During the summer of 19 64, unita blackwell's home became a focal point for civil rights activity. The very reason we were there as white college students was that unless the country's attention was focused on those people who this country was not accustomed to caring about, namely black mississippians, then nothing would happen. And i think that what embarrasses me is the extent to which i was capable of forgetting or underestimating that. You would look out there, an highway patrol would be sitting at o white and police would be right here. It's not that i didn't know it, it's that ididn't feel it.
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.