Next month, veteran newsman and Natchez native Vernon Smith will return to Natchez to continue recording the stories of those who lived through the civil rights movement.

Smith has already been back to Natchez once, last month, as part of the Voices of Civil Rights project co-sponsored by the AARP and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.

People such as Natchez resident Mamie Lee Mazique, former alderman George &uot;Shake&uot; Harden and Ser Seshs Ab Heter-C.M. Boxley were interviewed for the program.

The stories are also being filmed for use in a History Channel documentary on the Voices project, a piece that’s set for broadcast in February.

And some stories will also be including in 80,000 brochures on the program that will be sent to schools throughout the nation for use in classrooms.

Smith himself has said he hasn’t had time to interview nearly the number of people he would like to in order to tell the complete story.

But we think it’s a wonderful start.

Why record such stories? We believe it’s important because, as the AARP’s Muriel Cooper pointed out in this week’s article, the civil rights movement &uot;has, either actively or passively, affected where people are today.&uot;

By knowing what people went through during the civil rights movement, we can better understand the forces at work in today’s society &045;&045; and work more intelligently to root out racism in the 21st century.

As always, we can learn much from the area’s older residents &045;&045; if we take the time to stop and listen.