Jimmie Lee Jackson

Biography

Jimmie Lee Jackson

The punishment for the police officer at the end had me infuriated, and how they treated his tomb stone when he passed away pisses me off. This all occurred when your parents were still alive!! Shoot, some of yall yourself may have heard of this on the news! Police brutality has always been a problem, it's nothing new... anywho...

Jimmie was born in December, in Marion Alabama of 1938. After serving in the Vietnam War, he went back home and got a job as a wood cutter for 6 dollars an hour.

Soon afterwards, he became a church deacon, and inspired by the Civil Rights Movement, had tried numerous times to vote, but could never get past the obstacles set up by the government that made it nearly impossible for blacks to vote.

Exactly 51 years ago today in 1965, he took part in a peaceful protest at night time, in the streets of Alabama, over the arrest of James Orange, a field secretary for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The police turned the street lights off so everything went dark.
The police then swarmed the crowd and started chasing and beating everyone they could find.

His grandfather, mother and himself all ran into a restaurant called Macks Cafe. The police tackled his 82 year old grandfather Cage Lee and was beating him with a club, when his mother tried to pull the policeman off him. Police then started to beat her, so he went in and tried pulling the police officer off her. An officer shoved him into a cigarette machine.

Then, named James Bonard Fowler, pulled a gun out and, at point black range, shot Jimmie with 2 shots in the abdomen.He limped out of the restaurant then and, some sources claim that he was beaten even more, even with his bullet wounds. He collapsed eventually in front of a bus station.

February 26 of 1865, Jimmie passed away in Selma Alabama. James Fowler later claimed that he thought Jimmie was reaching for his gun, so he acted in self defense (that's what they all say...)

Jimmie had been in Heard Cemetery, an old slave burial ground, next to his father. Unfortunately, some freaking stupid idiotic people thought it would be a good idea to vandalize his grave by shooting his headstone with a shotgun.

March 7 of 1965, would be known as Bloody Sunday, for citizens and leaders of the SCLC of Selma would rally in peaceful protest for the death of Jimmie, and to further urge the right to vote. Police would still gather and beat protesters while marching.

March of 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson would later announce that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed by Congress. After the act was passed, Jimmie's grandfather voted for the first time, at the age of 84.

May 10 of 2007, 42 years after the manslaughter was committed, Fowler was charged with first and second degree murder.

November 15, 2010, he pled guilty to manslaughter. He was sentenced for 6 months, but only served 5 months due to a surgery he had done.

Five months... what a joke.

RIP brother Jackson.