Medgar & Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story that Awakened America

“The fundamental argument of this book is that Medgar’s activism, from his role in investigating the Emmett Till lynching and other racist murders of Black Mississippians to the boycott movement he orchestrated in Jackson, was the foundation upon which the later efforts by SNCC, CORE, and other organizations were built.”

As a historical account, Reid’s book aims to contribute to the literature on the civil rights movement by demonstrating Evers’s significance as a civil rights activist. While Evers’s work has been obscured in the historical memory, Reid argues that his grassroots activism defined the civil rights movement’s strategies and trajectory. Throughout the book, she highlights how Evers led the movement in the South; even his assassination was the first of a major civil rights leader.

“He was an American, who had seen more of the world than the vast majority of white Americans. He was a World War II veteran and a human being. Yet the moment he returned to Mississippi he was nothing but a n*****.”

The experience of Black veterans was key in the emergence of the modern civil rights movement. As Reid illustrates, Black men’s military service in World War II contributed to their understanding of their dehumanization. In Europe, Evers was treated like a human being; moreover, the atrocities he witnessed during the war highlighted the contradictions of America, as Black people were fighting for freedom abroad while oppressed and disenfranchised at home. Reid’s use of the n-word to describe the culture shock that Evers experienced upon returning home highlights how jarring this disjunction was.

“Slavery in Mississippi and throughout the South had been characterized by forced breeding and relentless sexual violence. Yet the sons and grandsons of the men who built that system, and who fought to defend it during the Civil War, built their postbellum Southern culture around the constant fear that Black men were fixated on raping white women. And even though the South’s defeat at the war’s end failed to stop the raping of Black women, these sons and grandsons of enslavers invented a palliative for their fears: lynching.”

The above passage highlights the persistence of white-supremacist violence and terrorism after the abolition of enslavement. Reid stresses that while white men were the main instigators of sexual violence (specifically, against Black women), the Jim Crow system projected their actions and anxieties onto Black men via the practice of lynching. Ultimately, the Jim Crow system perpetuated the subordination of all Black people. However, Reid’s attention to the gender dynamics of racist oppression remains a throughline of the work.

“BLACKS IN THE SOUTH WERE KEPT FROM THE BALLOT THROUGH A mix of trickery and terrorism—a crucial means of maintaining the status quo. Lynchings often targeted those who expressed a desire to vote. White newspapers published lists of Blacks who appeared before a voter registrar or who became members of the NAACP. Being on those lists could mean getting fired by your white employer, being evicted from your tenant farm, or even having the bank foreclose on your home.”

A key form of racist oppression in the South was depriving Black Americans of their voting rights. Since the vote was a powerful tool for social change, the white Southern community employed violent means to keep Black people from utilizing it. During the civil rights movement, intimidation against activists who registered Black Americans to vote persisted as a form of backlash.

“Myrlie knew that whatever Mama’s house lacked in resources, the love made up for it.”

Reid highlights the significance of love again, stressing that Williams grew up in a struggling but loving household led by women. The love that she received from the women in her life reinforced her resilience and endurance amid adversity. As such, love defined Williams’s life choices and served as a source of empowerment.

“Medgar may have learned to fight the Mississippi system at every turn, but Myrlie was taught to withstand it.”

The above passage stresses that Evers and Williams both developed skills in fighting racism. Developing the theme of The Crucial Role of Black Women in the Civil Rights Struggle, Reid highlights that as a Black woman, Williams developed a less overtly confrontational but no less powerful form of resistance to racist oppression. These abilities would guide her own path as an activist and reinforce her determination to pursue social justice.

“Myrlie had experienced Medgar’s keen interest in the nationalist movements in Africa since the day they met. He had mused that maybe revolution was the way Blacks in America could free themselves from the persistent wickedness and calcified structure of white supremacy. Perhaps the sons and daughters of slaves should stop asking politely and take up the rifle.”

This passage illustrates Ever’s political ideology as an activist and indicates that ideas of Black nationalism, self-determination, and independence were part of the civil rights movement well before the 1970s. Evers was influenced by decolonization movements in Africa, and dismantling white supremacy was his key goal. However, throughout most of his life, Evers encouraged interracial cooperation instead of separatism.

“Their conversations stretched long into the nights as Darrell and infant Reena slept, and Myrlie later wrote that she learned more about her mother than she’d ever known. M’dear’s stories brought into sharp relief the ravages and dangers of being a Black girl and woman in a society built on the bedrock of slavery, a world in which the men in your life—your father, your brothers, and your husband—had no power to protect you from the whims of predatory white men, from violence or rape, or from daily humiliation.”

