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History Battle of Black Race for Liberty and Justice

Khalid Elhassan May 12, 2020 34 min

Deacons for Defense - Deacons for Defense and Justice — Black demonstrators arriving in Franklinton, Louisiana, after a two day march from Bogalusa. Face 2 Face Africa

38. The Deacons for Defense and Justice

“The Freedom Summer” in 1964 saw intensive efforts by volunteers to register as many black voters as possible in the South. One organization, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) set up a Freedom House as a base for its volunteers in Jonesboro, Louisiana. In response, the local KKK went on a terror spree, harassing and attacking volunteers and blacks, and burning five black churches, a Baptist center, and a Masonic lodge.

So some local black WWII and Korean War veterans founded a self-defense group to protect civil rights workers and their families, and the black community in general. It was led by Earnest “Chilly Willy” Thomas, and Frederick Douglass Kirkpatrick, a Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) activist and an ordained minister. In a nod to the members’ religiosity, the group came to be known as the Deacons for Defense and Justice: most were practicing Christians, and they aimed to serve their community in a Christian manner.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.