KEYNOTE SPEAKER:

Mrs. Myrlie Evers-Williams, Civil Rights Activist

Former Chairperson of N.A.A.C.P.

For more than three decades, Evers-Williams has fought to carry on the legacy of her husband, murdered civil rights activist Medgar Evers. She has become a symbol of courage and perseverance, steadfast in her march
towards social justice.

Starting in 1954, Evers-Williams worked full-time as field secretary for the NAACP in Mississippi and in that capacity played a significant role in advancing the civil rights cause. During the next nine years, She and her husband, Medgar Evers, led other blacks in challenging racial segregation and discrimination in what was generally considered one of the most racist states in the nation. In June 1963, Medgar Evers was shot and killed as he entered his Jackson home. His murder brought national attention to the evils of racism in the South, particularly in Mississippi. Two hung juries left the accused gunman, white supremacist Byron De la Beckwith, a free man. However, Evers-Williams continued to work to keep her husband's memory and dreams alive and to bring his killer to justice. In 1967, she co-authored a book with William Peters about her husband, titled, “For Us, the Living”.

She remained active in civil rights work and politics and continued to make appearances on behalf of the NAACP. All the while she continued to fight to bring her husband’s killer to justice. Her persistence paid off in 1994 when Beckwith was brought to trial for a third time and was found guilty, more than 30 years after the crime. In early 1998, Evers-Williams started the Medgar Evers Institute to promote education, training and economic
development. In 1999, she published her memoirs, “Watch Me Fly, What I Learned on the Way to Becoming the Woman I Was Meant to Be”.

Sponsored by the Division of Student Success, Office of Multicultural Student Success, in cooperation with the Office of the President, Student Association & University Auxiliary Services (UAS).