This is the 60th anniversary of the historic Freedom Summer that was such a feature of the Civil Rights movement. And the organization that made it possible, the National Council of Churches is commemorating “the 60th anniversary of its 1964 Freedom Summer efforts and prepares for the 2024 general election this fall. NCC urges its member denominations as well as all people of faith and goodwill to use this summer as a time to educate, engage, and empower voters for social change, transformation, and to strengthen our democracy.”
With the 2024 Freedom Summer campaign, NCC hopes to recapture the energy and spirit of the 1964 project, which sought to integrate Mississippi’s segregated political system using nonviolent methods. Almost 1,500 Volunteers, Including 254 NCC-Sponsored Clergy, Worked In Project Offices Across Mississippi.
NCC’s President and General Secretary Bishop Vashti McKenzie emphasized the timeliness and importance of this year’s campaign and the ongoing efforts to mobilize and educate voters this election year.
“In 1964, NCC, with a deep sense of urgency, immersed itself into the troubled waters of racial injustice in Mississippi to engage in direct action in the struggle of African Americans for racial justice,” she said, “There was a belief that it was going to be a decisive moment in American history. As it was then, so it is now. We are at a pivotal point in a polarized country. We must retrace our steps to build upon the foundations of justice left by previous generations.”
There are opportunities to do engate congregations in voter registation and mobilization, and there is a Freedom Summer Academy to learn about fighting for social justice, but the main public events will be a five city “Freedom Ride tour to empower voters and inspire communities through faith, food, and fellowship.”
Sign up to Join the Freedom Ride Tour at one of the stops below:
July 19, 2024 – Jacksonville, Florida
NEW LOCATION:
The Church of Oakland
1025 Jessie Street, Jacksonville, Florida 32206
July 26, 2024 – Atlanta, Georgia
Beulah Baptist Church
170 Griffin St. NW, Atlanta, GA 30314
August 2, 2024 – Durham, North Carolina
NEW LOCATION:
First Calvary Baptist Church
1311 Morehead Ave, Durham, NC 27707
August 9, 2024 – Detroit, Michigan
Greater Christ Baptist Church
3544 Iroquois Ave, Detroit, MI 48214
August 16, 2024 – Jackson, Mississippi
Pearl Street AME Church
2519 Robinson St, Jackson, MS 39209
Sign up here.
The digital archive of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) has the story of the role of the NCC in Freedom Summer, 1964.
The murder of Medgar Evers convinced the National Council of Churches’ newly formed Commission on Religion and Race that they needed deeper involvement in Mississippi’s Freedom Struggle. So that summer, it sent volunteers to work in the small Delta city of Clarksdale at the request of COFO president Aaron Henry. It also provided bail money for SNCC workers and local people who were arrested for their movement work in Greenwood. Jack Pratt, the Commission’s lawyer, came down to Mississippi to secure the release of seventeen civil rights workers from the notorious Parchman Penitentiary and forty others who were imprisoned in Greenwood. The Commission was immediately impressed by SNCC’s community organizing work in the Mississippi Delta and vowed to support the young organizers in any way it could.
The National Council of Churches (NCC) was just beginning to dip its toes into the national Civil Rights Movement in the summer of 1963. Spurred by recent developments in Birmingham, including Dr. King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” which condemned mainstream churches for their silence on civil rights issues, NCC formed a Commission on Religion and Race. Under the direction of Rev. Robert Spike, the Commission began lobbying for the passage of President John F. Kennedy’s proposed civil rights legislation (eventually the Civil Rights Act of 1964).
The Commission also began working closely with the SNCC-COFO Mississippi Project, which the Commission considered to be the cutting edge of the Movement. In January 1964, COFO had organized a Freedom Day in Hattiesburg to protest voter discrimination against Black people. In order to turn the national spotlight on Hattiesburg for the protests, SNCC leader Bob Moses asked the NCC and other religious groups to send volunteers to fill the picket lines and canvass for potential Black voters.
The NCC secured money and the location for the 1964 Freedom Summer orientations held in Oxford, Ohio. It also recruited over 200 ministers and lay people to join the wave of volunteers going to Mississippi for that summer. These “minister-counselors” helped staff Freedom Schools and community centers, as well as build the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP).
NCC’s role in Freedom Summer laid the foundation for more intense on-the-ground involvement in the Movement.
Whether or not people are able to participate directly in Freedom Summer activities, The NCC published a 2024 voter empowerment guide, and the United Church of Christ has numerous resources devoted to voter engagement and mobilization. And the League of Women Voters has an entire web site Vote411.org with lots of useful info on voter registration and engagement.