The Rev. Dr. Joseph Echols Lowery, who was hailed as the “dean of the Civil Rights Movement” upon his receipt of the NAACP’s Lifetime Achievement Award, made his transition peacefully at home on Friday, March 27, at the age of 98, the Lowery Institute confirmed. He was surrounded by his daughters.
Dr. Lowery had assumed and executed a broad and diverse series of roles over the span of his nine decades: community organizer, pastor, servant, father, husband, freedom fighter, non-profit leader and, always, advocate for justice.
Born in Huntsville, Alabama, on October 6, 1921, he became a civil rights advocate in the early 1950s, when he headed the Alabama Civic Affairs Association, which led the movement to desegregate buses and public accommodations. In 1957, with friend and colleague Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he was a co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). He served as vice president (1957-1967), chairman of the board (1967-1977), and as president and chief executive officer (1977-1998) of SCLC.
Calling on his over 40 years as pastor and in his inimitable style, Dr. Lowery delivered the benediction on the occasion of President Barack Obama’s inauguration as the 44th president of the United States in 2009. Later that year, President Obama awarded him the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in recognition of his lifelong commitment to the nonviolent struggle for the causes of justice, human rights, economic equality, voting rights, peace and human dignity.
“Michelle and I are grateful, of course, for the personal and spiritual support he offered us from the early days of our campaign when few thought victory was possible, and for the friendship and counsel he provided ever since,” Obama said in a statement. “We’re even more grateful for what he did for this country.”
“He was a dynamic leader who set the standard for measuring other leaders in the movement,” retired Congressman William L. Clay told The American. “Wherever there was a movement to right this country’s wrongs, he was there.”
The Rev. Darryl Gray, secretary of the Missouri Democratic Party and former Kansas state senator best known in St. Louis for his leadership of Stockley verdict protests, first met Dr. Lowery in Atlanta in 1985 and worked under his leadership at SCLC as national communications director.
“He was very no-nonsense with us, but in a fatherly way,” Gray told The American. “He was task-driven and believed that if SCLC was to maintain its relevance that it would be through grassroots efforts.”
As a pastor, Rev. Gray cherished the opportunity to learn at the master’s feet.
“Dr. Lowery was a prolific, profound, and prophetic preacher,” Gray said. “He was an amazing storyteller in the pulpit. He could keep you interested in the message through humor, but he made sure that each message was social justice- and social gospel-sound.”
Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, recalled something Dr. Lowery said in 1997 upon his retirement as president of SLCL: “In 1957, we saw a fire burning in the souls of Black America. Water hoses couldn’t wash it out, billy clubs couldn’t beat it out and jails couldn’t lock it out.”
Rev. Gray recalled Dr. Lowery’s early support of Obama’s candidacy for president in 2008 that Obama remembered with gratitude.
“I am glad that he was able to see the fruits of the civil rights labor in the election of President Barak Obama,” the Rev. Gray said. “I know how much that meant to him, particularly because he broke from the ranks of other national civil rights and political leaders (who supported Hillary Clinton) and took a chance, as he always did on the youngster, the unknown, the one who he saw something inside, the one whose time had come.”
In a statement, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) praised how in 2013, at the age of 91, Dr. Lowery celebrated the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, leading the crowd to chant, “Fired Up, Ready to Go!”
“For Rev. Lowery, older age was no reason to relent in his efforts,” the CBC stated.
To continue Dr. Lowery’s legacy and promote non-violent advocacy among future generations, The Joseph E. Lowery Institute for Justice & Human Rights was founded in 2002 at Clark Atlanta University. The institute was later renamed to include and honor Dr. Evelyn Lowery, his beloved partner in marriage and the movement for 67 years.
“I grieve for his passing, because grief is the price that you pay to love,” Rev. Gray said. “I grieve for his family, not just the immediate family, but all of us who served with him in the movement.”
“Joseph Lowery changed the face of America,” Obama stated. “He carried the baton longer and surer than almost anybody. It falls to the rest of us now to pick it up and never stop moving forward until we finish what he started – that journey to justice.”
