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JACKSON, Miss.—Civil rights activist and widow of the late Medgar Evers spoke Thursday on a number of topics at the Mission Mississippi Governor’s Prayer Luncheon.
Evers-Williams is fresh off a visit to the nation’s capital to give the invocation for President Barack Obama’s inauguration.
“And I said yes without even thinking about it,” Evers-Williams commented when she said she was asked by President Obama to give the invocation.
She said it was a late notice type of deal and she only had about 10 days to get her speech prepared once contacted. Even with that though, she said she enjoyed her time in Washington D.C. very much.
“It was absolutely marvelous, it was totally unexpected too.”
Surprisingly enough she said wasn’t the first time she was scheduled to speak in the nation’s capital.
“Fifty years prior I was scheduled to speak at the March on Washington, but couldn’t get through the crowd to do so.”
She got her second chance in the form of the invocation in 2013.
Evers-Williams spoke about race relations in the state also Thursday.
“Oh my goodness, there are so many challenges that we still face that are reminiscent if not the same,”
She noted as long as people exist there will probably be prejudice in some form, but she did comment on it clearly being much less than 50 years ago when her husband was killed.
“The important thing though is the extent that it [prejudice] exist now in our country.”
She closed when speaking to reporters on her ultimate wish for the state regarding race relations.
“I just hope we will continue to see forward movement, and he’ll be remembered.”
Almost 800 people were in attendance to hear her speak at the Jackson Convention Center.
