SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) - A man born in Shreveport during the 1940s became a key activist in the civil rights movement, a journalist, and a movie star. Meet Billy Joe Mason Billy Joe Mason was born on Apr. 5, 1944 in Shreveport, Louisiana. His parents were the Rev. Walter Mason and wife Zeola. Billy Joe was only 24 years old when he became the President of the Shreveport Chapter of the NAACP in 1968, during some of the most difficult days of Shreveport's civil rights movement. He led sit-ins, protests, and selective buying campaigns against establishments in downtown Shreveport. After his resignation as President of the local NAACP, Mason parlayed his charm into a successful stint in Hollywood as an actor and writer. You may recognize him from the TV series Mod Squad, Mannix, Love American Style, and the movies Mandingo and WUSA. He played alongside Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. He was a reporter and columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, Ebony magazine, Essence, Heart and Soul, and the Shreveport Sun. But before he became a reporter, an actor, a husband, and a daddy, he was a little kid in Shreveport, Louisiana. Education and early career Intellectually gifted at a young age, Mason graduated from Charlotte Mitchell High School in Bossier City, Louisiana. He was only 14 and a half years old at the time, and he became both the youngest graduate and the class' valedictorian.Continuing his success in education, Mason received his Bachelor of Arts in Speech and Drama from Grambling State University (then known as Grambling College). After graduating, Mason spent a brief period in Chicago, Illinois, working for the Chicago Sun-Times and as an editor for Ebony Magazine. Upon a return to Shreveport, his work with the Shreveport Sun, Louisiana’s oldest weekly African American newspaper, became pivotal for the local movement. The spring of 1968 saw grounds fertile for change in Shreveport. Following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., there was a groundswell of activism across the nation, and a restructuring of the movement was inevitable. Many leaders sought to fill the void, and Mason's youthful energy bridged the gap for Shreveport. Spring was the planning phase in the strategic fightagainst racial discrimination—the summer through the winter were the action phases.B. J. Mason became president of the Shreveport NAACP by April of 1968 and he hit the ground running with a list of demands to address racial disparities. During this time, the Youth Council, a new branch of the NAACP, formed under Larry “Boogaloo” Cooper as President and Charles Cockrum as Vice President. The Youth Council aimed to secure proper leadership skills and stress employment at local businesses to promote economic growth in the African American community. The Shreveport Sun., Dec. 5, 1968. On May 24th and 26th, the Shreveport NAACP listed several issues regarding police brutality, paired with a ten-point plan to prevent further incidents with black citizens. Mass meetings were held to address a recent onslaught of police brutality against black citizens and integrated public groups. Some of the examples of discriminatory instances provided in The Shreveport Sun included a black schoolteacher getting handcuffed and beaten over an alleged traffic offense.Along with many malpractice cases, integrated groups were refused service at a local Walgreens. A pizza parlor on Youree Drive denied service to an integrated group who were further harassed when leaving the establishment in the presence of a white officer who did not intervene.Following these mass meetings, Mason led a group of NAACP members to George D’Artois’ office, then-Shreveport Commissioner of Public Safety, where he presented his plan. This was a bold move on behalf of Mason, standing toe-to-toe with someone who fiercely opposed the local movement with an iron fist throughout the decade. Mason stands up against Stan's Record Shop In the late May mass meetings, The Shreveport Sun also reported that Stan’s Record Shop was engaged in discriminatory hiring practices despite selling to primarily black customers. According to Rev. Asriel McLain’s Coming Forth as Pure Gold: A Look at Civil Rights Activities in Shreveport, Louisiana, 1959-1968, Stan’s Record Shop only hired three African Americans. They all worked in menial