Hollis Watkins facts for kids

Hollis Watkins was an important activist during the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi in the 1960s. He joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1961 as an organizer. He also helped with the "Freedom Summer" project in 1964. Hollis Watkins supported the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party in their efforts to challenge the regular Mississippi group at the 1964 Democratic Party convention. He later started Southern Echo, a group that helps other local organizations in Mississippi. He also co-founded the Mississippi Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement.

Growing Up and Early Activism

Watkins was born on July 29, 1941, in Lincoln County, Mississippi, near the town of Summit. He was the youngest of 12 children in his family. His parents, John and Lena Watkins, were sharecroppers. Around 1949, his family bought a farm with help from a loan program started by President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. Watkins finished school at the segregated Lincoln County Training School in 1960. He also studied at Tougaloo College. This college was special because it was one of the few Black colleges that allowed students to be involved in political activities. This was because it wasn't run by white people who supported segregation. Watkins was part of a program at Tougaloo that let students work on the Civil Rights Movement while still earning college credits.

When he was young, Watkins went to National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) youth meetings led by Medgar Evers. In 1961, Watkins met Bob Moses, who was organizing for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Mississippi. Bob Moses asked Watkins to join the effort to help Black people register to vote in McComb. Watkins joined the very next day. He became a member of SNCC and started going door-to-door in McComb, Mississippi, to talk to people about voting. He soon became a role model for high school activists in McComb.

First Sit-in and Arrest

Watkins took part in McComb's first sit-in at a Woolworth's lunch counter. The goal was to end segregation. Because of this, he was put in jail for 34 days. While in jail, he was threatened several times. He kept his plan to join the sit-in a secret from his parents, knowing they might not let him go. But when his father found out, he spoke at a large meeting to protest their arrest. This support from his father helped Watkins during his difficult time in jail.

After that, Watkins joined a walk-out at McComb's Black high school with many other activists, including Brenda Travis. This led to him being sentenced to 39 more days in jail. Watkins' activism also affected his family. Many of his relatives avoided him in public because they were afraid of losing their jobs. Groups like the White Citizens Council tried to hurt Black activists by getting them fired, evicted from their homes, and denying them loans.

Working for Voting Rights

Vernon Dahmer, who was the president of the Forrest County, Mississippi NAACP, asked SNCC for help with voter registration. So, Watkins moved to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to work on that project. Watkins worked part-time at Dahmer's sawmill to earn money and spent the rest of his time organizing voter registration. He wasn't able to hold meetings at Baptist churches in Hattiesburg, but he found success at the St. James Colored Methodist Episcopal Church. His first effort led to six people volunteering to try and register to vote, including Victoria Gray Adams.

Facing Danger to Register Voters

At the request of Amzie Moore, Watkins then went to Holmes County, Mississippi, where he started talking to potential voters. He was willing to risk his life for the movement. For example, one day he went to a small house on a plantation to talk about voting. The plantation owner chased him away and shot at him. But that didn't stop Watkins from going back the next week.

CBS News gave Watkins special equipment. He went to the clerk of court's office with a hidden camera and microphone. He wanted to film what it was like for Black people trying to register to vote with officer Theron Lynd. CBS News was covering the Civil Rights Movement. The video of Lynd and Watkins was shown on a "CBS Reports" program called "Mississippi and the Fifteenth Amendment." It was later released on DVD as "Mississippi and the Black Vote."

Watkins was with Hartman Turnbow and others when Turnbow tried to register to vote at the Holmes County Courthouse. That night, Turnbow's home was attacked with firebombs. The sheriff later accused Turnbow of setting his own house on fire, and Turnbow, Watkins, and other SNCC workers were arrested. It was during one of his times in jail that Watkins became known as a leader and singer of "freedom songs." Watkins led these songs with Lawrence Guyot. These songs brought joy, spirit, and comfort to people.

Teaching and Organizing

Watkins was involved in many ways with voter registration. After becoming a SNCC field secretary, he went to Hattiesburg and started a three-month voter registration project. Watkins also worked in Greenwood, Mississippi, and other places, with people like Sam Block and Willie Peacock. Besides voter registration projects, Watkins taught classes to help people learn about voting and basic reading and writing. In the early 1960s, Watkins attended Highlander Folk School in Tennessee, which trained community organizers. He later served on the school's board.

Watkins was in Washington D.C. during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. He did not march, but instead, he, Bob Moses, and Curtis Hayes protested outside the Department of Justice. While in Washington, Watkins met and talked with Malcolm X, a leader of the Nation of Islam.

Black people were often denied the right to vote, even though it was legal. The government sometimes made up difficult questions they knew most Black people couldn't answer. This led to the "Freedom Summers," organized by COFO (Council of Federated Organizations). The Freedom Summers set up "freedom schools" and community centers to teach Black citizens how to read and write. Watkins gathered 750 people in the Greenwood area who offered homes, food, protection, and support for the students coming from the North for the Freedom Summers.

Freedom Summer and Its Challenges

Watkins strongly believed that local people should lead their own activism. This was why he was against the 1964 'Summer Project,' also known as Freedom Summer. He thought that bringing in many people from outside would stop the growth of local programs that were already working. He worried that after the volunteers left, it would be harder to get the local movements going again. However, once the project was approved, Watkins did his best to make it a success. He and other SNCC members trained participants at Miami University of Ohio.

Watkins became the director of the Holmes County efforts for Freedom Summer. More than 50 volunteers came to Holmes County to help people register to vote and to run the freedom schools. For their safety, Watkins made sure they followed strict rules, like no drinking, no dating local people, and no arguments with local segregationists. Perhaps because of these rules, Holmes County had fewer problems that summer compared to other areas. The community came to rely on the group from the North during Freedom Summer. They were educated and spoke well, so people listened to them. But when they left, things became disorganized, and local people had to rebuild their efforts.

Being Watched by the Government

Watkins was one of many people spied upon by the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission. This was a state agency that was supposed to help the state's image. But its staff and informers investigated civil rights workers and created files on them for government use. They also shared information with local White Citizens Councils, which used it to harm activists. Watkins’ name appears in these files 63 times. Some reports called him a communist, even though he didn't really know what that meant at the time. In 1990, the state government made these papers available for the public to see.

The Democratic Convention

Watkins traveled to Atlantic City, New Jersey, for the 1964 Democratic Party national convention. He went to support the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP). This group tried to replace the regular Mississippi Democratic Party, which was mostly white and kept Black people from voting. Watkins was there when Fannie Lou Hamer spoke to the committee. He was also there when Hamer disagreed with Martin Luther King about whether the MFDP should accept the offer of two seats at the convention from President Lyndon Baines Johnson. His work for the party led Victoria Gray to announce she would run for the U.S. Senate from Mississippi under the MFDP.

Later Work and Awards

In 1988, Watkins returned to the Democratic Party National Convention, this time as a delegate for Jesse Jackson. Starting in 1989, Watkins joined and became President of Southern Echo. This group helps civil rights and education-reform groups across the South. He also helped start the Mississippi Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement. This group works to teach people about the movement and celebrate its achievements.

• In 2011, Jackson State University honored Watkins with a Fannie Lou Hamer Humanitarian Award.
• On February 27, 2014, the acting mayor and City of Jackson Council honored Watkins for his work in remembering the Fiftieth Anniversary of Freedom Summer.
• Watkins believes that the most powerful thing is for people to feel like they are part of a group working together, not alone. This helps them get things done. He says it's very important to have community and unity because it helps people overcome their fears. He stated that you should not let fear stop you from doing things. When people feel empowered, they can do more. He believes people need to accept each other's differences. This will help overcome big problems and build a strong movement.