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‘Fear will get you killed’: White allies who helped fight for civil rights in Mississippi

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‘Fear will get you killed’: White allies who helped fight for civil rights in Mississippi


JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – They were beaten, arrested, and called traitors, but they refused to back down from the fight for civil rights.

Rims Barber and Joan Trumpauer Mulholland didn’t just watch history unfold in the 1960s — they risked everything to change it. The two white allies stood alongside African Americans fighting segregation in Mississippi when schools, restaurants, and stores were divided by race.

African Americans and whites couldn’t eat, shop, or even interact with one another in the segregated South. They weren’t allowed to.

Seeing these injustices, Barber and Mulholland left their homes and came to Mississippi. The two could have stayed silent; instead, they became targets. Mobs attacked them, and police arrested them. But they say it was all worth it.

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Joan Trumpauer Mulholland’s fight for equality

“I knew when I had the chance to do something to make the South the best it could be for everybody, I would seize the moment,” Mulholland said.

For Mulholland, that moment came when she enrolled at Tougaloo College in Jackson in 1961. She saw integration happening at other schools and wanted to integrate a historically Black college and university. Coming from Virginia, she rode Freedom Rides down to Mississippi.

Mulholland saw the brutal reality of segregation in the South firsthand.

“I knew this was not right. This was not doing what we learned in school about treating people the way you want to be treated,” she said.

One thing crossed her mind: “This has got to change. Somebody’s got to get out there and do something, might as well be me.”

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Mulholland wasted no time getting involved. One of the most notable demonstrations she took part in was the Woolworth’s sit-in in 1963. Hungry for change, she and three African American classmates sat at an all-white lunch counter. The goal was to expose and put an end to racial discrimination. But it came with a price.

“We got pulled off the stool, drug to the door of the store, we got loose, and then we got back to the counter, then one of our professors joined us,” Mulholland said.

A large and angry mob of white people gathered around them. Then things quickly turned violent.

“What were they dumping on us? Everything they could get their hands on. Ketchup, mustard, all the condiments,” she recalled. “Memphis Norman, the only guy, got kicked to where he was bleeding out of every whole on his head.”

Mulholland knew participating in sit-ins and fighting segregation in the South was dangerous. But she didn’t let fear stop her.

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“I say fear will get you killed. Sooner or later you’re going to die, it may as well be for a cause you believe in,” she said.

Rims Barber’s work with the Freedom Summer Project

Rims Barber also refused to let fear stop him.

“I knew that I was followed sometimes by people, but I didn’t know who they were, and it was their problem if they wanted to kill me,” he said.

He traveled more than 12 hours from Iowa to work with the Freedom Summer project in 1964. Barber was assigned to Canton and helped African Americans register to vote. His work played a role in President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law.

“The white power structure was overcome by the number of Black votes and it made a difference in who was the police chief, and who was the superintendent of schools,” Barber said.

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He also worked alongside Representative Robert Clark, who was the first African American elected to the state legislature since Reconstruction.

They helped create a statewide head start program, ensuring poor African American kids were ready for school, had healthy meals, and basic medical services.

While fighting for change, Barber faced resistance, especially from people who looked like him.

“White people just didn’t want to stop and talk to us at all,” he said.

No regrets, continuing the fight

Despite arrests and attacks, Barber and Mulholland both say they have no regrets. They take pride in being allies. If they had to do it all over again, they would.

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“It wasn’t all me by a longshot, but I’m glad I was able to help,” Barber said.

“I was here to do a job and be with people to ensure their trials and their victories, so I had to keep on going,” Mulholland said.

More than six decades later, Barber and Mulholland are still fighting, just in a different way.

Seeing history starting to repeat itself, they now spend their time educating the younger generation. They teach the importance of standing up for what’s right, and not staying quiet in the face of injustice.

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Governor: At least 47 homes, 50 roads damaged by Mississippi storms, flooding – SuperTalk Mississippi

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Governor: At least 47 homes, 50 roads damaged by Mississippi storms, flooding – SuperTalk Mississippi


Gov. Tate Reeves has released updated damage assessments following the severe weather and flooding that inundated parts of southern Mississippi last week.

According to Reeves, assessments through the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency are ongoing, and disaster aid is still being distributed through a mix of federal, state, and local agencies, along with nonprofits. But numbers as of Monday morning showed dozens of homes and businesses damaged and even more public roads affected.

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Among the counties with significant impacts are Covington, Forrest, George, Greene, Hancock, Jackson, Pearl River, Perry and Stone. Across those counties and others, at least 47 homes were affected, seven of which were completely destroyed. Nine businesses sustained damaged, six of which are considered major. One farm sustained major damage.

