A mentoring program in Mississippi is teaching young people about civil rights history. Pictured is the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum under construction in Jackson. Photo by Imani Khayyam.
GREENWOOD, Miss. (AP) — A mentoring program in Mississippi is teaching young people about civil rights history.
The Greenwood Commonwealth reports that the summer program is focusing on the pivotal year of 1965.
Activists pushed to register black voters in Greenwood and other parts of Mississippi in the early 1960s, and those efforts were often met with violent resistance. In 1964, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, which outlawed segregation in public places. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 helped break down barriers to black participation in elections.
The program in Greenwood features local speakers, including the sister of the late civil rights activist June Johnson and a woman whose father owned the only local hotel where black guests were allowed to stay.
Students will conduct research and make presentations about what they learn.
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