I’d spent four years as a student at this historically Black university, and though I had heard of this building, I’m embarrassed to admit I had never visited it. On the first day, we visited the historic Council of Federated Organizations Civil Rights Education Center on the campus of Jackson State. We visited the home of Medgar Evers, a civil rights activist and the NAACP’s first field secretary in Mississippi, where he was eventually murdered in 1963.īut some experiences were exceptionally moving. We met Hezekiah Watkins, the youngest Freedom Rider, who was arrested and put on death row at age 13 because his friend jokingly pushed him into this bus station’s ‘Whites Only’ entrance. When he saw me, he greeted me with a hug and a hearty “Welcome home!” That is exactly how I felt.Įach experience on this trip was powerful, from visiting the Mississippi Civil Rights and the Smith Robertson Museums, to the walking tours of historical sites like the Greyhound Bus Station in downtown Jackson where 27 Freedom Riders were arrested for protesting segregated bus stations. Robby Luckett, an associate professor in Jackson State’s Department of History and the director of the Margaret Walker Center, served as our guide. Even after spending four years as an undergraduate at Jackson State, this trip made me realize how much more I had to learn about the city of Jackson-including its rich history and culture, and the legacy of those who fought and continue to fight for the community and the Civil Rights Movement as a whole.ĭr. While the Kent State shooting was shared widely on news outlets across the nation, the story of the Jackson State shooting was pushed to the media background.Īs an alumna of both Jackson State and Kent State, this alternative winter break was a mind-altering and enlightening, yet heavy experience.

These tragedies happened within days of each other. In May 1970, both Kent State University and Jackson State University experienced a campus shooting that killed students.

Never look back by al jackson