鈥楢 New Dawn鈥�: How four young Black activists powered movement to remove Confederate emblem from Mississippi flag
On the day of the demonstration, Jarrius Adams stood in front of the Mississippi Governor鈥檚 Mansion in Jackson, where the state flag bearing an image of the 鈥渞ebel flag鈥� of the Confederacy flew to his left. Scores of people lined the street, eager to hear Adams speak as they marched elbow to elbow in solidarity for Black lives. Drones circled overhead, and supporters held signs, one reading 鈥淩acism is a Virus.鈥� The demonstration would be called Its success would bring historic change that had long eluded civil rights activists.听 听听
For decades, Black people in Mississippi had been trying to persuade state leaders to furl the state flag once and for all. Adams and fellow activists from 鈥撎齌aylor Turnage, Timothy Young and Calvert White 鈥撎齢ad decided it was their turn to carry the work forward in the wake of George Floyd鈥檚 violent death at the hands of Minneapolis police in May.
On June 6 at promptly 3 p.m., the activists presented a list of demands for the state to consider, including that Mississippi change the state flag that had a painful reminder of the state鈥檚 role in the fight to maintain the enslavement of Black people during the Civil War and white supremacy that continues to this day. 听听
Their speeches emboldened the crowd. Applause and chants of 鈥淭ake it down!鈥澨齟choed throughout the street. To honor Floyd and affirm the fight for racial justice, some demonstrators carried posters reading, 鈥淚 Can鈥檛 Breathe鈥� 鈥� Floyd鈥檚 final words.
In the following weeks, the BLM activists continued to build momentum, working tirelessly to create a broad coalition to support the movement.听 听
The effort paid off: On June 28, lawmakers passed , mandating the removal of the state flag and establishing a commission to recommend a new design to voters 鈥� a design that could not contain an image of the Confederate battle flag. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed the bill into law two days later. 听
鈥淚 had no words,鈥� said Adams, who organized the demonstration and works as a voter protection organizer for the Mississippi Democratic Party. 鈥淲e were finally seeing the fruits of our ancestors鈥� labor. But I wish this would鈥檝e happened 20 years ago or more.鈥澨�
On Nov. 3, Mississippi voters overwhelmingly approved a new flag featuring a magnolia, the state flower, at its center. 听听听听听听听
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On June 6, Taylor Turnage, a member of Black Lives Matter Mississippi, addresses thousands of demonstrators in front of the Governor鈥檚 Mansion in Jackson as she and her fellow activists led a movement to remove the Mississippi state flag bearing the Confederate emblem. The demonstration would be called one of the largest in the state鈥檚 history. Attached to the lectern, a sign reads, 鈥淚 Can鈥檛 Breathe,鈥� in remembrance of George Floyd鈥檚 last words just days prior, which Turnage called 鈥渁 tipping point.鈥� Photos courtesy of Jarrius Adams.
Jarrius Adams, a Black Lives Matter Mississippi activist, presents a list of demands on June 6 for the state to consider 鈥撎齝hanging the flag chief among them. Three weeks later, lawmakers passed a bill mandating the removal of the state flag and establishing a commission to recommend a new design to voters. 鈥淚 had no words,鈥� said Adams, who organized the demonstration and works as a voter protection organizer for the Mississippi Democratic Party. 鈥淲e were finally seeing the proof of our ancestors鈥� labor. But I wish this would鈥檝e happened 20 years ago or more.鈥澨�
With raised fists in a show of solidarity, people from across the state joined the demonstration. Mississippi adopted its Confederate-themed state flag at the beginning of Jim Crow segregation, just four years after enacting a new constitution designed explicitly to enforce white supremacy and keep political power out of the hands of Black people. 鈥淣othing will get changed unless you go out there and show 鈥� that people in the state actually want change,鈥� said co-organizer Taylor Turnage. 鈥淲e were tired of being silent.鈥澨� 听听
Drones flew above the demonstration on East Capitol Street in front of the Governor鈥檚 Mansion in Jackson, Mississippi. Co-organizer Jarrius Adams, the first to speak, said none of his fellow Black Lives Matter activists knew what to expect that day. 鈥淲e had some hopes and then some fears,鈥� he told the 人兽性交. 鈥淭he hope was that we would get a crowd of maybe 300 people, and [they] would actively listen to the message we were trying to give.鈥�
Calvert White, a Black Lives Matter Mississippi activist who co-led the movement to change the state flag, hugged a friend in celebration of the demonstration鈥檚 success 鈥� and with hope for what it would bring. When the decision was final, White said that many white Mississippians felt 鈥渁ttacked鈥� because 鈥渢heir history was erased.鈥� To that, White argued that they try to understand what it鈥檚 like as a Black person living in a state whose flag memorializes white supremacy and slavery. 鈥淚t鈥檚 time to take our own narrative,鈥� he said. 听
