On this day in 1964

JULY 10, 1964

A group of Black men in Jonesboro, Louisiana, led by Earnest “Chilly Willy” Thomas and Frederick Douglas Kirkpatrick, founded The Deacons for Defense and Justice to protect civil rights activists.

The deacons, most of them veterans of the Korean War, World War II or both, began providing protection after the Congress of Racial Equality’s freedom house became a target of the Ku Klux Klan. They went on to provide security for civil rights leaders and for events such as the 1966 March Against Fear in Mississippi.

Their presence helped deter the KKK’s intimidation and violence against African Americans. Future Black Panther leader Stokely Carmichael drew inspiration from the deacons.

“Here is a group which realized that the ‘law’ and law enforcement agencies would not protect people, so they had to do it themselves,” he said. “The deacons and all other blacks who resort to self-defense represent a simple answer to a simple question: What man would not defend his family and home from attack?”

By 1968, the deacons had begun to fade from the scene, overshadowed by groups like the Black Panthers. A 2003 TV movie, starring Forest Whitaker and Ossie Davis, depicted the story of the deacons and others in the civil rights movement.

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