James Meredith risked his life doing civil rights work. At 90, he says religion can help cut crime

1 of 18 |

James Meredith knew he was putting his own life in danger in the 1960s by pursuing what he believes was his mission from God — to conquer white supremacy in the deeply segregated state of Mississippi. Now as he turns 90, Meredith is still talking about his divine mission. (June 26) (AP Video: Emily Wagster Pettus)

2 of 18 |

Undaunted after falling on top of an unsecured lectern, political activist and writer James Meredith speaks to a small assembly attending the celebratory end of his 200 mile walk against crime on his 90th birthday at the Mississippi Capitol in Jackson, Miss., Sunday, June 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

3 of 18 |

FILE - James Meredith, whose 1962 enrollment as the first Black student at the University of Mississippi sparked bloody riots, is seen after receiving his bachelor’s degree during a graduation ceremony in Oxford, Miss., Aug. 18, 1963. Meredith is still talking about his divine mission. In the weeks leading up to his 90th birthday on Sunday, Meredith made several appearances around his home state, urging people to obey the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule to reduce crime, and saying that older generations should lead the way. (AP Photo/Jim Bourdier, File)

4 of 18 |

Political activist and writer James Meredith rides past the Mississippi Governor’s Mansion in a golf cart to the celebratory end of his 200 mile walk against crime on his 90th birthday at the Mississippi Capitol in Jackson, Miss., Sunday, June 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

5 of 18 |

Political activist and writer James Meredith rides to the Mississippi Capitol in a golf cart for the celebratory end of his 200 mile walk against crime on his 90th birthday at the Mississippi Capitol in Jackson, Miss., Sunday, June 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

6 of 18 |

Members of the Magnolia All Stars band lead a procession for political activist and writer James Meredith to the Mississippi Capitol in a golf cart to the celebratory end of his 200 mile walk against crime on his 90th birthday at the Mississippi Capitol in Jackson, Miss., Sunday, June 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

7 of 18 |

Political activist and writer James Meredith attempts to address a small assembly after he fell outside the Mississippi Capitol at an event marking his 90th birthday, in Jackson, Miss., Sunday, June 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

8 of 18 |

An attendee to the assembly marking the celebratory end of political activist and writer James Meredith’s 200 mile walk against crime on his 90th birthday, holds a sign at the Mississippi Capitol in Jackson, Miss., Sunday, June 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

9 of 18 |

Attendees to the assembly marking the celebratory end of political activist and writer James Meredith’s 200 mile walk against crime on his 90th birthday, take advantage of the shade from the trees on the lawn, to listen to the speakers at the Mississippi Capitol in Jackson, Miss., Sunday, June 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

10 of 18 |

FILE - Civil rights activist James Meredith grimaces in pain as he pulls himself across Highway 51 after being shot in Hernando, Miss., June 6, 1966. Meredith is still talking about his divine mission. In the weeks leading up to his 90th birthday on Sunday, Meredith made several appearances around his home state, urging people to obey the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule to reduce crime, and saying that older generations should lead the way. (AP Photo/Jack Thornell, File)

11 of 18 |

FILE - Civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr., Stokely Carmichael, and Floyd McKissick march in the front rank of blacks and whites who took up the Memphis-to-Jackson, Miss., march, which was begun by James Meredith three days ago. They are crossing the U.S. 51 bridge over the Coldwater River in northern Mississippi, June 8, 1966. Meredith is still talking about his divine mission. In the weeks leading up to his 90th birthday on Sunday, Meredith made several appearances around his home state, urging people to obey the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule to reduce crime, and saying that older generations should lead the way. (AP Photo, File)

12 of 18 |

FILE - James Meredith, right, chats with Dr. Martin Luther King after they met on U.S. 51 near Tougaloo, Mississippi on June 25, 1966. Dr. King had led a column of civil rights marchers from Tougaloo College to greet Meredith’s marchers walking in from Canton. (AP Photo, File)

13 of 18 |

FILE - James Meredith, left, addressing a mass rally of civil rights demonstrators at the Mississippi State Capitol grounds in Jackson, Miss., June 26, 1966. Meredith is still talking about his divine mission. In the weeks leading up to his 90th birthday on Sunday, Meredith made several appearances around his home state, urging people to obey the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule to reduce crime, and saying that older generations should lead the way. (AP Photo, File)

14 of 18 |

Political activist and writer James Meredith sits in the shade as an event staffer holds an ice pack on his head after his falling fall on top of an unsecured lectern as he sought to address a small assembly attending the celebratory end of his 200 mile walk against crime on his 90th birthday at the Mississippi Capitol in Jackson, Miss., Sunday, June 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

15 of 18 |

A sign honoring the 90th birthday of political activist and writer James Meredith, is displayed behind John Meredith, the current city council president in Huntsville, Ala., who speaks about the influence his father has had on society, during a assembly marking the celebratory end of his 200 mile walk against crime on his 90th birthday at the Mississippi Capitol in Jackson, Miss., Sunday, June 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

16 of 18 |

John Meredith, the current city council president in Huntsville, Ala., speaks about the influence his father, political activist and writer James Meredith has had on society, during a assembly marking the celebratory end of his 200 mile walk against crime on his 90th birthday at the Mississippi Capitol in Jackson, Miss., Sunday, June 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

17 of 18 |

Elogene Crescenda Hughes of Tuscaloosa, Ala., listens as speakers reflect on the influence political activist and writer James Meredith has had on society, during an assembly marking the celebratory end of his 200 mile walk against crime on his 90th birthday at the Mississippi Capitol in Jackson, Miss., Sunday, June 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

18 of 18 |

Undaunted after falling on top of an unsecured lectern, political activist and writer James Meredith, seated, speaks to a small assembly attending the celebratory end of his 200 mile walk against crime on his 90th birthday at the Mississippi Capitol in Jackson, Miss., Sunday, June 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — James Meredith knew he was putting his life in danger in the 1960s by pursuing what he believes was his divine mission: conquering white supremacy in the deeply, and often violently, segregated state of Mississippi.

