Towards Justice

Towards Justice: Jim Kates

Hannah Simpson Season 1 Episode 5

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0:00 | 24:04

Jim Kates was just a teenager when he travelled down to Mississippi during the Freedom Summer campaign of 1964. He worked in the community to register Black Mississippians for the vote and taught African American children about their history in the campaign’s ‘Freedom Schools’. Jim reveals how, decades later, one of the pupils reached out to thank him for making him worthy for the first time in his life. Jim features in one of the most iconic images of the Civil Rights Movement standing alongside fellow activist Robert Fullilove, who is also profiled in the series. Over the course of his life, Jim has served as a public school teacher and non-violence trainer for personal and political movements. He is a prominent poet, literary translator and co-directs the publishing house Zephyr Press, which published the book, Letters From Mississippi.