Joseph Lowery

Joseph Lowery
John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0 · source
Name	Joseph Lowery
Caption	Lowery in 2009
Birth name	Joseph Echols Lowery
Birth date	6 October 1921
Birth place	Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.
Death date	27 March 2020
Death place	Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Occupation	Minister, civil rights leader
Spouse	Evelyn Gibson, 1950, 2013
Education	Knoxville College, Alabama A&M University, Payne College, Chicago Theological Seminary

Joseph Lowery. Joseph Echols Lowery was an American minister and a principal leader in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement. A co-founder and longtime president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), he was a key strategist and organizer alongside Martin Luther King Jr., advocating for nonviolent protest and racial justice. Often called the "dean" of the civil rights movement, Lowery's decades of activism bridged the pivotal campaigns of the 1950s and 1960s with ongoing struggles for social justice into the 21st century.

Early life and education

Joseph Echols Lowery was born on October 6, 1921, in Huntsville, Alabama. He was raised in a family with a strong tradition in education and the church; his father was a store owner and his mother was a teacher. Lowery attended Alabama A&M University, a historically black university in Normal, Alabama. He later transferred to Knoxville College in Tennessee and completed his undergraduate studies at Payne College in Birmingham, Alabama. Answering a call to ministry, Lowery earned a Doctorate of Divinity from the Chicago Theological Seminary. His early pastoral work in Mobile, Alabama, and Birmingham exposed him directly to the harsh realities of Jim Crow segregation, which profoundly shaped his commitment to activism.

Civil rights leadership

Joseph Lowery emerged as a formidable civil rights leader in the 1950s. He was an early supporter of the Montgomery bus boycott and worked closely with Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph Abernathy. In 1957, Lowery was a principal organizer of the Crusade for Citizenship, a SCLC voter registration campaign. He played a critical role in the pivotal Birmingham campaign of 1963, helping to organize the Children's Crusade and facing arrest. Lowery also helped lead the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965, a campaign that directly led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. His leadership was characterized by strategic planning, powerful oratory, and an unwavering commitment to nonviolent direct action as a tool for social change.

Role in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Lowery was instrumental in the founding of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, serving as its vice president and later as its chairman of the board. Following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, Lowery helped steer the organization through a period of crisis and transition. He was elected president of the SCLC in 1977, a position he held for two decades until 1997. During his presidency, he expanded the organization's focus beyond the American South to address issues like apartheid in South Africa, economic justice, and police brutality. He led notable campaigns such as the Coalition of Conscience and protests against the Reagan administration's policies, solidifying the SCLC's role as a enduring voice for civil rights.

Later activism and public statements

After stepping down as SCLC president, Joseph Lowery remained a prominent and outspoken activist. He co-founded the Georgia Coalition for the People's Agenda, a nonprofit advocacy group. In 2002, he led a delegation of activists to the United Nations to protest the Iraq War. Lowery delivered the benediction at the inauguration of President Barack Obama in 2009, where his prayer, which included a call for justice and a critique of war, received national attention. He continued to speak out on contemporary issues, including immigration reform, LGBT rights, and the Black Lives Matter movement, often framing them within the broader struggle for human rights he helped define.

Awards and honors

Joseph Lowery received numerous accolades for his lifelong dedication to civil rights. In 2009, President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. He was also a recipient of the NAACP's Spingarn Medal. Several institutions bear his name, including the Joseph E. Lowery International Boulevard in Atlanta and the Joseph E. Lowery Institute for Justice and Human Rights at Clark Atlanta University. His legacy is further honored through the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta, where his contributions are prominently featured.

Personal life and death

Joseph Lowery married Evelyn Gibson in 1950, a partnership that lasted 63 years until her death in 2013. Evelyn was a prominent activist|Evelyn was a prominent activist|Evelyn (person and political rights activist, a|Evelyn Gibson-Lowery, Georgia (U.S. The United States|Georgia (U.S. She was a|Evelyn Gibson and civil rights activist and death and death|Georgia (U.S. He was a|Evelyn Gibson was a|Evelyn Gibson was a|Joseph Lowery|Georgia (U.She was a|Evelyn Gibson-Lowery|Georgia (U.She was a|Georgia and political rights movement|Georgia (U.S. He and death|Echarter and death ==|Georgia (U.S. He and death|Georgia (U.S. and death|Georgia (U.She was a|Georgia (U.S. Joseph Lowery|Georgia (United States|Georgia (U.S. Joseph Lowery|Lowery, Georgia (U.S.