A Thousand Never Evers

Content Warning: This section discusses depictions of racial violence and discrimination and quotes outdated and racially insensitive language.

On June 12, 1963, 12-year-old Addie Ann Pickett has just graduated from elementary school. She receives a dollar from her Uncle Bump, a tradition in her family for when the children move on to middle school.

Addie Ann goes to find her brother, Elias, to buy dye for her dress for her new school in the fall. Elias works on Sam Mudge’s land, something he has done since he was five.

Addie Ann crosses to the white side of their town in Kuckachoo, Mississippi, to find her brother at work. He is distraught at the death of Medgar Evers, but Addie Ann struggles to understand who he is. Elias tells her that he is part of the “movement” and had three young children. The thought upsets Addie Ann, whose father died of pneumonia before she was born, when Elias was only four.

Addie Ann and Elias go to the fabric shop, where Addie Ann buys yellow dye for her dress. She is upset that her brother keeps them there past closing, talking to his friend, Bessie, about Evers’s death.

When they return home, their mom is angry at their late arrival home.