"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : ALICE MARIE THOMPSON

"Don’t be afraid of being an agitator, because every housewife knows the value of an agitator ; an agitator is the instrument in the washing machine which bangs the clothes around and gets rid of all the dirt" - Thurgood Marshall Recently, while I was researching, I came across an article about an event that probably helped influence Black Leaders in Monroe, Louisiana to agree to turn Martin Luther King Jr. around at the Monroe Airport, the time he came to speak in Monroe.The article was about an event known as "THE PLAQUEMINE RIOT." Not only did this shocking and horrific incident coinside with the "HISTORIC MARCH ON WASHINGTON," but it actually aired nationally on the evening news with Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather, back in September of 1963, "ONLY DAYS AFTER THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON!" Well Reportedly, some of the Negro leaders in Plaquemine had requested James Farmer, the founder of "The Congress of Racial Equality," to come and help organize "A VOTING REGISTRATION DRIVE." You see, there had recently been a 'VOTER PURGE" in Plaquemine, causing many of the Negroes to be stripped of their "VOTING PRIVILEGES." Also, there was a strong concern that WHITE officials were "GERRYMANDERING" Black precincts out of city elections. At first, James Farmer had planned to make a short trip to Plaquemine, and then travel on to Washington D.C. for the March On Washington. However, the police in Plaquemine had other plans for him! The police decided to arrest him and several other Negroes, and hold them at a jail in Donaldsoville, Louisiana, until the March was over. Once he was released, seeing that he had already missed attending the March On Washington, James Farmer decided to lead another March in Plaquemine. Long story short, the police and other White Citizens in Plaquemine chased James Farmer and the Marchers to the Plymouth Rock Baptist Church, tear-gased the people in the church, and stormed the church on horses, armed with guns and cattle prods. All of a sudden, in the midst of the chaos and mayhem, James Farmer escaped out the back of the church to "The Good Citizen Funeral Home," located next to the church! Wow, just when it looked like they were going to have to turn James Farmer over to the police, the Negro lady who owned the funeral home came up with one hell of a plan! She decided to send out two hearse cars at the same time, but they would go in two different directions. So after she handed James Farmer "a loaded 45 caliber pistol," they had him get into a coffin, loaded him into one of the hearse cars, and sent out both hearses at the same time! The police didn't even realize that James Farmer was in one of the hearses. The driver drove him to New Orleans, Louisiana where he held a press conference about it the next day. Ok, let's fast-forward to August 2024, as we prepare for the November Elections. Despite the passing of "More Than 60 Years," the very same 2 main concerns that were at the center of The Plaquemine Riot,"Removing Black Voters from the Voting Rolls and Gerrymandering" are still with us today, even after all those years!!! With that being said, I'll just switch the conversation to this week's Black Pioneer. Alice Marie Thompson was born on September 25, 1939 in Lake Providence , Louisiana. She graduated from Southern University in New Orleans with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences. While Alice was no Lady Godiva, she was a "FREEDOM RIDER!" Rarely do you hear about 3 Black biological sisters joining 2 separate Black Organizations at the same time However, that is exactly what the Thompson sisters, Alice, Jean, and Shirley did in the early 1960s when they all joined the New Orleans Chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality and the Youth Council of the New Orleans Branch of the NAACP. As I mentioned earlier, Alice was A Freedom Rider with the C.O.R.E. Organization. The Freedom Riders main task was to test the passage of the Interstate Commerce Commission’s ruling outlawing segregation on buses, terminals, restrooms, restaurants. By the way, here are 3 of the more notable Freedom Rides that Alice took part in : The first one that occurred on November 1, 1961, at the New Orleans Trailways Bus Terminal, located on Tulane Avenue, the one that took place on November 14, 1961, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and the one where Alice and other CORE members were physically beaten, in McComb, Mississippi on November 29, 1961. After 30 years or more of blazing a trail for future generations of Black People in America, Alice Marie Thompson died on August 24, 2015. In closing, I truly wish that teachers at the schools in our Black Communities were allowed to fully discuss the "Negro Freedom Rides and the Freedom Riders" with our Black Children. You see, I feel that they would better understand what The Civil Rights Movement was all about, and gain a greater appreciation for "OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE!"