The Deacons; the black armed Christians who protected MLK, civil rights supporters before Black Panther
On July 10, 1964, a group of African-American men in Jonesboro, Louisiana, led by Earnest “Chilly Willy” Thomas and Frederick Douglas Kirkpatrick founded the group known as The Deacons for Defense and Justice.
Their aim was to protect members of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) against Ku Klux Klan violence.
