These quality collectors pieces are designed for visual appeal. In order to off-set these trends, the non-violent must project and execute a program that will [allow] more Negroes to become convinced of the effectiveness of non-violence and the principles of it. James Bevel. In the 1960s, James Bevel was appointed the leader of the civil rights group known as Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). This button displays the currently selected search type. And being there for two years, I was saturated in the environment where family values and just you know, I grew up where there was a lot of talked about love and peace, and happiness, and family values. James L. Bevel dies at 72; civil rights activist and top lieutenant to King", "Bevel v. Commonwealth (Va.Ct.App., 14 Sept. 2010)", "Bevel v. Commonwealth (Va.S.Ct., 4 Nov. 2011)", "Years After Change, Activist Lives Her Conviction", "Common Is James Bevel, Andre Holland Is Andrew Young In Ava DuVernay's Mlk Tale 'Selma', (see request for download at bottom of page). King wanted to fill the jails with protesters, but it was becoming more difficult to find adults to march. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. He attended workshops at the . [31], In 1992, Bevel ran on LaRouche's ticket as the vice presidential candidate. They invited King and other SCLC leaders to Selma to develop larger protests and actions, and work alongside Bevel's and Nash's Alabama Project. [citation needed] During his speech to the crowd that day, Bevel called for a larger march in Washington D.C., a plan that evolved into the October 1967 March on the Pentagon. He was buried in Eutaw, Alabama. . That's a playboy talking to a prostitute," Bevel said on the witness stand shortly before he was sentenced. James Luther Bevel (October 19, 1936 - December 19, 2008) was a leader of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement who, as the Director of Direct Action and Director of Nonviolent Education of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), i . While in the Seminary, Bevel joined the Nashville chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), then led by the Reverend . Bevel also served as pastor and adviser to Chicago's Council of Mothers; the West Side Baptist Minister's Conference; WorkShip Coalition; and the Nation of Islam. James Bevel, 1936-2008. His contention that convicted assassin James Earl Ray was not guilty of Kings murder embarrassed many in the movement. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Considered Martin Luther King, Jr 's most influential colleague and . On February 16, 1965, Jimmie Lee Jackson, his mother, and grandfather took part in a nighttime march led by C. T. Vivian to protest the related jailing of activist James Orange in Marion, Alabama. That same year, Bevel and the other Nashville activists attended the founding meeting of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) at Shaw University. A one-time top lieutenant to Martin Luther King Jr. was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in prison for having sex more than a decade ago with his then-teenage daughter. This information, his behavior in now also part of history. Mr. Bevel attended New Hope Church of Christ and was president of the Whitaker Cemetery Board. SNCC Chairman John Lewis and Amelia Boynton were both injured. During his four-day trial in 2008, the accusing daughter testified that she was repeatedly molested by him, beginning when she was six years old. Kennedy's staff, who already were drafted one, came to an agreement on its contents with SCLC's leadership. [6] Hearing of this plan, and in response to the city's violent treatment of the students, the Kennedy administration asked SCLC's leaders what they wanted in a comprehensive civil rights bill. She shares her story, reflections about her father, and her experience as an abuse survivor. So, I grew up with a fear of society and of people, and a great mistrust for the system and a great trust in my father. Although Bevel initially intended to pursue a recording career, he felt called to Christian ministry. All photos and bio are bevel-cut and double matted under glass. And I think the hardest part is not choosing a side to work toward and sticking to it. James Bevel was born on October 19, 1936 and died on December 19, 2008. MARTIN: You confronted your father at one point. Bevel led this effort as the head of SCLCs Direct Action Department. Ms. MILLS: Right, because I always wrote letters. He was convicted earlier this year of having sex 15 years ago with his then-teenage daughter in Virginia. The city officials could not pretend that the Civil Rights Movement isn't a big deal (Gilmore). Memorialize James's life with photos and stories about him and the Bevel family history and genealogy. He renamed the organization the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, recruited members of many diverse groups, and organized the April 15, 1967 march from Central Park to the United Nations Building in New York City. James Bevel was one of the key strategists of the civil rights movement. And you can listen to it for, you know, over and over again and it won't make sense. Nash married civil rights activist James Bevel in 1961 and moved to Jackson, Mississippi where she began organizing voter registration and school desegregation campaigns for the SCLC. There are a lot of people who would have run in the other direction, who would have just, look I am gone - I don't - I can't deal with this. We'll talk about that in just a few minutes. He's been violent, mean and abusive, but he's always been honest.". Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Born 1927 and died 2001. I don't want to relive any of that. Beating death of James the Just (Brother of Jesus) "Such was his martyrdom. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. And we have to find a way, because they exist. Some protesters were jailed, but the movement kept the pressure on. [35], During the trial, prosecutors presented key evidence: a 2005 police-sting telephone call recorded by the Leesburg police without Bevel's knowledge. One of the things that I was hoping for and some of my siblings were hoping for when we started this process with my father was that we could start to understand it. In March 1965, Mr. Bevel, a fiery orator, spoke at Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma, Ala., the starting point of a symbolic march to the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where demonstrators had been beaten two days earlier a day remembered as Bloody Sunday in a first attempt to march to Montgomery to protest discriminatory voting practices. He was recently released on bond while appealing a 15-year prison sentence. Bevel and others were grieved and outraged. He often wore overalls over a shirt and tie; he shaved his head and sometimes covered it with a yarmulke in honor of Old Testament prophets. And he placed himself in the position of being the person who was going to save the world. In 1962, Bevel was invited to meet in Atlanta with Martin Luther King Jr, a minister who was head of the SCLC. Bevel was a top lieutenant to Martin Luther King Jr. and architect of the 1963 Children's Crusade in Birmingham. I am equally devastated and disgusted by his pedophilia., James L. Bevel, 72, an Adviser to Dr. King, Is Dead, https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/23/us/23bevel.html. James Bevel was a leader of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. Diane Nash is an acclaimed American civil rights activist. But before the Poor People's campaign occurred, King and the SCLC organizers traveled to Memphis, Tennessee, to organize a march in support of a sanitation strike after King's and James Lawson's first march had turned into a riot. [20] Bevel was influential in gaining King's support for the anti-war movement,[13] and with King's agreeing to participate as a speaker Bevel agreed to lead the antiwar effort. on the Alabama project (Bevel, 13 April 1964). Did you always sense that it was wrong? We have great country we live in that had slavery. The actor's assistant, Karen Lindsey, confirmed his death in a Facebook post, stating that he died of natural . He served in the U.S. During what was later called the Birmingham Children's Crusade, President John F. Kennedy asked King to stop using children in the campaign. James Luther Bevel (born October 19, 1936 in Itta Bena, Mississippi - died December 19, 2008 in Springfield, Virginia) was a Baptist minister and the Alabama project coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference during the Civil Rights Movement. You still found the strength to get together to try to rescue this younger sibling who was still in harm's way, according to what you had experienced. That it's supposed to be only for procreation, and you have to be forced to see that, just like you have to be forced to accept nonviolence by getting beaten. Bevel also served as pastor and adviser to Chicago's Council of Mothers; the West Side Baptist Minister's Conference; WorkShip Coalition; and the Nation of Islam. Sherrilynn Bevel, a daughter, said he died of pancreatic cancer Dec. 19 at her home in Springfield, Va. She said Bevel, who was freed on bond because of ill health, had been there since Nov. 8. Civil rights activist Reverend James Luther Bevel was born in Itta Bena, Mississippi, on October 19, 1936. [25], In 1989, Bevel and Abernathy organized the National Committee Against Religious Bigotry and Racism. Naval Reserve in 1954 and 1955 before entering the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee. Marriage didn't slow down her activism. And that was the pretty much the catalyst for my understanding that maybe it's not just me that's feels uncomfortable, maybe this is wrong. MARTIN: If you are just