Out of half a million black mississippians of voting age, fewer than two thousand were approved as voters during freedom summer. The point was to show the country how the state systematically disfranchised black voters. Senon radio is sponsored by better help, and our listeners get ten % off their first month of online therapy at better help dot com. Better help offers video, phone and even live chat sessions with a licensed professional therapist.
In the summer of 1964, about a thousand young Americans, black and white, came together in Mississippi to place themselves in the path of white supremacist power and violence. They issued a bold pro-democracy challenge to the nation and the Democratic Party.
Produced by John Biewen, with series collaborator Chenjerai Kumanyika. Interviews with John Lewis, Bob Moses, Unita Blackwell, Hollis Watkins, Dorie Ladner, and many others.
The series editor is Loretta Williams. Freedom song recordings courtesy of Smithsonian Folkways. Other music by Algiers, John Erik Kaada, Eric Neveux, and Lucas Biewen. Music consulting and production help from Joe Augustine of Narrative Music.
Photo: A Freedom Summer worker in Mississippi, 1964. Photo by Steve Schapiro.