Realizing Black women’s historical struggles under racism reinforced Williams’s determination to support Evers’s activism. While navigating their marital crisis amid Evers’s relentless work and the constant intimidation of their family, Williams understood that the civil rights struggle was a quest for human rights. Despite her terror, Williams understood that her active participation in the movement was crucial.

“Medgar began the painstaking work of convincing terrorized Blacks in the Delta not only to come forward and tell what they knew but also to testify in the upcoming trial. Few Blacks in the Delta dared to speak of the Till lynching above a whisper. The fear was palpable. Medgar displayed a public patience and calm that belied his stress.”

The above passage illustrates Evers’s grassroots activism and his key role in the investigation of Emmett Till’s murder, developing the theme of The Impact of Grassroots Activism on the Civil Rights Movement. While he was a field officer in the NAACP, Evers defied the legal and systemic tactics used to oppress the Black population and sought to mobilize the terrorized Black community in Mississippi to demand justice and change. His ability to manage his personal distress demonstrated his leadership skills as an activist.

“This growing movement was built on the direct action that belied the staid legal tactics of the NAACP. Increasingly, Medgar, just thirty-one years old, was siding with the impatient youth.”

This passage indicates the internal conflicts within civil rights organizations about the effectiveness of various strategies and tactics. Evers’s emphasis on direct action rather than systemic pathways to justice drove his conflict with other NAACP officials. His support of young activists—i.e., the next generation—suggests his influence on later developments within the civil rights struggle.

“Even with her new domestic role, Myrlie’s car gave her the freedom she craved and helped to solidify her relationships with some of her still-reticent neighbors.”

Reid emphasizes Williams’s contributions to the civil rights struggle and Evers’s grassroots activism. Her “domestic role” as a wife and mother did not limit her agency. While Evers endeavored to galvanize Black people, Williams worked on community building, advancing organizing efforts toward the shared goal of equality.

“Myrlie had made every accommodation for Medgar’s civil rights mission. She was his cook, his unpaid secretary, and his speech editor, and her station wagon sometimes became a part-time shuttle, carrying not just schoolkids from the block but also NAACP officials from the airport to the house and back.”

Reid further analyzes how Williams’s contributions extended beyond the domestic sphere, practically supporting Evers’s work in the NAACP by reinforcing both familial and communal bonds. However, her active participation did not assuage her terror over the risks that Evers was taking.

“To Medgar, it was important that Mississippians stand up and fight for themselves, without relying on a movement traveling into their state. While he fully supported the goals of the Freedom Rides, he felt strongly that as had happened in Montgomery, the courage of Mississippians needed to be at the forefront of the movement in their state.”

This passage demonstrates Evers’s full commitment to the civil rights movement, as he supported the struggle on all levels. Evers also manifested a radical approach to activism, evident in his support of self-determination for the Black community and direct-action demonstrations. His defiance of official strategies created a chasm between him and the NAACP.

“He would explain the horrors of slavery: the families who were separated and the horrors of the slave markets. And he would explain lies white men told themselves about Black inferiority and their own superiority. And he emphasized that these were lies. He wanted his children to fully understand that racism and discrimination were wrong and that they had as much right to grow up to achieve their dreams, to vote, and to live and be what they wanted to as any white child in Mississippi.”

Despite his engagement in the civil rights struggle, Evers was present as a father and devoted quality time to his children. Indeed, Reid suggests that, much as they were for Williams, the domestic and political were complementary for Evers, who instructed his children in the horrors of racism and instilled in them the necessity of fighting injustice. Simultaneously, he reinforced their sense of humanity and self by stressing that racism is a social construct.

“Medgar saw an opportunity. Unlike filing a desegregation petition, marching in a protest, or even signing up for an NAACP membership, boycotting was something anyone could do, risk free. Not every Black Mississippian was willing to risk their lives or economic well-being by walking into a courthouse to try to register to vote, but if they simply refused to buy a new dress or a new pair of shoes from the segregated shops in downtown Jackson, they would be taking a small but meaningful psychological step towards becoming freedom fighters.”

Evers persisted in grassroots activism practices to counter the terror directed against Black communities in Mississippi. This passage demonstrates that direct-action protests were effective and liberating for Black people, particularly when compared to legal battles, which ran up against systemic racism within the judicial system. It thus vindicates Evers’s emphasis on the former.

