Late civil rights martyr Medgar Evers will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously today at the White House. The recognition is the highest civilian honor in the country.
Evers, an NAACP field secretary fighting segregation, was fatally gunned down in 1963 his front of his Jackson, Mississippi, home by white supremacist Byron de la Beckwith with his wife and children a few feet away. His death marked one of the key galvanizing moments of the civil rights movement.
U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., applauded the recognition.
“His legacy is now permanently etched in the depths of history,” Thompson posted on social media.
U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., posted on social media: “Medgar Evers, who is already remembered for his pursuit of equality & justice as part of the civil rights movement, now joins a most distinguished group of Americans who are forever singled out for their life’s work. I applaud the award of this Presidential Medal of Freedom.”
“Medgar Evers … fought for his country in World War II and returned home to lead the fight against segregation in Mississippi,” the White House said in a statement. “After he was murdered at his home at age 37, his wife Myrlie continued the fight to seek justice and equality in his name.”
Evers will be among 19 Americans who will receive the award, including Opal Lee, the Texas activist who pushed for the federal Juneteenth holiday, Clarence Jones, who wrote Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, former Vice President Al Gore, U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., House Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
“These nineteen Americans built teams, coalitions, movements, organizations, and businesses that shaped America for the better. They are the pinnacle of leadership in their fields,” The White House said in a statement Friday. “They consistently demonstrated over their careers the power of community, hard work, and service,” the statement read.
