May 15, 2025
By Jatavian Walker and Ashley F.G. Norwood
(JACKSON, Miss.) — Fifty-five years ago, law enforcement officers opened fire on a crowd of students at Jackson State University (JSU) leaving two dead and at least a dozen more injured. Each year, the university’s Margaret Walker Center invites campus and local community members to gather and honor the lives of Phillip Lafayette Gibbs and James Earl Green.
“Their names live on, engraved between markers and monuments, and carried with every step along the Gibbs-Green pedestrian walkway,” said Interim President Denise Jones Gregory, Ph.D. “If we are to truly honor the pair affectionately known as Gibbs and Green, we must continue to share their story — our story.”
May 1970 was already a time of national unrest on college campuses, with students protesting the Vietnam War. On May 4, the National Guard killed four students during a protest at Kent State University in Ohio.
But at then Jackson State College, tensions had been rising over a different issue much closer to home: racism. While it’s not clear what led law enforcement to campus, the aftermath remains a painful and defining moment in the university’s history.
Gibbs was a junior pre-law major. The 21-year-old had reportedly been on campus helping his younger sister move out of the dormitory for the summer when he was caught in the gunfire. His wife, Dale Gibbs, was at home with their infant son when she received the news of his death.
“I want the world to know what happened here on May 14th and early morning of the 15th,” said Dale, who spoke about her husband’s life during the commemoration. “When I look back at where it happened, it’s hard for me to even look because somewhere back there… his blood is still in the ground where he did not have to die.”
Gibbs’ legacy lives on through his wife, Dale; his sons, Phillip Jr. and Demetrius; and his granddaughters, Ciera and Ayvionna.
James Earl Green lived in the community surrounding campus. A 17-year-old senior at Jim Hill High School, Green was reportedly walking home from work when he heard the chaos on campus. He was shot opposite of Alexander Hall in front of what was then B.F. Roberts Dining Hall.
Green is buried in a cemetery near campus in front of the high school he attended at the time of his death. On the anniversary, his sister, Gloria Green McCray, placed flowers at his gravesite. During the commemoration, McCray stressed the importance of ensuring her brother’s story continues to be told and remembered for future generations.
“We will forget if we don’t teach it. If we don’t keep it alive, then it remains behind us. Let us teach our children, but most importantly, let’s teach love to love one another,” McCray emphasized. “I think about the 16 years that I knew my brother, and that’s what I am going to remember — the life, not the death. Keep his memory alive. Don’t let him die again.”
A handful of survivors also took part in the commemoration, laying a wreath in front of Alexander Hall and sharing memories they will never forget.
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