joining us, I'm speaking with Aaralyn Mills. The Institute cannot give permission to use or reproduce any of the writings, statements, or images of Martin Luther King, Jr. She later, she asked me to recount a tale - some other woman who in new environment, what happened. And know that it could come back to them pretty harsh. At trial, Bevel denied committing the sexual act and his recorded statement was used against him. He was 72. What helped you to understand that? "My hope was for him to apologize in a Christian way, to repent. Accuracy and availability may vary. MARTIN: One thing I want to point out is that one of the reasons that you decided to move forward with pressing charges is that there was a young woman in the house or a young girl in the house, with your father at the time your parents marriage had ended. He is known for 4 Little Girls (1997), Eyes on the Prize (1987) and King in Chicago (2008). And when she told me that everything I told her about what's happening as I was telling her that really hurt me. After years of failed attempts to draw the concern of family members, Mills pursued charges against her father, and in April, Bevel was convicted of incest. And that you know they're my children, because my son knows his grandfather and he knows Martin Luther King and you know very respectful of him. He received an appeal bond on November 4, 2008, and was released from jail three days later, after a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. [14], The Open Theater Movement, led by Bevel, had success in Nashville, the only city in the country where SCLC activists had organized such an action. [15] Diane Nash, the Nashville Student Movement's chairman, urged the group to continue the Freedom Rides, and called for college volunteers from Fisk and other universities across the South. She is the daughter of James Bevel who was recently convicted of molesting her when she was a child. He entered the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville in 1957 . The chain of events and police violence that was captured on national television ultimately culminated in the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Having background is important to get the whole picture. James Bevel was born on the 19th of October, 1936. James Bevel was one of the key strategists of the civil rights movement. How many of your sisters? The news coverage, which featured children being water-hosed by police and more than 600 youth being arrested, prompted a groundswell of support for the civil rights movement. He went on to plan some of the movement's major . SNCC had been conducting a Voting Rights Project (headed by Prathia Hall and Worth Long) since the early 1960s, meeting with violence in Alabama. And he used his historical background in the civil rights as an example of see what I did so far, I'm still doing that. In fact, while she was pregnant in 1962, Nash had to contend with the possibility of serving out a two-year prison sentence for giving civil rights training to local youth. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. whose influence spurred a pivotal event of the civil rights movement, the "children's crusade" in Birmingham, Ala., but whose reputation was later marred by fringe political associations and a criminal conviction this year on incest charges involving a teenage daughter, died Friday in Springfield, Va. The accuser was one of his daughters, who was 1315 years old at the time and lived with him. And I hid them in her purse or in her shoes and things. And my grandmother was also there, and I didn't want my grandmother to know. It was under his leadership that the organization undertook most of their iconic campaigns including the Birmingham Children's Crusade in 1963, Selma voting rights movement in 1965, and the Chicago open housing . The Likely Lads, as well as the television . Bevel also was active in the anti-war movement and greatly influenced King, who Bevel encouraged to confront the Vietnam War more directly. And we really wanted our father based on who he is and his own understanding to take that step to look at himself, to begin to if not challenge other men first by challenging himself. And we just - it just didn't worked because he reverts back to his role as the leader or the person who has to teach and help everybody to understand his perspective. This defendant should die in jail.". He died on December 19, 2008 in Springfield, Virginia, USA. Ms. MILLS: Well, I don't understand it. He put this barrier between us and the world. THE DIGITAL REPOSITORY FOR THE BLACK EXPERIENCE. And we try to stay on one side of what we think is right and good. Ms. MILLS: Right. "We know that the defendant is dying," said Prosecutor Gigi Lawless. [13] They were under an injunction by the state, so stayed within the city limits. He doesn't understand the whole dynamics of what's going on now. MARTIN: Because you described kind