Community to celebrate James Meredith’s 93rd birthday June 4
By Roslind McCoy Sibley, MD
Special to the Jackson Advocate
Sixty years ago, Tougaloo College and about half the City of Jackson welcomed James Meredith (born June 25, 1933) and the thousands he inspired. On June 4, 2026, at 2 p.m., a gathering will celebrate the civil rights icon’s 93rd birthday in commemoration of the Walk Against Fear June 5-26, 1966.
The birthday extravaganza will be held at the Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center, 528 Bloom St., in the thriving section of the Farish St. Historic District of Jackson. Like Jackson State University and Tougaloo College, it is a safe haven for freedom of speech, a most essential tenet of democracy.
James Meredith’s Walk from Memphis to Jackson turned into a March, then a Movement. The catalyst – a potentially fatal shooting by a white man. Four years earlier, Meredith became hated by segregationists when he won the right to attend the University of Mississippi. For reasons not fully understood, there has been a relative lack of attention given to the James Meredith Walk/March Against Fear.
The community is invited to help shine a light on this forgotten Black American History…
• Reflect upon not just what the Meredith March did for Tougaloo and Jackson, but what Tougaloo and Jackson did for the Meredith March.
• Reconnect with the community who lived it.
• Remember 3 “L’s” – largest, longest, and last.
After the March on Washington, the Meredith March was the second largest in the Civil Rights Movement. It was the longest – in distance and duration. It was the last, major protest of the era.
Time permitting, other Mississippi Civil Rights Movement anniversaries which deserve honorable mention will include: the 60th Anniversary of the murder of Mr. Vernon Dahmer, the 65th Anniversary of the Tougaloo 9, and the 65th Anniversary of the first Freedom Riders in Jackson. Mr. Dahmer, NAACP leader in Hattiesburg, heroically saved his family, defending against armed, KKK mobsters, who burned their home to the ground. This year also represents the 60th Anniversary of the inauguration of President George Owens of Tougaloo College.
Share your memories as distinguished panelists reacquaint attendees with little known facts regarding the transition from segregation in the Deep South.
Only a decade ago, these events seemed to be a thing of the past. Now, there is a shocking degree of relevance. People are searching for, and examining, lessons from the past, and asking, “What can we do to help save our freedom and our democracy?”
