By Amelia McGriff
Hailed the “Dean of the Civil Rights Movement,” Rev. Joseph Lowery stood a foot soldier in all of the epic civil rights battles of his day.
With determination, diligence and depth, he braved the front lines in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, refused to back down from a violent showdown with Bull Connor in Birmingham, maintained the faith to march from Selma to Montgomery and demanded jobs and justice on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
Lowery was encased within the civil right movement’s inner circle, fighting alongside so many others who were cut down in their prime, but at the ripe age of 90 he’s among the few left to see the fruit of the labor.
“He is one of the remaining warriors of the civil rights struggle who helped pave the road for all the activism we see in America today,” says Congressman John Lewis. “Rev. Lowery has done a great deal to ensure that the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement will endure.”
Lowery picked up the mantle of service and has not put it down since. Most of us dream for a day to retire and sit back and relax, but when you believe it is your responsibility to improve the quality of life for not only yourself but your people as a whole there’s never really a good time to just sit back.
“It’s very hard to retire from Jesus because your religion and faith become more important to you as you age because you realize you aren’t just a physical being”, says Ambassador Andrew Young. “[Lowery] has lived by the spirit. The spirit only grows stronger as the flesh grows weaker.”
Joseph Echols Lowery was born October 6, 1921 in Huntsville, Alabama and jokes one has to be a little crazy to answer to brutality with nonviolence, but it is what he calls “good crazy.” Although the times have changed and African Americans are not avidly organizing sit-ins and boycotts, Rev Lowery is adamant that his fight, your fight, our fight is far from over.
“The people who oppose equality don’t rest. They continue to plea their case.” The plea Lowery makes is a wake-up call to black America best summed up in two words “Sustained Movement”.
He says “the people” did a real disservice after the “legalized murder” of Troy Anthony Davis. He says once Davis died so did the momentum for ending the death penalty. He says by not keeping the dialogue open African-Americans not only showed children our country solves problems with killing but turns a blind eye to the fact most executions happen in “Old Slave States.”
Click link to read more: http://www.thegrio.com/black-history/rev-joseph-lowery-at-90-the-struggle-isnt-over.php?page=2