of a cult-like environment where you were all being, the children, the family, the woman, and the family are being kind of trained to accept a certain kind of behavior. Updated: November 11, 2011 . As a member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and then as its Director of Direct Action and Nonviolent Education, Bevel initiated, strategized, and developed SCLC's three major successes of the era: the 1963 Birmingham Children's . [19] He worked to create tenant unions and build grassroots action to "end" slums. This beautifully matted collector's photo presentation is a collage. And the heat is intense. He appeared headed for a career as a pop music singer he had signed a contract with a record label when he felt called to the ministry and enrolled in the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, where he joined the local chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. What if I do, we do remove my little sister from the environment and what if she decides to go back when she's 17 or 18 to see her dad, and he does the same thing and she gets wrapped up in his spell. Organizers appealed to the federal court against an injunction by the state against marching in order to complete their planned march to the capital. During his childhood years, he resided in both Itta Bena and in Cleveland, Ohio working as a plantation laborer in the . Cypress Hall D, 466 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA 94305-4146 At a family reunion, three other daughters had also alleged that Bevel sexually abused them. He subsequently joined the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), serving as project director and becoming one of the most influential advisers to the SCLCs head, Martin Luther King, Jr. On Bevels recommendation, hundreds of youth were mobilized in 1963 in the childrens crusade to participate in peaceful antisegregation protests in downtown Birmingham, Ala. After the scare, James says it took a month of "intensive therapy" before he could get back on stage. While in the Jackson jail, Bevel and Bernard Lafayette initiated the Mississippi Voting Rights Movement. James D Bevel James Bevel . The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. Ms. MILLS: Yeah, that could be some, definitely can. Where did James Bevel die? Do you see it that way? The Rev. Ms. MILLS: I feel, I feel at peace with this whole process in terms of I'm happy that we stood on something and we followed it through. To fight those feelings, she decided to track down her attacker. I mean my little sister was 14 at that time, but what if you know - what can you really do? Recently, Mills shared her story in the Washington Post Magazine, and she joins us now. You can also ask your. Menu. A young man, he died a few days later. Instead, Bevel mocked the notion of an apology. It was such a fundamental affront to human dignity, to force sex upon a girl who's too young to consent, too young to understand what's going on, to abuse your position as the head of the household. Wife Susan Jameson & Adopted Son Details. How old was James Bevel when he died? P: (650) 723-2092 | F: (650) 723-2093 | kinginstitute@stanford.edu| Campus Map. He was 85. Credited by Martin Luther King with initiating the Childrens Crusade during the Birmingham Campaign of 1963, James Bevel emerged as a civil rights leader from the ranks of the Nashville, Tennessee, student movement. "Dr. King could not have done the things he did unless he had a James Bevel." ---- Ralph David Abernathy "He was a great philosopher, an unbelievable philosopher." Find James Bevel phone, address, facebook, insatgram, twitter and email on OurBiography, the leading online directory. Things we often feel we have to keep hidden. Vivian and others, Bevel participated in the Nashville Sit-In Movement organized by Nash, whom he would later marry to desegregate the city's lunch counters. Civil rights activist Reverend James Luther Bevel was born in Itta Bena, Mississippi, on October 19, 1936. Did you always know that it was wrong? He earned extensive . He is awaiting sentence now. Their meetings occurred at Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church, and it was from there that Bevel directed the students, 50 at a time, to peacefully walk to Birmingham's City Hall to talk to Mayor Art Hanes about segregation in the city. Credited by Martin Luther King with initiating the Childrens Crusade during the, of 1963, James Bevel emerged as a civil rights leader from the ranks of the Nashville, Tennessee, student movement. In this same period, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) had organized the 1961 Freedom Rides through the Deep South to challenge southern state laws and practices that interstate buses and their facilities remain segregated despite federal laws for equal treatment. "He confronted Bevel, who had been a mentor to Jackson and Young, as 'a genius who flummoxed his own