audience, “and it’s much more difficult to do what my father tried to do and what Medgar Evers tried to do, which is to get people to bypass their fears, their anger, and their pride.”
In reflecting on his attendance, Barnett, Jr. told The Mississippi Link just before press time that “Comraderie is always good.” “The more we turn to fellowship, the less we return to hatred. I had a wonderful time. I saw a lot of old friends and met a few new ones. I was glad to see Charles Evers looking as good as he did.”
Barnett Jr. is a noted Mississippi attorney with a law practice in Jackson.
Meredith, who came off the road for the occasion, will complete a 200-Mile Walk for the Poor from Tunica, Miss. to Jackson, Sunday, June 21 at 11 a.m. outside of First Baptist Church on State Street.
Editor Gail M. Brown also contributed to this article.
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