On June 12, 1963, Medgar Evers was assassinated outside his home in Jackson, Mississippi. He was 37 years old. Evers’ murder was not random. It was a targeted act meant to silence one of the most effective and fearless civil rights organizers.

A World War II veteran. Evers returned home from fighting for democracy abroad only to face segregation and racial terror in Mississippi. Instead of retreating, he committed himself to dismantling the system that denied Black Americans fundamental rights. As the NAACP’s first field secretary in Mississippi, Evers organized voter registration drives and investigated lynchings. He challenged school segregation and pushed for equal access to public facilities.

Evers worked under constant threat. His home had been firebombed, his family harassed, and his movements closely watched by white supremacist groups and local authorities. Despite the danger, he continued to organize, believing that silence was not an option. Just hours before his death, Evers appeared on television speaking openly about civil rights abuses in Mississippi.

He was shot in the back as he stepped out of his car, carrying “NAACP” T-shirts intended for activists. His death shocked the nation. He exposed the brutal lengths to which opponents of racial equality were willing to go to preserve segregation.

For decades, justice was delayed. His killer, Byron De La Beckwith, walked free after two mistrials in the 1960s. It was not until 1994—more than 30 years later—that Beckwith was finally convicted of murder. The long wait became a painful symbol of how the legal system often failed Black families and civil rights.