UPDATED: 9:30 a.m. ET., June 12, 2023 —

It’s been 60 years since Civil Rights leader Medgar Evers was assassinated, but his fight for racial equality is just as relevant today as it was before his death.

Medgar Evers was a trailblazer for racial equality in the South — all while displaying a tireless dedication to self-improvement, education, and fair treatment for citizens in his native Mississippi and abroad.

On June 12, 1963, he was assassinated in the driveway of his home by a Ku Klux Klan member who lived free for a time after the senseless murder.

NewsOne takes a brief look back at the life of the late, great Medgar Evers.

#OTD Jun 7, 1963: Medgar Evers, NAACP Field Secretary for the state of Mississippi, was nearly run down by a car after he came out of the NAACP office in Jackson, MS. 5 days later on June 12th he would assassinated outside his home. #History pic.twitter.com/nInfBhNruy

— Jazz the Professor (@LikeButta3) June 7, 2023

Born in the small town of Decatur on July 2, 1925, Evers was one of five children to his parents, James and Jesse. The family lived on a small farm, while the Father worked in a nearby sawmill. Young Medgar would have to walk 12 miles to school each day, eventually earning his high school diploma. In 1943, Evers was drafted into the U.S. Army and fought in World War II in the countries of France and Germany.

In June 1944, Medgar Evers’ Red Ball Express unit was part of the massive, post D-Day invasion of Europe, serving both France and Germany. The Red Ball Express’ truck drivers and cargo loaders moved more than 400,000 tons of ammo, gas, medicine and rations. #MedgarEvers #DDay79 pic.twitter.com/q5Nf48BWlQ

— Holly Lawson (@Holly_Lawson713) June 6, 2023

Discharged honorably in 1946, after earning the rank of sergeant, Evers began attending Alcorn College (now Alcorn State University) to study business administration.

Just a year before his graduation from the college in 1952, Evers married Myrlie Beasley (now Myrlie Evers-Williams), and the couple had three children. Evers groomed his leadership skills as a member of the school’s football, debate and track teams. He also served as a junior class president.

It’s a great day to be on Jackson, Ms.
Home of civil rights advocate Medgar Evers.#Juneteenth all month long! https://t.co/XmyojDoina pic.twitter.com/dRdQHsztEz

— MoveMississippiForward (@HamnerPam) June 11, 2023

Activism would become Evers’ calling, after working with notable civil rights leader and mentor T.R.M. Howard. Evers worked for Howard’s Magnolia Mutual Life Insurance Company as a salesman and also served as the president of the Regional Council of Negro Leadership (RCNL). The RCNL staged boycotts in the state against gas stations that denied Black patrons from using their restrooms.

Medgar Evers served with the Red Ball Express Unit in 1944 and was honorably discharged in 1946 from the United States Army. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors following his death (murder) in 1963. #DDay79 pic.twitter.com/K24dru8e1Q

— Holly Lawson (@Holly_Lawson713) June 6, 2023

With help from the NAACP and as part of a grander scheme, Evers applied for entry into the segregated University of Mississippi Law School program in 1954, and his application was denied. This led to Evers landing a post as the Mississippi field secretary for the NAACP, and he was involved in several investigations regarding hate crimes and instances of racism against African Americans, making him a thorn in the side of the groups of White Supremacists threatened by Evers’ ability to dig up truths and stir up action.

At Medgar Evers’ funeral, his widow Myrlie consoles son Darrell, sixty years ago this week: #Loengard pic.twitter.com/KwjEz1pwZ7

— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) June 11, 2023

Critics of racial equality placed their bull’s eye firmly on Evers, and his family lived under constant death threats and other acts of intimidation.

June 12, 1963 — Civil rights leader Medgar Evers is shot dead in front of his home by White Supremacist Byron De La Beckwith. pic.twitter.com/8Zm8tK62s9

— MoorInfo (@MoorInformation) June 12, 2023

Just a day prior to Evers’ tragic early morning death, President John F. Kennedy delivered an address focused squarely on the necessity of civil rights.

60 years ago today on June 11, 1963, President Kennedy addressed the nation on civil rights. He defined the civil rights crisis as moral, as well as constitutional and legal, and announced that he would submit civil rights legislation to Congress. #JFK60https://t.co/noVDQqUBE2 pic.twitter.com/a0VwzsrIq9

— JFK Library (@JFKLibrary) June 11, 2023

Shortly after parking his car in the driveway of his family’s home, Evers was shot in the back of the head and died in an area hospital under an hour later.

Watch Evers’ story here:

The act was committed by Byron De La Beckwith, a white supremacist and Klansman who was also a member of the now-defunct White Citizens’ Council. De La Beckwith was charged on June 21, 1963, facing all-male White juries that twice resulted in hung juries while trying to determine the outcome. It wasn’t until 1994 that beleaguered prosecutor Bobby DeLaughter went forth in prosecuting De La Beckwith after new evidence was presented.

Medgar Evers (left) with JFK, 1961: pic.twitter.com/e9nUtneGQ2

— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) June 12, 2023

De La Beckwith was finally charged with the murder on February 5, 1994, and lived as a free man for much of his life  — save for a three-year stint for conspiring to kill Jewish activist A.I. Botnick.

The nation mourned the death of Evers, and he was given a full military burial just two days before the arrest of De La Beckwith in 1963. Shaken but not electing to stay still, Evers’ widow morphed into an activist herself and served as the chair for the NAACP. Evers’ older brother, Charles, returned to the city of Jackson and took over his younger brother’s duties for a time. In 1969, Medgar Evers College was established in Brooklyn as part of the City University of New York system. Evers-Williams also created the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Insitute in Mississippi, which educates and informs on social change matters.

RIP: Civil Rights activist and NAACP Field Secretary Medgar Evers was assassinated by white supremacist Byron De La Beckwith, on June 12, 1963 in Mississippi. pic.twitter.com/XrqSnlqYTj

— Denise Oliver-Velez (@Deoliver47) June 12, 2023

Although Evers’ bright and shining example was prematurely snuffed out by the racist acts of his enemies, they did not succeed in quieting the change that was to come. Instead, the murder awakened and galvanized African Americans and all people nationwide striving for justice and equality.

Rest In Powerful Peace, Medgar Evers!

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