Medgar Evers was a civil rights activist from Mississippi. He worked on a boycott of discriminatory gas stations (Don't Buy Gas Where You Can't Use the Restroom) and other white businesses in an effort to end segregation at the University of Mississippi.
The University of Mississippi was forced to enroll a black student in 1962. A subsequent riot left two people dead and Evers became a target of white supremacists. Evers work researching the murder of Emmitt Till (a 14 year old African American kid who was accused of flirting with a white woman) made him an even larger target. Evers house was fire-bombed, he was nearly the victim of a hit-and-run, and was eventually shot and killed in 1963.
Mississippi Goddam was written by Nina Simone in 1964. It's fantastic. Don't go slow when you're trying to change the world. Run.
