Undeterred by Stars and Bars, or Stars and Stripes

Mississippi-born Women Wrote Their Own Chapters

N

ineteenth through Twenty-first Centuries

Twelve alphabetically by last name

Vicksburg, Mississippi

Myrlie Louise Beasley (Evers-Williams) American author, journalist, civil rights activist

Yazoo City, Mississippi

Debra Marie Brown United States District Judge, United States District Court, Northern District of Mississippi

Sunflower County, Mississippi

Mae Bertha Carter American Civil Rights Movement activist

Montgomery County, Mississippi

Fannie Lou Hamer American voting and women’s rights activist, Civil Rights Movement leader, Freedom Democratic Party cofounder and vice chair, National Women’s Political Caucus cofounder

Leland, Mississippi

Thelma Houston (née Jackson) Leland, Mississippi, American Grammy-winning singer and actress

Vicksburg, Mississippi

Evelyn Jarvis (Evelyn Preer) American stage and screen actress and jazz and blues singer (1910s-1930s)

Brandon, Mississippi

Mamie Evelyn Locke American politician and educator

Laurel, Mississippi

Mary Violet Leontyne Price (Violet Leontyne) American soprano, leading performer at the Metropolitan Opera, and one of the most popular American classical singers of her generation

Pascagoula, Mississippi

Toni Deniece Seawright American actress and singer-songwriter, 1987 “Miss Mississippi”

Forest, Mississippi

Constance Slaughter-Harvey Mississippi judge

Holly Springs, Mississippi (born into slavery)

Ida Bell Wells (Wells-Barnett) American investigative journalist, educator, and early civil rights leader and activist, her lifetime dedicated to combating prejudice and violence, and fighting for women’s equality

Kosciusko, Mississippi

Oprah Gail Winfrey American talk show host, actress, television producer, media executive, philanthropist.

N

either felling statues nor defacing monuments, neither lowering nostalgic flags nor censoring insignias of the past will change the substance and stature of men and women; strengthen their character, and affirm their resolve to relate with and help one another in writing new chapters for the present and coming generations.

Insight Beyond Today’s News, CLB - © All Rights Reserved