‘Magnificent Matriarch’: Myrna Carter Jackson, 82, Civil Rights Icon, Eulogized in Birmingham

By Barnett Wright The Birmingham Times Myrna Carter Jackson, the Birmingham civic activist and Foot Soldier, who died last week, was honored on Saturday as a “Working Warrior” “Queen of the Civil Rights Movement” and “Magnificent Matriarch”, among other accolades, during a 90-minute celebration at 16th Street Baptist Church in downtown Birmingham. Jackson, who was 82 when she died on May 31, was remembered for her role in the Birmingham Civil Rights movement as a Foot Soldier who was arrested and jailed twice during the 1963 marches and went on to become one of the city’s most visible and prominent activists, serving in leadership with the Birmingham NAACP. “Today we are gathered to salute this deserving soldier … she volunteered to fight, she separated herself from those who were afraid to fight,” said the Rev. R.L. Patterson, pastor, Abyssinia Missionary Baptist Church, who delivered the eulogy. “She suffered through threats at lunch counters, suffered the threat not knowing whether she would be put to death but with the power of her influence and her fight she kept moving.” Patterson said Mrs. Jackson fought a fight that was worthy, honorable, notable and commendable. “Everybody’s fight is not a worthy fight, every...