Today, we mark the 60th yahrzeits of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner. In 1964, these men were kidnapped and murdered for organizing to register Black Americans to vote in the South. We now know that they were kidnapped by members of the police who were colluding with the Ku Klux Klan.

Their murders are part of a long history of state violence against those who have tried to win rights for Black Americans and other marginalized groups throughout U.S. history. And these events gained more national attention, and have remained in public consciousness, in part because of the violence against the two white Jewish men, Goodman and Schwerner. Similar stories of Black Americans being murdered at the time often went unnoticed.

The murderers' intent was to discourage other organizers and activists from working for civil rights but it had the opposite effect; the tragedy galvanized the nation and brought attention to the role of law enforcement in racialized terror.

Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner entered Mississippi at a time when Klan violence was rampant — from the recent 16th Street Baptist Church bombing to kidnappings and lynchings. They took this risk knowing that a fully-functioning multiracial democracy was the path forward to end this violence. We honor their legacy and the risks they took so that all Americans could have a voice and a vote.

Today, we commit ourselves to seeing clearly what we are up against. We know that there are still those in power today who will stop at nothing to maintain the structures of white supremacy. We reflect today on risk and what each of us is willing to do or give up so that democracy may survive.

May their memories be for a blessing, and may they remind us that democracy is ours to build and protect together.