Reflections on Civil Rights History in the South:
The Intersections of Identity, Place, Gender, and Race in a Contemporary Framework
The Heart of the Movement
An Essay by
Quentina Dunbar
Our first morning in Jackson, we had the honor of visiting two of Mississippi’s most involved historically black institutions, Jackson State University and Tougaloo College. While these schools are similar in many ways, their governance has proven to make a world of a difference. Jackson State serving as a public institution and Tougaloo a private, drastically affected the lasting impacts they would leave. This was a time in which state institutions and its employees could face harsh penalties for having any connection to the challenging of local law. According to Maria Lowe, author of An ‘Oasis of Freedom’ in a ‘Closed’ Society, “Since its founding, Tougaloo operated as an oppositional free space in the most rigidly segregated state in the Deep South” (Lowe, 2007). Tougaloo had freedom from overbearing state mandate to take powerful stance among those progressively participating in the Civil Rights movement. With its promising location as a safe haven from an oppressive state, Tougaloo College established its place in the heart of the Civil Rights movement and has managed to continue its legacy to this day.
A prime example of Jackson State University coming into direct opposition to the civil rights movement was expressed in Anne Moody’s memoir. According to Moody, Jackson State expelled the Ladner Sisters, Joyce and Dorie, for participating in a protest on campus. This unjust disciplinary act drove the women to Tougaloo where, alongside Anne Moody they became heavily involved in activism. While their activism was stunted at Jackson State, their passion to bring about change continued to grow and flourish at Tougaloo College.
Consistent with black community norms, the chapel on Tougaloo’s campus was the epicenter of the movement. In accordance with the Black community’s connection to the church the chapel proved its location to be the epitome of the meeting place during the Civil Rights. Both in the past and the present, the church has provided a safe haven for black communities across the United States. It was in church that black people could reclaim the respect they were deprived of everywhere else. Someone referred to in various dehumanizing ways could come to church and be called by their name, given a title, and have their worth affirmed. Inspired by the teachings of Christianity, the black church became the beacon of hope for a better tomorrow for those enduring oppressive social systems and institutions. Tougaloo’s Chapel served as church for worship, an auditorium for speakers, and ground zero for Civil Rights meetings.
Today, Tougaloo College’s history of progressive action, unity and social justice initiatives continues to grow and flourish. The college’s tagline speaks to this legacy, “Where history meets the future.” The time we spent on Tougaloo’s campus certainly speaks to this dynamic. In that place, we were overwhelmingly reminded of all the history that had occurred yet constantly greeted with its lasting relevance in the fight for social justice. Tougaloo College’s current mission, purpose and vision aim to empower the student leaders of today much as it did fifty years ago during the Civil Rights movement. The goal continues to be creating safe spaces to be, think and craft ideas individual to the status quo.
Overall, Jackson State and Tugaloo College as historically black institutions had the opportunity to bring about great change, but it was Tougaloo that made itself an institution centered upon advocating for social justice. Tougaloo College was and still remains a mainstay and a driving force of social justice movements. Tougaloo and institutions like it continue to be places where Black conscious thought can flourish. The importance of safe spaces for a community dealing with past and present trauma proves to be invaluable. If there is one thing I learned during our trip through what once was Anne Moody’s Mississippi it’s this: the past and the present are more connected than disconnected. Tougaloo College’s efforts to equip their students with knowledge of their rich and progressive past will certainly mold them into the leaders that our society so deeply needs.
References
Lowe, Maria R. "An “Oasis Of Freedom” In A “Closed Society”: The Development Of Tougaloo College As A Free Space In Mississippi's Civil Rights Movement, 1960 To 19641." Journal of Historical Sociology (2007): 486-520. Print.
Moody, Anne. Coming of Age in Mississippi. New York: Dial, 1968. Print.
As a private institution, Tougaloo had the agency to decide how heavily involved it would be within the movement. Tougaloo used this agency to host meetings, speakers, and local activists needing refuge. People from all over came to work in solidarity against the struggle suffocating black lives in America. The energy of Tougaloo has always been unique as it functioned as one the only integrated schools in its area for a portion of its time. While Tougaloo is in fact a historically black college, many local both black and white farmers sent their children to Tougaloo, making it of the few racially integrated. When Anne Moody, the woman upon whose memoir inspired this project and ultimately this class, arrived at Tougaloo College on an academic scholarship she spoke of the intimidation she felt because of all the “High Yellows” or biracial people that she saw around the campus. Despite her initial fear of her new environment, it was at Tougaloo College that Anne Moody would find her place in the Civil Rights movement.