heart'. This piece comes framed in a beautifully sculpted black lacquered frame. In 1960, Bevel and other black students trained by Lawson, including John Lewis, Dianne Nash, Marion Barry, and Bernard Lafayette, organized sit-ins against segregated lunch counters. James Bevel was born on October 19, 1936 and died on December 19, 2008. The following day, when more students arrived at the church and started to walk to city hall, Eugene "Bull" Connor, City Commissioner of Public Safety, ordered that German Shepherd dogs and high-pressure fire hoses be used to stop them. He was one of the seventeen children of Illie and Dennis Bevel. James Bevel (1936-2008) James Bevel was one of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s most trusted advisors during the American Civil Rights campaigns of the mid-20th century. Bevel was born to sharecroppers on Oct. 19, 1936, in Itta Bena, Miss., one of 17 children. Bevel served several months of his 15-year sentence before he was released in November on bond while appealing. From the Helen L. Bevel Archives, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_Bevel&oldid=1140934352, Statements by Rev. But when I was there, I actually saw it. This civil rights activist, minister, lyricist, and human rights advocate gained a national reputation for both his . After time in the military service, he became a minister. Bevel was born in Itta Bena, Mississippi, on 19 October 1936. He studied at segregated schools in Mississippi and in Ohio. Ms. MILLS: It was actually, as in the article, I was actually watching a Oprah show and it was - the difference in this, was there was a little girl. What happened James Bevel? James Bevel, Self: 4 Little Girls. Omissions? And I remember in school they talked about good touches and bad touches, but the difference was, I didn't trust the people in school. James Bevel would have been 72 years old at the time of death or 78 years old today. He was sentenced in October. This kind of pseudo-philosophical - I'm not even sure - how do would you describe it? James Luther Bevel (October 19, 1936 December 19, 2008) was a minister and leader of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement in the United States. All rights reserved (About Us). Prosecutors said the assault occurred in Loudoun County, when Bevel was working closely with the Virginia-based organization led by LaRouche. Bevel was in the parking lot of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis and witnessed King's assassination on April 4, 1968. Bevel and others were grieved and outraged. In 1962 Bevel left SNCC to become Mississippi field secretary for SCLC. Ms. MILLS: I mean we have to look at a lot of aspects of life, in those parallels. And I would always tell her the things that he did to me and what he would say if he got a chance to do it to her. The assault occurred in the early 1990s in Loudoun County, when Bevel was working closely with the Virginia-based organization led by political extremist Lyndon LaRouche. Housing in the area was segregated in a de facto way, enforced by covenants and real estate practices. After a day of organizing workshops, the two men drove back to the Lorraine . She wrote a remarkable series of articles that told his story as well as her own. After King's assassination in 1968, Bevel helped lead many of King's unfinished efforts, such as a demonstration to support striking sanitation workers in Memphis. "I had really bad . . Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Where was James Luther Bevel born and raised? Another daughter, Sherilynn Bevel, confirmed the death, The Washington Post reported. A top lieutenant to Martin Luther King Jr. has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for incest. What a strange character James is! MARTIN: How do you understand this as this kind of culture of acceptance of abuse of children? A wild man from Itta Bena, Mississippi, Taylor Branch called him in Parting the Waters, the first volume of his history of the civil rights movement, a self-described example of the legendary chicken-eating, liquor-drinking, woman-chasing Baptist preacher.. A fight broke out between LaRouche supporters and black nationalists.