James Meredith
OLE MISS INTEGRATOR AND MARCH AGAINST FEAR CREATOR
EARLY LIFE
INTEGRATING OLE MISS
UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI
On May 31, 1961, Meredith with backing of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund filed suit in the U.S. District Court, stating that the university had rejected Meredith only because of the color of his skin, as he had a highly successful record. The case went through many hearings and finally to the Supreme Court, which ruled that Meredith had the right to be admitted to the state school.
Although he was allowed admission, the governor of Mississippi didn't allow him to enter the school. With the help of the Kennedy Administration, he was walked on campus supported by some U.S. Marshall. A riot opened, killing two people. Later on, Meredith graduated from the college in political science to move on to do bigger and better things within the Civil Rights and the black community.
MARCH AGAINST FEAR
During this march, he was shot by Aubrey James Norvell, a extreme racist. Meredith recovered from the shooting, later to rejoin the march that had been taken over by Martin Luther King Jr, and Stokely Carmichael. The influence behind this march is what lead to Stokely Carmichael creating his slogan, and a slogan for the black community, Black Power.