Ralph Abernathy

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Ralph Abernathy (1968)

Ralph David Abernathy [ ˈæbɚnæθɪ ] (born March 11, 1926 in Linden , Alabama , † April 17, 1990 in Atlanta , Georgia ) was an American civil rights activist and Baptist cleric . From 1955 he took, soon as a close friend of Martin Luther King, jr. , participated in the civil rights movement for equal rights for African Americans .

Life

Abernathy grew up the son of a wealthy farmer . In 1948 he was ordained as a Baptist preacher. In 1950 he graduated from Alabama State University with a Bachelor of Science in mathematics and then attended Atlanta University , where he did his Master of Arts in sociology a year later . In the same year he was pastor of the First Baptist Church in Montgomery . Here he met Martin Luther King a few years later, who was also pastor of a Baptist church in Montgomery. In 1955/56 both men organized a boycott of the urban bus system for black citizens , which in 1956 led to the desegregation of public transport being abolished. This non-violent boycott marked the beginning of the American civil rights movement , which campaigned against the inequality of treatment of African Americans over the next two decades.

As the civil rights movement gained momentum, King and Abernathy continued their close collaboration and founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957 to organize the non-violent struggle against racial segregation in the southern United States. King took over their presidency as president, while Abernathy acted as treasurer and secretary . In 1961 Abernathy relocated his priesthood to Atlanta , in the same year he was named vice president of the SCLC. He remained at his side as the most important advisor until King's assassination in 1968. From 1968 to 1977 he was President of the SCLC. Since 1971 he has worked in the Christian Peace Conference (CFK) . In 1989 his autobiography And the Walls Came Tumbling Down was published .

Abernathy is the father of the opera singer Juandalynn Abernathy , who lives in Germany, and the actress Donzaleigh Abernathy

Awards

Abernathy received more than 300 awards during his lifetime, including five honorary doctorates. In 1971 he was awarded the German Peace Medal by the GDR Peace Council.

Web links

Commons : Ralph David Abernathy  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Ralph David Abernathy . In: Encyclopædia Britannica .
  2. ↑ homepage Juandalynn Abernathy
  3. ↑ Donzaleigh Abernathy's website ( Memento from July 10, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ^ Peace Medal for Ralph Abernathy , in: Neues Deutschland , September 29, 1971.
personal data
SURNAME Abernathy, Ralph
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Abernathy, Ralph David
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American civil rights activist, Baptist clergyman
DATE OF BIRTH March 11, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH Linden , Alabama
DATE OF DEATH April 17, 1990
Place of death Atlanta , Georgia