positions. The Shreveport Sun, May 30, 1968. The Shreveport Sun reported that Mason also voiced his frustration at Stan’s Record Shop, selling records with racially inflammatory language toward African Americans. NAACP leadership demanded that the shop discontinue selling the racist record. This led to Mason leading a selective buying campaign with the NAACP against all record stores owned by Stan Lewis in early June of 1968. The campaign resulted in boycotts throughout the summer, and picket lines formed outside the establishment. The momentum of the boycott of Stan’s record shop expanded to other downtown areas as the weekly NAACP meetings under Mason gained substantial support from the State branch. However, these picketers were met with heavy resistance from the opposition, harassed by police and counter-protesters.The NAACP members appealed for protection but were denied by Public Safety Commissioner George D’Artois. While the appeal for protection was rejected, the successes of the protest couldnot be rejected. Stan Lewis conceded in giving African Americans meaningful employment, and many establishments followed suit. Photo in Coming Forth as Pure Gold: A Look at Civil Rights Activities in Shreveport, Louisiana 1959-1968, by Rev. Asriel McLain, pp. 29. After two months of protesting, an unexpected turn of events fast-tracked the boycott's ending. Hollywood comes to Shreveport Around this time, filming began for Slaves, starring Stephen Boyd (star of Ben-Hur), singer/actress Dionne Warrick, and actor/director/activist Ossie Davis. The film aimed to accurately represent slavery across the American South, and according to a 1999 interview with Columbia University, the local Ku Klux Klan took exception to the filming of the movie. Davis, known for his activism, did not remain idle during filming. In early August of 1968, Davis was the keynote speaker for a mass NAACP rally held by Mason. In that same early stretch of August, Mason announced the boycott’s end. Stan Lewis agreed to stop the sale of racist records and to hire to hire black workers at a proportional rate. As soon as the boycott ended, Davis arrived on the scene to show support – he bought records for himself and signed autographs. Later, on August 20, 1968, he spoke at the Shreveport Council on Human Relations. The summer of 1968 also saw Mason and the NAACP advocate for shifts in education. Gathering at St. Mary’s Baptist Church, the NAACP outlined an audacious plan to remodel the organization's structure. Mason called to set up auxiliary branches in Cedar Grove, Eden Gardens, Stoner Hill, Cooper Road, and more. He planned to organize meetings from all civic, social, educational, business, and religious sectors to “make the American Dream a reality in Shreveport.” In this same meeting, Mason left his listeners with a powerful message. He was quoted in the Sun., May 9, 1968 copy of the Shreveport Sun as saying: “The streets are wider, but a lot of minds are narrow. The buildings are tall, but there’s a shortage of happiness," said Mason. "We are suffering peacefully… There’s a crack in the wall of our town, but the crack itself is not our enemy. Our enemy is the attitude that refuses to admit the existence of that crack.” The Louisiana Weekly, Aug. 10, 1968, pp. 19. On September 18, 1968, a Mason-led group requested that multi-ethnic history books be added to the school curriculum. They saw adequate teaching of black history as necessary for quality education and representation in the community. Nearly 1,000 African Americans marched from Booker T. Washington High School to the Caddo Parish School Board to support this request. The protestors stood unrelentingly at Midway Street. Mason, facing the Caddo Parish School Board, fiercely declared that the local NAACP would “March, demonstrate, and sit in offices until they get a positive decision.” Mason’s cause was supported by other prominent members of the black community, including Dr. L. C. Pendleton, attorney Jesse Stone, and Leon Tarver, the future president of Southern University. The fall of 1968 saw some controversy. In early November, Mason abruptly resigned as President of the Shreveport NAACP, citing “ideological differences.” The Shreveport Sun reported that these “ideological differences” stemmed from Mason not succumbing to blame for the Youth Council members' actions. The Shreveport Sun, July 4, 1968. In