A Colored Hero

A fellow newspaper editor from Florida praises John Mitchell Jr.’s influence on the New South, especially for his role in the Lunenburg case.

[Jacksonville, Fla., Advocate.]
John Mitchell, Jr., editor of the Planet, Richmond, Va., though scarcely unheard of from a national standpoint, has proven to be the ideal Negro of this country. The Lunenburg murder case in which Mr. Mitchell became so conspicuous before and during the trial, commends him to all men. That he was sincere in his devotion to those whose life had been put in jeopardy by a lynching scoundrel, cannot be questioned. Men of Mr. Mitchell’s type are entitled to all the honors and support a race loving people can give. To undergo the privations and sacrifices to save human life as this great newspaper editor has done is not to be winked at. By creating a sentiment for condemned prisoners, all women, through the columns of the Planet there was a hearty response to his appeals and Mary Abernathy and Pokey Barnes are today living monument to his memory, and not in their graves. Mary Barnes, who was confined in a Virginia penitentiary and condemned for ten years to a felon’s cell, was, through the persistent effort of Mr. Mitchell’s great race journal backed by competent counsel, released, and now breathes free air once more in the old Dominion state. We need men like Mitchell and newspapers like the Planet all over this South land. Members of the colored press who are fearful of their lives because of the truth, ought to condemn evil in high places in the ranks of both races or quit the business. Our effort should be to stand by those who are willing to make the sacrifice. Mr. Mitchell’s fidelity to his race has stood him in good stead, and he is today conducting the most progressive up to date journals south of Washington. We have no right to count the cost in contending for right, and the man or men who does are simply cowards- that’s all.

“A Colored Hero,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed January 18, 2026, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/32.