Civil Rights Veteran MacArthur Cotton to launch memoir at Attala County Library book signing
From staff and press reports
Civil rights activist and Attala County native MacArthur Cotton will be hosted by Attala County Library on May 6 to unveil his memoir, Mississippi's Black Cotton, along with a book signing.
The event, scheduled for 6 p.m., marks the first stop on Cotton’s book tour and offers the public a chance to hear firsthand accounts of his experiences during the pivotal years of the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi.
Cotton, a former organizer with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), was raised in a family deeply rooted in activism. His grandfather was killed for teaching African Americans to read, a formative experience that shaped Cotton’s lifelong commitment to social justice.
“I didn’t join the Movement,” Cotton once reflected. “The Movement was always there. It was part of our life.”
In Mississippi's Black Cotton, Cotton chronicles not only his personal journey—from a teenager witnessing racial violence to becoming a SNCC field secretary and Freedom Rider—but also highlights the untold stories of families like the Greenes and McGees in Greenwood, Mississippi. These lesser-known figures played critical roles in resisting systemic oppression, often at great personal cost.
The memoir paints a harrowing picture of the dangers faced by civil rights workers in the Deep South. Cotton himself was arrested multiple times, including a 39-day stint on death row after attempting to buy a bus ticket from the “white” side of a segregated station. During his organizing work in Greenwood, he was imprisoned in the infamous Parchman Prison, where he endured severe abuse for his efforts to help Black residents register to vote.
Despite the threats, Cotton continued his work, using conversations over coffee to build trust and leadership in the communities he served.
“Organizing wasn’t about creating leaders,” he writes. “It was about helping people see themselves as leaders.”
Following the Movement, Cotton continued his advocacy, working with the Algebra Project in the Mississippi Delta to promote equitable education for all children.
The Attala County Library invites the community to attend the May 6 event to celebrate Cotton’s legacy and the release of his memoir, which offers an essential and often overlooked perspective on the Civil Rights Movement.
Mississippi's Black Cotton is available for purchase at the event, and Cotton will be signing copies following his remarks. The book’s official publication date is May 1, 2025.
