“One night, crosses were burned in 64 of 82 Mississippi counties. A warning from the klan.” (John Lewis)
Mississippi Freedom Summer
Lewis next organized the Mississippi Freedom Summer. In 1963, Al Lowenstein and Bob Moses ran a “Freedom Vote” using Black voters and candidates. Lewis was delighted, “The campaign was an incredible success. Hundreds of volunteers, including eighty white students brought down by Al Lowenstein, went door-to-door in black communities to get out the vote.” Due to the success, Lewis and Moses attempted to gain seats at the National Convention by creating an integrated party. Lewis explained, “By going through proper procedures, the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party would then have legal grounds to challenge the party’s claims to its seats at the national convention.” “Our response to this rising tide of alarm in Mississippi was to move our SNCC headquarters there. By June, we had SNCC command centers set up in both Greenwood and Jackson.” (John Lewis) |
“It was hot, tiring, tedious work. Walking door-to-door, canvassing and convincing people to come to class at one of our Freedom schools, to come to the courthouse to register to vote.” (John Lewis) "No sense of celebration"
The danger for volunteers was immense. Lewis was not rattled. During the Freedom Summer, only SNCC and CORE were present. However, efforts paid off. Under two weeks after volunteers arrived, Pres. Johnson passed and signed the Civil Rights bill, outlawing discrimination. Lewis was invited to celebrate but declined. “There was no sense of celebration. We were still in the middle of the war down there.” Lewis’s concern for the movement was impeccable. Concluding the Freedom Summer, 40 freedom schools existed but only 1,200 black voters registered. President Johnson also blocked the MFDP from sitting at the convention. Still, Lewis’s leadership obtained necessary exposure for the cause. |
SNCC’s Mississippi Tally:
“Over a thousand arrests, 80 beatings, 35 shootings, 35 church burnings, 30 bombings.”