february 2012
CityLight.org
5
F
ebruary is Black History Month and
usually we pay tribute to the well
known civil rights leaders, activists,
scientists and so on. This month I want to
pay tribute to a woman who you won't find in
any history book, the encyclopedia, on Wiki-
pedia, or even on goggle, other than her name
and address. I think she deserves to be recog-
nized! In my opinion, she is an unsung hero,
who decided that she would be a voice that
speaks out against injustices, for many peo-
ple in our small town of Senatobia and our
State of Mississippi.
This woman is none
other than my mother,
Juanita Walker-Ross.
My mother (momma,
as her children call
her) was the seventh
of 12 children born
to Alner and Laura
Walker, on Septem-
ber 11, 1930, in Sena-
tobia, MS. Momma
was born and raised
on a share cropper's
farm. So she knew
and experienced early
the injustices that
the poor and blacks
in Mississippi faced.
She experienced not
being able to look a
person in their eyes
because of your skin
color, having to move off the sidewalk to al-
low whites to walk by first, not being able to
try on clothes in clothing stores or use pub-
lic rest rooms, witnessing black men being
dragged from their homes in the middle
of the night for no reason other than be-
ing black. These were some of the reasons
my momma decided, as a young girl, that
when she had the opportunity to help make
a change, she was going to take it; this op-
portunity came in her early thirties.
As a small child I remember well how my
momma worked with the Freedom Riders
and the Freedom Summer Project during
the 60's. This is when thousands of white
and black student volunteers came from
the North to the South to work on voter
registration, as well as school and hous-
ing issues in the black community. These
groups needed a place to stay because they
were, often times,
denied accommoda-
tions at the local ho-
tels and motels and
even found it difficult
to get served in res-
taurants. Their only
request was to be
able to sleep outside
in a person's yard,
as most had their
sleeping bags and
small rations of food.
Momma refused to
let them sleep out-
side, for fear they
would get hurt or
even killed by those
who didn't want
them there in the first
place. So she allowed
them to sleep in our
home wherever they
could find space. She
cooked, fed, and provided clean clothing
for many of them when needed.
Our home was a way station or a safe ha-
ven for many of them. As a matter of fact,
my mother was one of the very few in our
town who would allow these young people
to camp out at their home. This caused
Continued on pg 14
JuanitaWalker-Ross
AN UNSUNG HERO IN CIVIL RIGHTS.
by: Annette Balaguer