‘It was never about the individual’: NAACP's Derrick Johnson on Colom's historic Senate win

THE REACTION LAST NIGHT OF NAACP PRESIDENT AND CEO. DERRICK JOHNSO. AS THE RACE WAS FINALLY CALLED. MORE THAN A WEEK AFTER ELECTION DAY. AND DERRICK JOINS US NOW ALONG WITH FORMER WHITE. HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR. SHE IS A DEMOCRATIC DIRECTOR. UNDER PRESIDENT OBAMA AND HOST OF, YOU KNOW, THIS WAS A REALLY GOOD IDEA. LONG PLAY, THE DOCUSERIES, JEN PAUL MARY WINNING THE. SOUTH, SHE CAPTURED THAT VIDEO FROM LAST. NIGHT IN MISSISSIPPI, MSNOW CONTRIBUTOR MIKE BARNICLE.

JOINS THE TABLE AS HE SAID THAT AS WELL. DERRICK, I GUESS DESCRIBE THAT MOMENT. THAT WE JUST. FOR CIVIL RIGHTS WORKERS. IN THE AUDIENCE WAS VETERANS. OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT ON VETERANS' DAY, EUVESTOR SIMPSON WHO WAS LOCKED UP IN.

JAIL WITH FEDERAL HAMMER AND LARRY. YOU HAVE ALL OF THOSE TOUGALOO. STUDENTS, THE MOVEMENT IN MISSISSIPPI. HAS. ALWAYS BEEN IT WAS NEVER ABOUT AN INDIVIDUAL, BUT ABOUT THE CAUSE. AND ON THAT CAMPUS, TOOLALOO COLLEGE, THE THEME IS WHERE HISTORY MEETS TO FUTURE. AND LAST NIGHT WE SEEN THAT COME INTO REALITY.

THE HISTORY OF SO MUCH HARD- FOUGHT, SO MANY HARD-FOUGHT BATTLES IN. MISSISSIPPI WHICH CREATED THIS MOMENT. FOR AN INDIVIDUAL WHO WOULD LEAD INTO. THE FUTURE WITHIN THE. UNITED STATES SAID IT. WOW. YOU KNOW, DEREK, IN MY OWN MIND, IT'S HARD TO OVERASTIMATE THE IMPORTANCE. OF WHAT HAPPENED THROUGH THIS ELECTION. AND AS SOON AS HE WAS DECLARED THE WINNER, EVEN BEFORE HE DECLARED THE WINNER, MY THOUGHTS WENT IMMEDIATELY TO THE.

SUMMER OR EARLY SUMMER OF 1964 WHEN GOODMAN, SCHWERNER AND CHENEY, THREE YOUNG MEN, WERE GRABBED IN NESHOBA COUNTY, I BELIEVE, AND I BELIEVE THE SHERIFF'S NAME WAS. JIM CLARK OF NESHOBA COUNTY, THEY WERE MURDERED AND EVERYBODY JUST. ASSUMED IMMEDIATELY THAT NOTHING WOULD. HAPPEN TO THE MEN WHO KILLED THEM, CHASED THEM AND KILLED CLAN MEMBERS AND. YET HERE WE ARE TODAY WHEN MISSISSIPPI. HAS LED THIS COUNTRY FINALLY THROUGH. THE LAST DOOR OF HATRED, IT ENDED WITH THE ELECTION.

OF SCOTT CALLON. WELL, I WON'T SAY IT ENDED BUT IT. DEFINITELY ENTERED INTO A MOMENT WHERE. YOU HAVE A YOUNG MAN WHO.

STANDED ON, AND SCOTT UNDERSTANDS THAT. HE UNDERSTANDS THE HISTORICAL PLATFORM. HE STANDED ON BUT HE ALSO RECOGNIZE THE. MOMENT THAT WE'RE IN, THAT HE CAN BE A VOICE FOR. OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY, WHITE COMMUNITY, PEOPLE WHO CARE ABOUT QUALITY HEALTHCARE. WANT QUALITY JOBS. THAT'S WHY THIS CAMPAIGN WAS SO IMPORTANT. HE'S ABLE TO TALK TO EVERYBODY AND YET HE. UNDERSTAND THE HISTORICAL PLATFORM. THAT HE'S STANDING ON. HE'S COME FROM A WONDERFUL FAMILY.

HIS MOTHER WAS A STATE COURT JUDGE, JUST CALLON. EVERYBODY LOVED DOROTHY CALLON. HIS FATHER WAS AN ACTIVIST AT. ONE POINT A REPUBLICAN. THEN BECAME A DEMOCRAT BECAUSE. HE COULD NOT STAND THE RACISM. WITHIN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND. BECAME ONE OF THE TOP BUNDLESS. FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA IN 2008. SO HE COMES FROM GOOD. HE IS ABLE TO TALK TO BOTH KINGS AND COMMONERS. HE WILL GO INTO A ROOM AND FEEL COMFORTABLE AND. MAKE FRIENDS.