“Mississippi was in the throes of a terror campaign against anyone involved in the struggle for integration and civil rights. The NAACP had officially appealed to the Justice Department, asking for federal protection for Medgar and Henry, but according to Charles Evers, ‘the Justice Department hardly lifted a finger.’ Myrlie watched as Medgar’s impatience, frustration, and exhaustion grew and his talk became more fatalistic.”

As the civil rights movement’s achievements grew, the backlash against activists intensified, indicating white Americans’ resistance to social change. The constant threats against his life combined with his conflict with the NAACP exhausted Evers. Reid even suggests that Evers had a premonition of his assassination as his optimism about the movement waned.

“No one who knew Medgar believed he had a martyr complex. Far from it. His friends insisted vigorously that he wanted to live, for Myrlie and for their children.”

In the above passage, Reid humanizes Evers. Though he would be deemed a “martyr” for the civil rights cause, Evers was a human being first and foremost—a father and husband who did not engage in activism for the sake of glory. Rather, his love for life and people guided his fervent struggle for justice.

“‘My pride in Medgar had never been so great,’ she wrote. ‘For somehow this whole experience was the final evidence that the man I had loved and married, the man whose children I had borne, was truly a great American being put to rest in a place with many other American heroes.’”

In a testament to the pervasiveness of racism in mid-20th-century America, Evers was honored for his military service and contributions to the movement only after his death. Williams, though, had long realized Evers’s lasting impact on American society, both as an American and as a Black man. Indeed, Reid argues that these two facets of Evers’s identity were inseparable, as Evers’s military service was part of what drove his activism.

“In her speech, written largely at the last minute and under the pressure of love and legacy, Myrlie said of Medgar: ‘He made the supreme sacrifice, gave his life for all Americans. I pray his death has shocked the complacent into active participation in achieving the goals for which he died.’ She was surprised by the strength of her voice, which was clear and firm. She spoke for ten minutes, and that was followed by a roar of applause.”

Following Evers’s death, Williams emerged as an activist in her own right. She claimed her role in the NAACP as a public speaker and sought to galvanize and unite the community, calling for the intensification of civil rights efforts. Williams assumed the responsibility of honoring her husband’s legacy and ensuring his position in the national consciousness.

“That was my opportunity to release, with dignity, the hatred that I had inside of me. It is interesting the two opposite forces: love and hate, how those two can drive you to do things ordinarily you wouldn’t. I was determined that I was going to live. I was determined that I was going to take care of our three children, without begging. I would work hard. And I was determined that with my last breath I would see that those who were responsible for putting those bullets in my husband’s back would pay.”

This passage illustrates the theme of the power of love and the struggle for social justice. Williams’s resilience helped her survive Evers’s murder despite her grief. While her rage and desire to avenge her husband instigated her determination to fight, it was her love for Evers that ultimately sustained her in her long struggle for justice.

“She was feeling her independence—and some fundamentals in the country had changed. The Voting Rights Act had created space for Black political power, from California to Mississippi.”

As the achievements of the civil rights movement advanced, Williams solidified her role as an activist. After Evers’s loss, she managed to build an independent life and claim more political power—a development that Reid juxtaposes with the changes brought about by the civil rights struggle. This suggests the role that those changes played in helping Williams find self-empowerment, but it also tacitly underscores Reid’s contention that Willimas and Evers are representative of the broader civil rights movement.

“Myrlie was on her own again and facing many of the challenges Medgar had confronted with an organization whose mission—equality for African Americans—they both supported, even though its execution of that mission sometimes left folks wanting. For Myrlie, it was as if everything Medgar Evers lived and died for was coming to fruition in her hands.”

With her role as a NAACP board member in the 1990s, Williams felt that she was completing Evers’s civil rights mission and preserving his legacy. This role also demonstrated her own skills in organizing, community building, and leadership, as she managed to save one of America’s oldest civil rights organizations. Throughout the years, Williams endeavored to honor Evers’s memory with her own work, still feeling the grief of his loss.

“Music was, in fact, Myrlie’s first love, even before Medgar.”

Emphasizing Williams’s love of music, Reid indicates Williams’s individuality as a Black woman and her personhood beyond her marriage to Evers. Despite her devotion as a wife and mother, Williams had her own dreams and aspirations. Though racism limited her life as a young woman, Williams was finally able to harvest the results of the civil rights struggle and fulfill her dream of performing as a pianist.