Civil Rights leader Charles Evers – and Blues DJ (photo from Ben Crump on Twitter)
James Charles Evers (September 11, 1922 – July 22, 2020) was an American civil rights activist, businessman, disc jockey, and politician. Evers was known for his role in the civil rights movement along with his younger brother Medgar Evers. After serving in World War II, Evers began his career as a disc jockey at WHOC in Philadelphia, Mississippi. In 1954, he was made the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) State Voter Registration chairman. After his brother’s assassination in 1963, Evers took over his position as field director of the NAACP in Mississippi. In this role, he organized and led many demonstrations for the rights of African Americans.
In 1969, Evers was named “Man of the Year” by the NAACP. On June 3, 1969, Evers was elected in Fayette, Mississippi, as the first African-American mayor in Mississippi in the post-Reconstruction era, following passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which enforced constitutional rights for citizens. . . . > > > > > > > >
At the time of Evers’s election as mayor, the town of Fayette had a population of 1,600 of which 75% was African-American and almost 25% white; the white officers on the Fayette city police “resigned rather than work under a black administration”, according to the Associated Press. Evers told reporters “I guess we will just have to operate with an all-black police department for the present. But I am still looking for some whites to join us in helping Fayette grow.” Evers then outlawed the carrying of firearms within city limits.
He unsuccessfully ran for governor in 1971 and the United States Senate in 1978, both times as an independent candidate, and in 1989, Evers was defeated for re-election after serving sixteen years as mayor. In his later life, he became a Republican, endorsing Ronald Reagan in 1980, and more recently Donald Trump in 2016. This diversity in party affiliations throughout his life was reflected in his fostering of friendships with people from a variety of backgrounds, as well as his advising of politicians from across the political spectrum. After his political career ended, he returned to radio and hosted his own show, Let’s Talk. In 2017, Evers was inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame for his contributions to the music industry.
Early Life
Charles Evers was born in Decatur, Mississippi, on September 11, 1922, to James Evers, a laborer, and Jesse Wright Evers, a maid. He was the eldest of four children; Medgar Evers was his younger brother. He attended segregated public schools, which were typically underfunded in Mississippi following the exclusion of African Americans from the political system by disenfranchisement after 1890. Evers graduated from Alcorn State University in Lorman, Mississippi.
During World War II, Charles and Medgar Evers both served in the United States Army. Charles fell in love with a Philippine woman while stationed overseas. He could not marry her and bring her home to his native Mississippi because the state’s constitution prohibited interracial marriages.
In 1949, Evers began a career in radio as a disc jockey at WHOC in Philadelphia, Mississippi. After serving a year of reserve duty following the Korean War, he settled in Philadelphia, Mississippi, where he operated “a hotel, restaurant, cab service and gas station, became a disc jockey and promoted prostitution and bootlegging”. He revealed this part of his past in 1971 prior to his campaign for governor. He said he was not proud of it, but was proud that he had changed his life and left such crime activities far behind.
Civil rights activism
In Mississippi about 1951, brothers Charles and Medgar Evers grew interested in African freedom movements. They were interested in Jomo Kenyatta and the rise of the Kikuyu tribal resistance to colonialism in Kenya, known as the Mau Mau uprising as it moved to open violence. Along with his brother, Charles became active in the Regional Council of Negro Leadership (RCNL), a civil rights organization that promoted self-help and business ownership. Between 1952 and 1955, Evers often spoke at the RCNL’s annual conferences in Mound Bayou, a town founded by freedmen, on such issues as voting rights.
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On June 12, 1963, Byron De La Beckwith, a member of a Ku Klux Klan chapter, fatally shot Evers’ brother, Medgar, in Mississippi as he arrived home from work. Evers died at the hospital in Jackson. [Charles] Evers was working in Chicago at the time of his brother’s death. He was shocked and deeply upset by his brother’s assassination. Over the opposition of more establishment figures in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) such as Roy Wilkins, Evers took over his brother’s post as head of the NAACP in Mississippi. A decade after his death, Evers and blues musician B.B. King created the Medgar Evers Homecoming Festival, an annual three-day event held the first week of June in Mississippi. [Note: It took more than 36 years for Medgar’s murderer Byron De La Beckwith to be convicted even though he was well known].
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In 2012, Evers was honored with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail in Fayette. [See link]
Evers was briefly married to Christine Evers until their marriage ended in annulment. In 1951, Evers married Manie Magee, with whom he had four daughters The couple divorced in June 1974. Evers lived in Brandon, Mississippi, and served as station manager of WMPR 90.1 FM in Jackson.
On July 22, 2020, Evers died in Brandon at age 97.
Read more of Mr. Evers’ story here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Evers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_Blues_Trail
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Other Notable Musicians’ Deaths…
The deaths that are listed from Wikipedia are those of musicians orothers who have ties to the music business from all over the world. These are our brothers and sisters. Say a prayer for their souls. They will be missed greatly.
July 2020
22: Charles Evers, 97, American civil rights activist, disc jockey and politician, Mayor of Fayette, Mississippi (1969–1981, 1985–1989); Tim Smith, 59, English singer-songwriter (Cardiacs, The Sea Nymphs, Spratleys Japs).
21: Dobby Dobson, 78, Jamaican reggae singer and record producer, COVID-19; Annie Ross, 89, British-American jazz singer (Lambert, Hendricks & Ross), songwriter (“Twisted”), and actress (Superman III), complications from emphysema and heart disease.
19: Emitt Rhodes, 70, American singer-songwriter (“Live”) and musician (The Palace Guard, The Merry-Go-Round).
18: Martha Flores, 91, Cuban radio host, journalist and singer (Cuban-American lobby), pancreatic cancer; Jope Ruonansuu, 56, Finnish actor, musician and stand-up comedian (Jopet Show), esophageal cancer.
16: Ken Chinn, 57, Canadian punk rock vocalist (SNFU); Jamie Oldaker, 68, American drummer (Eric Clapton, The Tractors); Víctor Víctor, 71, Dominican singer-songwriter and guitarist, COVID-19.