Medgar & Myrlie

Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America.

Book Review by Brenda Greene

Joy-Ann Reid’s Medgar & Myrlie: Medgar Evers and The Love Story That Awakened America (Mariner Books, 2024) is a stirring portrayal of the life of Medgar Wiley Evers and Myrlie Evers-Williams. Readers may think that they know the story of Medgar Wiley Evers.

However, Reid notes that when the Oprah Daily published its list of 30 Civil Rights leaders of the past and present in 2023, Medgar Evers was not listed: 30 Civil Rights Leaders to Know from Today and the Past (oprahdaily.com). The website cites Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, W.E.B. DuBois, Julian Bond, A Phillip Randolph, Ella Baker, and Roy Wilkins among others.