that is something that a lot of people in white america don t understand. yeah, they don t. you know, when the trayvon martin shooting happened and i wrote a piece about the don ts that my mother had to sit down with me in the same way that attorney general holder had to do with his son, a lot of white colleagues were moved by what i had to say and were surprised by what i had to say and a lot of them many of them said to me, it wouldn t even occur to them to have a sitdown with their teenage son or even teenage daughter and tell them things they ka and cannot do in this country or in america. it s not just emmitt till and medgar he have verse, we have patrick doorsman, james door, shawn bell, these are people who have been pictures within the last 10 to 15 years. recent folks who we have to keep
not come in. it was the day that president kennedy pleaded with the nation for a civil rights act. 50 years ago today. and 50 years ago tonight, just after midnight, with the woolworths mob still fresh in the headlines and the reports of the alabama governor in the schoolhouse door and president kennedy making that speech on civil rights, with those reports not yet published in the morning papers, after midnight, 50 years ago, medgar ever was was killed. mr. evers was gunned down in his driveway in jackson, mississippi, when he pulled up to his house after an naacp meeting had run late. they taught their kids to drop to the floor at the sound of gunfire. after they heard the shots that night, hit the floor, they got up and opened the door, there was medgar evers, husband, father, dying. his car keys were still in his hand along with a stack of t-shirts that said jim crow must go. there was no conviction in his murder for another 30 years. medgar evers was never as famous as martin lu
medgar evers decided mississippi was worth staying in when people were leaving. stay in and dying in. it was harder for his family to accept his decision after what happened to him. after his death, they left mississippi, joined the great migration in a sense and stayed away from the state for a long, long time. last year medgar evers widow returned to jackson after decades away. she returned to jackson not just for a visit, but to live and to run the medgar and myrlie evers institute in jackson, mississippi. this week for the 50th anniversary of his death, they unveiled new portraits of the two of them. the young med gar evers who was outlived by his ideas. in the present day, myrlie evers williams who s trying to carry those ideas forward including in the place where her late husband was most determined to see them take hold. sometimes history feels very far away, but sometimes history comes back close enough to touch.
was worth staying in when people were leaving. it was harder for his family to accept his decision after what happened to him. after his death, they left mississippi, joined the great migration in a sense and stayed away from the state for a long, long time. last year medgar evers widow returned to jackson after decades away. she returned to jackson not just for a visit, but to live and to run the medgar and myrlie evers institute in jackson, mississippi. this week for the 50th anniversary of his death, they unveiled new portraits of the two of them. in the present day, myrlie evers williams who s trying to carry those ideas forward including in the place where her late husband was most determined to see them take hold. sometimes history feels very far away, but sometimes history comes back close enough to touch.
mississippi and everyone else who didn t agree with medger. i made a promise, if anything happened to him, that i would see to it that justice prevailed. by night, i was motivated by all of that. by day, i was a smiling, nice person. perhaps i should be on someone s couch. or is that playing the game maybe a little bit? it worked. it did work. we have already established the medgar and myrlie evers institute to embrace the generations. we still aren t talking to each other as we should, i feel. has there been enough change in the last 50 years? has it changed? has there been enough change? no. that s it. we have not moved forward in this country as far as i think we can. with the involvement of more people, i have found too many younger women in particular say i m successful in business and i