Sleepy Neighborhood, Sleepy Kids
Day 11 of the Anderson Monarchs Civil Right Barnstorming Tour took us to Jackson Mississippi, and a sleepy neighborhood of one story homes. In the middle of Margaret W Alexander Drive sits an unassuming pastel, teal home with a small carport. There is no front door, only a side entrance that was meant to save the occupants lives.
The residents back in June 1963, were the Evers family. Medgar Evers was a World War II veteran turned civil rights activist, who, upon returning from an NAACP meeting early on June 12, broke his own sacred rule; exit the car on the passenger side and enter the house immediately. Evers was not making any friends in racially divided Mississippi, and the threats on his life were all too real. But on this night, Evers chose to retrieve a pile of Jim Crow Must Go t-shirts from the trunk of his car, and as he walked towards the house, was shot in the back. The bullet ricocheted through his body, through a front window, an interior wall (below) and off the refrigerator, coming to rest on the kitchen counter.
The tour of the home is very basic. It's simply the home of a young family. But the bullet hole in the hallway wall remains, and the children's beds are still set low on the ground, below window level, to protect from the frequent projectiles sent through the windows.
The Monarchs ended their tour standing under the car port, where blood stains from Evers' injury remain seared in the concrete.
We then made our way to the Jackson Greyhound bus station, where Freedom Riders, civil rights activists trying to desegregate public transportation, met with violence upon arrival. The exterior is restored to it's 1963 look, and the architecture firm that helped restore the site, now uses the station as office space. As it was Saturday, the only look the boys got inside was through the front windows. The two circular mirrored door windows were hard to see through and the insatiable Myles Eaddy got his teammates to lift him up to look through the greyhound-logo window.
The next stop was the COFO Civil Rights Education Center where the Monarchs and their opponents in the afternoon game, the Richland Junkstarz, watched a film, discussed current events and had lunch.
Players from the Mississippi Braves, Atlanta's AA minor league team joined them for lunch and then warmups.
Jorge Reyes, one of the Mississippi Braves, watches Jared Sprague-Lott warm up, and makes some suggestions about his changeup grip.
The Junkstarz were a young team of 11-12 year olds, so the bases at Jackson State University's baseball stadium were set at 70 feet. As the Monarchs players are 13-14, they play their games on the major league sized 90' bases.
A portable mound was set up at 50' and just like in Little League, they played only six innings. The Monarchs won easily, and again showed restraint, especially when running the bases. They are sharp, aggressive base-runners, but once they have a big lead, they throttle back and move one base at a time regardless of the situation.
Defense again played a huge part in the game. Jahli made a great diving stop at second, and Mo'ne fielded a bad hop a third that was headed right for her face.
The bus ride to Arkansas was the first long segment of the tour, a full 5 hours. The Monarchs demonstrated their sleep tactics and positions; the entire middle of the bus was was a mass of lifeless baseball players contorted in their seats. Below are three of the sleeping styles the Monarchs employ:
Brandon and Jared employ the Buddy System
Sami and Jack go solo on their seats.
Terrence & Nasir stay upright.