these young people devoted themselves to the hope -- as michael schwerner's widow, rita, once wrote -- that they could pass on to the next generation "a world containing more respect for the dignity and worth of all men than that world which was willed to us." the senseless murders of rita's husband and his two colleagues, one black and one white, in a case that became known as mississippi burning, and which captured headlines and sparked outrage across the country. their tragic deaths moved public opinion, spurred cautious politicians to take long-overdue action, and intensified support for the civil rights act. but their efforts also made possible the voting rights act of 1965; the fair housing act of 1968, and the americans with disabilities act of 1990, along with countless other movements for progress. and although michael and rita schwerner never had the chance to have children of their own, their work -- and the efforts of their friends and fellows - left a better world for me, for my children, and for millions more. as we mark this anniversary, i am especially mindful that, wi

they attracted a great deal of national attention and quite tragically, with the murder of the michael schwerner, andrew goodman and james chaney. if focused national attention on what was happening. we are in the cofo building. from 1963-1965 this was the head of the council of federated organizations, which was the group that oversaw and ran of freedom summer. cofo was made of of different things. there was the naacp, there was the sclc, and all these different civil rights groups decided to achieve much more working together so they decided to found cofo and partnered on doing voter registration work. mississippi had the reputation, and i think what rightfully, as the most difficult place for the civil rights movement to really make progress. it was a really entrenched notion of white supremacy. blacks were disempowered economically and politically. the real focus of cofo was voter registration. understanding the political power that stemmed from the vote was most appropriate focusing goal here in mississippi. one of the issues with demographics. there were counties in the state that were bla

point in the civil rights movement. 50 years ago this summer three civility rights workers, michael schwernerdrew goodman were abducted and kills in mississippi while registering black voters. they convicted seven men including a sheriff's deputies with violating the workers' civil rights. but the workers' deaths captured the attention of the nation and helped pave the way for the voting rights act. in a cbs special, 50 years later, chief correspondent bob schieffer spoke with the siblings. >> when did you realize something was wrong? your brother was missing, he wasn't out on this mission? >> it was actually -- we got an -- we got an inkling of what was going on when my brother james decided that he was going to -- his question was why do we have to live this way, and he decided to figure out what some of the rationale was and then what some of the remedies could be. so then it was -- it was kind of an a ha, but it wasn't until he was missing that the real concern occurred for me, myself in particular, and i'm sure for my siblings as well. >> what drew your brothers to go down there? was the

these young people devoted themselves to the hope, as the widow of michael schwerner once wrote, that they could pass on to the next generation a world containing more respect for the dignity and respect of all men and that world which was will to us. a senseless murders in a case that became known as mississippi burning captured headlines and sparked outrage across the country. it their tragic death moved public opinion, spurred cautious politicians to take long, -- long overdue action and intensify support. but their efforts also made possible the voting rights act of 1965, the fair housing act of 1968, and the americans with disabilities act of 1990, along with countless other movements for progress. although michael and regions never had the chance to have children of their own, their work and the efforts of their friends have left a better world for me and my children and millions more. as we mark this anniversary i am especially mindful that without the civil rights act, the protections is codified, or the monumental progress that followed a few of us would be here this morning.

the murders of civil rights workers james cheney, michael schwerner and andrew goodman in 1964.0,000 armed federal agents, national guardsmen and military police just to enforce federal law allowing a black man to attend state college. a notion that was, shall we say, less than popular here. to be honest, that was about all i had for an image of the state of mississippi. that was all i knew. and it hadn't occurred to me to look further. but i have traveled the world since then, and i have visited and learned to love many places not my own, cultures and beliefs very different from the upper east side of manhattan. why can't i love mississippi? ♪ ♪ ♪ never gonna fall from my spot, i move all this, in september ♪ ♪ black eye october, so you be thankful the party's not over ♪ ♪ we won the race because they ran a lame campaign ♪ i'm cooking victory, you want a taste ♪ >> pyinfamous is a proud son and resident of mississippi, a youth mentor in jackson's church and public school systems, owner of a marketing agency and hip-hop artist. this town it feels empty, but where is everybody? >