The sight of thousands of Black protestors marching across Selma and Montgomery, Alabama, on the “All Roads Lead to the South” National Day of Action has drawn comparisons to Mississippi’s Freedom Summer movement of 1964.
But before Freedom Summer came to be a historic Black milestone—leading to the monumental passing of the 1965 Voting Rights Act—it was a sun-drenched nightmare. Churches were firebombed into ash. Freedom Summer activists James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner were hunted down and assassinated by Ku Klux Klan members, and the summer unfolded in a storm of racially charged clashes that left many Black Americans bloodied and bruised—but not broken.
The primary goal of the Freedom Summer movement was to register Black voters. Back when stepping foot into Mississippi meant staring directly into the entrenched brutality of Jim Crow—and knowing you might not make it home— young activists showed up and showed up, relying on a network of local Black farmers, lookouts and safe houses to ensure they would live to fight another day.
Now on the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court’s gutting of the Voting Rights Act Black folks fought so hard to cement, the Root is revisiting the good, the bad, and the shockingly ugly of how Freedom Summer movement advanced voting rights.
America in 1963
One year before Freedom Summer, life for Black Americans was marked by Jim Crow laws and the constant threat of attacks from racists at any turn. Mississippi had a larger Black population than white population, but voting in the state proved to be one of the most difficult feats for any Black American.
Many Black residents were terrorized and scared to vote, and those who showed up to register to vote were required to pay poll taxes and pass nearly impossible literacy tests. When that didn’t stop Black folks from showing up at the polls, white vigilante groups used violence.
Then-President John F. Kennedy was a fierce champion of civil rights. He worked closely with leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to set up the building blocks for voting rights and civil rights protections, but his assassination in November 1963 threatened to slow the momentum of the Civil Rights Movement.
Key Leaders of Freedom Summer
Freedom Summer was a coordinated effort by the Council of Federated Organizations, bringing together the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).
Leaders like Bob Moses, Dave Dennis, James Forman and Aaron Henry pushed for Black folks, specifically the younger generation, to travel to Mississippi to help the greater voter registration effort.
Bob Moses
Bob Moses is regarded as one of the key architects of Freedom Summer, credited with the idea of bussing in wealthy white college students for the Freedom Summer cause. Politico reports that it was this strategy that helped draw attention to the Freedom Summer movement.
Born in Harlem, Moses studied at Harvard University before leaving his job as a math teacher to focus on the growing civil rights effort in the South. In 1960, he joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which eventually led to the development of Freedom Summer.
“When we first went to Mississippi, we didn’t know what we could do,” Moses said during an interview with American Radio Works. “And we went there more or less with the attitude to try and find out what was possible, that is to see what could be done. We didn’t have any resources, really, and we weren’t sure how we should go about it or what it was that we should do.”
Moses died at age 86 in 2021.
Stokely Carmichael and the Freedom Rides
The Freedom Rides, beginning in 1961, set the stage for the future Freedom Summer movement. Hundreds of people– Black, white and other races– rode on the same buses to challenge state laws enforcing segregation on public transportation. Riders were met with violent threats, beatings and blockades as they rode through southern states. Among the many participants was a young Howard University student who would soon become one of the leaders of the global pan-African movement.
Stokely Carmichael spent his earlier adulthood dedicated to the Civil Rights Movement. Throughout his life, he’d been arrested over 30 times, with the most famous being when he was arrested during the Freedom Rides. At only 19 years old, Carmichael was the youngest recorded participant.
In 1964, he worked as a full-time field organizer for the SNCC in Mississippi during Freedom Summer.
Farmers of Freedom Summer
The growing Freedom Summer movement also attracted unwanted attention from white supremacist groups and anti-Black law enforcement, which forced Black organizers to get more creative with ways to remain safe. They largely relied on Black farmers, who would signal to protesters when trouble was afoot.
On the ground, Black and white volunteers lived together, staying with local Black farmers or wherever they could safely lay their heads.
One of the most popular farmers was named E.W. Steptoe. The Black man had been disenfranchised himself. According to the SNCC, when organizer Moses was introduced to Steptoe, the farmer responded, “I’ve been waiting for you,” before offering to use a church on his farm as a voter registration school for the movement. Moses also promoted self-defense, which challenged Dr. King’s “nonviolent” ideal.
Dozens of Church Bombings
According to the National Archives, at least 37 Black churches were targeted and bombed during Freedom Summer. White supremacists, including the Ku Klux Klan, were largely held responsible for the attacks, which strategically targeted potential voting centers and hubs for civil rights leadership.
Cleveland L. Sellers Jr.
Cleveland L. Sellers Jr. is best known for his involvement with the SNCC, helping to organize nonviolent protests and sit-ins throughout the 1960s. And as a young college student, Sellers admitted his focus was strictly on the growing movement.
“I wasn’t worried about grades, school or dangers,” he said, according to the SNCC. “I already decided … that the movement was my first priority.”
KKK Kills 3 Freedom Protesters
On June 21, 1964, three civil rights workers, Michael Schwerner, James E. Chaney and Andrew Goodman, went missing. Earlier that day, the trio was arrested for speeding but released quickly. That marked the last time they were ever seen alive.
Their dead bodies were discovered six weeks later, on Aug. 4, on a farm near Philadelphia, Miss. Their killings left the nation stunned– especially given the fact that two of the victims were white. According to PBS, they were followed by KKK members and law enforcement, with deep ties to the white supremacist group. Schwerner, Chaney and Goodman were abducted and killed in retaliation for Freedom Summer efforts.
A Turning Point
The summer campaign brought Black activists and white college students together alike, but it wasn’t until the murder of Goodman and Schwerner– two white men– that widespread media coverage of the demonstrations changed. The killings sparked national outrage surrounding the voting rights fight in Mississippi and ultimately contributed to future reform.
Pressure on President Johnson
Following in the footsteps of JFK, former President Lyndon B. Johnson maintained a strong relationship with civil rights leaders. This, coupled with public pressure, prompted him to sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The following year, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed.
The Cost of Freedom Summer
In addition to dozens of churches being bombed, over 1,000 people were arrested, 80 beaten and dozens of Black homes and businesses destroyed, according to the National Archives.
Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party
In April 1964, the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) was founded. Unlike other political parties, the MFDP emphasized an integrated delegation where anyone could join regardless of race. Members included leaders like Fannie Lou Hamer and E.W. Steptoe.
Dr. King reportedly gave his support to the MFDP delegates, calling them “the true heirs of the tradition of Jefferson and Hamilton,” according to Stanford University.
Impact on Schools
Although the Freedom Summer campaign technically failed at registering a massive number of voters, their sheer presence and the national attention they drew changed the course of the Civil Rights Movement forever.
In the wake of Freedom Summer, a joint push– spearheaded by SNCC– to properly educate Black children gave birth to over 40 Freedom Schools, according to WAPT News. Instead of teaching students a diluted version of American history focused on White America, these schools taught civics, writing and history to better prepare Black children for their social and political futures.