Taylor Turnage, third from right, stands with fellow activists from Tougaloo College 鈥� a historically Black institution outside of Jackson, Mississippi, where she is a biology major. Following the June 6 demonstration, Turnage and others in the movement spent countless hours conducting phone banks to gain support for the removal of听the state flag. 鈥淭here was no time to take a breath,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e were living in the moment.鈥� 听听听
Calvert White, an English major at Alcorn State University, speaks at the rally with Taylor Turnage to his left. 鈥淚t takes diligence,鈥� White said of the event鈥檚 success. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not one of those things you talk about on Twitter and see what happens. It requires a focus, a vision. We were able to talk to so many people because we put down on pen and paper what we wanted to do, and what we wanted the demonstration to look like.鈥�
As Turnage spoke, she asked the demonstrators to put ten fingers in the air, then lower a finger each time they had been affected by specific racial disparities. The exercise ended as many in the crowd lowered all fingers. In Mississippi, the flag had already survived prior removal attempts, including in April 2001, when the state voted overwhelmingly along race lines to retain it, and after the AME Church massacre in Charleston, South Carolina, an effort that also failed.听
On Nov. 3, Mississippi voters overwhelmingly approved a new flag featuring a magnolia, the state flower, at its center. Activist Timothy Young 鈥� a 2019 graduate of Jackson State University 鈥� is proud of the change he and his co-organizers helped to create. 鈥淚 felt like everything I was doing, I was doing for a reason, with a passion that was preset for me,鈥� Young said. 鈥淲e were very much relieved and honored to be a part of the movement. I feel like it鈥檚 a new dawn for us.鈥澨�
A tipping point
Mississippi adopted its Confederate-themed state flag at the beginning of Jim Crow segregation, just four years after enacting a new constitution designed explicitly to enforce white supremacy and keep political power out of the hands of Black people, in part by听听for voting. This system of oppression was also kept intact by widespread听.
Over the next 30 years, hundreds of Confederate monuments, memorials and flags were installed throughout the South, often at courthouses and town squares. The Southern Poverty Law Center (人兽性交), in its 2016 report听Whose Heritage?, found that the vast majority of the nearly 1,800 such symbols on public property were put into place during two distinct periods 鈥� first, from the mid-1890s to 1920 (the beginning of Jim Crow segregation) and later, during the 1950s and 1960s, as Southern states fought back against the civil rights movement.听
Gov. George Wallace, for example, raised the Confederate flag over Alabama鈥檚 state Capitol in April 1963 in an act of defiance on the eve of a visit by U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy to discuss desegregation and voting rights. It flew there until 1993.
But a tipping point in the fight over Confederate iconography came on June 17, 2015, when a white supremacist killed nine Black worshippers at the iconic 鈥淢other Emanuel鈥� AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Photos later surfaced on social media showing the attacker with the Confederate battle flag 鈥� including an image in which he held the flag in one hand and a gun in the other. 听听听听
The premeditated murders shocked the nation and ignited a powerful grassroots movement to remove Confederate imagery from public spaces. South Carolina听听a Confederate flag that had flown at its Statehouse for 54 years. Officials in New Orleans voted to remove prominent statues. Within a year, more than 100 such symbols across the nation had been removed, renamed or relocated.
And then came the death of George Floyd. By Oct. 16, the听人兽性交 had documented听the removal of another 102 monuments, place names and other symbols.
Seizing the moment
In Mississippi, the flag had already survived prior removal attempts, including in April 2001, when the state voted overwhelmingly along race lines to retain it. After the Charleston massacre, citizens again听听of the Confederate symbol from the state flag, but that movement also failed.听
This was, after all, a place where racism had been听听of the state, wrote novelist Jesmyn Ward in The Atlantic. It鈥檚 a place where many people had been killed simply for trying to gain access to the ballot box 鈥� a place where, during听听in 1964,听听by the Klan for trying to register Black people to vote.
But despite the state鈥檚 fierce resistance to change, the activists in Mississippi were hopeful, and determined.
