Food and the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement: re-reading the 1962-1963 Greenwood Food Blockade

ABSTRACT

The relationship between food and the American civil rights movement is often storied within the context of lunch counter sit-ins. Yet, food not only functioned as a backdrop to protests and demonstrations, it also took center stage. In the Mississippi Delta, for instance, an event known by activists as the 1962–1963 Greenwood Food Blockade illuminated the centrality of food to movement politics. Rarely remarked upon or discussed in detail, scholars read the blockade as an isolated disruption to the Mississippi Civil Rights movement, overlooking the significance of this event. In this paper, I attempt to recover the Greenwood Food Blockade from narratives of the civil rights movement and offer an alternative reading of the event. This reading is instructive and extends what we know about the civil rights movement in important ways. First, it enlarges our understanding of food as a weapon, tool, tactic, and everyday preoccupation in the civil rights era. Second, it amplifies the role of poor rural black communities, local activists, and women in dictating the civil rights agenda in tandem with national activists. Third, it shows how these actors engaged in everyday food politics central to our understandings of food justice and food sovereignty today.

KEYWORDS:

• Food
• civil rights movement
• Mississippi Delta
• Greenwood Food Blockade
• race
• rural black communities
• everyday food politics

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Baker, Ella. May 1960. “Bigger Than a Hamburger.” The Southern Patriot. Accessed at https://www.crmvet.org/docs/sncc2.htm.

2. “Leflore County Won’t Have Commodity Program,” Greenwood Commonwealth, November 9, 1962, Box 18044 [microform], Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Jackson, MS.

3. Block, Sam. July 12, 1964. State of Mississippi, County of Leflore, Sworn Deposition. Council of Federated Organizations, 1964, Box 1, Folder 12. Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Jackson, MS.

4. See note 2 above.

5. Ibid.

6. Cobb, Charles, and Charles McLaurin. November 19, 1962. SNCC Report on the condition of Negro farmers in Ruleville, Mississippi. Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee papers, 1959-1972 [microform] (Reel 38, 119. Mississippi, Greenville Sit-In, June 29, 1963 – February 6, 1966, n.d.). University of Illinois Library, Urbana, IL.

7. McDew, Charles and William Mahoney. March 12, 1963. Food for Freedom Program Recruitment Letter. Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee papers, 1959–1972 [microform] (Reel 49, 157. Programs, Food for Freedom, Mar. 12 – July 16, 1963, n.d.). University of Illinois Library, Urbana, IL.

8. Various letters sent out by Bill Mahoney regarding the Food for Freedom Program are located in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee papers, 1959–1972 [microform] (Reel 49, 157. Programs, Food for Freedom, Mar. 12 – July 16, 1963, n.d.). University of Illinois Library, Urbana, IL.

9. Mahoney, William. April 19, 1963. Letter to Reverend Nickerson. (Reel 49, 157. Programs, Food for Freedom, Mar. 12 – July 16, 1963, n.d.). University of Illinois Library, Urbana, IL.

10. McDew, Charles, and William Mahoney. March 12, 1963. Letter to Honorable Congressman John Lindsay. Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee papers, 1959–1972 [microform] (Reel 49, 157. Programs, Food for Freedom, Mar. 12 – July 16, 1963, n.d.). University of Illinois Library, Urbana, IL.

11. Ibid.

12. Still, Larry. 1963. “Economic Pressure Against 5,000 Families Affects 22,000 People.” JET Magazine, February 21.

13. See note 3 above.

14. Ibid; Swarns, Rachel L., and Darcy Eveleigh. 2017. “In Covering Civil Rights, Reporter Enhanced His Words With Film.” The New York Times, February 4. Accessed at https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/04/us/unpublished-black-history-claude-sitton-civil-rights.html.

15. See note 12 above.

16. Give Food for Freedom in Mississippi! [Poster]. n.d. Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee papers, 1959–1972 [microform] (Reel 49, 157. Programs, Food for Freedom, Mar. 12 – July 16, 1963, n.d.). University of Illinois Library, Urbana, IL.

17. Ibid.

18. “C-R Committee Backs County On Free Food,” Greenwood Commonwealth, February 7, 1963. Box 18046 [microform], Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Jackson, MS.

19. “Dick Gregory Food Invasion Turns Out to Be Laffing Stock,” Jackson Advocate, February 23, 1963, Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission Records Online Collection, Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Jackson, MS.

20. Peart, William. 1963. “Ross Says ‘Race Agitators’ Could Halt Food Program,” Jackson Daily News Newspaper, February 14, 1963, Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission Records Online Collection, Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Jackson, MS.

21. Ibid.

22. Ibid.

23. Walt, Thatcher. 1963. “Negro Here Hits ‘Food Publicity’,” Greenwood Commonwealth, February 9, Box 18046 [microform], Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Jackson, MS.

24. Ibid.

25. Ibid.

26. Ibid.

27. Ibid.

28. “Dick Gregory Negro Comic Invades State With Foods,” Jackson Advocate, February 16, 1963, Box 30578, [microform], Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Jackson, MS.

29. Ibid.

30. See note 19 above.

31. Ibid.

32. Ibid.

33. SNCC Internal Newsletter. March 22, 1963. Accessed at http://www.crmvet.org/docs/6303_sncc_newsletter.pdf.

34. Romilly, Constance. n.d. SNCC Report on Leflore County. Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee papers, 1959–1972 [microform]. (Reel 38, 136. Mississippi, Leflore County, January 2, 1963 – July 25, 1964, n.d.) University of Illinois, Urbana, IL.

35. Leflore County Board of Supervisors. March 20, 1963. Statement. Series 3, Subseries 4, Box 25, Folder 25–53: Leflore County, Mississippi, James O. Eastland Collection, University of Mississippi Archives and Special Collections, Oxford, MS.

36. Ibid.

37. Ibid.

38. Ibid.

39. Ibid.

40. Ibid.

41. Walt, Thatcher. 1963. “Pressured Supervisors Vote For Commodities,” Greenwood Commonwealth, March 20. Series 3, Subseries 4, Folder 25–53: Leflore County, Mississippi, James O. Eastland Collection, University of Mississippi Archives and Special Collections, Oxford, MS.

42. Ibid.

43. See note 33 above.

44. See note 41 above.

45. “First Food Shipment Here; County Is Hiring Workers,” Greenwood Commonwealth, March 22, 1963. Series 3, Subseries 4, Folder 25–53: Leflore County, Mississippi, James O. Eastland Collection, University of Mississippi Archives and Special Collections, Oxford, MS.

46. See note 33 above.

47. Moses, Bob. February 27, 1963. Letter to Northern Supporters. Accessed at https://www.crmvet.org/lets/moses63.htm.

48. Romilly, C. (n.d.) SNCC Report on Leflore County.. Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee papers, 1959–1972 [microform]. (Reel 38, 136. Mississippi, Leflore County, January 2, 1963 – July 25, 1964, n.d.) University of Illinois, Urbana, IL.

49. Ibid.

Additional information

Funding

The research for this paper was supported in part by a partnership between the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Institute and the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, with funding support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The views expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect those of these funders.

Notes on contributors

Bobby J. Smith

Dr. Bobby J. Smith II is a sociologist and Assistant Professor in the department of African American Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research focuses on relations between food, race, power, and inequality within historical and contemporary contexts of the black American experience.