Compelling. … Reid centers her engrossing history on the bond between Medgar Evers and his wife, now Myrlie Evers-Williams. … Reid conducted extensive interviews with Evers-Williams and offers [an] intimate account.” — New York Times Book Review
“In the month that revels in love, indulge your passion for reading with these works. MSNBC anchor Joy-Ann Reid delves into the lives of Medgar and Myrlie Evans, offering a compelling narrative of a love story that played a significant role in shaping American history…. shares the extraordinary lives and overlooked legacy of civil rights icons Medgar and Myrlie Evers, offering an intimate look at their inspiring love story and their crucial work for civil rights, with Medgar's widow Myrlie's blessing.” — Ebony
“Writer and MSNBC host Joy-Ann Reid has written the book we didn’t even know we needed. In her latest, Reid tells the story of Medgar and Myrlie Evers: their love and leadership, their resistance and resonance. Their remarkable story is finally told in this captivating and inspirational volume.” — Ms. magazine
“Joy-Ann Reid takes an in-depth look at the lives and legacy of civil rights champions Medgar and Myrlie Evers in “Medgar and Myrlie.” With the blessing of the Evers family, Reid shares the story of the couples’ work on the front lines of the struggle and how even after Medgar’s assassination, Myrlie worked to continue their activism.” — The Root, “Books We Can’t Wait to Read”
"It's a love story that helps paint a fuller picture of the civil rights movement. Activist Medgar Evers was killed in 1963 by a white supremacist outside his home in Mississippi. His murder thrust Myrlie Evers into the spotlight, becoming a freedom fighter in her own right. Joy-Ann Reid traces their extraordinary lives in Medgar and Myrlie." — Geoff Bennett, PBS NewsHour
"Joy-Ann Reid tells the story of the civil rights activists Medgar and Myrlie Evers. Reid follows Myrlie beyond Medgar’s 1963 assassination and into her struggles during the succeeding decades, a time when she found her voice as a public speaker in the movement for racial justice." — New York Times ("17 New Books Coming in February")
"Buoyed by first-person interviews with Myrlie herself as well as vibrant research into the tumultuous and indelible days of Freedom Riders and sit-ins, police brutality and FBI surveillance, Reid’s spotlight shines brightest on the commitment the Everses made to the movement and to each other. As is befitting of the biographies of true heroes, Reid’s double portrait soars and inspires." — Booklist (starred review)
“Details how the wife of the civil rights leader Medgar Evers carried forward their legacy after his assassination in 1963.” — New York Times Book Review
"I love this book. The empathic, brilliant, and wise Joy Reid has brought us the poignant, fascinating inside story of an important marriage in American history....Medgar and Myrlie Evers confronted pure evil and risked their lives to ensure that all American children might grow up in a United States that was more just. As Reid shows us, that painful task is now more urgent than ever.” — Michael Beschloss
"A compelling narrative of a love story that played a significant role in shaping American history. . . . Joy Ann Reid shares the extraordinary lives and overlooked legacy of civil rights icons Medgar and Myrlie Evers, offering a intimate look at their inspiring love story and their crucial work for civil rights, with Medgar's widow Myrlie's blessing." — Ebony
2024-01-12
A biography of Medgar Evers and his wife, Myrlie, who made a lasting partnership during the early Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi before his murder in 1963.
MSNBC host Reid, author of The Man Who Sold America, weaves in details of the larger civil rights struggle through the intimate story of Evers and his not-always-smooth family life. Evers hailed from Black sharecroppers in Decatur, Mississippi, and he gained new insight into American segregation while serving in England, Belgium, and France during World War II. When he returned to the U.S. in 1946, he was determined to challenge systemic racism, starting with registering to vote in his county. While a student at Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College in Lorman, Mississippi, Evers met Myrlie Louise Beasley, a 17-year-old musician from Vicksburg; they were married within a year, cutting short her singing dreams. Reid emphasizes both Evers’ devotion to his growing family, first while living in Mound Bayou and working for Magnolia Mutual Life Insurance, and his absolute commitment to the civil rights struggle, serving in the Jackson office of the NAACP. His relentless traveling around the state and frequent absences, along with visitors constantly at their home, caused friction in the couple’s marriage. Moreover, Myrlie, whom the author interviewed extensively for the book, was constantly fearful for her husband’s safety. The lynching of Emmett Till in 1955, the bus boycott movement in Montgomery, Alabama, organized by Martin Luther King Jr., and James Meredith’s determination to crack segregation at the University of Mississippi in 1961 all helped galvanize Evers to action, increasing his profile as well as the danger to his life. His shooting was the first in a string of horrific assassinations in the South. Reid follows the three trials of the killer to his ultimate conviction in 1994.
A poignant tale reminds readers of Evers’ continuing significance.
