Yet when he died, disgraced after a conviction for incest in 2008 (the incident occurred in 1993, and Bevel said he was innocent), he was almost as unknown as he was in the 1960s. LaRouche, characterized as a perennial candidate, was serving a prison sentence for mail fraud and tax evasion. In 1992, Bevel ran for vice president on a ticket with Lyndon LaRouche. Bevel then called off plans for the children's march. James Luther Bevel (October 19, 1936 - December 19, 2008) was a minister and leader of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement in the United States.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 . Bevel was convicted of unlawful fornication; he was sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined $50,000. . And then things I never understood as parents. His legacy in the civil rights movement was clouded when he was convicted in April by a Loudoun County, Va., judge for having sex more than a decade ago with one of his daughters, Aaralyn Mills, who was a teenager at the time. Bevel suggested recruiting students in the campaign. 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. He was looking at her and talking about her and, you know, being his jolly self, and I actually got really, really sad because I realized that, you know, I won't be able to experience him anymore. He enrolled in the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee. Mr. Bevel was Mr. LaRouches running mate in 1992, a time when Mr. LaRouche was serving time for fraud and tax evasion. There a lot of people who have - who didn't go through what you went through, who would not had been able to do what you did. Memorialize James's life with photos and stories about him and the Bevel family history and genealogy. He fathered 16 children with nine women, Orrin told The Associated Press. Find out about civil rights leader James Bevel: Age, What he did before fame, his family life Fun facts: before fame, family life, popularity rankings, and more Translate He put this barrier between us and the world. Ms. MILLS: Yeah, it was - it was like intervention, but for my father it was a meeting, it was a, you know, you present your case, I'll present my case. 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. And I always thought that was odd and that people would do something that's not going to be forgotten. MARTIN: Aaralyn Mills tells her powerful story of rape and recovery in the pages of the Washington Post Magazine. They buried him on the spot by the temple and his gravestone is still there by the temple (in c. 160). 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. He was a Black Civil rights activist and minister. James Luther Bevel was born in the farming community of Ittabena, Mississippi, on October 19, 1936. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. This was followed by a number of erratic-seeming episodes in his life. Bevel proposed organizing the Alabama Voting Rights Project, and co-wrote the project proposal with his wife Diane Nash. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. whose influence spurred a pivotal event of the civil rights movement, the childrens 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. "[33] When Bevel introduced LaRouche at a convention of the 1996 National African American Leadership Summit, both men were booed off the stage. A loud opponent of American involvement in Vietnam, which he viewed as an extension of white oppression of nonwhites, Mr. Bevel was instrumental in Dr. Kings increasingly vocal opposition to the war. Eventually Bevel and his colleagues won a hard-fought, nonviolent victory; soon after, as chairman of the Nashville student movement, Bevel participated in Freedom Rides to desegregate interstate travel and public accommodations throughout the South. After a day of organizing workshops, the two men drove back to the Lorraine . 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. When expanded it provides a list of search options that will switch the search inputs to match the current . Glosario de Geologia - Free ebook download as PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or read book online for free. Bevel married four times. 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.. Find James Bevel phone, address, facebook, insatgram, twitter and email on OurBiography, the leading online directory. Bevel moved to Chicago in 1965 to begin laying the groundwork for a nonviolent northern civil rights drive. James Bevel was born on October 19, 1936 in Itta Bena, Mississippi, USA. Ms. MILLS: Well first of all, I had that feeling, too, that I didn't want to touch it, that I have moved on with my life. She could not share it. After the resurrection, however, he is one of the leading figures in the church. "I am very proud to be the daughter of a man who contributed so much to the world through his civil rights work. He was 58 years old and the first monarch to unite the crowns of Scotland and England. 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. [40], In 1961, Bevel married activist Diane Nash after he completed his seminary studies. 1997 at 38 years old. The Movement began to stage regular marches to the county courthouse, which had limited hours for blacks to register as voters. Where did James Bevel die? [21], In 1968 Dr. King objected to Bevel and other SCLC organizers' opposition to proceeding with King's planned Poor People's Campaign. And the heat is intense. 