The Day I Met the Most Feared Black Man in America This is one of my favorite stories but not because my mother, Civil Rights Hero and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Soror, is talking about me but because it reflects the bonds formed during the Civil Rights Movement amongst those who served. Stokely Carmichael, he later changed his name to Kwame Ture, was a Freedom Rider, the head of SNCC in 1966 and rose to prominence in the Black Panthers and the Black Power Movement. Joan donated a flyer from the Meredith March to the Smithsonians National Museum of African American History and Culture. The flyer is from an event in Canton, MS where Stokely first gave his Black Power speech. Needless to say, the Smithsonian couldnt believe what they were seeing when Joan presented it. While the FBI feared Stokely would become a black nationalist messiah, Joan just knew him as a friend. She likes to say that she introduced Mississippi to Stokely Carmichael when they arrived together on the train from New Orleans to integrate yet another form of transportation during the Freedom Rides. Last night, I attended a NACCP banquet in SLC and a video was played to the song, Lift Every Voice and Sing, with a montage of various black leaders throughout history. Stokelys face appeared and I knew I was probably one of a handful in the room who recognized it. I leaned over to my wife and with a smile said, Thats Stokely.
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 13:43:30 +0000
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