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Friday, March 31, 2006

“We want to show we haven’t forgotten about (Kennard’s) sacrifices.”
-LaKeisha Bryant, Southern Miss Student

[Color photograph focused on two adult black standing near a microphone, both are wearing suits. The man standing on the right is facing the photo’s left side, is wearing glasses, and is holding a frame that contains two documents side-by-side. The man on the left is facing the camera. There are several people behind them out of focus.

Photograph’s caption reads: Photos by RICK GUY | THE CLARION-LEDGER

State Sen. John Horhn, D-Jackson, looks on at the Rev. Willie Grant, brother-in-law of Clyde Kennard, speaks after receiving a proclamation honoring Kennard during a ceremony at the Capitol on Thursday.]

Mississippi honors Kennard

Governors stops short of pardon for civil rights pioneer

By Rachel Leifer
American Staff Writer
rleifer@hattiesburgamerican.com

JACKSON – Supporters of Clyde Kennard took another step Thursday in their quest to clear the name of the Hattiesburg civil rights pioneer who was imprisoned after trying to integrate the University of Southern Mississippi.

The largest delegation was a University of Southern Mississippi student group whose 36 members rose with the sun to attend the morning ceremony in Kennard’s honor in the state Senate chamber.

The students may have breakfasted on Froot Loops and giggled amongst themselves on the bus, but at the Capitol they were all business.

“We want to show we haven’t forgotten about (Kennard’s) sacrifices,” said LaKeisha Bryant, 22, a senior from Brandon and president of the Afro-American Students Organization. “We want his spirit to be free.”

Program organizer state Sen. John Horhn, D-Jackson, led Bryant onto the chamber floor with Kennard’s family and friends – brother-in-law Rev. Willie Grant; the family of slain

See KENNARD, 6A
Barbour’s proclamation, 6A

[Color photograph of two rows of young black adults in business-style clothing. There are five individuals in each row, and all are clapping.

Photograph’s caption reads: Students from the University of Southern Mississippi applaud in the Senate gallery during Thursday’s ceremony.]

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Kennard
FROM page 1A

Hattiesburg civil rights leader Vernon Dahmer Sr.; Raylawni Branch, one of the first two black students at Southern Miss, and others.

The Senate clerk read Concurrent Resolution 543, remembering Kennard’s legacy and outlining his ill-fated biography – which ended when the decorated war veteran and farmer died of colon cancer after serving time in the state penitentiary at Parchman on apparently bogus charges.

Horhn acknowledged The Clarion-Ledger reporter Jerry Mitchell, who in December secured a recantation from the key witness who fingered Kennard for allegedly accepting $25 worth of stolen chicken feed.

[On the right side of the above paragraph is a black-and-white headshot of Kennard in military uniform and below the photograph is a caption that reads “Kennard”.]

“Because of Clyde Kennard…I did not encounter hardship; we did not go to jail,” Branch told the senators of her integration of Southern Miss.

“I want to see justice – total exoneration of his name because he was guilty of nothing,” she said.

In a ceremony following the Senate presentation, Gov. Haley Barbour stopped short of issuing a posthumous pardon as requested by the 1,500 signatories to a petition circulated by the Southern Miss student group.

But he read a proclamation that said, “Clyde Kennard, if he were living, would be entitled to have his rights restored, and, were he still living, his rights would have been restored during this Administration.”

Barbour also declared the day “Clyde Kennard Day.”

“I think it’s very clear he wasn’t guilty,” the governor said afterward.

Though Kennard’s supporters still want to see his convictions vacated, student Tangee Carter said this was a step forward.

“We’re that much closer to getting his name completely cleared.” Said Carter, 19, a sophomore from Terry.

Ellie Dahmer, whose husband, Vernon Dahmer, was killed when Ku Klux Klansmen firebombed their Hattiesburg house in 1966, said she was glad to make the trip for Kennard.

“He deserved every bit of it,” she said. “Even though he suffered…he didn’t hate anyone. He always said, ‘If you can’t respect the other person, then you’re no better than they are.’”

The next step, Horhn said, is reopening Kennard’s case in a Forrest County court – where he was sentenced in 1960 to seven years on the chicken-feed charge.

He has been in conversations with Forrest-Perry District Attorney Jon Mark Weathers on the subject, he said.

Weathers deferred comment on Thursday.

Bryant, who throughout the morning moved seamlessly among roles as photographer, logistics manager and stateswoman, said the experience filled her with awe.

“I hope (Kennard’s) soul was stirred and uplifted by the proceedings today,” she said.

[Above the final portion of the article (from “The next step…today,’ she said.”) is Barbour’s official proclamation with a simple line frame around it.]

A PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS, the late Clyde Kennard, the first African-American to apply for admittance to the University of Southern Mississippi, played a significant role in the history of USM and a significant role in the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi; and

WHEREAS, born in 1927, Kennard lost his father at the age of 4 and grew up helping his mother run the family farm. In 1950, Kennard began attending college Fayetteville, North Carolina, during the Korean War. Kennard served as a paratrooper and rose to the rank of sergeant, receiving three medals including the Bronze Star; and

WHEREAS, after the Korean War, Kennard came home to run the family farm in Mississippi. Then 28-years-old, Kennard joined the NAACP and later served as President of the local NAACP youth chapter. He also served on the local school board and circulated an unsuccessful petition to have children of all races attend the closest school to their home; and

WHEREAS, Kennard wanted to finish college and in 1956, he approached President William D. McCain at the then segregated Mississippi Southern College, but was denied enrollment. By the time he tried to enroll again in 1958, he enjoyed the support of Medgar Evers, Field Secretary for the Mississippi NAACP. When his intention to attend college was made public, the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission began to document the activities of Kennard; and

WHEREAS, Clyde Kennard wrote a letter to the Hattiesburg American in 1958 challenging the idea of separate but equal. Kennard suggested people work together to build up one another: “When merit replaces race as a factor in character evaluation, the most heckling social problem of modern times will have been solved”; and

WHEREAS, during the time in which Kennard refused to give up his quest to become the first black student to enroll at the University of Southern Mississippi, he was tried and convicted for his alleged role in a burglary of the Forrest County Co-Op in 1960; and

WHEREAS, Kennard died July 4, 1963, the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence that promised, “All men are created equal”; and

WHEREAS, the University of Southern Mississippi, in a ceremony lead by USM President Aubrey K. Lucas held in 1993, “apologize(d) for the indignities he (Kennard) suffered” and held a dedication of Kennard-Washington Hall; and

WHEREAS, Johnny Lee Roberts, the key witness to testify against Kennard in his 1960 burglary conviction, gave statements to The Clarion Ledger in 2005 which reveal that Kennard was not involved in the burglary of the Forrest County Co-op; and

WHEREAS, there is other compelling evidence that Clyde Kennard was not guilty of the crime for which he was convicted; and

WHEREAS; Clyde Kennard, if he were living, would be entitled to have his rights restored, and, were he still living, his rights would have been restored during this Administration;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Haley Barbour, Governor of the State of Mississippi, hereby proclaim March 30, 2006 as

CLYDE KENNARD DAY

in the State of Mississippi and urge all citizens to remember the legacy of the late Clyde Kennard, the first African-American to apply for admittance at the University of Southern Mississippi, for his determination, for the injustices he suffered, and his significant role in the history of the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of Mississippi to be affixed.

DONE in the City of Jackson, on the thirtieth day of March in the year of our Lord, two thousand and six, and of the Independence of the United States of America, the two hundred and thirtieth.

HALEY BARBOUR