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. Orrin, who said she did not testify at Bevel's trial, said she was molested by her father when she was 12. I'm Michel Martin, and this is tell me more from NPR News. The Rev. Aaralyn Mills, good luck to you. In 1969, Bevel left SCLC and created the Making of a Man Clinic in 1970. Bevel said that he had no interest in getting her pregnant. And I think the hardest part is not choosing a side to work toward and sticking to it. So, we can assess it based on the truth or the facts in the matter and not just conspiracy as my father had called. MARTIN: How do you understand this as this kind of culture of acceptance of abuse of children? Thank you so much for speaking with us. All rights reserved. In 1992, he was vice presidential running mate to political extremist Lyndon LaRouche, who at the time was in a federal prison for a tax conviction. James Bevel discusses his family's ethnic origins, James Bevel shares his family's philosophy on ancestry and ethnicity, James Bevel talks about his parents' backgrounds, James Bevel explains his father's influence and enlightenment, James Bevel discusses black land ownership, James Bevel remembers his childhood community of Itta Bena, Mississippi, James Bevel remembers the social climate of his childhood community, James Bevel describes his father's notoriety in Itta Bena, Mississippi, James Bevel talks about childhood activities and his siblings, James Bevel discusses his father's involvement with Mississippi Valley State University, James Bevel explains his move to Cleveland, Ohio, James Bevel talks about attending school in Cleveland, Ohio, James Bevel recalls entering the U.S. Navy and experiences there, James Bevel talks about his reasons for leaving the U.S. Navy, James Bevel talks about voluntarily leaving the U.S. Navy, James Bevel discusses being called into the ministry, James Bevel recalls lessons learned at the American Baptist Theological Seminary, Nashville, Tennessee, James Bevel explains his evangelical belief system, James Bevel reflects on the open theater movement, James Bevel discusses the organization and planning of the Civil Rights Movement in Nashville, Tennessee, James Bevel talks about his strategies for activism, James Bevel discusses strategies for sit-ins in Nashville, Tennessee, James Bevel recalls the outcome of civil rights activism in Nashville, Tennessee, James Bevel comments on the reactions of university faculty to civil rights activism in Nashville, Tennessee, James Bevel talks about the major players and disciplines of the Nashville Civil Rights Movement, James Bevel reflects on the personality and influence of Ella Baker, James Bevel talks about SNCC's early actions, James Bevel explains his and SNCC's positive reaction to President John F. Kennedy, James Bevel explains strategies for voter registration in Nashville and the outcome of the effort, James Bevel remembers his involvement with the Freedom Rides, James Bevel explains how serving jail time helped the cause of the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi, James Bevel discusses plans for ending segregation in Jackson, Mississippi, James Bevel discusses his involvement in civil rights activism in Mississippi, James Bevel explains the reasoning for launching COFO in Mississippi, James Bevel talks about the goals of COFO, James Bevel remembers incidents surrounding the Medgar Evers murder, James Bevel details the Birmingham, Alabama Civil Rights Movement, James Bevel talks about bringing the Civil Rights Movement into the national political arena, James Bevel explains his focus as a nonviolent activist, Occupation(s): James was 72 years old at the time of death. What was the location of death? Bevel and others were grieved and outraged. Accuracy and availability may vary. Ms. MILLS: It is hard to describe because it's part of the whole environment that we lived in, in terms of having meetings to discuss problems. That was very hard for me. [28][29], Bevel moved to Omaha, Nebraska, in November 1990 as the leader of the "Citizens Fact-Finding Commission to Investigate Human Rights Violations of Children in Nebraska", a group organized by the Schiller Institute. You know, he would make that kind of analogy. While in the Seminary, Bevel joined the Nashville chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), then led by the Reverend James Lawson. [39] Bevel's attorney appealed the denial of the abatement motion to the Supreme Court of Virginia. Organizers appealed to the federal court against an injunction by the state against marching in order to complete their planned march to the capital. In his home state, Bevel created the SCLC Mississippi Project for voting rights in 1962. As the Chicago movement neared its conclusion A. J. Muste, David Dellinger, representatives of North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh, and others asked Bevel to take over the directorship of the Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam. Eventually, the Freedom Riders reached their goal of New Orleans, Louisiana, generating nationwide coverage of the violence to maintain Jim Crow and white supremacy in the South.[16]. Bevel led this effort as the head of SCLCs Direct Action Department. He was one of the seventeen children of Illie and Dennis Bevel. Harold Middebrooks at Bailey's Tabernacle Church . 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. Ms. MILLS: I don't, I don't think he's mentally ill. He decides what's right and not right. The Court of Appeals remanded the case to the trial court to determine whether there was good cause not to abate the conviction. King wanted to fill the jails with protesters, but it was becoming more difficult to find adults to march. I wrote her I love you letters, and you know, this was my day letters. James Bevel was one of the key strategists of the civil rights movement. I don't believe so. Kennedy's staff, who already were drafted one, came to an agreement on its contents with SCLC's leadership. Considered Martin Luther King, Jr 's most influential colleague and . Ms. MILLS: Her - the exact statement was that I spelled molest wrong. I would not have been able to do that without my other sisters. (In fact, by 1992, James Bevel was the vice-presidential candidate to LaRouche's presidential bid.) [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. Bevel never submitted the collected petitions and left the state the following summer. He was 72. SNCC Chairman John Lewis and Amelia Boynton were both injured. 