James Lawson (activist) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
James Lawson
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Lawson in 2005
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| Born |
James Morris Lawson Jr.
September 22, 1928 Uniontown, Pennsylvania, U.S.
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| Died | June 9, 2024 (aged 95) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
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| Occupation | Activist, professor, minister |
| Known for | Nashville sit-ins |
James Morris Lawson Jr. (born September 22, 1928 – died June 9, 2024) was an American activist and university professor. He was a very important leader and teacher of nonviolence during the Civil Rights Movement. This movement worked to gain equal rights for all people, especially African Americans.
In the 1960s, James Lawson helped guide young people in the Nashville Student Movement and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. He taught them how to protest peacefully. Because of his work for civil rights, he was asked to leave Vanderbilt University in 1960. Later, he served as a pastor in Los Angeles for 25 years.
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James Lawson's Early Life and Learning
James Lawson was born on September 22, 1928, in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. He was the sixth of nine children in his family. He grew up in Massillon, Ohio. Both his father and grandfather were ministers. James Lawson became a minister himself in 1947, while he was still in high school.
College and Peaceful Beliefs
While studying at Baldwin Wallace College, James Lawson refused to join the U.S. military. He believed in peace and did not want to fight. Because of this, he was sent to prison for 13 months.
After prison, he returned to college and finished his degree. He joined groups like the Fellowship of Reconciliation and the Congress of Racial Equality. These groups believed in using peaceful ways to fight against racism.
Learning Nonviolence from Gandhi
James Lawson traveled to Nagpur, India, as a missionary. There, he studied satyagraha. This is a special way of peaceful resistance developed by Mohandas Gandhi and his followers. It means standing up for what is right without using violence.
He came back to the United States in 1956. One of his professors introduced him to Martin Luther King Jr.. King also believed in Gandhi's ideas of peaceful resistance. In 1957, King asked Lawson to move to the South. King said, "Come now. We don't have anyone like you down there." So, Lawson moved to Nashville. He started teaching people how to protest peacefully.
Lawson married Dorothy Wood and they had three sons. He studied at Vanderbilt University from 1958 to 1960. He was asked to leave Vanderbilt in March 1960 because of his civil rights work. But he still earned his degree from Boston University that same year.
Leading the Civil Rights Movement
James Lawson moved to Nashville, Tennessee. He started leading workshops to teach nonviolent protest techniques. These workshops were for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He met and guided many young students from local universities.
Nashville Sit-ins and Student Leaders
In Nashville, Lawson trained many future leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. These included Diane Nash, James Bevel, John Lewis, and others. In 1959 and 1960, these students used Lawson's training to start the Nashville sit-ins. They sat at lunch counters in downtown stores that only served white people. In February 1960, Lawson and others were arrested for their actions. Their protests helped end segregation at some lunch counters.
Vanderbilt University's Apology
James Lawson was expelled from Vanderbilt University because he took part in these protests. A newspaper publisher and a university trustee pushed for his expulsion. Years later, in 2006, Vanderbilt University apologized for how they treated Lawson. He even returned to teach there as a professor from 2006 to 2009.
Students Make a Difference
Lawson's students played a big role in many important events. These included the Freedom Rides, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and the Selma to Montgomery marches. They helped fight for voting rights and against the Vietnam War. In 1962, Lawson helped Martin Luther King Jr. and James Bevel work together.
The Freedom Rides
In 1961, Lawson helped plan the Freedom Riders' strategy. Freedom Riders were people who rode buses across states to challenge segregation. Lawson encouraged students to continue the rides from Alabama. He joined them. They were arrested in Jackson, Mississippi, for using a "whites only" waiting room.
Lawson and the other Freedom Riders refused to pay bail. They stayed in jail. They met with Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. In September 1961, President John F. Kennedy ordered that passengers could sit anywhere on buses. This was a big win for the movement.
Memphis Sanitation Strike
In 1962, Lawson became a pastor in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1968, black sanitation workers in Memphis went on strike. They wanted better pay and the right to form a union. Two of their co-workers had died in an accident. Reverend Lawson led their strike committee. He invited Dr. King to speak in Memphis. King gave his famous "Mountaintop" speech there. Sadly, King was killed in Memphis in April 1968.
Later Years and Continued Activism
James Lawson moved to Los Angeles in 1974. He was a pastor at Holman United Methodist Church. He retired in 1999 but kept working for civil rights. In Los Angeles, he supported workers' rights, immigrants' rights, and LGBTQ+ rights. He also hosted a radio show called Lawson Live. On his show, he talked about human and social rights. He continued to teach people about nonviolence.
Honors and Recognition
In 2004, James Lawson received the Community of Christ International Peace Award. In 2021, UCLA renamed its Labor Center building after him. This was to honor his long work for workers' rights.
On April 24, 2019, the city of Portland, Oregon, declared it "Reverend James Lawson Jr. Day." A school in Nashville, Tennessee, called James Lawson High School, opened in 2023. In 2024, a street near his church in Los Angeles was renamed in his honor.
Death
James Lawson passed away in a hospital in Los Angeles on June 9, 2024. He was 95 years old. His death was the night before the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964's filibuster being broken.
See also
In Spanish: James Lawson para niños
