Black history celebrated at city hall, remembering key events

The city of Jackson’s commemoration of black culture in the month of February was kicked off on Friday, Feb. 3 on the first floor of city hall.

Throughout the duration of Black History Month, community members can come to city hall every Friday at 3:30 p.m. to experience a variety of history lessons, poetry readings, dances, and exhibits.

Native Jacksonian Wendy Trice Martin kicked off the month’s events with a reading of Jackson’s civil-rights era history and a symbolic march through city hall. A specific theme is chosen each year to represent the focus to be echoed throughout Black History Month and “Black Resistance” is the 2023 spotlight.

“This year’s theme explores how African-Americans have resisted historic and ongoing oppression in all forms, especially the racial terrorism of lynching, of racial programs, and killings since our nation began,” Martin said.

A history of Jackson

Martin explained how the 2023 theme pertains to the impact it’s made in Jackson’s history, particularly in its role in ending slavery, eliminating Jim Crow laws, and increasing representation in Jackson’s political sphere.

She described the first African-Americans, who mostly came from Kentucky and Virginia, to call Madison County home. They settled along the Forked Deer River and brought their skills from Africa to be utilized in their new home to aid in the development of the surrounding land.

“They became gardeners, blacksmiths, shoemakers, ditch diggers, spinners, knitters, maids, wagon drivers, and fulfilled many other roles,” Martin said. “It was from their labor that these enslaved Africans helped establish this county, and later, our town.”

Speaking to the greater strategy behind their labor effort, Martin explained the history of the first black church in Jackson. What now resides on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive as Historic First Baptist Church was originally called First Colored Baptist Church, established in 1868, following the signing of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.

Martin paid homage to Bishop Isaac Lane, born a slave in 1834 in Madison County, and who later went on to found Jackson’s famous HBCU in 1882, Lane College.

Concerning the atrocity of lynching, Martin spoke about Eliza Woods and John Brown, both of whom were accused of crimes and subsequently lynched directly across the street from City Hall on the lawn of the Madison County Courthouse.

The power of song and dance

Martin invited two of her friends to accompany her to city hall and convey the message of black resistance to all in attendance. Bodie Gentry came to the podium to sing the song “Oh Freedom!”, a ballad whose popularity during the Civil Rights Movement made a resurgence following its initial debut at slavery’s end.

Another singer, E.J. Shelton, prefaced his song with a reference to Isaiah 54:17 which reads, “No weapon that is fashioned against you shall prosper.”

“When I think about all of the struggles, I think it’s pretty hard, or difficult, to discuss the struggles, and not talk about the triumphs as well,” Shelton said.

As a tribute to the scripture, Shelton sang a song inspired by Isaiah 54:17 called “No Weapon” by Fred Hammond and Radical for Christ.

The Lane College choir also took to the floor of city hall where they opened with “Lift Every Voice and Sing” and was followed by “Soon I Will Be Done with the Troubles of the World.”

Three dancers from the Jackson-Central Merry High School dance team performed a routine choreographed by teacher Nadia Beard, who described the opportunity to watch her students perform in celebration of Black History Month as “a blessing.”

She recalled how the singular male dancer in the group had recalled bits and pieces of the same dance they performed at City Hall from nearly six years prior and, hence, why Beard chose to showcase it.

“I saw the impact that I left with him when he was in middle school, and he still wanted to go back and do it again,” Beard said.

She added that she hoped the dance conveyed the trials and tribulations that the black community has had to endure over the centuries.

“We’re going to represent for the ones who fought, got hosed down with water hoses, the ones that were bitten by dogs, the ones that went through it just so y’all could be where you are today,” Beard said. “We can be leaders, we can be mentors, and we can be innovators for better things.”

A symbolic march

Martin detailed the logistics behind sit-ins that took place across the South, many of which were organized by college students. She recounted the marches that took place in her adolescence, where she held her mother’s hand while they marched down Main Street.

She spoke to the event in 1960 in which four college students took their seats at Woolworth’s, a segregated lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. Similarly in Jackson, a group of Lane College students famously known as the "Freshman Four", organized their own sit-in to prompt the same message. One of those students was Shirlene Mercer, who still resides in Jackson today.

Martin invited all of those in city hall to march around the first floor as the group collectively sang “we shall overcome.”

“I know that you’re all sitting here comfortable, but marching wasn’t comfortable, so I need you to march with me today,” Martin said.

Martin's friend Gertrude Copeland played the role of Mercer and re-enacted the Woolworth counter sit-in while shouting reminiscent phrases of the event like “you can’t eat here!” —a symbolic tribute to the group who had set the precedent.

“As we continue through February, and we reflect this month, let’s think about the physical resistance that was faced with the achievements to be celebrated,” Martin said. “Let’s celebrate the culture.”

This article originally appeared on Jackson Sun: Black History Month, first event held at city hall