Myrlie Evers-Williams.Photo:Tamika Moore
Tamika Moore
Myrlie Evers-Williamsgazes wistfully at a photograph of Medgar Evers, the decorated Army veteran she married in 1951, when, at just 26, he was already a pioneering activist who would go on to challenge segregation and fight for the rights of Black Americans. “The best way I can describe it is he was the love of my life,” says Myrlie, now 90.
The photo is in a display case in a dimly lit basement room at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif., where Myrlie’s personal archives are stored. “I think I kept every scrap of paper,” she says. “I knew deep in my heart that everything my husband was doing and working for could be of use years later. He said, ‘Keep a record, Myrlie. History is one of the most important things we are going to have in life.’”
Medgar Evers, Myrlie Evers and their children.Mississippi Department of Archives and History
Mississippi Department of Archives and History
The couple themselves would soon become a key part of history, but not without devastating personal cost.
Medgar Evers funeral pamphlet.Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty
Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty
This year marks the 60th anniversary of Medgar’s assassination, one that helped crystallize the deadly toxicity of racism in this country and the desperate need for progress — and this month, the Everses are being honored in a Jackson celebration.
But for Myrlie — who’s spent the better part of her life taking up her husband’s torch and keeping his murder case in the forefront (Medgar’s murdererwasn’t convicted until 1994) — the painful memory of his assassination is still fresh. “If I could’ve taken those bullets that night, I would’ve,” she says. “I would have gladly given my life for his at any time, because I believed in him. Medgar taught me to be brave.”
Myrlie Evers-Williams.Tamika Moore
Raised in Mississippi, Myrlie was taught early on that courage could come at the ultimate price. “I was very familiar with all of the ills there,” she says. “You kept your mouth shut. I had no idea of what helping my people was before I met Medgar.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer.
A friend ofMartin Luther King Jr.’s, “Medgar put himself on the line when not many people did,” she says, “and it was frightening to me.” Still, she married and marched alongside him.
Myrlie Evers, her children, Pres. John F Kennedy and her brother-in-law Charles Evers.Corbis/Getty
Corbis/Getty
“We were poor; we didn’t have anything, but people would bring meals, clothes for my children,” she recalls. “I found myself so thankful for those who supported me.”
She was also furious. Asked how she continued her activism after such a heinous act of violence was carried out on her family, she answers quickly: “Hate. I was full of it. I was determined to make whoever was responsible for my husband’s death pay.”
Myrlie Evers.AP
AP
It’s a truth she admits she’s not proud of, especially after dedicating her life to stamping out that very feeling. “I have been filled with so much anger in my life, I’m almost ashamed,” she says. “But I also realize I’m human.”
Myrlie Evers.Tamika Moore
Myrlie relocated the family to California, where she resumed her studies at Pomona College. “That’s where I found myself again,” says Myrlie, who’d only completed two years of courses when Medgar was killed. “I knew it was necessary for me to have a degree to do a decent job supporting our kids.”
After earning a bachelor’s in sociology, she went on to become a journalist, businesswoman, author and two-time congressional candidate. But of all her jobs, “one of the toughest things I had to do was reinvigorate the NAACP."
Myrlie Evers speaks at a NAACP Freedom Rally in August 1963.Getty
Getty
In the 1990s she became the preeminent voice of the organization, which was then in dire straits because of scandal and economic issues.
At the time, “The men [of the NAACP] said, ‘She can’t do anything, she’s just Medgar’s wife,’” Myrlie recalls. “I smiled and said, ‘Watch me.’”
Serving as chairperson, she helped reinstate the NAACP’s prestige and stability. And once again she found love amid the struggle. “My second husband was a prayer,” she says of Walter Edward Williams, an activist and one of the nation’s first Black longshoremen, whom she married in 1976.
Myrlie Evers-Williams and Walter Williams.John Storey/Getty
John Storey/Getty
“In marriage I’ve been twice blessed,” she says. It was Williams who encouraged her to keep fighting for justice “when almost everybody told me it would never happen.”
Williams died of prostate cancer one year after the verdict.
Now entering her 10th decade, Myrlie says, “I’m just beginning to feel a release from all the weight that’s been over me.” And yet there is more work to be done.
“When I look at the race situation today, I know that I have to keep going,” she says. “I’m tired, but I’m pretty strong. I can still kick.”
For more on Myrlie Evers' inspiring life as a civil rights activist,subscribe now to PEOPLEor pick up this week’s issue, on newsstands Friday.
source: people.com
