Bernard Lafayette facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Bernard Lafayette
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Lafayette in 2020
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| Born | July 29, 1940 Tampa, Florida, U.S.
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| Education | Highlander Folk School |
| Alma mater | American Baptist College Harvard Graduate School of Education |
| Known for | Activism in the Civil Rights Movement |
Bernard Lafayette Jr. (born July 29, 1940) is an American civil rights leader. He is also a Baptist minister. He played a very important part in the Civil Rights Movement. This movement worked for equal rights for all people in the United States.
Lafayette helped organize the Selma Voting Rights Movement. He was also a member of the Nashville Student Movement. Throughout the 1960s, he worked with groups like the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).
Contents
Bernard Lafayette's Early Life
Bernard Lafayette was born and grew up in Tampa, Florida. He was the oldest of eight children. His parents were Bernard Lafayette Sr. and Verdell Lafayette. His family was not wealthy.
Bernard started working odd jobs at age 11 to help his family. He worked as a cashier and cut meat. He also delivered food and collected change at a coffee shop. Bernard later said, "I had to grow up rapidly. I didn't have a childhood."
Bernard remembers experiencing racism when he was young. When he was seven, he and his grandmother, Ma Foster, tried to ride a cable car. Back then, Black people had to pay at the front but enter through the back. The driver took their money and drove off before they could get on. This made Bernard realize he wanted to fight for fair treatment for African Americans.
Becoming an Activist
When Bernard was 20, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee. He enrolled at the American Baptist Theological Seminary. During his first year, he learned about nonviolence. He took classes at the Highlander Folk School.
He also attended many meetings about peaceful protest. He studied the ideas of Mohandas Gandhi. Gandhi taught about nonviolence. Bernard also learned from activist James Lawson. Lawson was a well-known leader in nonviolent action.
Lafayette began to use these nonviolent methods. He saw a lot of unfair treatment in the South. In 1959, he joined friends like Diane Nash, James Bevel, and John Lewis. They were all part of the Nashville Student Movement.
They led peaceful protests called sit-ins. One famous protest was the 1960 Lunch Counter Sit-In. They sat at segregated restaurants and businesses. In 1960, Lafayette helped start the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). This group supported nonviolent action.
The Freedom Rides
In 1961, a group called the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) started the Freedom Rides. This movement aimed to make sure federal laws about integrated buses were followed. Black and white volunteers rode buses together through the segregated South.
Lafayette wanted to join, but his parents were worried. After some Freedom Riders were attacked in Anniston, Alabama, the Nashville Student Movement decided to continue the rides. Many civil rights leaders worried the rides were too dangerous. But the Nashville students were determined to finish.
In May 1961, Lafayette and other riders arrived in Montgomery, Alabama. An angry white mob attacked them at the bus station. Members of the Ku Klux Klan were part of the mob. The Freedom Riders were badly beaten. The attackers used bats, bricks, chains, and other weapons.
During the attack, Lafayette stayed strong. His friends William Barbee and John Lewis were beaten until they passed out. Lafayette, Fred Leonard, and Allen Cason escaped by jumping a wall. They ran to a post office. Lafayette later heard a gunshot. It was Alabama's Director of Public Safety, Floyd Mann, trying to protect the riders.
Lafayette and other Riders were arrested in Jackson, Mississippi. They were jailed at Parchman State Prison Farm in June 1961. Bernard Lafayette was beaten and arrested 27 times during his civil rights work.
Working in Selma
In 1962, Lafayette started working for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Selma, Alabama. He worked with his then-wife, Colia Liddell Lafayette.
When he arrived in February 1963, he started holding meetings. He talked about the challenges faced by African Americans in the South. He encouraged local Black people to share their own stories. He met with leaders from the Dallas County Voters League.
On June 12, 1963, Lafayette was severely beaten by a white attacker. This happened the same night Medgar Evers was murdered in Mississippi. Even though he was badly hurt, Bernard kept working.
In late 1964, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) decided to focus on Selma. They wanted to help African Americans gain voting rights. In early 1965, Lafayette, James Bevel, Martin Luther King Jr., James Orange, Diane Nash, and others organized protests.
These protests, including the march from Selma to Montgomery, put pressure on the government. This support helped President Lyndon Johnson demand the creation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This law helped protect the right to vote for all citizens.
Life After Selma
After Selma, Lafayette worked on the 1966 Chicago Open Housing Movement. He had worked in Chicago before with other leaders. He later became a Baptist minister. He also served as president of the American Baptist Theological Seminary.
In 1973, Lafayette became the first director of the Peace Education Program. This was at Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minnesota. He helped teach about peace throughout the college. He also served as the dean of the graduate school at Alabama State University.
Bernard Lafayette is known as an expert on nonviolent social change. He is one of the world's leading teachers of nonviolent direct action.
He was a Senior Fellow at the University of Rhode Island. There, he helped start the Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies. This center teaches about nonviolence using the ideas of Martin Luther King Jr.. He is also a scholar at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Currently, he is a scholar-in-residence at Auburn University.
Lafayette has received many honors. In 2012, he received a special degree from Mount Holyoke College. In 2014, the University of Rhode Island gave him an honorary doctorate. This was for his lifelong work in nonviolence and civil rights. In 2015, he spoke at St. Michael's College graduation and received another honorary degree. In 2019, he received the Coretta Scott King Legacy Award.
Bernard Lafayette has also written several books. These books share his experiences in the Civil Rights Movement. They also explain his thoughts on nonviolence. Some of his books include The Leaders Manual: A Structured Guide and Introduction to Kingian Nonviolence and In Peace and Freedom: My Journey in Selma. His story is also in the 2006 book Generation on Fire: Voices of Protest from the 1960s.
See also
- List of civil rights leaders
- List of peace activists
Images for kids
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Lafayette in 2020