a section titled “We’re Still for B. J.”, the paper held Mason in high regard, writing, “Mason, to be sure, has breathed life into an organization that locally was sagging further and further into oblivion. What’s more, Mason was a godsend to the black community, negotiating a number of gains for (African Americans) that would not likely have been realized had it not been for his tactfulness, shrewdness, bravery, responsible actions, and dedication. Under Mason’s leadership, the NAACP was successful in breaking down employment color barriers, increasing the number of (African American) employees in several white business establishments, changing needed school curriculums and at the time of his resignation, was working on a program to better the deplorable housing conditions in the city’s slum areas… The NAACP, nor Shreveport, can afford to lose a man of Mason’s tenacity and dedication. The Black man in Shreveport, to put it mildly, needs him.” The Shreveport Sun, May 9, 1968. Mason retracted his resignation a week later and embarked on arguably his most significant venture in December. Balancing writing two books, Pharoh’s Army and Soul on Fire, Mason went back to the drawing board to plan a Black Christmas Boycott for Shreveport. While some businesses followed suit with Stan’s Record Shop in integrating its workforce into significant positions, some downtown establishments maintained the status quo. Mason stated, “white merchants who haven’t hired (African American) employees in sufficient numbers in meaningful jobs to do so immediately.” SLAVES was filmed in Shreveport and was meant to "tell it like it really was." The boycott was in the spirit of the Mississippi NAACP Black Christmas Boycott in 1963, but Shreveport NAACP leadership decided to focus on stores downtown. Mason hoped the lack of black dollars in white businesses would send a clear message. Plans were made for massive demonstrations downtown, with over 5,000 expected to march, the first meeting being on the steps of the Municipal Auditorium. However, the plan met resistance.One of Mason’s final acts as Shreveport NAACP President came with his filing of charges against the Bossier Housing Authority in the spring of 1969. Mason stated that the Bossier Housing Authority “has jurisdiction over two separate low-income projects, and systematically lumping all black residents into one complex, and all whites into another.” Although there was no name for this term yet, it would later be coined “red-lining,” which was legal discrimination in housing against African Americans. Mason resigned as President again in April of 1969 – this time was final. Citing the same ideological differences, Mason moved on to new ventures that aptly fit his charismatic style. Shreveport Sun, Feb. 12, 1970 Shreveport Sun, Nov. 6, 1969 Shreveport Sun, Dec. 19, 1968 Shreveport Sun, Dec. 19, 1968 Shreveport Sun, Dec. 19, 1968 Shreveport Sun, Dec. 5, 1968 After his career in Hollywood, he became a licensed counselor and an ordained Baptist minister throughout his later years. When B. J. Mason passed to the other side on October 14, 2005, at the age of 61, his funeral was held at Galilee Baptist Church. Rev. E. E. Jones, and Rev. Harry Blake of Mt. Cannan Baptist officiated the funeral. He is buried at Lincoln Memorial Park in Shreveport, Louisiana, and to this day he remains an outstanding example of a vocal, charismatic, and mesmerizing brand of leadership in the Shreveport movement for freedom. Mason was surrounded by icons of the movement when he was laid to rest. Sources: The Shreveport Sun, November 6, 1969, pg 1.Asriel Mclain, Coming Forth as Pure Gold: A Look into Civil Rights Activities in Shreveport, Louisiana 1959-1968. Pg 6The Shreveport Sun, November 14, 1968, pg 1. The Shreveport Sun, May 30, 1968. https://www.columbia.edu/cu/ccbh/souls/vol2no3/vol2num3art1.pdfThe Louisiana Weekly, August 10, 1968, pg, 19The Shreveport Sun, May 9, 1968.The Shreveport Journal, October 1, 1968, pg 19. The Shreveport Sun, November 7, 1968, pg 4.The Shreveport Sun, November 14, 1968, pg 1.The Shreveport Sun, December 12, 1968, pg 1. The Shreveport Sun, April 3, 1969, pg 1. The Shreveport Sun, May 1, 1969, pg 1. Asriel Mclain, Coming Forth as Pure Gold: A Look into Civil Rights Activities in Shreveport, Louisiana 1959-1968. Pg 40. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/134973836/billy_joe-mason