A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Today would have been Medgar Evers' 100th birthday. The civil rights leader from Mississippi, slain at the age of 37, is remembered with tributes to his legacy. From Mississippi Public Broadcasting, here's Shamira Muhammad.
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UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST: (Singing) Happy birthday to you.
SHAMIRA MUHAMMAD, BYLINE: Veteran civil rights activists, students and the family of civil rights icon Medgar Wiley Evers came to the Jackson Convention Complex this weekend to commemorate his 100th birthday. Reena Evers-Everette is his only daughter.
REENA EVERS-EVERETTE: It's tough. Growing up, I've been asked before, do you remember? I mean, I was 8 1/2 when my father was assassinated. You remember a lot at 8 1/2.
MUHAMMAD: A World War II veteran, Evers returned to a home state punctuated by Jim Crow laws. In 1954, he became the first NAACP field secretary in Mississippi. He helped register Black voters and led efforts to investigate the murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till in Drew, Mississippi, in 1955. Civil rights activist David Dennis recalls leaving a meeting with Evers on June 12, 1963.
DAVID DENNIS: I remember the last thing I said to him. I told him, Medgar, I'm not going with you and getting in that car with you 'cause somebody can get killed getting in that car with you. And we laughed and we hugged - I'll see you tomorrow. One hour later, and I got a call.
MUHAMMAD: Evers was shot in the back and killed by a white segregationist. Evers was only 37. His death is credited with helping pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act. At one event, Howard University Professor Nikole Hannah-Jones, who authored the much-debated 1619 Project, told civil rights veterans their fight can serve as a guide in the current political climate.
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NIKOLE HANNAH-JONES: I know it feels very dark. It is, but we have power. I can't imagine, when y'all began, that you thought you could actually topple racial apartheid in the United States, and yet you did.
MUHAMMAD: For 20-year-old Joycelynn McCoy, hearing from civil rights veterans gave her pause.
JOYCELYNN MCCOY: I think a lot of the same evils and prejudices that Medgar and his constituents had to deal with are unfortunately recirculating. And so there is the opportunity, of course, to use the history books as a playbook, in a sense.
MUHAMMAD: Event organizers say they hope the 100-year birthday celebrations do more than just underscore Medgar Evers' contributions to the civil rights movement.
For NPR News, I'm Shamira Muhammad in Jackson, Mississippi.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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