[hr]The Jackson State College Class of 1970 finally got to walk across the stage Saturday after campus shootings prevented a graduation back then, and the COVID-19 pandemic nixed the 50th celebration last year.
More than a half-century later, 72 graduates returned to their alma mater. A swarm of media, including NBC Nightly News, joined local affiliates and other news organizations in capturing the historic moment.
The posthumous presentation of Honorary Doctorates of Humane Letters on behalf of Phillip Gibbs and James Green to their families
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— Jackson State U. (@JacksonStateU) May 15, 2021
The families of the two deceased students were presented honorary doctorate of humane letters, and survivors in attendance were presented golden diplomas after a heartfelt speech by then-JSU President John A. Peoples Jr., now 94.
“I know it’s only by the grace of God that I’m able to physically and mentally stand here and talk to you because I’m no spring chicken,” Peoples said.
The ceremony also was accented by other special moments: remarks from the families of the deceased victims; a formal apology and conferring of the key to the city by the mayor; a proclamation from the lieutenant governor and the state Senate; an honorary high school diploma from Jackson Public Schools; and the laying of a memorial wreath at the historical marker in front of Alexander Hall.
Moreover, in homage to those who died, or who were injured and/or traumatized, the 10 a.m. ceremony for the 1970 Golden Class Commencement took place on the site (now known as the Gibbs-Green Memorial Plaza) where city police and highway patrolmen converged on Lynch Street in front of Alexander Hall.
Tensions had begun increasing throughout the day and late into the night of May 14 and reached a zenith on that fateful early morning hour of May 15.
Nearly 500 people attended the history-making event, which was a stark contrast to a period of tumult marked by racial strife. Back then, “police forces from the city and state marched on our campus and unleashed a barrage of bullets for less than 30 seconds into Alexander Hall,” JSU President Thomas K. Hudson said of the tragedy.
“Two young men with promising futures, Phillip Lafayette Gibbs and James Earl Green, were left dead. Another dozen was injured in the gunfire, and scores of others bear the scars of the physical and emotional injuries inflicted upon them,” Hudson recounted.
“To think of these men and women, their family and friends as mere victims of systemic violence aimed at Black communities in this country is to dismiss the remarkable courage and fortitude they have shown for the past 51 years.” Hudson would then praise the survivors as those “who have lived their lives with grace and dignity despite the tragedy.”
The history lesson on racial injustice was an oft-repeated message that echoed throughout the morning from keynote speaker Peoples and other distinguished platform guests.
“You just can’t forget the frightening smell of gun smoke and the sickening smell of blood running down that stairway. I walked up and down the stairwell that night. It was an image you’d never forget,” Peoples said.
He added, “What happened here was just symbolic of the way that the powers that be regarded Jackson State.”
Spring 1970 was one of several consecutive seasons in which tensions had boiled. Some claimed people simply had had enough of the discrimination and racial epithets hurled toward them.
Peoples said, “Our kids were not kids who just existed. They were protesters of the rights that were being denied, and I was along with that.”
After the deaths of Gibbs and Green, the then-president spoke to the faculty and said, “This shall not be unavenged.”
Immediately, the College Board asked Peoples to retract his words because the higher education governing body assumed Peoples was asking students to seek revenge. However, Peoples refused, telling the board then and the audience now, “I don’t recall what I said, but whatever I said I’m not going to take it back.”
He said whispers circulated among leaders that an alumnus shall never again be appointed as president.
“But look what you have now – an illustrious alumnus in the person of Dr. Thomas Hudson, a proud alumnus of Jackson State University,” he said.
Further, Peoples reflected on how he tried to quell anxieties after the shootings had ended.
“We sat on that lawn the rest of that night singing freedom songs.” Later, he went to see who got shot.
“I called the police, and they called out the name of Phillip Gibbs, and his sister screamed, ‘Oh, God. That’s my brother!’ We took her to the president’s home. My wife Mary helped her to call her family.”
Fast-forwarding, Dr. Robert Luckett, chair of the Gibbs-Green Commemoration Commission, said developing the historic commencement involved a lot of work.
“The plans for this began a long time ago with a promise that I made to (James) Lap Baker, a member of the Class of 1970 who would come and talk to my class at Jackson State. I told Lap that we were going to do this,” said Luckett, also a professor of history and director of the Margaret Walker Center.
“Really, the seeds of it were planted about five years ago as we were leaning toward the 50th,” he added. “And then about 18 months ahead of the 50th (slated for 2020), we launched a commission to begin planning.”
However, he said those plans changed because of the pandemic. “One thing we were committed to was making sure that the 1970 class still got to have a graduation.”
