The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party’s Fight for Equality

The Mississippi Freedom Summer is incredibly important to me. This fall and winter, I researched the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party’s work during the Civil Rights Period, specifically the 1964 Freedom Summer, to create a documentary for National History Day, and I am deeply inspired by their work. In 1964, African Americans legally had the right to vote but, Southern African Americans were prevented from voting through violent voter intimidation, poll taxes, and discriminatory literacy tests. This voter suppression was especially widespread in Mississippi, so civil rights leaders launched a campaign of the Mississippi Freedom Summer, which would encourage and enable Black people to vote and take political involvement, culminating in a bid to be seated at the Democratic National Convention. Despite persistent violence from white supremacists and resistance from local government, and though they were not able to be seated at the Democratic National Convention, they never relented in their activism, leading to lasting change in voting rights for Black southerners, from the passing of the Voting Rights Act to reforms by they Democratic party to become more inclusive and allow African Americans to vote in democratic primaries. 

The Freedom Democratic Party’s work is so significant because they represented true dedication to the protection of equal rights and the belief that America could be improved through civil rights activism and faith in the democratic process. The Freedom Democratic Party’s work motivates me to be unrelenting in my devotion to social betterment and to understand that success can be achieved in the face of great resistance. It also reminds me to work to understand various perspectives so I can appeal to a wide audience in my education or activism work. The Freedom Democratic Party worked tirelessly, even losing three activists to murders by white supremacists, and there are so many who are unaware of their story, or of the extent to which Black Voters were suppressed in the South.

As the Freedom Democratic Party’s work was so meaningful to me, I created this blog as a space to continue sharing my research on stories and events underrepresented in history. I am grateful for the opportunities I’ve had to educate within my school community, and I hope this blog will allow me to take a wider reach and share many more stories.