HE HE WORKED SO HARD, AND THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF. THE STATE. STOOD UP LIKE NOTHING ELSE. STOOD UP LIKE NOTHING ELSE. COCKSMAN TOPSONDOT, WE BUILT A LEADERSHIP. INSTITUTE 15. HE WAS IN THE FIRST CLASS AND. STILL ONE OF THE MOST ACTIVISTS. OF THE GROUP BECAUSE HE LOVES. PEOPLE AND HE LOVES TO TRY TO. HELP AND SOLVE MAKE SURE THEY ARE GOING TO. PROBLEMS. SO JEN, PAUL MARY, YOU SPOKE WITH SCOTT COLOND. DAYS AGO. AS HE WAITED FOR CONFIRMATION OF HIS WHOSE. WON, HERE'S PART OF THAT.

CONVERSATION. NOW THAT I SPENT MORE TIME HERE, I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU MEAN WHEN. YOU SAY THE PEOPLE. YEAH. I WENT SO LONG WITHOUT getting any attention. and without getting any resources, that kept me close to the people. And I kept feeling like, man, these people are really fighting. for a new direction. They really are motivated for somebody that's. going to stand up to their status quo.

And I felt like I had a period. of time where I was able really to. practice my message because I did so many. I WOULD TAKE QUESTIONS TO THE END OF IT. SO I LIKE THAT. THINGS POLLSTERS CAN'T TELL. YOU. MORE AND MORE PEOPLE CAME TO THE TOWN HALLS, AND I WOULD. TAKE QUESTIONS TO THE END OF SO I LIKE THAT. THINGS I DON'T THINK IT'S GOING TO. INVOLVE ENOUGH ELECTIONS TO KNOW, LISTEN, WE HAD SOME MOMENTUM. CHEN, THE ULTIMATE LONG. IT WAS A LONG PLAY AND HE COULD FEEL IT,

MAYBE BEFORE THE HIERARCHY DID. THE HILARIOUS THING IS THAT IN. THAT SAME CONVERSATION HE TOLD. ME I NEEDED TO RENAME THE SHOW. BECAUSE IT TURNS OUT WINNING THE. SOUTH WAS NOT SUCH A LONG PLAY. AND THAT INSTEAD WE SHOULD CALL. IT THE SOUTH IS IN PLAY WHICH HE. DEFINITELY PROVED THAT, YOU KNOW, Mika, THE FIRST TIME I CAME DOWN HERE, IT WAS RIGHT AFTER THE DSCC MADE. A DECISION IN JULY TO. ALLOCATE $40 MILLION TO STATES FOR GOTV EFFORTS. FOR BLACK, BROWN AND ASIAN VOTERS, AND NO MONEY WENT TO MISSISSIPPI IN THAT ROUND. AND HE TOLD ME LATER IT WAS LIKE A VERY.

HARD WEEK FOR HIM, AND WHAT, YOU KNOW, WHEN HE TALKS ABOUT THE PEOPLE DID THIS IS. THAT THIS WIND DID NOT COME OUT OF. NOWHERE IF YOU'VE BEEN PAYING ATTENTION. IN MISSISSIPPI WITH THE WORK THAT. DERRICK JOHNSON AND And Charles Taylor, who is the executive director. of the Mississippi Conference at the NAACP. Groups like the Mississippi Black. Women's Roundtable, Mississippi Votes. There has been, and if you look at the margins, Brandon Presley ran for governor in in 2023. He got very close in 2025.

Democrats broke a supermajority. in the state legislature. There has not been a lot of outside money coming. into Mississippi, but there has been an infrastructure. building this is very much a mississippi. story and i feel you know now. if there's elections in the state next week. in 2027 or excuse me next year governor. the The legislature, all of that is up. And I think it's going to be. a very different race, but to be at the NAACP last night. and that building that Medgar Evers worked in,

there are still bullet holes. in their windows from those days. It was an incredibly moving thing to be part of. Wow. Jen, this is remarkable for Mississippi. Let's talk about what it means. for the deep south and also. for American politics. And before 1966, the south was solid. It was the solid south. LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act. He told Bill Moyers, young Bill TAKE A LOOK AT. THE SOUTH FOR. DEMOCRATS.