Over the years, many people questioned why it took so long to honor the Class of 1970.
“There are a lot of reasons this did not happen decades ago. They’re honestly rooted in the same reasons that the shootings and the tragedy took place to begin with. There was a history of Mississippi that was steeped in white supremacy and racism that was committed to denying the basic human dignity of black Mississippians who are half the population in this state,” Luckett said. “It’s part of the arc of the fight for social justice.”
He said JSU is grateful that the Mississippi Board of Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) were supportive of the honorary degrees for Gibbs and Green. He also acknowledged JSU’s administrators, noting that Hudson is an alumnus of Jackson State who knows the history of the Gibbs-Green tragedy.
Among the celebration’s most memorable comments came from Dale Gibbs, who was unable to physically attend because of “unforeseen health problems.” Speaking from her home in Phoenix, Arizona, and despite her continued grieving, the wife of slain student Phillip Gibbs said, “My family and I are thankful that the tragedy that happened 51 years ago has not been forgotten. My husband would be so happy for the recognition that has been bestowed on him today. We are looking forward to attending Gibbs-Green events in the future.
“I want to thank everyone involved who has been diligent and steadfast in keeping the Jackson State tragedy alive. May God bless you all.”
Phillip’s sister, Nerene Gibbs Wray, did attend and spoke to the crowd while accepting an honorary degree in memory of her brother. “I know if he were here he would be very pleased. It is a blessing and a privilege to attend this wonderful event. After 51 years, who would have thought we would have come to this?” she asked.
“Over the years, many people have forgotten. But Jackson State never forgot.”
Nerene said her sister, Mary, residing in Alexander Hall in 1970, shared the harrowing news with her about Phillip’s death. It was Nerene’s responsibility to inform the new widow, with an 11-month-old son, that her husband had been tragically killed.
After awakening Dale, Nerene told her what had happened. “She just sat up in bed, picked up her son and started screaming. For years after that I could still hear her screams.”
Nerene said he sister Mary witnessed the entire tragedy and has lived with that horror ever since. “That day was so traumatizing to her that she felt she could not return to Jackson State. I wanted her to be with me today. But she said the memories were just too painful.”
Still, Nerene said JSU remains dear to her family. Her daughter, sister and one of Phillip’s son attended the university.
The second honorary degree was accepted by Gloria Green McCray in memory of her brother, James Earl Green.
“This is déjà vu for me because two weeks after my brother was killed my mother was invited by Jim Hill High school to walk and receive the degree for my brother,” she said.
“To Jackson State, I would like to say thank you. To the City of Jackson, I say thank you. And, to my mother and to God I can hear you say, ‘This is my son in whom I am well pleased.’ And, to James Earl Green, my brother, I just want to say I still miss you. I love you, and I just thank God that your death was not in vain. You were the best.”
Hudson said IHL approved the honorary degree nominations, and JSU was proud to have been able to celebrate Gibbs and Green.
Other distinguished speakers provided profound remarks:
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Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba apologized for the “sins of our past.” (Photo by Charles A. Smith/JSU) Mayor Chokwe Lumumba, City of Jackson: “I believe as a city, we must publicly atone for the sins of our past and claim a new identity of dignity, equity and justice,” he said. His signed proclamation reads: “Official apology to the families of Phillips Lafayette Gibbs and James Earl Green. Proverbs 28:13. ‘Whoever conceals theirs sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.’ ” Lumumba added: “I realize this long overdue apology will not restore your sons, brothers, husband or father back to you. However, as mayor of the city of Jackson, I pray that this sincere gesture demonstrates our deep regret for your loss. The city of Jackson recognizes and offers our heartfelt and genuine apology.”
- State Sen. Hillman Frazier, congratulatory proclamation from the lieutenant governor and Senate and signed by Frazier: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper. This proclamation is not adequate. The state of Mississippi never apologized for the tragedy that occurred on that night. So, since I’m here representing the state of Mississippi, even in my role as a state senator, I’d like to issue an apology to the Jackson State family for the tragedy that occurred that night because they took very valuable lives. Had not they taken the life of Phillip Gibbs, he probably would have been the governor of the state of Mississippi because he was just that talented. Had they not taken the life of James Earl Green, he probably would have been mayor of the city of Jackson. They were talented people who had dreams. Police officers killed the dreamers but not the dream,” Frazier said. “So, on behalf of the state of Mississippi, I’d like to offer my apology.”
