SUMNER — On the final weekend of national Black History Month, the grassroots Tallahatchie County Alliance Inc. (TCA) sponsored a Saturday morning, Feb. 24, program here paying tribute to a group deemed “Tallahatchie Trailblazers.”
“These are people who, for the most part, accomplished historic feats in Tallahatchie County,” said Lekeathia Hampton, TCA secretary.
The festivities honoring notable local African-Americans had been scheduled for the Emmett Till Interpretive Center, but Hampton said a larger than expected crowd of participants forced the program to be moved across the street to the courtroom of the Tallahatchie County Courthouse.
Hampton, who writes a column for The Sun-Sentinel titled “West Side Stories,” noted in her latest column, inside on page 7, “It brought me great pride and joy to sit in the same room with legendary icons who literally blazed trails in our county. ... It was truly a day to remember, and we are already looking forward to next year’s festivities.”
Tribute was paid to a slate of both living and deceased pioneers, and certificates of recognition and appreciation were presented.
Among some three-dozen individuals who were celebrated, according to Hampton, were:
• Lela Bearden, a well-known educator and widow of groundbreaking West Tallahatchie school administrator R.H. Bearden
• Bobby Banks, one of the first two elected African-American members of the Tallahatchie County Board of Supervisors
• Lillie Jackson, widow of Woodrow “Champ” Jackson, the undertaker who in 1955 prepared the body of Emmett Till at the Tutwiler Funeral Home
• Eva Covington, a local champion of early childhood education and for whom the Charleston Head Start center is now named
• John Wilchie, the first black justice court judge in Tallahatchie County
• Robert Huddleston, Gyrone Kenniel, Eddie Meeks and Johnny B. Thomas, members of a group of seven activists — others, now deceased, were Richard “Pig” Gardner, Jerome “G” Little and L.D. Willis — who became known locally as the “Magnificent 7” for their successful efforts in filing lawsuits and organizing boycotts to cut inroads for blacks in politics and other social arenas
