2:47 p.m. Obie Clark passes

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March 19, 2008

Anonymous The Meridian Star Wed Mar 19, 2008, 06:29 PM CDT

By Ida Brown

ibrown@themeridianstar.com

One of Meridian's few remaining pioneers of the civil rights movement has fought his final battle.

Longtime Meridian/Lauderdale County NAACP president and civil rights activist Obie Clark, 75, died Wednesday at Jeff Anderson Regional Medical Center. Clark, who had battled cancer in recent years, succumbed at 1:45 p.m. "He fought a good fight," said a tearful Melba Clark, his wife of nearly 40 years. "My heart is broken."

"Meridian has lost a giant, a person who worked for a better society," said Rep. Charles L. Young Sr., who is also recognized as one of the last remaining pioneers of the local movement.

"Many, many lives have been affected by Mr. Clark," Young said. "His voice will forever be heard – reaching not only throughout the United States, but also beyond."

For more than 25 years, Clark served as president of the local NAACP. At the chapter's community prayer breakfast in January, current president Richard Coleman lauded Clark as "the hardest working NAACP president in the state of Mississippi," for his contributions to the civil rights movement.

"It is a grave loss," Coleman said of Clark's passing. " But he's done a lot to bring about justice and equality in this whole region ... There's a lot of history he was involved in. It was a great loss and I'm going to do what I can to carry on that legacy."

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