
          BOOKS: Freedom's Light
          Reviewed by Rouse, JacquelineJacqueline Rouse
          Vol. 18, No. 1, 1996 pp. 15-16
          
          I've Got the Light of Freedom: The Organizing Tradition and the Mississippi Freedom Struggle by Charles M. Payne (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995, 525 pages).
          In grasping the tradition of organizing in the state of Mississippi during the decade of the sixties, Charles Payne seeks to analyze two components: how a large group of people "who were historically dependent, mostly apolitical, and vulnerable to violence," were moved to become activists in changing the conditions in their lives. And, how a new generation of young civil rights workers became carriers of the tradition of organizing in rural Mississippi. Payne forces us into the deep piney woods and hilly terrains of southern Mississippi, in order for us to appreciate the longevity of resistance by a cadre of undaunted "race" men and women. By acknowledging these new "movement centers," he provides an essential link in the evolving historiography of the modern civil rights movement.
          Drive-by shootings, firebombs, rattlesnakes thrown onto front porches, homes and crowds shot into, cars forced from rural and state roads--the "horrific terror of the system of Jim Crow" in Mississippi. Payne pulls us into the thicket of terrorism in order to release us into the safety of strong local independent leadership. Furious and free from economic reprisals from the local whites, these independent farmers, self-employed veterans, Pullman porters, entrepreneurs, and a few private professionals, organized community leagues, councils, and youth chapters of the NAACP.
          In the sixties the community organizing witnessed the arrival of young idealistic workers like Bob Moses, James Lawson, Lawrence Guyot, and Hollis Watkins. Via written introductions, Vernon Dahmer, Amzie Moore, C.C. Bryant, E.W. Steptoe and others adopted, nurtured, groomed, and when appropriate, introduced these fresh voices to their neighbors and friends. Intrigued by the new declarations about their "rights," the elderly and teenagers offered themselves to test the limits of repression. Nightly rallies served to encourage and inspire. Faith in "simple justice and common decency" was re-enforced by testimonies, prayers, and spirituals.
          Still many African American Mississippians would become committed
to "dat mess" only after the arrest or attack on a relative, neighbor,
friend, or leader. Mothers joined after teenagers were expelled from
schools or arrested for protesting. Brutal murders often increased the
number of local activists. Southern white racists be-came aware that
further violence provoked retribution, and the successful boycott of
downtown white merchants.
          The flood of violence brought little federal intervention.  Though
supposedly worried about a tarnished national image, state officials
were locked into the Southern code of behaviors, as civil rights
workers continued ti be beaten and murdered.  So, the leaders of the
movement in Mississippi decided that the state would host Freedom
Summer of 1964.
          White civil rights workers came into the state with SNCC in the
early sixties.  For Southern white civil rights workers their
commitment often severed ties to heritage and kin.  But some black
workers feared that the presence of large numbers of white students
would strip self-esteem and political empowerment from poor rural
black.  Their presence could exasperate internal tension.  But, Moses
and Fanni Lou Hamer reminded SNCC that it could not practice
discrimination. After all, hundreds of white students would surely
bring the national media and federal protection, they argued.
          The "coming of age" of statewide activism seems centered in the
Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and its national challenges to the
Democratic Party in 1964 and on the floor of Congress in 1965.  The
Great Society came into the state in the mid-sixties via the Head
Start Program.  Payne clearly recounts the pain inherent in
growth. Now that the shootings, Killings, evictions and the loss of
employment attached to activism had begun to diminish, the black middle
class and "progressive" whites joined forces to control federal monies
earmarked for community projects.
          Reaping the harvest from others' struggles, these newcomers and
"reformed" old-timers, quickly became the contacts for Washington.
Tension abounded over the administration of new programs, the
independence of previously dependent rural folks, the lack of access
to power, the role of white volunteers, and the disrespect new workers
had for poor black people. Long tine workers became angry at the lack
of inclusion and the new agendas set by those with little or no
history in the struggle. Feelings of betrayal and delusion forced
some to leave the state and even the country.
          The book's success springs from a vivid appreciation of the drive for
justice in the pre-Brown era.  Though recent studies of this modern
civil rights era have begun to explore the lives of "local people,"
Payne's gift is the names and purposes he assigns to the masses.  Not
only do we come to know C.C.Bryant, but we understand the courage and
aggressive actions his generation took.  We can appreciate how Gus
Courts could not be intimidated by violence for standing for
righteousness for all of his life.  Names omitted from history are not
only included, but we are able to make the connection of the
fundamentalism of their actions.  They organized not only around the
ballot and citizenship, but they carried young men on sporting
outings, sponsored local chapters of the Boy Scouts, youth chapters of
the NAACP, singing groups, oratorical contests, and numerous other
activities which would groom another generation to be proud and
committed to the black villages and hamlets of the Jim Crow 
South.  Their national affiliations with the NAACP sparked Ella Baker
and Septima Clark to direct the new arrivals in the 1960s to them in
order to continue that tradition. Payne helps us to understand what
I call our "ancestral mission".
          For these young members of SNCC would come to appreciate their new
environs and to understand they were of, not merely in, communities
who would hold them accountable for their race work.  Thus, Payne's
major strength, and the significance of this exciting work, is
realizing the history of long term local community-based organization
in the black Jim Crow South compared to short term community
mobilizing by national leaders or organizations in this modern period.
          Payne excels in the attention he gives to the growth of black
nationalism in SNCC after 1966 and the varied women who joined this
liberation struggle, particularly Susie Morgan, Lula Belle Johnson,
and Laura McGhee.   Through his work may be a companion piece for some
in the recent barrage of works on this modern period, I believe this
work accomplishes a sense of connectiveness with the period and its
people.  Payne's work isn't merely another scholarly search for the
indigenous people.  He claims, names, and gives them voice with
professionalism, respect, and sensitivity.  I've Got The Light of
Freedom will bring respect from colleagues and peers, but moreover, it
will most likely generate a sense of gratitude from the subjects of
this narrative.  For being able to make that leap, Charles Payne
should be very proud of this award winning book.
          
            Jacqueline Rouse is associate professor of history at Georgia State University. She is author of Eugenia Burns Hope: Southern Reformer, published by University of Georgia Press, 1989, and a contributing author to Black Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia.
          
        