Civil Rights Leader Dr. Bernard Lafayette Jr. Dies At 85

Dr. Bernard Lafayette Jr., a civil rights leader and voting rights advocate, has died at 85.

According to the New York Times, Lafayette died of a heart attack on Thursday. Lafayette was one of the key organizers during the Civil Rights Movement throughout the ‘60s. He was one of the founding members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which organized many protests for desegregation and voting rights throughout the South. 

In 1961, a group of Freedom Riders was attacked by a mob of white people in Anniston and Birmingham, Alabama. The Freedom Riders were protesting the lack of enforcement of a Supreme Court ruling that made segregating interstate travel illegal. After hearing that the riders canceled the remainder of their trip due to the attack, Lafayette and several other members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee decided to head down to Alabama and continue the trip themselves. 

Upon arriving in Alabama, Lafayette and the Freedom Riders were immediately attacked by another white mob. “We didn’t run; we didn’t fight back,” Dr. Lafayette wrote in his memoir, In Peace and Freedom: My Journey in Selma.

“We got back up when slammed to the ground, and looked our attackers directly in the eyes, fighting violence with nonviolence.”

While initially based in Tennessee, Lafayette was named director of the Alabama Voter Registration Campaign in 1963. His time in Alabama was consequential, as he would be instrumental in setting the groundwork for the Voting Rights Act. Lafayette worked with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and civil rights activist-turned-congressman John Lewis to organize the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery. 

As the Selma march was coming to fruition, Lafayette was in Chicago working with the nonprofit American Friends Service Committee to organize working-class Black residents. He had planned to join the Selma march on the second day, but those plans were derailed due to the brutality of Bloody Sunday. The country watched in horror as the marchers were beaten, sprayed with fire hoses, and attacked by police dogs. 

“I felt helpless at a distance,” Lafayette wrote. “I was stricken with grief, concerned that so many people in my beloved community were hurt, possibly killed.” Lafayette quickly gathered a group in Chicago to head south and continue the march. The second attempt was held two weeks later and was successful, as it led to President Lyndon Johnson introducing the Voting Rights Act to Congress.

Several civil rights organizations and politicians have released statements giving their condolences and celebrating the work Bernard Lafayette did throughout his lifetime.

“A close colleague of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and a key leader in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Dr. Lafayette played a vital role in the Freedom Rides and the Selma Voting Rights Movement. Throughout his life, he helped teach and carry forward the discipline of nonviolence to new generations of leaders around the world,” a statement from the King Center read. 

Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) released a statement on Thursday celebrating Lafayette. “I am deeply saddened by the passing of Bernard Lafayette, a giant of the Civil Rights Movement and lifelong champion of justice, equality, and nonviolence,” Sewell wrote. “As a Freedom Rider, co-founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and trusted lieutenant of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Bernard Lafayette’s courage and steadfast commitment to nonviolent social change helped move America closer to its founding promise of liberty and justice for all.

Legal Defense Fund President and Director-Counsel Janai Nelson released a statement also celebrating Lafayette’s life and legacy. “The world lost a leader. We mourn Dr. Bernard Lafayette, but we will never forget his bravery and awe-inspiring legacy,” Nelson wrote. 

“Dr. Lafayette’s commitment to civil rights, Black people, and the foundational tenets of nonviolence reverberate across the entire history of America into the present day. Dr. Lafayette embodied the very core sentiment of a trailblazer, wielding grassroots strategy and durable coalition-building for the betterment of Black people in unprecedented ways and with indomitable spirit.” 

Lafayette’s death comes at a time when voting rights are once again under attack in both the courts and Congress. The very act that Lafayette marched for is at risk of being gutted by the Supreme Court, and the SAVE America Act would disenfranchise millions of Americans. The best way to honor his memory is to exercise the rights that he bled for and continue organizing to ensure that the powers that be don’t infringe upon them.