Percy Greene

Percy Greene (1897–1977) was an American newspaper editor, and journalist. Greene created the Jackson Advocate, Mississippi's first and oldest black-owned newspaper. He worked for the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, a state agency tasked with fighting desegregation and controlling civil rights activism.

Early life Percy Greene was born on September 7, 1897, in Jackson, Mississippi. He was one of twelve children born to George Washington Green and Sarah Stone. In 1927, Greene founded the National Association of Negro War Veterans, because black veterans were not allowed to join other veterans organizations at the time. By 1948, the Jackson Advocate circulated 3,000 papers, and that number rose to 10,000 papers in 1973. In 1978 after Greene's death, the newspaper was sold to Charles W. Tisdale who continued operations until his death in 2007. According to The Pittsburgh Courier the governor of Mississippi, Theodore G. Bilbo, asked Greene to leave the state because he fought against racism "too hard".

In 1951, Paul B. Johnson Jr. ran for governor of Mississippi, and Greene publicly supported the Johnson ticket, rallying the black voters to support him; this angered white voters who rallied to Mr. Johnson's opponent. After the May 17, 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision when the U.S. Supreme Court declared school segregation unconstitutional, Greene felt it was the wrong decision and his politics dramatically changed. He was dubbed the "Anti-NAACP editor" and "Uncle Tom", among other names. He is buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Jackson.