[34]. Bevel also worked behind the scenes on the Chicago open housing movement in 1966; the anti-Vietnam War movement in 1967; the Memphis sanitation workers strike; and the Poor People's Campaign in 1968. At the sentencing hearing, the victims said they were hoping that Bevel would apologize for his actions and seek forgiveness and reconciliation. MARTIN: Your story was very painful to read. We know that James D Bevel had been residing in La Pine, Deschutes County, Oregon 97739. On May 2, 1963, children marched from the 16th Street Baptist Church, and 600 were arrested on that first day of demonstrations. The Rev. After the success of this action, and with the aid of SCLC's Ella Baker, activist students from Nashville and across the South developed the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Pancreatic cancer James Bevel/Cause of death Bevel died Friday in Virginia after a fight with pancreatic cancer, said a daughter, Chevara Orrin, who lives in Winston-Salem, N.C. During the 1950s and 1960s hundreds of thousands James Luther Bevel (October 19, 1936 - December 19, 2008) was a minister and leader of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement in the United States. After serving seven months he was freed awaiting an appeal; he died of pancreatic cancer in December 2008. James E Bevel's bio. The demonstration was spurred largely by the killing of a young protester by an Alabama state trooper. He was 72. In April of this year, Mr. Bevel was convicted of having sexual intercourse with one of his daughters in the 1990s, when the girl was a teenager. And the heat is intense. The victims hoped for an apology and some reconciliation, but Bevel mocked the notion of an apology. And she was telling things that I experienced and that connected to me. Bevel and Nash moved to Alabama in the spring of 1963 and played leading roles, along with Dorothy Cotton, Andrew Young, Bernard Lee, Fred Shuttlesworth, and the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights, in the campaign to desegregate Birmingham. Ms. MILLS: And it's an hour and a half of him explaining his position. He also worked on a cotton plantation and in a steel mill. Both Bolam and his entertainer companion, Susan Jameson, reside in the West Sussex town of Wisborough Green, as well as in the London neighbourhood of Chiswick. Bevel was a top lieutenant to Martin Luther King Jr. 2001 at 73 years of age. After King was assassinated, Bevel made a bizarre[a] claim that James Earl Ray was not the killer and that he had evidence that Ray was innocent. In 1963, Bevel was compelled to join the desegregation struggle being waged by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth in Birmingham, Alabama. There are other ways to live, and you could choose how you wanted to live your life. He suggested a march from Selma to . Born 1958 and died 1997. James L. Bevel, a prominent figure in the civil rights movement whose legacy was clouded by an incest conviction has died, a relative said. In 1965 SCLC gave its highest honor, the Rosa Parks Award, to James Bevel and Diane Nash for their work on the Alabama Voting Rights Project. Civil Rights Activist. His bond was revoked and he was taken into custody. All photos and bio are bevel-cut and double matted under glass. In 1961, Nash was arrested for "contributing to the delinquency of minors," because she led young people in the fight against segregation. Bevel spent weeks developing strategy, recruiting and educating students in the philosophy and techniques of nonviolence. Here are 10 other facts if you don't know you should about the civil rights leader. They worked together on civil rights, and had a daughter and son together. James Bevel was born on October 19, 1936 in Itta Bena, Mississippi, USA. After high school, he spent some time serving in the U. S. Navy. Ms. AARALYN MILLS (Abuse Victim): Thank you for having me. He and the others were arrested after they arrived in Jackson, Mississippi and tried to desegregate the waiting rooms in the bus terminal. And when I got the confirmation from other siblings that it happened to them as well it was something I had to do. The large group were bludgeoned and tear-gassed in what became known as "Bloody Sunday". James found out he had a gallbladder infection and needed emergency surgery. Bevel was at Kings side during many of the major campaigns of the, (SCLC) and was at the Lorraine Motel at the time of Kings, Bevel feared that activists who were not committed to. That was our hope, but he wasn't ready to look at himself. Copyright 2008 NPR. They were severely penalized for missing work and were trying to support their families. Bevel suggested recruiting students in the campaign. The 15-year sentence imposed by Circuit Judge Burke McCahill was the most severe allowed. [39] Bevel's attorney appealed the denial of the abatement motion to the Supreme Court of Virginia. Bevel had hoped for probation so he could enter hospice care. Mr. Bevel retired in 1993 after a career in the farm equipment industry that. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. [30] The commission was associated with conspiracy theorist Lyndon LaRouche, and sought to persuade the state legislature to reopen its two-year investigation into the Franklin child prostitution ring allegations. James Bevel died on December 19, 2008 in . [7], Prior to his time with SCLC, Bevel worked in the Nashville Student Movement, which conducted the 1960 Nashville Lunch-Counter Sit-Ins, the 1961 Open Theater Movement, and recruited students to continue the 1961 Freedom Rides after they were attacked.
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