Editing James Meredith (section)

==Education and activism==
[[File:James Meredith wounded.jpg|thumb|James Meredith wounded after being shot on June 7, 1966]]

Meredith continued his education, focusing on political science, at the [[University of Ibadan]] in [[Nigeria]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.biography.com/people/james-meredith-9406314|title=James Meredith Biography.com |website=biography.com |publisher=Biography|access-date=April 26, 2017}}</ref> He returned to the United States in 1965. He attended law school through a scholarship at [[Columbia University]] and earned an [[LL.B]] ([[law]] degree) in 1968<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/james_meredith.html|title=Columbians Ahead of Their Time: James Howard Meredith|access-date=September 30, 2024}}</ref>

In 1966, Meredith organized and led a solo, personal [[March Against Fear]] for 220 miles from [[Memphis, Tennessee]], to [[Jackson, Mississippi]], beginning on June 6, 1966. Inviting only black men to join him, he wanted to highlight continuing racial oppression in the [[Mississippi Delta]], as well as to encourage blacks to register and vote following passage of the federal [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]], which authorized federal oversight and enforcement of rights. Governor [[Paul B. Johnson, Jr.|Paul Johnson]] promised to allow the march and provide State Highway Police protection. Meredith wanted blacks in Mississippi to overcome fear of violence.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

Despite a police presence,<ref>{{cite web |title=A Shooting — and the Civil Rights Movement Changes Course |url=https://www.americanheritage.com/content/shooting-and-civil-rights-movement-changes-course |website=www.americanheritage.com |access-date=30 September 2024}}</ref> on the second day, Meredith was shot and wounded by Aubrey James Norvell, a white man whose motives were never determined,<!-- What was Norvell's background? Where did he live? What was his profession? --> and who pleaded guilty at trial. Meredith was quickly taken to a hospital.<ref>{{cite news | title = 6 June 1966: Black civil rights activist shot | work = BBC News – On this day | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/6/newsid_3009000/3009967.stm | access-date = October 2, 2007 | date=June 6, 1966}}</ref><ref>[http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/special/mlk/king/photogalleries/66-68/02.html "James Meredith"], ''Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement'', 1966–1968, photos, ''Seattle Times'', 2008</ref> Leaders of major organizations rallied at the news and vowed to complete the march in Meredith's name. They struggled to reconcile differing goals, but succeeded in attracting more than 10,000 marchers from local towns and across the country by the end.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 19, 2016 |title=James Meredith and the March Against Fear |url=https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/black-power/sncc/march-against-fear |access-date=March 20, 2024 |website=National Archives |language=en}}</ref>

Norvell pleaded guilty to battery and assault with intent to kill and was sentenced to five years in prison.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 22, 1966 |title=1966 11 22 Gwood Comm Tue p1, Man gets 2 years in Meredith case, Troutt |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenwood-commonwealth-1966-11-22-gw/38958107/ |access-date=March 20, 2024 |work=The Greenwood Commonwealth |pages=1}}</ref>

Meredith suffered from superficial wounds to his neck, legs, head, and right side.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Shooting — and the Civil Rights Movement Changes Course |url=https://www.americanheritage.com/content/shooting-and-civil-rights-movement-changes-course |website=www.americanheritage.com |access-date=30 September 2024}}</ref> He recovered from his wounds, and rejoined the march before it reached Jackson on June 26, when 15,000 marchers entered the city in what had become the largest civil rights march in state history. During the march, more than 4,000 black Mississippians registered to vote. Continued community organizing was catalyzed by these events, and African Americans began to enter the political system again.<ref>{{cite web| title = Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Movement| work = pbs.org| url = https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/profiles/56_ms.html| archive-url = https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20070308224300/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/profiles/56_ms.html| url-status = dead| archive-date = March 8, 2007| access-date = October 18, 2011}}</ref>