lune 19, 2013 jfJortlanò (Observer A Civil Rights Leader in her Own Right Medgar Evers’ widow works to preserve his legacy (AP) - Myrlie Evers-Williams acknowledges it would be easy to remain mired in bitterness and an ger, 50 years after a sniper’s bullet made her a widow. Instead, she’s determined to cel ebrate the legacy of her first hus band, Medgar Evers— a civil rights figure often overshadowed by peers such as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Events including a black-tie gala were held this month to remember Evers, the first Mississippi field secretary of the NAACP. He was 37 when he was assassinated on June 12,1963. “We are cursed as human beings with this element that’s called ha tred, prejudice and racism,” said Evers-Williams, now 80. “But it is my belief that, as it was M edgar’s, that there is something good and decent in each and every one of us, and we have to call on that, and we have to find a way to work together.” Evers-Willliams, who lived in Bend, Ore., for several years before moving back to Mississippi in 2012, is treated with reverence by strang ers who recognize her these days. rormer rresioent bill Clinton sits next to Myrlie Evers-Williams, the widow of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers, during the 50th anniversary remembrance of his death at Arlington National Cem etery in Arlington, Va. She recently went to downtown you,” said Ron Walker, former mayor Jackson’s King Edward Hotel to of the tiny town of Taylorsville. meet reporters for an interview— a Evers-Williams smiled cautiously, hotel, she notes, that was off limits then beamed, as W alker said he be to black people decades ago. As lieves she and Medgar Evers had she waited for her coffee, a white made Mississippi a better, more open man approached to shake her hand society. and ask if she’d pose for a photo. Evers-Williams gave the invoca “I’ve always wanted to meet tion at President Barack Obam a’s inauguration in January, and met with the president June 5 at the White House. A ceremony of re membrance was held June 6 at Evers’ gravesite in Arlington National Cemetery, attended by former Presi dent Bill Clinton and Attorney Gen eral Eric Holder. M yrlie. Beasley and M edgar Evers met as students in 1950 at Alcorn College, a historically black school in rural southwest M issis sippi. He was from Decatur, Miss., and served in the Army during World W ar II before becoming a star foot ball player for the school. Nearly eight years his junior, she was a talented pianist raised by a protec tive grandmother in Vicksburg. The couple married in 1951. In 1954, Evers applied to the all- white University of Mississippi Law School. After he was rejected, he sought the NAACP’s help to file a lawsuit. Instead, the organization hired him to coordinate its work in stubbornly segregationist Missis sippi. Evers spent years investigat ing violence against black people, including the 1955 killing of 14- year-old Em m ett Till. He helped Jam es M eredith gain adm ission as the first black student at the U niversity of M ississippi in 1962. Evers pushed for black voter reg istration, drew young people into the civil rights m ovem ent and, in the final m onths o f his life, led a b o y co tt o f w hite-ow ned b u si nesses in dow ntow n Jackson. Two weeks before his death, Evers helped coordinate a sit-in at an all-white lunch counter. That night, someone tossed a.firebomb at his house. It was extinguished, but the warning clear. Minority Business Growth Honored Skanska Construction Company of the Year V P l''* ' ASÍ-» It SlM'-SPs F Koi"P»"V T he O regon A sso ciatio n o f M inority E ntrepreneurs recently p resen ted the O regon office o f S k a n sk a U SA w ith the C o n stru ctio n Industry A w ard at its 2 5 th a n n u a l c o n fe re n c e and trade show luncheon. T he aw ard is a y early honor given to the agency that best ex em p lified O A M E 's m ission to p rom ote and d evelop e n tre p re n eu rsh ip and econom ic d ev el o p m en t for e th n ic m in o ritie s thereby reducing racism and d is Mel Jones (center) and Jorge Guerra (left) o f Skanska USA, accept a construction industry award crim in ation. from the Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs and the group's longtime leader Sam Brooks. “It is an h o n o r to be recog- m zed fo r so m eth in g th at is rm jo r p art o f o u r ap p ro ach to busi n e ss,” said S k a n s k a ’s N orth w e st d iv e rs ity m a n a g e r Me Jones. “W e b eliev e partnership w ith m in o rity -o w n ed , wom an o w n e d , d i s a d v a n t a g e d am em erg in g sm all b u sin esses hel] m ak e o u r sta te stro n g e r am help lead to a truly sustainabh O regon eco n o m y .” T he O A M E tradeshow hostet m ore than 128 sm all and large b u sin e sse s, state, co u n ty ant fed eral g o v e rn m e n t ag en cies and business dev elo p m en t re s o u r c e s to h e lp m in o r ity wom en and em erging small busi nesses grow . The event is designed for pur chasers and buyers from public and private agencies and business developm ent resources to help m inority, wom en and emerging small businesses grow.