Ben Brown

In 1965, Ben Brown and I worked together in Jackson, Mississippi for SNCC. We spent many days together and developed a deep friendship. We served three weeks together in Jackson Jail. Ben Brown, a brother in struggle, was singled out and gunned down by Jackson police in a demonstration for a stop sign.

 

To the papers a headline

Civil rights worker shot

Jackson Mississippi May 12, 1967

To me a friend

A black brother

We shared a beer

Sang together

He had soul

I wear a hat

To every demonstration

Straw torn and worn

It hangs on my mantel

A hat he gave me

And now he’s dead

In jail we shouted

Through the pipes

And met to sweat

In solitary

But now he’s dead

And I ‘m alive

Ben was smiling

And now he’s dead

He fought the racists

And laughed beside me

The uncle toms he hated

and now he’s dead

We walked the streets

Together brothers unafraid

but now he’s dead

And I’m alive

and won’t forget

~Mike Smith