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. American comedian and civil rights activist. I wanted to ask why you decided that now was the time to tell it. "Jim Bevel was Martin Luther King's most influential aide," civil rights historian David J. Garrow said. 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:[2][3] the 1963 Birmingham Children's Crusade,[4] the 1965 Selma voting rights movement, and the 1966 Chicago open housing movement. [13] Virginia had no statute of limitations for the offense of incest. I don't want to relive any of that. 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. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. But what options do they have. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. He worked on a cotton plantation for a time as a youth and later in a steel mill. Freedom's Ring: King's "I Have a Dream" Speech, King holds press conference on opening day of Youth Leadership Conference at Shaw University, King addresses Youth Leadership Conference in Raleigh. Who's watching their backs? After time in the military service, he became a minister. Buy newspaper front pages, posters and more. They also revealed that at least four other daughters Bevel had with various women have made similar allegations against him. And I think, all of us were abused in some way or another. Those that suffer in similar or different ways need to know that they don't have to carry the burden of their trauma and pain for the rest of their lives. In 1963, SCLC agreed to assist its co-founder, Fred Shuttlesworth, and others in their work on desegregating retail businesses and jobs in Birmingham, Alabama, where discussion and negotiations with city officials had yielded few results. The demonstrations, early that year, overwhelmed the city, and the news coverage, complete with televised images of black children being arrested or soaked and bowled over by law enforcement officers wielding powerful fire hoses, helped rally much of the American public to the side of the civil rights movement. James Bevel: Well, it had a reputation equal to the Mississippi Birmingham had a reputation equal to the Mississippi Delta in terms of its brutalization of people. MARTIN: Your father's name is one that appears in many, many history books. How do you understand that? The Rev. He had stints in the Navy and graduated in 1961 from Nashville's American Baptist Theological Seminary. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. What helped you to understand that? [13], Actor and rapper Common portrays Bevel in the 2014 film Selma.[42]. Legendary actor James Caan tragically passed away on July 6 at the age of 82. Credited by Martin Luther King with initiating the Children's Crusade during the Birmingham Campaign of 1963, James Bevel emerged as a civil rights leader from the ranks of the Nashville, Tennessee, student movement. And my grandmother was also there, and I didn't want my grandmother to know. And I hid them in her purse or in her shoes and things. 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. 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. And I never understood that. Anyone can read what you share. Here are 10 other facts if you don't know you should about the civil rights leader. 27th March 2019. Shortly after, Vespasian besieged Judea, taking them captive.". He was 72. And as if it was a conspiracy against him. What if that does happen? Things we often feel we have to keep hidden. 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. Bevel was born in 1936 in Itta Bena, Mississippi, the son of Illie and Dennis Bevel. So, it was my way of communicating to her. A young man, he died a few days later. They agreed to continue until they had achieved these goals, and to ask for funding from the SCLC only if the group was involved in organizing a movement. A top lieutenant to Martin Luther King Jr. has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for incest. Answer to: How did James Bevel die? I mean my little sister was 14 at that time, but what if you know - what can you really do? James Luther Bevel (born 1936) was a civil rights activist of the 1960s who aligned himself with Martin Luther King, Jr. James Luther Bevel was born in the farming community of Ittabena, Mississippi, on October 19, 1936. But this was the meeting in which we called other members of the community, Bernard Layfette and Will Sanders and as well as relatives. 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 . [24], In the 1980s, Bevel supported Ronald Reagan as president. On December 19, 2008, at the age of 72, he died of pancreatic cancer in Springfield, Virginia. 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). Four other daughters make allegationsProsecutors estimated that Bevel, who is eligibile for parole, would serve no more than five years if he were to live that long. Bevel helped in the brainstorming for the March on Washington in 1963, and the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965. [9] As the first march reached the end of the Edmund Pettus Bridge and passed out of the city, they were attacked by county police and Alabama State Troopers. Bevel spent weeks developing strategy, recruiting and educating students in the philosophy and techniques of nonviolence. It was later proven that a Ku Klux Klan chapter was responsible. Decades later, he also helped organize the Million Man March. He received an appeal bond on November 4, 2008, and was released from jail three days later, after a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. At that meeting, which had been suggested by James Lawson, Bevel and King agreed to work together on an equal basis, with neither having veto power over the other, on projects under the auspices of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). demonstration[s] for the sake of demonstrating. He entered the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville in 1957; he graduated and was ordained in 1961. 