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''* '
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It SlM'-SPs
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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.