Jake Williams, a child of the Civil Rights Movement, was raised in rural
Lowndes County, Alabama at the height of the Movement. Lowndes
County was the site of two of the most violent events of the Civil Rights Movement. The murder of Viola Liuzzo, who was transporting people who had participated in the Selma to Montgomery voting rights march, took place only a few miles from Jake’s childhood hom
e. Lowndes County was also the site of the murder of Jonathan Daniels who was participating in a protest to register Blacks to vote in Lowndes County. In addition, Lowndes County is the birthplace of Black Panther Bob Mants, and Stokley Carmichael was assigned to Lowndes County as a freedom worker. When Blacks gained the right to vote, Jake was too young to vote but took over 200 elderly Blacks to the polling place and showed them how to vote. Jake was involved in all the mass meetings and protests which organized and registered Blacks to vote. Jake’s early years of involvement in the Civil Rights Movement has provided him a unique perspective of the movement.