A half-century later, the civil rights leader is still talking about his mission from God. In recent weeks, he made several appearances around his home state, urging people to obey the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule in order to reduce crime. On his 90th birthday on Sunday, Meredith said older generations should lead the way.

“Old folks not only can control it — it’s their job to control it,” Meredith told The Associated Press in an interview Sunday after an event honoring him at the Mississippi Capitol.

Meredith is a civil rights icon who has long resisted that label because he believes it sets issues such as voting rights and equal access to education apart from other human rights.

During the event, Meredith fell while trying to stand and speak. He leaned on an unsecured lectern, and it crashed forward with Meredith on top. People nearby scrambled to return him to a wheelchair.

Not PARSE.LY: Mississippi

Legislative session crashes with lawmakers unable to set a budget because of Republican infighting

UCLA center Lauren Betts (51) looks to pass the ball as Mississippi forward Starr Jacobs (7) defends during the first half in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament Friday, March 28, 2025, in Spokane, Wash. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Lauren Betts is nearly perfect to lead UCLA past Ole Miss 76-62 and into Elite Eight

Michigan State guard Jase Richardson (11) reacts to play against Mississippi during the first half in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, March 28, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Michigan State’s 2nd-half rally sends Spartans past Ole Miss 73-70 as Izzo wins again in Sweet 16

Meredith suffered no visible injuries. An ambulance crew checked him later, and then Meredith went to his home in Jackson to have a birthday celebration with his family. His wife, Judy Alsobrooks Meredith, said Monday that he was spending time with grandchildren and showing no signs of pain.

In October 1962, federal marshals escorted Meredith as he enrolled as the first Black student at the University of Mississippi, while white people rioted on the Oxford campus. Mississippi’s governor at the time, Ross Barnett, had stirred mobs into a frenzy by declaring that Ole Miss would not be integrated under his watch.

Meredith was a 29-year-old Air Force veteran who had already taken classes at one of Mississippi’s historically Black colleges, Jackson State. NAACP attorneys represented him as he obtained a federal court order to enter the state’s flagship public university. After a largely solitary existence at Ole Miss, Meredith graduated in 1963 with a bachelor’s degree in political science.

After graduating, Meredith set out to promote Black voter registration and show that a Black man could walk through Mississippi without fear. In June 1966, a white man with a shotgun wounded Meredith on the second day of a march from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi. With Meredith hospitalized, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Stokely Carmichael and other civil rights leaders continued the march, often followed by long lines of activists and local people.

Less than three weeks after he was shot, Meredith had recovered enough to join the final stretch of what became known as the March Against Fear. It ended at the state Capitol, where an estimated 15,000 people gathered for Mississippi’s largest civil rights rally.

This year, Meredith had planned to walk 200 miles (322 kilometers) in Mississippi to spread his anti-crime message — roughly the same distance as the March Against Fear. Instead, he made a series of appearances in recent weeks, often using a rolling walker, a wheelchair or a golf cart.

On Sunday, Meredith rode in a golf cart for the final quarter-mile (0.40 kilometers) from Jackson City Hall to the Mississippi Capitol, led by a high school marching band and accompanied by dozens of people on foot. A racially diverse group of about 200 people sought shade under magnolia and oak trees while listening to songs, speeches and a child’s poem praising Meredith.

Flonzie BrownWright, a longtime Mississippi civil rights activist who participated in the 1966 March Against Fear, said she believes Meredith is a genius at creating strategies for social change.

“He is a very smart man, endowed with a lot of old-fashioned wisdom. He has been able to use that for the greater good of his people,” BrownWright said Sunday. “I love him like a big brother.”

In the decades since Meredith integrated Ole Miss, the university has erected a statue of him on campus and has held several events to honor him and his legacy.

John Meredith said Sunday that his father had a profound effect on higher education, but the March Against Fear had a greater impact on him as a son because it demonstrated the importance of elections.

“The silent gift of voting is the ability to help shape the laws under which you live. It is the beauty and the curse of America,” said John Meredith, the current city council president in Huntsville, Alabama. “Participation in voting yields inclusion, diversity and opportunity. Failure to vote results in the loss of freedom … and government oppression.”

At the Capitol birthday celebration, Iyanu B. Carson, a 5th grade student from Jackson, read her poem titled “90 Years of History,” saying she aspires to be like Meredith.

“You made the choice to use your voice, you were strong and made them believe you belonged,” Iyanu said. “Today we celebrate history, and Mr. Meredith, history is you! We’re proud of your accomplishments and all that you have been through.”

EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS

this is the bio of the Author of this article Short