Freedom Summer

Matthew Amend
Nov 17, 2017
5 min read

On Friday, November 11th, our class began to watch a documentary on Freedom Summer. Below are the points that I found most memorable and interesting. If you notice a hole in the timeline of Freedom Summer that is because either the audio cut out for a minute or two or near the end I became more and more invested in the film, and wrote down less and less. The documentary can be viewed here, or viewed in the embedded video below.

The African Americans of Mississippi were not interested in lunch counter or bus sit ins, they wanted to vote
"I don't think [the volunteers] realized how violent Mississippi was"
Mississippi Summer Project - college students moved to Mississippi for the summer to help with the voting and civil rights act
Many applicants were turned down - looked for people who had it as together as possible
If you crack Mississippi, you crack the whole south
"If you see white people walking down the sidewalk especially if it’s a man, step aside and drop your head – if not you might get beat"
Mississippi was an island of resistance
Blacks made up 50 – 80 percent of the population
White people thought black people would take over if they were allowed to vote
No KKK but they didn’t need one
Citizens Counsel ran the state of missisipi – powerful white men – succeeded in preventing all black people from voting, if you tried you would get hurt
Bob Moses – calm courage – challenged whites – went by himself
Student Nonviolent Coordination Committee
SNCC – young and foolish, not brave, didn’t understand risk
There were black Mississippians who did know the risk – and risked it all
The power is in the vote
Organize communities to take control of their own lives
Go out in the community, knock on doors, talk to people
Tell them to register and vote, they could vote in a sheriff, could end the intimidation
The problem was fear, not a lot of people would try to vote
Very few of the people who would try would succeed
Registrar had control over who could vote and who couldn’t
People with PHD’s and Masters degrees that couldn’t pass the test
In some counties when people would try to register their names would appear in the paper, family could get hurt, could lose their job, wasn’t just that you would get turned away
Fannie Lou Hamer SNCC – ability to move people - a new spirit to the movement
Black woman challenging the movement – keep fighting – freedom is not free
As SNCC became more active – more registration
After attempting to vote, you could lose your homes, your land, your businesses
Shut down reserve food, led to starving African Americans during an especially bad winter
No money, no food, no clothing
Gregory - Big time comedian flies in with food on his own chartered jet
Its possible to make the country pay attention to Mississippi
American people only see what’s on tv
Missisipi summer project evolves from this
Organizers in Mississippi were opposed to freedom summer, bringing in 1000 students
People in the movement were willing to die but did not want to die in vain
Fannie Lou Hamer– people coming from the outside is a good thing
Once the decision was made – what is the project going to do
3 parts - Door to door asking people to register, Freedom schools – teaches things that weren’t taught in black schools, formation of the Mississippi democratic party – challenge all white delegation
White Mississippians were militantly prepared - New ordinances passed to prevent protest, searchlight trucks, armored tank with machine guns, caged buses
In 1964 the clan starts to rise in Mississippi
“Resist nigger communism invasion” – KKK
Debate is had about is it responsible to bring all the kids into the state
Naïve about how violent Mississippi is
Black SNCC members were hesitant to trust the white students
Meeting for hours broke the tension, were all in this together, were going to do this together
At the end of the first week – people at a church had been beaten badly and the church was burned down
3 workers who had been at the orientation have disappeared
False idea that they were safe because they were white disappeared, Mississippians would kill all of us, white or black
Was important for white volunteers to assimilate with black community who would house and harbor them
Volunteers were spread all over the stat, all towns and counties
They became the closest thing to a part of the black community as anyone could be
Black people who harbored the volunteers put at real risk during and after the volunteers left at the end of the summer
Black children intentionally made ignorant by the state - Freedom Schools helped to remedy this
Mas flyers to educate people about the freedom schools
Black people couldn’t go the library – so they made their own library
African American history, civics, culture, dance, books written by blacks were all taught
Adults came to freedom school to learn just like children
Freedom summer gave courage and hope
Coming to register blacks to vote was threat politically
Mindset of the state of Mississippi – if the whites stick together there is no force in this country that will force segregation to be ended
In the south you were expected to live a certain way – you didn’t step outside the bubble
Parents of Ms. Mississippi invited white volunteers for dinner
Their dog was killed, the father lost his job, the mother was shunned
Whites in so much hysteria that they turned on their friends
"I saw in Mississippi a white population that I had never imagined existed – the vile, the hatred that was in their eyes – it scared me"
Volunteers were terrified, wondered if they could make it through the next day, expected a bullet to hit you
One of the most violent periods - over 1000 arrests were made, 65 buildings were burned or bombed, 35 of which were churches, and there were 100 or so beatings all over Mississippi
If you were in trouble there was no one to go to help, the police were the trouble - there was no one to appeal to
Many were too scared to register – genuine fears, kids, home, job
The danger was real and always in the back of your mind
Bodies of Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, and James Chaney are discovered
"If the white man was not with them then it this would not even be a story"
Dave Dennis’ Speech at James Chaney's funeral – turning point in the movement
Tenacity shown by the people and volunteers, movement began to grow
When you’re in a mass meting there’s a feeling of safety and strength – you believe that you can change things, fear begins to subside
Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party – need to sign people up, going to challenge Whites at DNC
Students helped get people registered and registered thousands - it was a simple form and it was confidential
Delegates came from all over the state and traveled to Atlantic City
Boardwalk demonstration and protests took place, had huge national support
President Lyndan Johnson tried to stop the Freedom Movement, he could not handle it
Fannie Lou Hamer – The President tried to stop her testimony with an impromptu conference which backfired, news played her testimony for nights on end
Lyndan Johnson did everything he could do shut it down
Mississippi Democratic Freedom Party offered a compromise, which they deny
President rigged election against their party
SNCC/MFDC return to Mississippi with passion
Eventually leads to the Voting Rights Act of 1965
Today there are more black officials elected in Mississippi than anywhere else