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NATCHEZ — On Saturday, April 5, a symposium on race will honor the legacy of Marjorie Rushing Baroni, who was both a White woman and a civil rights activist, as well as others who fought for equality for all.

“We cannot tell our complete story until we tell the story of all who were oppressed, including White people who fought for the rights of Black people,” said Natchez Alderwoman Valencia Hall, organizer of the symposium.

This event is free and open to the public and lasts from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Natchez Convention Center. Lunch will be served.

Affectionately known as Marge, Baroni and her family of Natchez were among many whites who were persecuted and threatened with violence for associating with Blacks.

She had been the first female editor at The Natchez Democrat, but when she became more deeply involved with the Civil Rights Movement, her stories reporting on the atrocities of civil rights injustice stopped being covered, so she left this position.

What triggered her active involvement in civil rights was the killing of a Black female parishioner of Holy Family on Franklin Street, Hall stated in an Aug. 16, 2024, op-ed she wrote for The Democrat on Baroni.

The sheriff during that time told Baroni that the murderer was known, but he would not be brought to justice.

“Last summer, I was asked if I would consider writing an article to commemorate what would have been her 100th birthday,” Hall said. She wrote the article with approval from the Baroni children with their only wish being that their names were not mentioned.

The story was so well-received that it was suggested then that Hall do a symposium telling not only Baroni’s story but also those of other civil rights activists whose stories have often been overlooked. “Many suffer silently” and were targets of the Klan just because they associated with Blacks, Hall said.

“There are white people who contributed tremendously to civil rights but they are not spoken of,” Hall said. “We want to tell a story no one else has … on those who are unspoken of and who we do not want to be forgotten. … These people risked their lives fighting for people who did not look like them. They were oppressed not because of the color of their skin but because of the content of their character.”

Hall said the event is “for the entire community,” regardless of race, and has already captured the interest of a large and diverse group while being publicized in The Democrat, the Bluff City Post and on Mid-South Broadcasting.

“If we’re going to tell our whole story then we need to tell our whole story,” Hall said. “So many times, we just want to focus on the indignities that Blacks suffered, which were atrocious. But let us not forget the atrocities placed on white people as well.”

For more information, contact Hall at 601-443-1265.