I PROBABLY LOST THE SOUTH FOR DEMOCRATS IN MY. LIFETIME AND IN YOUR LIFETIME LAST YEAR. BILL MOYERS PASSED. THIS IS A LANDSLIDE THE LIKES OF WHICH WE REALLY. HAVEN'T SEEN. IT'S MORE OF A SHIFT. THE POLITICAL WORLD IS SHIFTING ON ITS AXIS, ESPECIALLY IN THE DEEP THE DEEP SOUTH.

FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 1966. TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU SAW THAT LED. YOU TO LAUNCH THIS SERIES WHEN NOBODY BELIEVED. THAT THE SOUTH COULD GO BLUE. JUST FIRST OF ALL, EVERYONE IS MOVING HERE, RIGHT? SO THE POWER IS SHIFTING HERE. AND THEN THE OTHER THING IS IT'S NOT JUST HOW. MUCH THE STATE LEGISLATURES MATTER HERE. YOU KNOW, I'M SITTING IN JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI. THIS IS WHERE THE DOBS CASE CAME OUT OF. TEXAS IS WHERE GERRYMANDERING STARTED.

TEXAS IS WHERE THE SIX-WEEK ABORTION. BILL CAME OUT OF. IT JUST FELT, YOU KNOW, I WAS BORN IN THIS STATE. I WAS BORN IN THE STATE IN JACKSON COUNTY, THE STATE, THE COUNTY THAT CINDY HYDE SMITH. HOPED WOULD SAVE HER LAST NIGHT. BUT DID NOT ON THE GULF COVES OF. MISSISSIPPI AND HAVE ALWAYS BEEN. CONCERNED ABOUT LACK OF DEMOCRATIC. attention to a state where it's often. 60 % of black voters live in this region. There is, these are often the poorest states, the states with the poor schools. If Democrats care about this thing.

they should spend money here and also. SO YOU JUST WANT TO BUILD POWER. AND WHAT I'VE SEEN OVER THE LAST FEW MONTHS IN. THIS STATE IS IT REALLY IS PEOPLE DECIDING. THAT THEY WANT AND DESERVE SOMETHING different. And the Calais decision, I think, played a big role. And there were signs in Mississippi. along the way that things were changing. In the summer after the Calais decision fell, 5 ,000 to 6 ,000 activists showed up in. Mississippi in Jackson because the state was going. to do,

the state legislature was going to redistrict. And there was a very, very strong show of force. You know that's a lot of people to show up. at a political rally in Mississippi, Joe. And the state legislature decided not to take. action when scott colom had his primary. in april he had a record-setting primary um. and then you just and then i i saw crowds grow. and grow and grow until the last the campaign. on the Gulf Coast, very conservative area. Pete Buttigieg had a rally with Scott Colombe. There was 1 ,000 people on a Tuesday night.

and the crowd was majority white. And I was like, I THINK THIS IS SOMETHING. DIFFERENT HAPPENING IN THE SOUTH. AN EXTRAORDINARY, EXTRAORDINARY MOMENT AND. RESULT. DEREK, WE JUST HEARD ABOUT THE. SUPREME COURT DECISION. THAT I THINK REALLY DID ANIMATE YOU KNOW, IT'S GOING TO BE CLEAR. THAT THEY WANT TO REDISTRICT MORE, THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS TO. GERRYMANDER MORE, WHAT'S NEXT TO TRY TO KEEP. THIS. REMENTUM GOING FOR YOU GUYS? YOU KNOW, ALL OF THE STATES THAT DID. GERRYMENDING,

IT BACKFIRED. SOMARI FIGURES, ONE IN ALABAMA, NORTH CAROLINA REALIZED YOU CANNOT. REDRAW A DISTRICT TO TAKE OUT CONGRESS MCCLIBRID, BECAUSE ALL YOU DO IS CREATE TWO. DEMOCRATIC DISTRICTS, AT THE END OF THE DAY WE. SHOULD. BE LOOKING AT A DEMOCRACY TO. INCREASE VOTER PARTICIPATION, ALLOW THE VOICES OF CITIZENS TO BE HEARD, AND ALLOW OUR GOVERNING STRUCTURE. TO RESPOND TO THE NEEDS AND INTEREST OF PEOPLE AS. OPPOSED TO.

CORPORATE OR SPECIAL INTERESTS. AND I THINK LAST TUESDAY'S ELECTION SHOWED. THAT PEOPLE WANT TO BE INCLUDED IN HOW. THEIR TAX DOLLARS ARE SPENT FOR. THEIR QUALITY OF LIFE, NOT FOR TAX BENEFITS AND NOT FOR THINGS. THAT WOULD NOT INCREASE OPPORTUNITIES FOR THEIR. CHILDREN'S FUTURE.