James Charles Evers (born September 11, 1922) is an American civil rights activist. Evers was known for his role in the Civil Rights Movement along with his younger brother Medgar Evers.[1] He was made the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) State Voter Registration Chairman in 1954. After his brother's assassination in 1963, Evers took over his position as field director of the NAACP in Mississippi. As field director, Evers organized and led many demonstrations for the rights of African Americans.[1]
In 1969, Evers was named “Man of the Year” by the NAACP.[2] In 1969, Evers was elected in Fayette, Mississippi as the first African-American mayor in the state in the post-Reconstruction era, following passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which enforced constitutional rights for citizens.[2] He unsuccessfully ran for governor in 1971 and the United States Senate in 1978, both times as an Independent candidate. In 1989, Evers was defeated for re-election after serving nearly twenty years as mayor.[3]
