Joseph Lowery, Civil Rights Leader and MLK Aide, Dies at 98
Source: AP/NYT
ATLANTA -- The Rev. Joseph E. Lowery fought to end segregation, lived to see the election of the country's first black president and echoed the call for "justice to roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream" in America.
For more than four decades after the death of his friend and civil rights icon, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the fiery Alabama preacher was on the front line of the battle for equality, with an unforgettable delivery that rivaled King's -- and was often more unpredictable. Lowery had a knack for cutting to the core of the country's conscience with commentary steeped in scripture, refusing to back down whether the audience was a Jim Crow racist or a U.S. president.
"We ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back; when brown can stick around; when yellow will be mellow; when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right," Lowery prayed at President Barack Obama's inaugural benediction in 2009.
Lowery, 98, died Friday at home in Atlanta, surrounded by family members, they said in a statement. He died from natural causes unrelated to the coronavirus outbreak, the statement said."Tonight, the great Reverend Joseph E. Lowery transitioned from earth to eternity," The King Center in Atlanta remembered Lowery in a Friday night tweet. "He was a champion for civil rights, a challenger of injustice, a dear friend to the King family."
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/03/28/us/ap-us-obit-joseph-lowery-a-life.html
Wow. What a loss. Hadn't heard much from/about him but then he was 98!
R.I.P. and thank you for your contribution to so much related to the Civil Rights movement and having been a steady presence through the current time.
ETA - I know Joe Madison used to have him on his SiriusXM show ("Urban View" ch. 126) a lot in the past, so I am sure he will probably try to do some type of memorializing at some point next week.
littlemissmartypants
(22,418 posts)gademocrat7
(10,623 posts)Atlanta and our country have lost a truly righteous man.
sinkingfeeling
(51,279 posts)hlthe2b
(101,730 posts)RIP, sir
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)August 12, 2009 - Receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom at a White House ceremony.
Sunriser13
(612 posts)What a great man, and what a great loss.
wendyb-NC
(3,250 posts)Thank you, for your impassioned work for civil rights, and equality, and being a voice for justice, long overdo.
Catherine Vincent
(34,485 posts)Rest in peace, sir.
ChazII
(6,198 posts)Condolances to his family and friends.