Jackson Free Press

Civil rights leader Owen Brooks, an outspoken civil-rights veteran and Jacksonian, passed away July 27 at age 85.

Born in New York and raised in Boston, Mass., Brooks became active in politics at the young age of 13. A New Yorker and the child of Jamaican immigrants, Brooks attended Boston University and Northeastern University and graduated with a degree in electronic engineering. His desire for change ultimately led him to seek a more active role within the civil-rights community after college.

Brooks was actively involved with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. He frequently appeared at civil-rights rallies, including the March on Washington in 1963 and the James Meredith March from Memphis to Jackson in 1966.

In 1967, Brooks became director of the Delta Ministry, which created health-care programs for African Americans living in the poorest parts of Mississippi, fought for school desegregation, and promoted economic development through entrepreneurship and farming.

Brooks founded the Veterans of the Mississippi Civil Rights in 2004 and served as the organization's executive director up until his passing. The VMC's goals are to preserve the history of the Mississippi movement, educate future generations about the struggles that African Americans have faced, and promote change.

Funeral services are scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 2, at 1 p.m. at St. Andrews Episcopal Cathedral (305 E. Capitol St.). Visitation is today, Friday, Aug. 1, 2014 at 6 p.m. at Aldersgate United Methodist Church (655 Beasley Road). His burial is Monday, Aug. 4, at the Natchez National Cemetery at 41 Cemetery Road in Natchez.

Brooks is survived by his wife, Lescener Harris Brooks, also a movement veteran, as well as daughters Pamela E. Brooks, Gail A. C. Brooks and Angela Y. Brooks-Adams, and son Frederick Brooks, 10 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. He was preceded in death by his daughter Dianne L. Brooks and sister Millicent Brooks Broadnax.