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. 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. Because the executor of Bevel's estate had not sought to prosecute the appeal, the Court affirmed the dismissal of his appeal as moot. Copyright 2008 NPR. King asked Bevel to refrain from recruiting students, and Bevel instead said that he would organize the children to march to Washington D.C. to meet with Kennedy about segregation, and King agreed. . Arguably, if James Bevel had died in 1968 instead of Dr. King then the national holiday which honors the movement would fall on October 19th instead of January 15th, a statement which comes not from bias towards Bevel but from a study of the facts of the Civil Rights Movements timeline, decision-making structure, and its growing importance in . Below you will read the earliest known testimony to the death of James the Just, brother of Jesus our Lord. [5] He suggested that SCLC call for and join a March on Washington in 1963. I think he's more like a spoiled child in which he has been doing and being the way he is for so long that he gets away with it. 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. Mr. Bevel attended New Hope Church of Christ and was president of the Whitaker Cemetery Board. Bevel and Nash helped lead the Freedom Rides in 1961 and married later that year. Far from be-ing "secondary," King's popular essays and incandes-cent oratory made him unique. This rally was attended by tens of thousands of peace activists who followed the growing counterculture movement. MARTIN: I mean you were a very young girl when the abuse started. These quality collectors pieces are designed for visual appeal. [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. Some protesters were jailed, but the movement kept the pressure on. No one wants the government in their home. That really made me feel not just powerless but that, what can you do? It's barbaric, but hey, it's home. In 1961, Nash was arrested for "contributing to the delinquency of minors," because she led young people in the fight against segregation. 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 L. Bevel, an adviser to the Rev. Ms. MILLS: Well, in that it was going to be in the news, the story the side of the - my side should be told. By signing up, you'll get thousands of step-by-step solutions to your homework questions. Doctors estimate he has only six weeks to six months to live. The U.S. Department of Justice had to step in and help end the protest on May 10. [6] Bevel went to the children and asked them to prepare to take to the highways for a march on Washington, with the goal of questioning the President about his plans to end legal segregation in America. In Birmingham when Dr. Martin Luther King was jailed, Bevel organized what became known as the Children's Crusade and faced Police Commissioner Bull Connor's fire hoses and police dogs. MARTIN: I think it's fair to say that you, your other siblings went through a very great deal. I don't understand how parents violate their children in any way, realizing their children will grow up, and they're not going to forget. The Rev. [38], Bevel's attorney requested that the Court of Appeals of Virginia abate the conviction on account of Bevel's death. Prosecutors opposed Bevel's release. That was our hope, but he wasn't ready to look at himself. And actually during the trial he came out of the court room and he had met my daughter. He's been violent, mean and abusive, but he's always been honest.". Springfield, Virginia, USA. One of the reasons you pressed charges and it was decided that you would press charges is it's the statute of limitations in Virginia which is where this acts took place allowed him to be prosecuted. MARTIN: How did you become aware that this was wrong? She said Bevel's recent conviction does not detract from his work in the civil rights movement. He suggested a march from Selma to . [8][9], Bevel soon became SCLC's Director of Direct Action and Director of Nonviolent Education to augment King's positions as SCLC's Chairman and spokesperson. How did James Bevel die? In an opinion issued November 4, 2011, the commonwealth's Supreme Court held that abatement of criminal convictions was not available in Virginia under the circumstances of Bevel's case. Updated: November 11, 2011 . "Both of those feelings reside in the same soul, in the same space of my heart.". Born 1927 and died 2001. Her husband, James Bevel, was a civil rights activist, too. And unfortunately not all of us are able to see the abuse even things that are obvious. [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. This button displays the currently selected search type. [12], In 1960, along with James Lawson's and Myles Horton's students Bernard Lafayette, John Lewis, Diane Nash, C.T. ); and chairman of the Camden, New Jersey, County Economic Development Board. 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. Cypress Hall D, 466 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA 94305-4146 Mr. Bevel retired in 1993 after a career in the farm equipment industry that. Ms. MILLS: Well, I don't understand it. In case of Aaralyn Mills, it was all three. 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.