Deacons for Defense and Justice

Deacons for Defense and Justice. Mississippi Freedom Trail. , The Natchez Deacons for Defense and Justice played a critical role in the civil rights movement in Mississippi. On September 10, 1965, they held their first meeting in this building, home to Leon Donnan's Barbershop, under the leadership of Deacons president James "Big Jack" Jackson. The barbershop became the command post for the Deacons, an armed self-defense organization that provided protection for the Black community and civil rights workers., Deacons for Defense Civil unrest, brought on by years of racism, police brutality, and violence by the Ku Klux Klan, reached a fever pitch in Adams County in the 1960s. It was a time when African Americans mobilized a united front in their fight for freedom. The year 1965 was a pivotal time in Natchez. Tension rose when NAACP President George Metcalfe's vehicle was bombed on August 27, 1965, in the parking lot of Armstrong Tire and Rubber Company. Metcalfe suffered severe injuries in the attack by the Ku Klux Klan. Black men in the community took up arms for self-defense, meeting secretly to protect the community and civil rights workers. These men traveled to Louisiana to meet with a paramilitary protection organization, the Deacons for Defense and Justice. On September 10, 1965, the men met at Donnan's Barbershop at 319 N. Dr. M.L.K. Street (formerly Pine Street), where they held their first official meeting as the Natchez Deacons for Defense and Justice., In addition to James "Big Jack" Jackson, the founding president, the original members included James Stokes, Otis Fleming, Richard “Dip" Lewis, Hugh Ransom, and Leroy Clay. Clifford M. Boxley, aka Ser Seshsh Ab Heter, assisted them with fundraising in California and in acquiring firearms. He later joined the organization. Because local police would not protect activists from physical attacks, the Natchez Deacons for Defense filled that role. While they wouldn't provoke a fight, the Deacons used armed self-defense to protect the local freedom movement., Donnan's Barbershop, originally owned by Leon Donnan, became the command post for the Deacons. It was where they held meetings, swore in new recruits, and discussed strategy. It also served as an observation point that allowed them to keep a critical eye on the Klan located in a store directly across the street. After several months of protests and boycotts, city officials conceded to a list of twelve demands presented by the local NAACP that called for justice, equality, respect, desegregation of public facilities, representation on government boards, better law enforcement, and hiring opportunities for Blacks, among other things. The NAACP also called on the city to denounce the Klan, White supremacy, and racial violence., This campaign, which mobilized the Natchez Black community, was protected by the Deacons and resulted in one of the great local successes of the Mississippi movement. In 1966, the national NAACP's publication The Crisis reported, "the agreement represents an upgrading of the status of the Negro community unparalleled in the settlement of any similar protest in a Southern city." Because of this success, Natchez became a model for other communities in Mississippi. The work of the Deacons spread throughout the state. They helped to establish chapters in Woodville, Centreville, Port Gibson, Fayette, Vicksburg, Kosciusko, Hazlehurst, Crystal Springs, and Hattiesburg. By focusing on armed self-defense, the Deacons made the Natchez and Mississippi movements more effective.