civil rights movement, that# of Medgar and Myrlie Evers.

On June 12, 1963, Medgar Evers, a pioneering# civil rights activist, was su premacist outside his home in Jackson,# Mississippi.

His murder thrust his wife,## Myrlie Evers, into the national spotlight,# becoming a freedom fighter in her own right.

I spoke with author and MSNBC host Joy-Ann# Reid, who traces their extraordinary lives in## her new book out today, "Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar# Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America."

Joy Reid, welcome to the "NewsHour."

JOY-ANN REID, Author, "Medgar an GEOFF BENNETT: Of course.

So, Myrl first day of college at Alcorn# State.

What drew them together?

JOY-ANN REID: You know, it was in one sense# just his approach.

He was very aggressive.# He ran up to her as she was leaning sort# of against an electric pole, and he said:## "Hey, you're going to get shocked.# You need to walk away from that."

And she's like: "Well, I actually didn't need# tr ying to be haughty because she was raised# in Vicks a certain way toward men.

So it was partly# his approach.

There were a lot of guys who# were sizing up the young women, but he just# was different.

There was something about hi He was older 7 years older than her.# She didn't know exactly how much older,## but he just had sort of an air about# him.

And I think it was because he was## a World War II veteran and a football# player.

Each of those things things that her grandmother and her aunt# told her to absolutely stay away from.

So, in some sense, I think it was also the danger.

GEOFF BENNETT: And you use their# relationship as a lens through# which to explore the fight for justice,# equality, the civil rights mo JOY-ANN REID: Yes.

JOY-ANN REID: You know, what's interesting is,# I think that when we think le aders, we tend to think of them as sort of# just icons in is But what these were, were young men, very young# men in their 20s and 30s.

None of those sort of## greats that we think of in the civil rights# movement even lived to be 40.

And they lived## whole lives that included falling in love,# having children, being parents, being spouses.

And so what I wanted to do was to fill in the# narrative about the civil rights movement to put## it in the context of the two kinds of love that# it took, right?

You needed to have the loving## family that would support you and allow you to do# the thing that could get you all killed, a wife## that was willing to live in a house that could be# firebombed, then knew how to train your children## to understand that their father could die, that# their mother could die, that they could die.

GEOFF BENNETT: As field secretary for# the NAACP, that made him a target of## white racists who at the time terrorized# Black people in Mississippi with impunity.

And after his tragic death, his assassination,## Myrlie Evers committed herself to the fight.

I# mean, she became a She wrote a book about Medgar Evers.

She ran# for Congress.

She ultimately led the NAACP.

Tell me more about her second act.

JOY-ANN REID: You know, Myrlie Evers was,# ri ghts leaders.

She had no desire to# do this.

She just wanted to be with## her man.

She was a literal 1950s housewife# and just wanted her man to come home eve day and help her raise their children and# go to the movies and enjoy their romance.

But that was not in the cards# for her.

When Medgar died,## she was in her early 30s.

She was a very# young woman who has three chil but she was also angry.

And one of the things that# really struck me as I interviewe Myrlie Evers is,## she still can -- she can still# access that sense of palpable rage.

She wasn't just sad that Medgar was# dead.

She was angry.

And she channeled## that anger into the movement.

She was# determined to make sure his killer,## who was tried twice, to hung juries in the# 1960s, in '63 and '64, she wanted to see## him imprisoned for the rest of his life.

She# eventually got that.

It took her 30 years.

But she also wanted to see the NAACP live up to# its true aims, which they had had a fight Medgar about what he was doing.

They didn't agree# with direct action.

He did.

And she wanted to## right that ship as well, because she believed that# the NAACP had in many ways failed her husband.

And so her goal when he died was to right all of## the wrongs that she believed# took her husband from her.

GEOFF BENNETT: You know, Joy, one of# the reasons I'm so happy this book## exists is because so much of their# story and overlooked by history.

Is that# what drew you to this project?

JOY-ANN REID: Absolutely.

James Baldwin called the civil rights movement.

But people# know so much more about the other two## than they do about Medgar Evers.

He's# sort of a -- when you land in Jackson,## Mississippi, you land in Medgar Evers# Airport.

A lot of people don't know If you're in Brooklyn, you can go to Medgar# Evers College.

A lot of people know who that is.

They maybe have heard of the# name, but they really don't know his sto And to my mind, he was in many ways the most# heroic civil rights leader in this country,## because he was operating in the most# difficult state to do civil rights.

