David L. Jordan

From the Mississippi Cotton Fields to the State Senate, a Memoir

David L. Jordan, Robert L. Jenkins

• Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN:
  9781617039669
• eBook ISBN:
  9781626742284
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Political Biographies
• Index: Politics & International Relations

In David L. Jordan's earliest memories, he is lying in the fields, the black earth beneath him and the sky and sun above, filtered through the leaves of the cotton plants. The youngest of five children in a family of sharecroppers, he was nursed and grew up in those fields, joining his family in their work as soon as he was old enough to carry a sack. David L. Jordan: From the Mississippi Cotton Fields to the State Senate is the memoir of black Mississippi state senator and city councilman Jordan. His life in twentieth-century Mississippi spanned some of the most difficult times for black Mississippians as they coped with the effects of crippling economic circumstances caused by tenant farming and second-class citizenship enforced through the most violent and repressive means. Jordan shares his experiences from early childhood growing up in Leflore County, the heart of the Mississippi Delta, through his life and work in government. He rose from humble beginnings to become professional educator and eventually one of the Deep South's most recognizable social and political activists. In this revealing autobiography, Jordan describes his witness to the often brutal and humiliating mistreatment of blacks by white racists. He is one of the few persons still alive who attended the sensational trial of the two white men accused of the horrific lynching of Emmett Till in 1955. Jordan recounts the atmosphere and drama surrounding the case with telling effects, shining light on this brand of Mississippi injustice that will help readers understand why many people consider the case the real genesis of the modern civil rights movement. Though change was often slow and grudging, Jordan's Mississippi has evolved and continues to overcome. Indeed, Jordan's story is notably a revelation of his role as a catalyst in shaping many of the gains that blacks have achieved in Mississippi in the past fifty years. With a deep belief in the power of education, hard work, and determination, Jordan has worked tirelessly and courageously so that all his fellow citizens might enjoy the human and political rights he has long championed.

Index

The index that appeared in the print version of this title was intentionally removed from the eBook. Please use the search function on your eReading device for terms of interest. For your reference, the terms that appear in the print index are listed below

Alcorn State University

All Rise (Keady)

Anderson, Doug

Anderson, James

antibullying law

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Austin, Howard

B. B. King Museum

Baldwin Piano Company

Ball State University

Banks, Ricky

Barbour, Haley

Beckwith, Byron De La

Bennett, Lerone

Bishop, W. J.

Black America Web

Blake, James

Block, Sam

blues music

Booker, Simeon

Boykin, Ernest

Brown, Bubble

Brown v. Board of Education

Bryant, Carolyn

Bryant, Roy

Bryant’s Grocery Store

Burris, Roland

Cagle, Robert

Cannon, Tennill

Carter, Brenda

Carter, Jermaine

Carter, Jimmy

Carter, Rosalynn

casinos

Chambliss, Alvin

Character Education Bill

Charles Whittington Plantation

Chestnut, Sammie

Chicago Defender

Chicago-Greenwood Culture Club

Chiles, Joyce

civil rights movement

Clark, Robert

Clarksdale, Mississippi

Clinton, Bill

Clinton, Hillary

Cochran, Edward

Cochran, Thad

Collins, J. D.

Collins, Robert

Conley, Annie

Cooke, Sam

Cooley, Charlie

Cotton Compress

Curtis, Joseph

Davis, Martha

Davis, Temita S.

Dedmon, Darryl

Democratic National Convention

Diamond Café

Dickerson, S. N.

Diggs, Charles

Dillard, Cornelia

Dillard, Willie

Dillard University

Donaldson, Sam

Dribben (Greenwood School District superintendent)

Dugar, Larry, Jr.

DuPree, Johnny

Edwards, John

Eisenhower, Dwight

Elliot, James

Ellis, George

Ellis, L. S.

Ellis School

Emmett Till Historic Intrepid Center

Emmett Till Marker

Emmett Till Museum

Emmett Till trial

Espy, Mike

Evers, Charles

Evers, Medgar

Evers-Williams, Myrlie

Faubus, Orval

Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI)

Final Call, The

Finch, Cliff

Fisher, Bobby

Ford, Gerald

Fordice, Kirk

Frazier, Hillman

Freedom Rides

Freema...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half title
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Prologue
• Born into the Cotton Field
• The Struggle for an Education
• Till Death Do Us Part
• The Emmett Till Trial
• Stepping into the Movement
• When Duty Calls
• The Depths of My Struggle
• A Salute to the Sixties
• The Greenwood Voters’ League
• Wings to Fly
• The Political Scene
• Midnight Train to Georgia
• My First Political Seat
• A Bittersweet Victory
• Justice Across the Board
• Allegiance to the Flag
• Mississippi Blues
• To Defend until the End
• Apology Accepted
• Not the N***** Word
• The Right Way . . . Is My Way!
• Not until Hell Freezes Over
• Hanging by the Threads of Justice
• All Infection Is Not Gone
• The Journey Continues . . .
• Epilogue
• Index