James Bevel

James Bevel
Bevel in 1987
Born
James Luther Bevel

October 19, 1936
Itta Bena, Mississippi, U.S.
DiedDecember 19, 2008(2008-12-19) (aged 72)
Springfield, Virginia, U.S.
Occupation(s)Minister and civil rights activist, SCLC Director of Direct Action
Known forStrategist of the Birmingham Children's Crusade, Selma voting rights movement, Selma to Montgomery march, and Chicago Open Housing Movement during the Civil Rights Movement
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1961; div. 1968)​
  • Helen Bevel
  • Erica Henry
Children16[1]

James Luther Bevel (October 19, 1936 – December 19, 2008) was an American 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:[2][3] the 1963 Birmingham Children's Crusade,[4] the 1965 Selma voting rights movement, and the 1966 Chicago open housing movement.[5] He suggested that SCLC call for and join a March on Washington in 1963[6] and strategized the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches which contributed to Congressional passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.[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. He helped with initiating and directing the 1961 and 1962 voting rights movement in Mississippi. In 1967, Bevel was chairman of the Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam. He initiated the 1967 March on the United Nations as part of the anti-war movement.[8][9] His last major action was as co-initiator of the 1995 Day of Atonement/Million Man March in Washington, D.C. For his work, Bevel has been called the strategist and architect of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement[10] and, with Dr. King, half of the first-tier team that formulated many of the strategies and actions to gain federal legislation and social changes during the 1960s civil rights era.[8][9]

In 2005, Bevel was accused of incest by one of his daughters and abuse by three others. He was tried in April 2008, convicted of incest, sentenced to 15 years in prison,[11] and fined $50,000. After serving seven months, he was freed awaiting an appeal; he died of pancreatic cancer in December 2008 and was buried in Eutaw, Alabama.[12]

  1. ^ Faithful to my Father's Dream, Enoch Bevel. dissentmagazine.org.
  2. ^ Kryn, Randall L. (1989). "James L. Bevel; The Strategist of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement". In Garrow, David (ed.). We Shall Overcome. Brooklyn, New York: Carlson Publishing Company. p. 325. ISBN 978-0926019027.
  3. ^ Kryn, Randy (October 2005). "Movement Revision Research Summary Regarding James Bevel". middlebury.edu. Middlebury, Vermont: Middlebury College. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2013-01-28.
  4. ^ Thomas Ricks, NPR interview, October 4, 2022
  5. ^ Kryn in Garrow, 1989.
  6. ^ Kryn in Garrow, 1989, p. 533.
  7. ^ Fager, Charles (July 1985). Selma, 1965: The March That Changed the South (2nd ed.). Boston, Massachusetts: Beacon Press. ISBN 0-8070-0405-7.
  8. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Garrow 1989 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ a b Kryn, 2005.
  10. ^ Kryn in Garrow, 1989, title & p. 532.
  11. ^ Barakat, Matthew (10 April 2008). "Civil Rights Leader Convicted of Incest". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 26 November 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  12. ^ Morton, Jason (29 December 2008). "Controversial civil rights leader buried in Eutaw". The Tuscaloosa News. Retrieved 4 May 2023.