Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America

MSNBC host Reid (The Man Who Sold America) presents a moving dual biography of civil rights icon Medgar Evers (1925–1963) and his wife, Myrlie, born in 1933. The two met and fell in love in 1950 as college students in Mississippi. They married in 1951, and Myrlie took care of their three children as Medgar became increasingly active in opposing racism; in 1952, he was a founding member of the Regional Council of Negro Leadership, and, in 1954, he became the NAACP’s field secretary for Mississippi. Myrlie grew concerned as her husband’s visibility made him a target for racists, and her worst fears were realized when Medgar was gunned down in the family’s driveway in 1963. His murderer, white nationalist Byron De La Beckwith, was quickly arrested, but evaded conviction by two all-white juries. However, Myrlie’s lobbying of the district attorney and collaboration with a local reporter eventually led to a new trial that resulted in De La Beckwith’s conviction in 1994. Along the way, Myrlie became a national civil rights leader herself, serving as the NAACP’s national chair in 1995. Reid’s access to Myrlie and the couple’s two surviving children enables her to make their tragic yet ultimately inspiring story accessible and human, while still firmly conveying Medgar and Myrlie’s courageousness. This is a rousing tribute to a legendary American family. (Feb.)