James L. Hicks

James L. Hicks (May 9, 1915 – January 16, 1986) was an American journalist active from 1935 to 1977. He wrote a column for the Baltimore Afro-American advocating opportunities in the U.S. Army. Hicks covered school integration in Little Rock, Arkansas and Oxford, Mississippi, and his coverage of the Emmett Till murder trial in Sumner, Mississippi.

Biography Early years Hicks was born to African-American parents in Akron, Ohio, on May 9, 1915. He was educated at the University of Akron, Ohio, and Howard University. The witnesses, Leroy "Too-Tight" Collins, and Henry Lee Loggins, had been seen riding in the back of J.W. Milam's truck with Emmett Till the night he was murdered. Articles by Hicks written for the Cleveland Call and Post are found in Christopher Metress's The Lynching of Emmett Till: A Documentary Narrative (University of Virginia Press, Sept 2002).

These were published in the 2000 Spring issue of Archipelago Vol. 6, No. 1. On January 20, 2003 the documentary “The Murder of Emmett Till” was broadcast by “American Experience” and PBS.

The book Why It’s Unlikely the Emmett Till Murder Mystery Will Ever Be Solved by authors David T. Beito and Linda Royster Beito include references to Hicks' role in events surrounding the trial of Bryant and Milam.

The Little Rock Nine In 1957, Hicks, alongside several other representatives of the black press, Earl Davy, Moses Newson, and L. Alex Wilson, attended the integration of nine black students into Little Rock Central High School. When the black reporters arrived on the scene they were beaten and chased by a mob, which was protesting the integration outside the school. After the students gained entry to the school, the mob accused the black reporters of being a decoy for the students. In a story he wrote for Amsterdam News on September 28, 1957, Hicks states, "After we were safely out of the mob area, reports came over the radio that we had been sent to the school as 'decoys' to the mob so that they would not notice the Negro children when they slipped in. This is actually what happened but it certainly was not in our plan."

External References Cleveland Call & Post Oct 1955 James L. Hicks' Trial dispatches (Archipelago) “They Stand Accused by C-P Reporter: Jimmy Hicks Charges Miss. Officials Aided Lynchers,” October 8 “White Reporters Doublecrossed Probers Seeking Lost Witnesses,” October 15 “The Mississippi Lynching Story: Luring Terrorized Witnesses from the Plantations Was Toughest Job,” October 22 “Jimmy Hicks Tells Inside Story of Infamous Mississippi Lynch Case,” October 22