Existing comment:
1967: James Meredith Shot:
James Meredith, the first African American to attend the University of Mississippi, was walking the length of his racially divided state to encourage black Americans to vote.
On day two, June 6, 1966, a few supporters joined him. Journalists leapfrogged ahead in cars. The AP's Jack Thornell and two other photographers were parked by the side of the road. A voice called out: "James. I just want James Meredith." A white man stood, leveling a 16-gauge shotgun. Thornell jumped from the car. Meredith already was down. "We were in the line of fire. We were trying to protect our heads. We weren't taking a lot of photographs."
One picture was enough. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Stokely Carmichael took up the cause. Meredith recovered and rejoined the civil rights march, walking this time with 18,000. |