A Harrison County roadway is flooded by the remnants of Tropical Storm Arthur on Friday, June 19, 2026. (Photo by Hunter Dawkins/The Gazebo Gazette via SuperTalk Mississippi News)

50 public roadways were affected, including four that are considered major and four that were completely destroyed. Two bridges sustained major damage, while two public buildings sustained minor damage.

Reeves said two rivers are in the moderate flood stage – Leaf River near McClain and the Pascagoula River at Graham Ferry.

15 other waterways are in the minor flood stage: Big Black River near Bentonia, Biloxi River near Lyman, Chickasawhay River at Enterprise, Chickasawhay River at Leakesville, East Hobolochitto Creek near Caesar, Pascagoula River at Merrill, Pearl River at Jackson, Pearl River near Pearl River, Pearl River near Philadelphia, Pearl River at Rockport, Strong River at D’Lo, Tallahala Creek at Laurel, Tuscolameta Creek at Laurel, West Hobolochitto Creek near McNeill, and Wolf River around Gulfport.

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A sinkhole caused by flooding from the remnants of Tropical Storm Arthur is seen in Covington County on Friday, June 19, 2026. (Photo courtesy of the Covington County Emergency Management Agency)

Damage reports could have worsened on Monday with additional rounds of severe weather in some parts of the state. The worst of the storms and floods came with the remnants of what was Tropical Storm Arthur late last week and into the weekend.



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Family of 1-year-old killed by police at a Walmart in Mississippi wants video released

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Family of 1-year-old killed by police at a Walmart in Mississippi wants video released


(AP) – A Mississippi family whose 1-year-old child was killed when police fired into a moving vehicle said Monday they want authorities to release video showing whether officers were in danger of being struck when one of them opened fire.

The shooting has sparked outrage in the small city of Senatobia, where some say it’s the latest in a series of troubling encounters between police and Black residents.

Kohen Wiley was riding with his mother and another woman in a Walmart parking lot on June 14 when police responded to a shoplifting call. The family says they were driving away, while the officers say the car was heading toward them.

This undated photo provided by Veronica Roberson in June 2026 shows her grandson, Kohen Wiley, of Senatobia, Miss.(Veronica Roberson | Veronica Roberson via AP)

“I watched my baby take his first breath, and I watched my baby take his last breath,” Vellesiya Wiley said at a news conference Monday.

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The other woman in the car, whose name has not been released, suffered “critical injuries,” according to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, which is handling the inquiry.

Standing alongside Kohen’s parents and grandparents at a local church, civil rights attorney Ben Crump told reporters Monday that the best way to determine whether the officers were at risk is to publicly release any body camera, dash camera or Walmart security camera video.

“If that is the truth, then show us that,” Crump said. “The longer you delay releasing the video, the more distrustful we become.”

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation declined to comment on what videos investigators have or whether they would be released, agency spokesperson Bailey Martin said Monday.

“This case has been made a top priority,” Martin said in an emailed statement, “and we currently have multiple agents working tirelessly to ensure every aspect of the investigation is thoroughly examined.”

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The agency says the officers weren’t hurt. Senatobia Police Chief Harold Vanderford did not return a phone message seeking comment Monday.

State investigators gave an initial account of the shooting last week, saying that when Senatobia police arrived at the Walmart, they found two women and a child getting into a car and driving away.

“Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one. An officer then discharged their weapon and the vehicle fled the scene,” the agency statement said.

Kohen’s mother has said the shoplifting call was over a box of diapers that her friend was carrying — and that she believes her friend had paid for the diapers. State investigators declined to comment on those details.

Crump questioned why police didn’t let the car go and take down the license plate number.

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“They were called over a box of diapers and a family now has to bury their baby,” Crump said Monday. “You cannot put those two things next to each other and call it reasonable policing.”

Crump also said an independent autopsy would be performed.

While there’s no question the child was shot by police, he said, details about the angles at which any bullets struck the child could yield clues as to whether the officer fired from in front of the car or off to the side — and therefore whether that officer was in any danger.

Policing expert Ian Adams, who teaches criminal justice at the University of South Carolina, told The Associated Press last week that police should know that “shooting into a moving vehicle is a very bad idea and one to be avoided at almost all costs,” noting the danger to passengers and other bystanders.

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Mississippi Association of Coaches Inducts Six New Members

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Mississippi Association of Coaches Inducts Six New Members


Six new members were inducted into the Mississippi Association Coaches Hall of Fame on Friday.

Five electees and one surprise honorary inductee announced at the evening’s end.

Each says the MAC HOF is a special one and this is the ultimate honor for a coach in Mississippi.

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