{"id":87281,"date":"2021-02-10T16:24:29","date_gmt":"2021-02-10T22:24:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/?p=87281"},"modified":"2021-02-10T21:59:16","modified_gmt":"2021-02-11T03:59:16","slug":"new-mississippi-state-flag-now-waves-at-delta-states-flag-plaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/2021\/02\/new-mississippi-state-flag-now-waves-at-delta-states-flag-plaza\/","title":{"rendered":"New Mississippi state flag now waves at Delta State\u2019s flag plaza"},"content":{"rendered":"

CLEVELAND, Miss.\u2014<\/strong>The new Mississippi state flag \u201crippled with hope\u201d as it flapped vigorously in the wind upon joining the trio of flags located on the campus of Delta State University Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n

DSU students, faculty, staff and community members congregated at DSU\u2019s flag plaza for the history-making event to witness the new flag, approved by state referendum on Nov. 3, 2020, ascend on DSU\u2019s campus for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe new Mississippi state flag represents us all,\u201d said Delta State President William N. LaForge to those in attendance. \u201cIt is a flag of unity. It is a symbol of what Mississippi can be and will be. It is a banner and a symbol for all of us that allows us to share our pride, our faith, and our hope in our state as we look to build a better Mississippi.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Pictured, from right, DSU Police Chief Jeffrey D. Johns prepares to present DSU President William N. LaForge with the new Mississippi state flag. LaForge would then deliver the flag to Tameka Curry, a patrol commander with DSU\u2019s Police Department.<\/p><\/div>\n

DSU Student Government Association President Richard Word said the new flag is a symbol of the state\u2019s bright future.<\/p>\n

\u201cMississippi\u2019s new flag symbolizes the best that our state has to offer, all that we have accomplished and all that we have endured,\u201d said Word.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe adoption of this new flag shows that Mississippi is ready to embrace the unknown that is the future of our state, and we\u2019re prepared to meet the challenges of the future as one Mississippi,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Providing the audience with context for the historic occasion, Michelle Johansen, DSU\u2019s coordinator for diversity, equity and inclusion, shared the story of the late civil rights leader, Mississippi legislator and pharmacist Dr. Aaron Henry of Clarksdale, Miss\u2014an early proponent of removing the Confederate battle flag from Mississippi\u2019s state flag.<\/p>\n

According to Johansen, Henry first introduced a bill in 1988; it never made it to the floor vote. Nevertheless, he introduced it again in 1990, 1992 and 1993 before losing his re-election bid in 1995.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Michelle Johansen, DSU\u2019s coordinator for diversity, equity and inclusion.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cHis long illustrious career as a civil rights leader, community activist and champion of the Delta ended with his death in 1997,\u201d she said. \u201cHowever, like those before him and others after him, he did not give up.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to their collective efforts; thanks to those who organized and mobilized and marched and created bigger and bigger spaces for people to join in this movement, we now have a new flag.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Johansen pointed out, the new design includes a gold star\u2014 an important symbol for indigenous peoples. In addition, the magnolia design featured in the center of the flag was envisioned by a woman, Sue Anna Joe, with Mississippi Delta Chinese roots in Greenwood, Miss.<\/p>\n

The flag\u2019s final design was approved by a multi-racial, multi-ethnic committee\u2014including the first African American Mississippi Supreme Court Justice\u2014and was voted on by the people of Mississippi and ratified by the state legislature, 33 years after Henry first introduced the bill.<\/p>\n

Quoting Senator Robert F. Kennedy in his 1966 speech delivered at Cape Town, South Africa, Johansen stated, \u201cIt is from numberless diverse acts of courage such as these that the belief that human history is thus shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal or acts to improve the lot of others or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest wall of oppression and resistance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Henry was one of those ripples of hope. You are ripples of hope. This flag ripples with hope,\u201d she concluded.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd while we still have more work to do, we know that our actions can make differences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Click HERE<\/a> to view a replay of the ceremony on Facebook.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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