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, Activist
Known for	Co-founding the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
Spouse	Evelyn Gibson, 1950, 2013

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 lieutenant to Martin Luther King Jr. and a prominent advocate for social justice, voting rights, and economic equality throughout his life.

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 the African Methodist Episcopal Church; his grandfather was a bishop and his father was a store owner and Masonic leader. Lowery attended the William Hooper Councill High School, a segregated school in Huntsville. He pursued higher education at Knoxville College in Tennessee and later transferred to Alabama A&M University, but left before graduating to answer the call to ministry. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Paine College in Augusta, Georgia, and later a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Payne Theological Seminary in Wilberforce, Ohio.

Role in the Civil Rights Movement

Lowery's activism began in the early 1950s in Mobile, Alabama, where he led a successful campaign to desegregate the city's buses and public facilities. His commitment to nonviolent protest aligned him with the burgeoning movement led by Martin Luther King Jr. In 1957, Lowery was a principal organizer and co-founder, alongside King, Ralph Abernathy, Fred Shuttlesworth, and others, of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), serving as its vice president. He was deeply involved in major campaigns, including the Birmingham campaign of 1963 and the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965, which were pivotal in securing the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Lowery also helped draft the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Leadership of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference

After the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, Lowery continued his work with the SCLC under the leadership of Ralph Abernathy. He assumed the presidency of the organization in 1977, a role he held for 20 years. During his tenure, he broadened the SCLC's focus beyond traditional civil rights to include advocacy for economic justice, peace initiatives, and opposition to apartheid in South Africa. He led protests against racial profiling and police brutality, and organized the Georgia Coalition for the People's Agenda to promote voter education and participation. His leadership was marked by a consistent, forceful, and often witty oratory style in demanding equality.

Later activism and public statements

Even after stepping down as SCLC president in 1997, Lowery remained a vigorous public figure. He was a vocal critic of the Iraq War and spoke at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. He delivered the benediction at the inauguration of President Barack Obama in 2009, where his prayer included a pointed call for justice. He was a steadfast advocate for LGBT rights within the Black church, and continued to speak out on issues such as poverty, healthcare, and the death penalty. In 2017, he received the Fred L. Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award for his lifetime of activism.

Awards and honors

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 have been named in his honor, including the Joseph E. Lowery International Boulevard in Atlanta and the Joseph E. Lowery Institute for Justice & Human Rights at Clark Atlanta University. He held several honorary Doctor of Divinity degrees.

Personal life and death

Joseph Lowery married Evelyn Gibson, a fellow civil rights activist and founder of the SCLC's Women's Organizational Movement for Equality Now, in 1950. They had three children together. Evelyn Lowery died in 2013. Joseph Lowery died from natural causes on March 27, 2020, at his home in Atlanta, Georgia, at the age of 98. His death was met with widespread tributes from political, religious, and civil rights leaders, who remembered him as the "Dean of the Civil Rights Movement" and a moral compass for the nation.