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Special insert, the link to the Smithsonian Magazine article about: "Retraching Slavery's Trail of Tears" which includes Ser Seshsh Ab Heter-CM Boxley's Natchez Forks of the Road enslavement selling markets preservation advocacy work.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/slavery-trail-of-tears-180956968/

NOVEMBER 2015 MARKS THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE NATCHEZ DEACONS FOR DEFENSE AND JUSTICE AN ARMED CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANIZATION’S CAPACITY BEING ENABLED BY SER SESHSH AB HETER-CM BOXLEY

Early November of 1965 in order to increase the capacity of the Natchez Deacons operations representatives of Natchez Deacons for Defense and Justice Richard “Dip” Lewis and James Stokes are invited to California by Goboa Wa Arathi-Clifford M. Boxley (later Ser Seshsh Ab Heter) to raise funds, obtain weapons and take possession of his donated automobile. (See page 203 of Professor Lance Hill’s book: Deacons for Defense and Professor Akinyele Umoja’s book: We Will Shoot Back)

ON AUGUST 28, 1965, THE VERY NEXT DAY AFTER THE ATTEMPTED CAR BOMB ASSASSINATION OF NAACP PRESIDENT GEORGE METCALF, YOUNG BLACK MEN IN NATCHEZ BEGAN ORGANIZING A LOCAL ORGANIZATION OF DEACONS FOR DEFENSE AND JUSTICE. IN JUST FIVE TO SIX WEEKS AFTER ORGANIZING FOR SELF DEFENSE THE NATCHEZ DEACONS FOR DEFENSE AND JUSTICE CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANIZATION’S CAPACITY TO DEFEND NATCHEZ CIVIL RIGHTS WORKERS AND THE BLACK COMMUNITY FROM KKK, POLICE AND OTHER WHITES TERRORISM, VIOLENCE AND INTIMIDATION WAS REALIZED WITH THE HELP OF NATCHEZ NATIVE SER SESHSH AB HETER-CLIFFORD M. BOXLEY WHO RESIDED IN REDWOOD CITY CALIFORNIA. THE NATCHEZ DEACONS FOR DEFENSE AND JUSTICE WENT BEYOND NATCHEZ TO PORT GIBPSON, WOODVILLE, CENTERVILLE MISSISSIPPI AND VIDALIA AND FERRIDAY LOUISIANA AND ORGANIZED DEACONS FOR DEFENSE ORGANIZATIONS AS WELL.

“THE NATCHEZ DEACONS HAD AMPLE FUNDS TO CARRY ON THEIR WORK, THANKS TO CLIFFORD BOXLEY, A NATCHEZ NATIVE WHO MADE HIS HOME IN REDWOOD CITY CALIFORNIA. BOXLEY A POSTAL WORKERS RETURNED TO NATCHEZ FOR A VISIT DURING THE HEIGHT OF THE BOYCOTT AND WAS IMPRESSED BY THE DEACON’S WORK. HE ARRANGED FOR A FUND RAISING TOUR IN CALIFORNIA FOR RICHARD “DIP” LEWIS AND JAMES STOKES IN NOVEMBER 1965. STOKES WAS A NATURAL CHOICE AS A SPOKESPERSON FOR THE DEACONS. A WELL-SPOKEN ARTICULATE MAN WITH A FLAIR FOR THE DRAMATIC, HE HAD HONED HIS LEADERSHIP ABILITIES AS A CHURCH DEACON AND CHOIR DIRECTOR AND UNION STEWARD, AND HE HAD TRAVELED EXTENSIVELY AROUND THE WORLD IN THE ARMY’S ENTERTAINMENT UNIT FROM 1953 TO 1955. STOKES EXHIBITED THE SAME OUTSPOKENNESS AS A FUND RAISER FOR THE DEACONS DURING HIS TOUR OF CALIFORNIA. ON 9 NOVEMBER 1965 STOKES DELIVERED A SPEECH AT SAN MATEO COLLEGE.  HANDBILL DISTRIBUTED AT THE EVENT NOTED THAT THE DEACONS’ PURPOSE WAS TO PROTECT THE LIVES AND PROPERTY OF NEGRO CITIZENS FROM HOODED NIGHT RIDERS. THE LEAFLET REQUESTED CONTRIBUTIONS TO PURCHASE SUCH ITEMS AS WALKIE TALKIES, RADIO EQUIPMENT, UNIFORM EQUIPMENT AND CARS THAT ARE RADIO EQUIPPED TO PATROL THE NEGRO NEIGHBORHOOD. THOUGH THE CIRCULAR OMITTED MENTION OF WEAPONS, THE FBI REPORTED THAT IN HIS SPEECH STOKES SAID THAT FUNDS WOULD ALSO BE USED TO BUY WEAPONS. YEARS LATER STOKES CONFIRMED THE REPORT AND FRANKLY ADMITTED THAT THE OBJECTIVE OF THE FUND RAISING TOUR WAS TO BUY GUNS. STOKES TRAVELED THROUGHOUT CALIFORNIA FOR APPROXIMATELY A WEEK, SPEAKING AT SEVERAL CHURCHES IN REDWOOD CITY AND APPEARING AT FUND RAISING EVENTS IN LOS ANGELES, OAKLAND AND SAN FRANCISCO. HE RETURNED TO NATCHEZ WITH CONTRIBUTIONS TOTALING $7,000, SEVERAL GUNS AND DONATED CAR (SER BOXLEY’S RED 1957 OLDSMOBILE). ALL OF THE MONEY WENT FOR ADDITIONAL GUNS AND RADIOS. STOKES SUCCESSFUL FUND-RAISING ENABLED THE DEACONS TO GIVE THEIR FULL ATTENTION TO THE BOYCOTT, WHICH WAS ENTERING ITS THIRD MONTH IN NOVEMBER.”…THE DEACONS FOR DEFENSE ARMED RESISTANCE AND THE CIVIL RIGHT MOVEMENT, BY LANCE HILL PAGE 203-204

