Jackson Free Press

Few people can honestly say that they have helped to affect a culture like Owen Brooks has. Brooks, 81, born in New York but raised in Boston, participated in the Civil Rights movement that shaped our country's view of racial standing and has worked to further that goal in Mississippi for over 40 years. While participating in the Civil Rights Movement, the Boston native had the honor of meeting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"I met Dr. King in Boston, and then later we were together at the March on Washington in 1963, and then again at the march on Atlantic City in 1964," Brooks says. "We were together on many occasions."

Brooks recalls marching with King during the March Against Fear in 1966. James Meredith, the first black student admitted to the University of Mississippi, led the 220-mile march from Memphis, Tenn., to Jackson.

"Fear was rampant at that time, and the march was an attempt to counteract that," Brooks says. "Fear was something we were all affected by."

After his work with the Civil Rights Movement, Brooks found a home in the Delta, where he served in Bolivar County as a staff member of the Delta Ministry, a mission project by the National Council of Churches. He became the director of the Delta Ministry in 1968, and worked there for more than 30 years.

Brooks did not make a permanent stop in the Delta, however, and moved to Jackson in 1999, where he currently resides. His passion for civil rights never died, and in 2004 he helped organize the Veterans of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement, and served as the founding chairman. Through this organization, he helped begin national conferences for movement veterans, a trend that continues to this day.

"I think that the organization has been very successful," Brooks says. "We're having our fifth national conference this upcoming March, something that we're very proud of."

Brooks received most of his education in and around Boston, attending both Boston University and Northeastern University. In addition to being the current executive director of the Veterans of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement, Brooks also serves as the director of oral history at Jackson State University.

The Veterans of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement will host their fifth annual conference at Jackson State University March 25-27. For more information, visit ms.civilrightsveterans.org

Previous Comments

ID

155238

Comment

I met Mr. Brooks when I worked in Johnny's office in the early Nineties. An interesting person who has seen and done lots of things. God bless him.

Author

Walt

Date

2010-01-18T23:31:27-06:00