23. The Meeting On September 30 Was About Legal Counsel
About 100 African American farmers attended a union meeting at a one-room church in Elaine. There, they were able to meet with representatives to discuss how to move forward in making sure that they were fairly compensated for the work that they did.
These kinds of meetings tended to be disrupted by white supremacists who were bent on making sure that African Americans remained subordinated and powerless. To stave off trouble, armed guards – veterans who had returned home from World War I – surrounded the church.
