Slain civil rights hero Medgar Wiley Evers is being remembered 55 years after his assassination in Mississippi.

It was on this day back in 1963 when Evers was gunned down in the driveway of his west Jackson home.

Evers' daughter and brother say although he is gone, his legacy lives

“He is my heart, my teacher, the person that would always play jokes,” said Reena Evers Everette.

Reena reflects on the good times she got to share with her father. Her uncle, Charles Evers, also has great memories of his brother as they began their fight for civil rights in the south.

“He meant everything," said Charles. "Medgar and I started the NAACP Mississippi."



After returning home from World War II, Evers became the state's first NAACP field secretary in the 1950's. He fought to end racial injustice and pushed for voting rights for all...but it came at a price.


“We knew something would probably happen to us and we said if anything happens to either one of us the other would carry on," Charles said.

Reena, who was just 8 years old at the time, says she still remembers the night her dad died.

“I remembered that he was lying in a large pool of blood and seeing the wound in his back and asking him to get up because I knew my father as a protector of the family,” she said.

White supremacist Byron De La Beckwith was tried twice in 1964, and both times resulted in hung juries. The case was reopened, and Beckwith was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 1994.

The Evers family says although his life was cut short, Medgar Evers made such a big impact on this world. They hope others continue to carry on his journey for justice.

“Medgar Evers didn't fight and die for us to become as hateful as we are to one another,” said Charles.

Evers’ home in Jackson is now a national landmark and museum.

MsNewsNow*