And## that was Mississippi, the most lynchings per# capita, the most aggressive Klan organization## that killed Goodman, Schwerner, and Chaney, and# many, many more, the most aggressive statewide## apparatus that was sort of the Klan in suits, a# literal spy organization that operated out of the## governor's office and the state legislature# to spy on the citizens of Mississippi.

That existed nowhere but that state.

And he was# not just the field secretary.

He was the first,## the inaugural field secretary.

And I can# remember Vernon Jordan, the wonderful,## great Vernon Jordan.

I interviewed him for# my first book, for "Fracture," and I reme sitting in his office and him saying to me that# he could remember -- he was very close to Medgar.

And he said he could remember# being on the phone with Medgar,## and Medgar literally crying and sayi They're terrified here.

People in the Delta are# so scared.

They don't want to put their names on## an NAACP ledger.

And my bosses want me to do# this, and they're insisting that's all I do,## sign people up for membership in# the NAACP and register them to vote.

But they don't understand.

They're in New# York.

And this is almost impossible here,## because these people need to develop just# the courage to walk into a department store.## It's so terrifying that just talking to a white# person in the wrong way can get you lynched here.

And I think, for a lot of people, they have# forgotten how much bravery it took for him to## operate, not in Georgia, not even in Louisiana,# not even in South Carolina, but Mississippi.

GEOFF BENNETT: What would the civil rights# movement have been without the influence,## example, and sacrifice of Myrlie# Evers-Williams and Medgar Evers?

JOY-ANN REID: I actually think it# would have been completely different.

Number one, you have to remember that# th e Voting Rights Act, it rolled through# Mississippi.

The most violent sit-in at a## Woolworths at a lunch counter in the United# States was at the Jackson Woolworths.

This## was the famous one where not only# was, like, flour and sugar dumped on## this integrated group of people that were# trying to desegregate that lunch counter They were beaten.

They were beaten# and bloodied and left on the ground,## and it became an international story.

And# that provoked -- it was one of the things## that provoked the Kennedy administration# to say, enough is enough.

The violence## that went through the University of# Mississippi when it was desegregated## was unlike anything the country had ever# seen, and they saw it on the ni And so the incidents that took place in# Mississippi, combined with the Alabama stand at## the schoolhouse door, were the sort of final, last# straw for the Kennedy administra ion, and Kennedy,## who had been a very reluctant friend of the civil# rights movement, because he needed Southern votes.

Remember, back then, these Southern states were# still swing states.

He had been very relucta He really wanted to do a big tax cut.

That was his# thing.

He finally said, nope, I'm going to do it.

And the thing that I think people don't# know, because they don't know Medgar,## is that he used some of Medgar's language# when he did that speech.

They they were World War II veterans.

He understood# the heroism and sacrifice of a an d he was moved by that veteran's status.

And when he promised to do that bill, when Medgar## was assassinated within hours after him# giving this historic televis the person that he gave the first draft of that# bill, the physical draft, was Myrlie Evers.

GEOFF BENNETT: Really?

with her children, still a grieving widow,# and the president gave her a copy of that## bill.

And he promised her that he would# do -- he would get that bill through.

And when that bill started to languish and take# a long time, the March on Washington in August## was to push him to get back on track and get that# bill done.

And Dr. King talked about Medgar Evers## and Emmett Till as two of the inspirations for# that march.

And there's two of the people that## he talked about the -- probably the most# when he would talk about the sacrifices.

His original version of the speech# that he gave on August 28, 1963,## he actually gave in Detroit.

And there# was a line that got cut out of the final## speech that said that, one of these --# one day in the future, we will come to## a day when the sacrifices of Emmett Till# and Medgar Evers wouldn't have to be made.

That was the first version of "I Have a# Dream."

That was the dream he spoke of.## It was ultimately cut out of the speech,# but Medgar Evers was on his mind at the## march.

And Myrlie Evers was the only# woman initially invited to speak along## with the big six.

She just wasn't able to# be there because of another commitment.

But Medgar Evers is infused in the civil# rights movement.

And his contemporaries## knew it.

It's just that, today, he's# sort of fallen out of the public memory.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, this book# will certainly help change that,## "Medgar and Myrlie and the Love# St Joy-Ann Reid, always a pleasure to speak with you.

JOY-ANN REID: Geoff, thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: Online right now, hear# fr iendship that Myrlie Evers-Williams# shared with the late Coretta and Betty Shabazz.

You can find it on# our YouTube and Instagram accounts.