A Man of Faith and Determination: Reverend Dr. Joseph Lowery
We as the organization HistoryMakers, felt it more than important to highlight the story of the legendary and endearing Reverend Dr. Joseph Lowery. Reverend Dr. Joseph Lowery was born on October 6, 1921 and sustained a highly racially segregated and discriminatory era during a large chunk of his life.The man known for working closely alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and known as “the dean of the Civil Rights movement” left a lasting mark on the fight for the betterment of the African American community and we are proud to have his story and accomplishments housed in the HistoryMakers Digital Archive.
Image source: Independent UK
Dr. Lowery speaks as SCLC president at assembly.
His Faith and his character propelled him into something bigger than the reward of heaven, where he reminisces that “my interest and attraction to the gospel was related to civic matters and social conditions.” His ideology of his faith incorporated community involvement and a better place for the fellow man, not just a spiritual reward aside from better treatment on Earth, where he says “ not only make heaven your home but making your home here heavenly.” He valued the view of the gospel holistically “that the gospel speaks to the whole person, to his, not only his soul, but his mind and his body and his well being in the community.”
Image source: Independent UK
Dr. Lowery stands aside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as he speaks in 1968.
This is how Reverend Lowery viewed the purpose of his faith. Joseph Lowery is not stranger to making history.Not only co-founding SCLC with Dr. King, but also being a leading eyewitness and participant in the Selma to Montgomery civil rights march in 1965. He is filled with historical wisdom based on his presence in many of Black history’s defining moments. These moments in African American history, especially concerning the Civil Rights Movement, were nowhere near safe or void of risk, in the obvious face of white supremacy, but leaders like Lowery alongside King and other civil rights leader didn’t back down because of this realization. As Lowery stated while commenting on the risk that came with the Selma to Montgomery march “the more drastic the discrimination,, the more obvious the need for change.” These are not the words of someone who wasn’t passionate about making a mark in history. Passion was not at all the only characteristic Lowery possessed that made him a HistoryMaker. His adamancy led him to go up against white leaders like Governor Wallace in the face of disrespect or hesitancy, where when told that to receive the voting rights petition from Lowery and his colleagues that he would only meet with a select few, is told by Lowery “well, my opinion is, if you don’t meet with all of us, you won’t meet with any of us,”. When met with discouragement he held back no words and spoke with connection and wisdom. When met with the disinterest of Governor Wallace when finally getting to meet with him of the matters of African American voting rights and disrespected right before his eyes, his words to Wallace rang powerful, “God’s gonna hold you accountable for what you’re doing is resisting what is right” and “you’re sowing seeds of violence. You’re seeds of, nullification.” These words amongst others set the tone for the low toleration of these civil rights leaders as far as the further delay in equal rights. This leader, though he had a close relationship with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, was resolute in thinking of the Movement (Civil Rights Movement) as something that should be continued, even after the tragic assassination of Dr. King, where he’s quoted saying “ we have a proliferation of leadership so that if any one person is killed now, it does not, should not, would not have that same affect” as he refers to the decrease of hope and confidence in the shared purpose that many organizations had after the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Though he was a man of determination, this did not take from his endearment and placing of importance on love itself. His words are “ I don’t think you can be loving without being just.” In action alongside other civil rights leaders or just as an individual, Joseph Lowery stood up in the face of obvious violence time after time, where in the archives he “reminisced” about the time where he disarmed an angry bus rider while desegregating the buses in Mobile, Alabama. With the nonviolent training he received, they were always told to “take the initiative”. Which is what many who opposed the nonviolent movement would not expect of this matter. His efforts for civil rights didn’t stop in the designated Civil Rights Era or after the death of Dr. King. In 1979, where he as president of SCLC marched on the behalf of a mentally challenged young man known as Tommy Lee Hines, was convicted of sexually assaulting two white women, he was intimidated by the Ku Klux Klan to discourage him from marching. It was said over the radio in that small town of Decatur, Alabama that he would be shot and killed, but he marched anyway. In the face of danger once again, Reverend Lowery remembers “bullets singing over (his) head” but marches on. Though he was a man of his community, while talking about what he saw as his legacy he emphasized his occupation as a preacher and said that wanted to be remembered “ as a preacher who tried his best to apply the moral imperatives and to help people apply the moral imperatives of the Faith to the practical problems of our time.” This goes to show that his faith was not void from his civil rights efforts, rather it propelled him to work harder for the well-meaning of his people because of his faith and his vision for humanity, a HistoryMaker as its best.
Sources: (all clips from the official HistoryMakers Digital archive, named below)
Joseph Lowery describes his childhood memories
Joseph Lowery describes Civil Rights efforts in Mobile, Alabama
Joseph Lowery remembers the Selma to Montgomery civil rights March, 1965
Joseph Lowery reflects on the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Joseph Lowery recalls a clash with the Ku Klux Klan at a 1979 protest March, Decatur
Joseph Lowery discusses the role of social justice in organized religion
Joseph Lowery considers his legacy