The passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is considered by many as the culmination of the civil rights movement. When the law was enacted, Black voter registration in Mississippi soared but few Black candidates won office. Frank Parker describes Black Mississippians’ battle for meaningful voting rights, following the story up to 1986, when Alphonso Michael Espy was elected as Mississippi’s first Black member of Congress.

You can access an ebook of Black Votes Count: Political Empowerment in Mississippi After 1965 with a Penn State Account.