"The Deacons for Defense and Justice was an armed self-defense African-American civil rights organization in the U.S. Southern states during the 1960s. Historically, the organization practiced self-defense methods in the face of racist oppression that was carried out under the Jim Crow Laws by local/state government officials and racist vigilantes. Many times the Deacons are not written about or cited when speaking of the Civil Rights Movement because their agenda of self-defense - in this case, using violence, if necessary - did not fit the image of strict non-violence that leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. espoused. ^[1][2];

"Dirks argues that the armed self-defense posture of activists in these parts of Mississippi made a material difference to the outcomes:

The protection of the Deacons gave the civil rights campaign in Natchez a much needed boost because the Deacons also organized internal movement discipline. While the boycott in Clarksdale was enforced through calling out names of violators during mass meetings, the Deacons organized vigilante groups of Black women—and some men—who attacked shoppers and destroyed their groceries. These female vigilantes also beat up domestic workers who gave information to their white employers. This internal disciplining made the boycott almost completely effective. In December 1965, after just four months of boycotting and broad-scale community organizing, city govern- ment and local businessmen decided to give in and agreed to all of the demands of the Black community. Evers called it “the greatest concession” of the civil rights movement, and he  was right as far as Mississippi was concerned. While the movement in Clarksdale quietly phased out and needed federal intervention to open voter registration to African Americans, Natchez had managed to exert enough—armed—pressure on the white power structure to create a total collapse of Jim Crow. “The Natchez campaign was the single greatest community victory for the civil rights movement in Mississippi, though historians have never given it the credit it deserves,” asserts Lance Hill. “The organizers united and inspired a community to courageous action . . . and secured dramatic legal and economic reforms. In comparison, the projects in McComb, Clarksdale and Jackson failed to win any significant demands and frequently left the black community demoralized and in disarray.” (91)

 There is a clear logic to the idea that the non-violent movement needed support from men and women who were willing to face armed attackers with their own guns, and Hill offers a number of strong examples of incidents where klan and police thugs were forced to back off. But the question of whether, all things considered, we need to reassess the way the civil rights movement succeeded in cracking Jim Crow really needs more detailed and careful research, to follow on upon the groundbreaking case that Lance Hill has made;"

About Me Daniel Little 

CONTINUING THE INSTALLMENTS ABOUT THE EVENTUAL SUCCESSFUL NATCHEZ MISSISSIPPI MODERN CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT OF 1965. (SEE OTHER POSTS IN SER SESHS AB HETER-BOXLEY’S TIMELINE POSTINGS

Natchez Regaining Civil Rights Movement Timeline Review Brief!

On October 7, 1965 the day after their injunction is overturned and 1,200 Blacks march in the streets, officials announce they'll consider a reduced list of demands that Evers has submitted. He halts the protest marches, though the boycott continues.

On October 12, 1965 Mayor Nosser and the aldermen negotiate with an NAACP-led delegation. (see documentary Black Natchez)

Forcing white politicians to sit down with representatives of the Black community (as opposed to so-called "Negro leaders" chosen by the white power-structure) is a victory in itself.

And the delegates proudly report back to the mass meeting that the city has agreed to most of the reduced demands. There is a sense of victory and jubilation.

The sense of victory is short-lived.

Two days later, October 14, 1965 under pressure from the Klan and Citizens Council, city officials repudiate their agreement, denying that they had accepted any of the NAACP demands. Nosser states that he could never require city employees to address people as "Mr," Mrs," or Miss."

The boycott, pickets and the marches resume.

Evers has strengthened his political support, both in Natchez and with the NAACP state-wide. The  national NAACP leaders in New York now have no choice but to provide him with increased support.

Evers no longer needs assistance from SCLC (Martin L. King Jr organizers), nor does he welcome their criticism of his authoritarian control or unilateral decisions.

In late October of 1965, he asks them to leave.

SCLC leader Rev. Sampson denounces Evers as, "unreliable, untrustworthy, and incapable." But SCLC officials in Atlanta don't want to rupture relations with the NAACP so the SCLC team departs.