Medgar Evers to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom

Late civil rights martyr Medgar Evers will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously today at the White House. The recognition is the highest civilian honor in the country. Evers, an NAACP field secretary fighting segregation, was fatally gunned down in 1963 his front of his Jackson, Mississippi, home by white supremacist Byron de la Beckwith with his wife and children a few feet away. His death marked one of the key galvanizing moments of the civil rights movement. In this Aug. 9, 1955, file photo, Medgar Evers, field secretary for the NAACP, poses for a photo in Jackson, Mississippi. Photo credit: The Associated Press U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., applauded the recognition. “His legacy is now permanently etched in the depths of history,” Thompson posted on social media. U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., posted on social media: “Medgar Evers, who is already remembered for his pursuit of equality & justice as part of the civil rights movement, now joins a most distinguished group of Americans who are forever singled out for their life’s work. I applaud the award of this Presidential Medal of Freedom.” “Medgar Evers … fought for his country in World War II and returned home to...