Black Power to a broad audience. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. participated and continued to attract admiring crowds; his leadership and reputation brought numerous people out to see him, inspiring some to join the march. As the march headed south, the number of participants grew. Finally, an estimated 15,000 mostly black marchers entered the capital of Jackson on June 26, making it the largest civil rights march in the history of the state. The march served as a catalyst for continued community organizing and political growth over the following years among African Americans in the state. They have maintained a high rate of voting and participation in politics since then. History Disappointed by the slow pace of change following passage of civil rights legislation in 1964 and 1965, James Meredith, noted for being the first African American to enroll at the University of Mississippi, decided to make a solo 'March Against Fear' from Memphis, Tennessee to Jackson, Mississippi, the state capital. He wanted to highlight continuing racial oppression in the Mississippi Delta, the heart of the black population in the state, during the 220-mile journey. Meredith wanted only black men on the march, and did not want a major media event featuring white participants. On the second day of the march, a white sniper, later identified as James Aubrey Norvell, stepped out of a wooded area next to the road, shouted, "I only want Meredith", and shot Meredith three times with a 16-gauge shotgun loaded with birdshot shells. Meredith was wounded and fell to the road. People rushed to get an ambulance and took him to the hospital. Although he was not severely injured, Meredith was unable to continue the march as planned as he was hospitalized in Memphis to recover from his injuries. Norvell was later apprehended in Desoto County. When they learned of the shooting, other civil rights leaders, including SCLC's Martin Luther King Jr., Allen Johnson, SNCC's Stokely Carmichael, Cleveland Sellers and Floyd McKissick, and Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), as well as the Medical Committee for Human Rights (MCHR) and other civil rights organizations, decided to continue the march in Meredith's name. The NAACP were originally involved but Roy Wilkins pulled out on learning that the armed Deacons for Defense and Justice were going to be protecting the march. Ordinary people, both black and white, came from across the South and all parts of the country