Black August Spotlight: Annie Bell Robinson Devine

Annie Bell Robinson Devine was many things to many people. An educator, an insurance agent, a founder. A mother, a wife, a leader. To Mississippi at large, she's a headstrong juggernaut in the fight for civil rights and her efforts made space for progress in the long haul of the freedom movement. 

Devine was born in 1912 Mobile, AL but after her mom passed, she was raised in Canton, MS by her aunt. She was soft-spoken and didn’t care for much attention, always focused on the people and the mission of equality. After graduating from Tougaloo Southern Christian College, now Tougaloo College, she became a school teacher. In 1965, she helped found the Child Development Group of MS, establishing head start in Canton for impoverished youth. 

In 1963, Annie Devine joined CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) and worked within the community to conduct voter registration drives with other activists during a time where people were hesitant and afraid to engage civically.

She organized and recruited students and citizens of all races and backgrounds to be a part of the movement for freedom, justice, equality and human rights.

Her daughter, Barbara, shared with WLBT that in Canton, folks who tried to register had their names printed in the newspaper for 2 weeks.

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Remembering the life and legacy of civil rights giant and Canton native, Annie Devine

She played a pivotal role in helping African Americans gain the right to vote.

This was intentionally harmful, as it alerted employers, law enforcement, and creditors, of the individuals who were trying to vote. This made them clear targets for all levels of danger from hateful people. Tensions were high in Mississippi but that didn’t stop Annie Devine. 

She worked meticulously with her partners and she is credited as a founder of the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), along with activists Fannie Lou Hamer and Victoria Gray.

Annie Bell Robinson Devine, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Victoria Jackson Gray Adams in Washington DC in 1965 for the Mississippi Congressional Challenge

With Black folks being intentionally excluded and rejected from the Democratic Party, the inception of the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party was inevitable. It was born from the determination of oppressed people and their need to be seen, heard, and included.

Devine and her partners were selected by the MFDP to be delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City where they led the Congressional Challenge of the seating of the all white, male congressional delegation of the Democratic party as Mississippi’s representatives, as those men did not represent the fullness of Mississippi and its citizens.

Though this action didn’t place Devine and her constituents in the delegation, their brave and assertive voices garnered nationwide attention and led to the investigation of voting practices in Mississippi during President Johnson’s presidency.

Devine spent her life organizing, resisting, and sacrificing for the movement of equality. Her communal approach and persistence is directly responsible for the passing of the Voter Rights Act of 1965 that prohibited discrimination in the voting arena and granted full citizenship to Black folks.

Though freedom should have never been something to be earned, Annie Bell Robinson Devine played a crucial part in the continued liberation of Mississippi.