April 4, 2026, is the 42nd Anniversary of Victims of Violence Wholly Day. The day marks the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in Memphis in 1968.
It is one of the three Days of Respect that Visually Affirms and Historically Preserves the three Key Principles of the American Civil Rights Renaissance of the 1960s, from the Survivor’s Standpoint.
V.o.V. Wholly Day is Visually Affirmed by Wearing the Color Black to affirm the Principles of Non Violence and shows respect and remembrance for past and present Victims of Violence; Survivors of rape and incest, and missing children, who are potential victims.
The holiday is one of three “Emancipation Days of Respect,” “Humanitarian Day,” and “Dream Day Quest and & Jubilee.” It honors people who have sacrificed to change segregation laws in the U.S. and supports people who have suffered at the hands of violence.
This day is set apart to communicate a message to those who engage in racial segregation. It speaks to equality for all men regardless of their race or ethnicity — it calls for a more inclusive world.
Violence: Survivors of rape and incest, and missing children, who are potential victims.
According to the Global Committee Commemorating King Days, sponsors of V.o.V. Wholly Day, when the parents who participated in the Civil Rights Marches were intimidated into silence, after the organizers left, the Children stepped up and were trained in non-violent techniques.
They became Freedom Fighters who marched, were jailed, beaten, fire hosed, bitten by police dogs, and 4 girls, ages 11-14, were murdered in a Baptist Church Bombing where meetings had previously taken place. Rev. Dr. Prophet King said he was inspired by the children and said he had never seen anything like it. The Children Freedom Fighters were called the
“Children’s Brigade” has never been honored for its sacrifices.
Outraged Americans saw the children being bitten by police dogs and fire hosed down; it was a turning point in the American Civil Rights Renaissance of the 1960’s; coined “the Movement” by Mrs. Mamie Till Mobley, the Mother of Emmett Till. He was a 14-year-old Chicagoan who was lynched a year after the Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court Decision. It ruled, on May 17, 1954, that the 88 years of Segregation Laws were unconstitutional because they only existed to keep the status of the Negro down and caused Heart and Mind Damage to Negro Children, too young to express themselves in words. Dolls were used to win the case. Today, they are aged 75 to 84 years old.
The late Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson was a Heart and Mind Damage Survivor. The “I am Somebody Weapon” was born in his heart and mind when he was a little child, who chose to sit behind the driver on the front of a bus, during segregation. His mother pinched him, and he cried and was moved to the back of the bus because of Segregation Laws. It was explained that his mother did that because she loved him. “I am Somebody” is a non-carnal weapon to overcome the teachings of well-meaning parents, who taught Negro Children a stay-in-your-place mentality, to protect them from White Supremacy Practices that could have gotten them killed.
Evangel Mamadee Yhwhnewbn, the Founding President of Global Committee Commemorating King Days, like Rev. Jackson, also had the front of the bus experience. When she was five years old, she refused to surrender her window seat on the front of a Greyhound Bus, and the consequences when she got home. changed her life and made her a Freedom Fighter and Children’s History Memorialist
Her life, as a Children’s History Memorialist, has included creating the idea, writing the ordinance, and lobbying and financing a 3-1/2 years Crusade to get Emmett Till Road an honorary street designation (71st Street in Chicago). It was the first in America named for a Negro child, and it resurrected his legacy that had been buried for 30 years.
Ms. Rosa Parks attended the Street Dedication Ceremony and said, “it was what happened to Emmett that gave me the courage to do what I did.” Mamadee presented the Proposal to the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) Board that changed the name of McCosh Elementary to Emmett Till Math and Science Academy.
Additionally, she suggested that Roberts Temple C.O.G.I.C. should be designated as a City Landmark because Emmett’s funeral was held there. Today, it is on the National Registry.
Presently, Evangel Mamadee is the major supporter for Mamie and E.L. Till Road, scheduled to be introduced in the City Council in April. It will be the first street named for a mother and child.
The Heart and Mind Damage Survivors want to share their Freedom Fighting experience with today’s youngsters and garner their support for a Children’s Letter Writing Initiative that will honor the Children Murdered in the Movement with a lasting memorial by putting them together on a United States Postage Stamp. Also, Emmett Till and his mother are together on a U.S. postage stamp.
“If the Youngsters of today, who live different lives but have the same human needs, don’t “Keep Hope Alive” and pick up the non-carnal weapon of “I am Somebody” and Show It by practicing Self Leadership, based on principles, instead of following a charismatic leader; they will commit Historic Genocide,” stated Mamadee.
What is the solution to prevent historic genocide? History should be passed on, from the head of the old to the hand of the young, so they can shape the hearts of the future. If you want to overcome the spiritual violence of heart and mind damage with a “I am Somebody Weapon” or support the Children’s Letter Writing Initiative to put the Children that Were Murdered in the Movement on a U.S. Postage Stamp, you’re invited to join our Soup and Sup Sessions. Wear Black and Love on V.o.V. Wholly Day-April 4th. Details, email: [email protected] or call (773) RESPECT/ 737-7328.
