OPINION: The only dirt they found

By Selika Sweet, M.D., FAAFP JA Guest Writer “He had to be one of the best men I ever knew,” my aging mother said. “I know. You talk about him all the time.” “He was always working to help people get registered and out to vote. He traveled all over the state. He was the only person I knew to call.” “You’ve told all this to me a thousand times,” I said. “I’ll hear it again.” “Your dad was out of town at a training session with the VA. It was winter and very cold. The furnace beneath the house had gone out. I didn’t know anyone else to call but Medgar. He came over from two doors down, crawled under the house, and lit the furnace. You know, his life was always in danger. Before he left, he asked if we needed anything else. I remember it like it was yesterday: I stood in the doorway with two children beside me and a baby in my arms. About four months later, he was killed in his driveway, holding T-shirts that said, ‘Jim Crow Must Go.’ He was shot in the back.

This excerpt comes from the named source. Read the original for the full reporting.