By Associated Press
Tuscaloosa AL – Charles Tisdale, an Athens, Alabama native who fought for civil rights as owner and publisher of Mississippi's oldest black-owned newspaper, died Saturday at the age of 80. Tisdale collapsed last week while undergoing dialysis. He had been on life support until his family decided to take him off Saturday night. Tisdale took over the Jackson Advocate in the late-1970s, and was an outspoken critic of elected officials, both black and white. Activist Charles Evers, brother of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers, said Tisdale was concerned about the welfare of all citizens, not just blacks. For 20 years, Tisdale had a talk show on Evers' radio station, W-M-P-R in Jackson, where he often took elected leaders to task for not effectively serving their community. Tisdale faced repercussions for his outspokenness. He often said he was the target of death threats. His newspaper office near downtown Jackson was firebombed at least twice. The latest was in 1998, when gasoline was poured over the furniture and molotov cocktails were thrown through windows. There will be a public viewing from 8 am to 8 pm Friday and from 8 am to noon on Saturday in the Rose Embly McCoy Auditorium at Jackson State University. Funeral services will be held there Saturday at 5 pm.