Black History Spotlight: Mark Flake was Milan’s first Black County Commissioner

By Jean Odom

Milan native Mark Flake grew up in the heart of the Civil Rights movement and has carried those ideals with him throughout his life.  Flake was one of the first African Americans to attend Milan High School and he led the fight for new wards in Milan to allow African American to serve on the city board.  He became the first African American County Commissioner from Milan.  He also has competed and excelled in several Senior Olympic events.

Flake has spent his life living by the example to prove that anything is possible if you put your mind to it.

Flake’s position on the County Commission was made possible after a hard-fought federal lawsuit redistricted the city to allow African American candidates to be successful when running for elected office.

“Back in 1990, this guy named George Kidnap filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Milan for the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” explained Flake.  “He was able to get the vote for a Black person to be elected to the city council.”

At the time, Milan was divided into 3 wards, leaving African American candidates very little chance to be elected to any city or county board.

“We couldn’t get anyone elected,” recalled Flake.   “We tried with the school board and everything else, and it just never happened.  So I went to the District Federal Court in Jackson and filed a lawsuit and won. It took almost a month.”

The lawsuit was briefly held up when then mayor Don Farmer hired Jim Webb, the attorney representing the Black community in the suit, to work for the city.

“We had to start all over and find a new lawyer,” Flake said.  “Jim couldn’t represent the city against us because we could have filed a lawsuit against the law firm.  Eventually Mayor Farmer backed off, and on February 26th we won.”

The result of the lawsuit was the creation of Ward 4 and the election of African Americans to the city’s governing bodies.

Flake was elected to the County Commission shortly after the redistricting was completed and has served the county for over 30 years.  Flake lost his bid to serve on the Milan City Board, but he did serve on the Library Board.

“I’ve been working for the county all these years; I think it’s the place for me,” Flake added.

In his childhood years, Flake attended Polk Clark High School for two years before moving to Milan High School in 1970.  He doesn’t remember it being hard, just different.

“We had classes at Polk Clark that weren’t available at Milan High School,” Flake recalled. “At Polk Clark they offered advanced biology but that wasn’t an option at Milan. They also had Typing II at Polk Clark but not at Milan.”

Flake doesn’t recall the transition being difficult.  He says a lot of focus was on the football team’s State Championship run that happened his senior year.  Flake played saxophone in the band and had the opportunity to attend the game.

Coach John Tucker led the Bulldogs to the State Championship that year, and his wife, Nancy, recalled in a previous interview with the Mirror Exchange that Coach Tucker was excited for integration due to the number of athletes coming from Polk Clark.

In his later years, Mirror Exchange Publisher Bob Parkins introduced Flake to the Senior Olympics, where he has competed for the last 20 years and won numerous gold medals. He plays basketball, throws the shot put, runs, and jumps. He has competed at the national level the past few years.

For a number of years, Flake headed up the No-Till Car Show that packed in as many as 500 cars. He eventually had to retired from the monumental task.

Flake prides himself on being an advocate for kids.

“When my kids were in school, I made a point to be there. I worked 3rd shift, but I would take a day off to be there in a minute,” he noted.

Flake serves on the Tennessee Democratic Board and represents District 24. He serves 8 counties in northern West Tennessee.

“We are trying to get a lot of young people involved.  Older people are set in their ways.  They don’t want to give and take,” Flake explained. “If a young person wants to serve, I always say let them try.”

Flake attends Phillips Chapel CME church and enjoys spending time with family when he isn’t serving his community. He has 2 children and 8 grandchildren. He is especially proud of his newest and only granddaughter.   Flake is extremely proud of the musical talent that runs in his family, including a grandson who is currently on scholarship at Bethel University to play in the band.  He joked that everyone thought that his grandson was there to play football because of his size, but he was actually there for the band.

Flake describes himself as the behind-the-scenes guy, but he has certainly made his mark on the community, regardless of who gets the credit.