Thunder of Freedom: Black Leadership and the Transformation of 1960s Mississippi

13. Selecting the FDP Candidates from Holmes

225 13 Selecting the FDP Candidates from Holmes January–June 1967 In January 1967 Henry and I had announced to the FDP executive board and a county coalition meeting that we were “transitioning out” of the 1967 politics. Many local people expressed disappointment and fears over the prospect of not having us working on the elections. They insisted, perhaps out of politeness, that local people would be unable to do it without Henry. However, Henry’s withdrawal opened the way for professionals to step in and for all leaders to fully embrace their leadership roles. Before this time, Howard Taft Bailey sometimes deferred to Henry at meetings with what seemed to us a slight submerged bitterness. Bailey was an important leader, along with Hartman Turnbow and Ralthus Hayes, and one of the few leaders who worked regularly helping people and solving problems at the FDP office. He and Henry got along. He had the ambition to be more, but he seemed uncomfortable or unsure about taking charge. While discussing issues, he would sometimes seem almost angry but at the same time would defer to Henry on a decision. In these situations, he had a stiff manner of holding himself; he would stammer and flash an occasional look of anger. I’m not sure Bailey felt Henry was holding him down or influencing other leaders against him. Yet, it did seem he wasn’t able to fully lead with Henry there. After Henry stepped back from direct election work, Bailey became noticeably more relaxed and confident. Attendance at the leadership coalition meetings was sporadic, from 226 DEVELOPING THE SLATE OF CANDIDATES the usual 35 people to as many as 125. Disagreements were usually hushed up or smoothed over rather than brought out and debated in public meetings. The early meetings served to lay the groundwork for unity. People spoke up and exchanged information about themselves, the movement, and the county. Professionals took the opportunity to declare their willingness to be part of the movement and admit to fears they had held in the past. The meetings were a mechanism for county candidates to declare their intentions. Leading preachers like C. L. Clark, Jodie Saffold, and Warren Booker, and schoolteachers LePlause Polk and Kelly Walls attended the meetings. Some of the older, respected members of the community also attended, including I. H. Montgomery, Austin Wiley, and Lexington’s Jesse Williams , who had past FDP experience. Beat 2 covered Durant and Goodman and was well organized, as usual . Ironically, it was the beat where white voters were in an absolute majority , and so it was impossible to win without white votes (which meant it was impossible to win). Already in January the local coalition had set up a system for raising campaign money, and at the Second Pilgrims Rest meeting, Ward Montgomery had been approved as the candidate for the Beat 2 supervisor post. Montgomery’s early candidacy made a black campaign for the 1967 elections more of a reality, and the excitement in Beat 2 helped to energize the movement in the county and other beats. The question of who would run for sheriff was a well-worn topic of conversation. Since no sheriff candidate had emerged, at the leadership coalition meeting on the last Friday night in January, Eugene Montgomery threatened to declare his intention to run. Although he may have had some real desire to run, his point was to force the community to come up with an alternative, since he knew they would never accept him. In attendance was Robert R. “Bob” Smith, a relatively unknown schoolteacher from Lexington. Tom Griffin and T. C. Johnson took credit for urging Smith to come out to the meeting. After Eugene Montgomery ’s declaration, they introduced Smith, who rose to his lank height to face the body and request support for his candidacy for sheriff of Holmes County. The outside organizers and others from outside Lexington had never seen this bright-skinned, middle-aged math teacher before. He was a dark-horse candidate, yet a welcome surprise. He was of the middle to Selecting the FDP Candidates from Holmes 227 upper-middle class, a member of the prestigious Asia Baptist Church, and a brother of Percy, one of the powerful deacons at Asia. He recognized the grassroots movement and was asking for its support. Even though Burrell Tate had been considering running for sheriff himself, he told of how relieved...