- State Rep. Alyce Clarke, District 69, Hinds: “We are doing what we should have done 51 years ago. I am a member of this community, and I’ve been a member of this community since 1968.” She said after the casualties, she would later stand at a window trying to persuade a police officer that he was blind because one particular lawman swore he couldn’t see the bullet holes at Alexander Hall. “I pointed at them,” she said. Clarke then saluted the class for “working in your communities, working in your homes and doing the things that this school taught you to do.” She urged the honorees to record their past and present and keep their eyes toward the future by writing about “what you’ve done; what needs to be done; and how it can be done.”
- Dr. Errick Greene, superintendent of Jackson Public Schools, presented an honorary high school diploma to James Earl Green: “May his soul and that of Mr. Gibbs rest peacefully and their legacies be ones of sacrifice, power and triumph. Delayed but not denied.”
- Dr. Willie L. Crossley, president of Piney Woods School and chair of the Community Foundation for Mississippi: “We proudly stand before you today to recognize the long overdue conferring of degrees to the Class of 1970. With courage and conviction, we commit ourselves to the long overdue work of investing toward positive change in our community. The time has long past to confess that the destiny of all Mississippi and all races is inexplicably intertwined. Your foundation, our foundation sees the perpetual pain of black Mississippians. We shamefully bear her blood-soaked stains, and we will call racial injustice by its name, ‘Long Overdue.’ ”
Meanwhile, after receiving his golden diploma, James “Lap” Baker, who earlier had joined classmate Quilly Turner in laying a memorial wreath at Alexander Hall, called the ceremony “great.”
However, he added, “There were some double reflections – good and bad ones. The bad, of course, is where we were. That’s where the shootings occurred. I was standing in front of B.F. Roberts Dining Hall. That’s where James Green was shot and killed. The opposite side is where Phillip Gibbs was killed. But the important thing about today is that we received something that we should have received 51 years ago.”
Baker said the sting is still there. “I can forgive, but I can’t forget. That was a planned massacre, but God was with us. That’s why only two people died. They came there with a mission – to destroy hundreds of blacks, but it didn’t happen because God didn’t allow it to happen.”
Golden-degree recipient Vera Mims-Blakes, of New Orleans, was the valedictorian of her 1970 class. “At the time, I was looking forward to doing some greetings or a few words to the class.”
She had planned to return to the campus on the day of the shooting for graduation rehearsal. “Lo and behold I hear on the news about the shooting. Some of the girls in my dormitory at Alexander Hall were injured. So, I just waited for the next word which was that graduation had to be canceled.”
Mims-Blakes said after another cancellation due to the pandemic, she lost hope. “Oh, well. There’s always something going on with the class of 1970. But then I got word they were going to do it this year. I’m so grateful – and grateful that Dr. Peoples was the one giving the address. That was the icing on the cake for me.”
The then-new incoming 1971 Miss JSU was an eye-witness to the 1970 shooting. In fact, Eddie Jean Carr was the roommate of Gibbs’ sister, Mary. Both were peering out the window.
“We saw the officers coming up the street. We didn’t know what they were there for and why they were coming to the women’s dormitory. After the incident, I went into shock. My parents got the message that I had been shot.”
She said her parents were understandably devastated. “By the time they got here from Simpson County and made it to the hospital, they realized I was not shot. Of course, they were relieved. I spent the night in the hospital and went back to campus that following day.
Carr said there was a strong smell of blood and gun smoke. The incident was “probably the worst thing that ever happened to me in my life. I was not able to come back on campus during the summer because I could not deal with it. I was able to come back in the fall. My goal was to never forget what happened and to always remember Phillip Gibbs because he was my friend.” Every year she returns for the traditional laying of the wreath.
The attorney who had represented the families after the tragedy attended the ceremony, too.
“It makes me very happy, but the circumstances that warranted the honorary degrees makes me sad. But, for the families of Philip and James Earl it makes me very happy. I’m very glad to see them after 51 years, and all of us know that James Earl’s mother wanted this. She lived 46 years after the incident in 1970. But we know that she’s in heaven smiling.”
She continued, “For the family, I’m sure it takes some of the sting away. But for me, it doesn’t. There’s still much work that needs to be done to prevent this from happening next month or next year. So, we just have to be vigilant so that we don’t have another example of excessive police reaction to black folks utilizing and expressing their First Amendment.”
Nevertheless, the ceremony was a welcoming delight and keynote speaker Peoples summed up the reaction for everyone who has waited for years.
“We have all prayed that Almighty God would provide the circumstances so that the Class of 1970 would have a formal graduation. Today, it seems, our prayers have been answered. … As God continues to bless all of you, I want you to know I love all of you madly.”