Throughout June, they gained support from groups like the听听and听. They conducted phone banks to encourage people to contact their elected officials and mobilized volunteers through social media. They spent late nights strategizing. 听
鈥淲e went to the state Capitol several times, explaining why now is the time,鈥� Adams, 23, said. 鈥淲e made flyers and partnered with leaders to organize folks to make calls to their mayor or city council people, and to put pressure on those they knew at the state Capitol. We couldn鈥檛 wait and let this pass; we had to act fast.鈥�
Although their hard work paid off, the public debate was听听said Reeves, the governor. As the decision to remove the flag rested in the hands of the Legislature, economic pressure arrived from outside the state. The听听that it would no longer hold major competitions there unless the flag came down. The organization鈥檚听, telling lawmakers the state could miss out on conference championship games.
When the decision was final, co-organizer Calvert White said that many white Mississippians felt 鈥渁ttacked鈥� because 鈥渢heir history was erased.鈥� To that, White argued that they try to understand what it鈥檚 like as a Black person living in a state whose flag memorializes white supremacy and slavery. 听听听听
鈥淚magine how we鈥檝e felt all these years,鈥� White, 20, said. 鈥淭here are so many places we go in Mississippi where we don鈥檛 feel safe. The Confederate flag is a large reason for that.鈥澨�
As for why he and the others were the ones to create the change that seemed so long out of reach, White said the group was simply at the right place during the right moment in history. 听听听听听听听
鈥淲e always acknowledge that it could鈥檝e been anybody in our shoes,鈥� said White, an English major at Alcorn State University. 鈥淏ut it happened to be us on the stage. We were able to make our voices heard, and others can do the same.鈥�
Tired of being silent
The idea for the demonstration began through a BLM Mississippi group chat, where the activists decided it was no longer enough to sit idly by and speak to each other about social injustices. As they began discussing a rally, they didn鈥檛 know each other personally; they were only connected online, along with hundreds of other BLM Mississippi members.
When they met, they found they had mutual friends; they shared the same goals, the same mindset, the same interests and a shared vision for the demonstration and what it could potentially bring. It was time for them to demand action.
鈥淣othing will get changed unless you go out there and show the state officials that people in the state actually want change,鈥� said co-organizer Taylor Turnage, 24. 鈥淲e were tired of being silent.鈥� 听听听听
The flag was the first domino to fall. Others soon followed.
By July 9, Mississippi鈥檚 Bolivar, Leflore, Lowndes, Noxubee and Washington counties had decided to听听On July 14, the University of Mississippi 鈥� known as 鈥淥le Miss鈥� and the scene of deadly mob violence over desegregation in 1962 鈥撎齠rom a prominent spot on its Oxford campus. On July 18, McComb鈥檚 city board听听And on Sept. 24, the Jackson Public Schools district began seeking community response to听听named after Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
Adams likened this rapid change to 鈥渢he closing of a chapter.鈥� 听
鈥淢ississippi really has something to say,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think this is an awesome statement to the people of 鈥榦ld鈥� Mississippi that [white supremacy] will not fly any longer.鈥澨� 听听听听听
鈥楢 new dawn鈥�
Once the vote to remove the state flag became official,听听as a chorus of praise rippled through the halls of the state Capitol. The flag was听听on July 1, and then, after an听, it was sent to a history museum.听听
Co-organizer Timothy Young 鈥� a 2019 graduate of Jackson State University who spent weeks encouraging people to attend the demonstration 鈥� said the Legislature鈥檚 decision made him feel empowered. 鈥淚 felt bigger than I鈥檝e ever envisioned myself,鈥� said Young, 22. 鈥淚 felt like as long as I put real passion behind it, I could bring about change. To see it come down and be so championed by the people of Mississippi, it was amazing. [The experience] changed my outlook on myself 鈥� and on my power.鈥�
Turnage, a biology major at Tougaloo College, thought she would never see the removal of the flag in her lifetime. Although she was hopeful, she understood that movements like the one she and her fellow activists led could take time.
鈥淚 knew there was a good possibility that it could happen, but we鈥檙e also still in Mississippi,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut everything turned out for the good. It was surreal.鈥澨�
Young is proud of the change he and the others helped to create and is eager to welcome a new day in Mississippi. As the flag came down, he said the experience was almost religious.听听 听听听
鈥淚 felt like everything I was doing, I was doing for a reason, with a passion that was preset for me,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how else to describe it, except that it was divine. We were very much relieved and honored to be a part of the movement. I feel like it鈥檚 a new dawn for us.鈥澨� 听听
Lead photo by Roy Adkins听听
