Remembering Henry J. Kirksey, a genuine but almost forgotten advocate for Black Mississippi

Admittedly, we are now doing a better job in remembering and honoring Black Mississippi heroes. Increasingly, people are informed on the lives of individuals such as Medgar Evers, Fannie Lou Hamer, Aaron Henry, and Ida B. Wells. There is even more information being shared about Dr. Gilbert Mason who led the “wade-ins” on the Gulf Coast and Dr. T.R.M. Howard, who helped investigate the lynching of Emmett Till and housed Till’s mother and Black supporters during that time. 

Twenty years after his death (December 9, 2005), however, there is very little public discussion of the life and works of one of Black Mississippi’s most genuine and effective civil rights advocates, Henry J. Kirksey. Many are not aware of who he was and what he did for this state. There are others, including his detractors, who simply do not discuss this man who was a giant among giants when it came to the political face of this state.

 What the historical record reveals is that Henry Kirksey was not just a plaintiff in court cases resulting in a massive increase in the number of Black elected officials across the state. He was the major instigator in most of the cases. 

(1) He drew the re-apportionment lines and argued for a majority Black congressional district among the five that existed. As a result, Mississippians elected the first Black Congressperson from Mississippi since Reconstruction, Mike Espy. He was followed in that position by Bennie Thompson. 

(2) Kirksey argued for and helped draw the re-apportionment lines that enabled not one but 12 Black people to be elected to the state Senate and 38 to the state House. This was in contrast to Robert Clark being the lone Black in the state legislature just a few years earlier. 

(3) He put in similar work to increase the number of Black persons elected as county supervisors and as judges around the state. Those results make it clear that Henry Kirksey and that battery of plaintiffs and lawyers enabled virtually every Black elected official serving today to have been elected. 

(4) Kirksey served as an expert witness in cases changing the manner in which municipal officials are elected. That change now means hundreds of Black Mississippi officials could be and are today elected in their respective municipal localities. 

(5) Finally, Kirksey helped lead the change from the city of Jackson having an all-white, three-person city commission government to one that has a Black mayor and five of seven councilpersons being Black. 

There is simply no other single individual having directly spearheaded as much governmental change. Those accomplishments alone are more than enough reasons for Mississippians to remember Kirksey. 

The above noted examples of his work however, are merely the high-profile battles leading to victory. Beyond those he stood with Mrs. Gladys Noel Bates as her family suffered retaliation for suing the state to get equal pay for Black teachers. He collected and assembled the data showing the disparate funding of the segregated, Black schools in every district, leading to the court decision in Alexander vs. Holmes. 

Kirksey also protested vigorously against the bill establishing the Mississippi Adequate Educate Program because he said it would permanently install an inadequately funded system. He loudly protested the demand that Jackson State University faculty and staff be assessed to pay for missing inventory identified by State Auditor Phil Bryant. He long railed against the construction of what was originally dubbed the Jackson State University Parkway because it served no good, genuine purpose, but would destroy a historical Black neighborhood, making the area more appealing for white persons to move in and eventually take control of the university.  

As amazing as it may seem and as impactful as it was, those actions represent a significant part of who Kirksey was as a person. He was so creative until his mind naturally moved from one situation, condition, or challenge facing Black and working class people to another, offering proposals in addition to the necessary protesting. He was independent. If the matter involved preserving the essence of the struggle as he saw it, he would take a political position when standing alone or when having the support of established groups. He was determined and never backed away from a difficult political fight, no matter the odds stacked against him.

For all of these reasons, we ask this community to remember Henry Kirksey. The three-mile stretch on I-220 and the one Jackson middle school may be praise worthy, but are not enough. We need to remember him in the school and college curricula, on the public radio and television agenda, in our churches, and in the social institutions and organizations. The January 2006 memorial held for him must not be the last expression of how we remember him. Henry Kirksey can best be remembered and appreciated through our adoption of his spirit as we struggle and advocate for people who are disadvantaged, as he did. They are still here and still in need of genuine advocates.