3. Strain, Christopher Barry. “Civil Rights and ... - Freedom Archives

poorly paved streets ." Dozens of black men carrying guns spontaneously assembled on
the street and averted trouble
The Jonesboro group incorporated, in Match 1%S, as a nonprofit corporation
after increased Klan activity . After a KKK parade in which Klansmen drove through
town with an escort of local police cars, a handful of local black men, all U.S . Army
veterans, decided that if the white power structure would condone and abet such activity,
they must do something to help themselves . The next day, the men met to discuss how to
protect their community . They purchased citizens-band radios and ammunition, and
began to patrol the black community at night . The men elected Percy Lee Bradford, a
stockroom worker, to serve as president of their new organization s "We pray a lot," he
explained in February 1%S, "but we stay alert, too ." 9
The men, many of whom were religious, agreed on the name "Deacons" as a
rcflcction of their background in the church . The name also represented their
self-perception as servants of the community and defenders of the faith . The Deacons
grew and expanded simultaneously in both Jonesboro and Bogalusa, Louisiana. Though
Jonesboro remained the official headquarters of the Deacons, the locus of power quickly
'Fred Powledge, "Armed Negroes Make Jonesboro an Unusual Town," New York
Times (February 21, 1%S) : 52 .
gReed, "Armed Negro Unit Spreads in South," New York Times (June 6, 1965): 25 ;
Reed, "The Deacons, Too, Ride by Night," New York Times Mag~;tu (August 15,
1%s): loll .