[13] Six weeks later he died of cancer, at the age of 72, in Springfield, Virginia. He served in the U.S. He was 85. They agreed to continue until they had achieved these goals, and to ask for funding from the SCLC only if the group was involved in organizing a movement. Harold Middebrooks at Bailey's Tabernacle Church . They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. And I was always buffering between my father, I never let her be alone with him. She would be arrested many times including spending 30 days in jail in South . MARTIN: I mean you were a very young girl when the abuse started. At that meeting, which had been suggested by James Lawson, Bevel and King agreed to work together on an equal basis, with neither having veto power over the other, on projects under the auspices of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Bevel was a top lieutenant to Martin Luther King Jr. There are other ways to live, and you could choose how you wanted to live your life. That didn't happen. His pressure paid off, and at the May 1964 executive staff meeting King recommended that SCLC increase its presence in Alabama. This kind of pseudo-philosophical - I'm not even sure - how do would you describe it? It doesn't necessarily make sense. The victims hoped for an apology and some reconciliation, but Bevel mocked the notion of an apology. Wife Susan Jameson & Adopted Son Details. They, Nash, and others stayed in Mississippi to work on grassroots organizing. And he usually - he played the role of judge and jury in these meetings. And we try to stay on one side of what we think is right and good. King asked Bevel to refrain from recruiting students, and Bevel instead said that he would organize the children to march to Washington D.C. to meet with Kennedy about segregation, and King agreed. Where did James Bevel die? Bevel testified during Wednesday's hearing that he was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer that has spread to his liver. [9] As the first march reached the end of the Edmund Pettus Bridge and passed out of the city, they were attacked by county police and Alabama State Troopers. In 1962 Bevel left SNCC to become Mississippi field secretary for SCLC. In his home state, Bevel created the SCLC Mississippi Project for voting rights in 1962. In fact, while she was pregnant in 1962, Nash had to contend with the possibility of serving out a two-year prison sentence for giving civil rights training to local youth. He was buried in Eutaw, Alabama. In 1963, as the Alabama project director for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the organization led by Dr. King, Mr. Bevel persuaded Dr. King to allow children to participate in antisegregation demonstrations, in which they would almost surely face arrest. [38], Bevel's attorney requested that the Court of Appeals of Virginia abate the conviction on account of Bevel's death. This civil rights activist, minister, lyricist, and human rights advocate gained a national reputation for both his . After high school, he spent some time serving in the U. S. Navy. And it's something I had the support of so many people to do, up until 2004. So, we can assess it based on the truth or the facts in the matter and not just conspiracy as my father had called. I had no idea that it happened to anyone but me including my other sisters. "Both of those feelings reside in the same soul, in the same space of my heart.". How old was James Bevel when he died? In the melee, Jackson was shot in the stomach while defending his mother from an attack. After bailing out, he began recruiting future Riders in Jackson, and set up a CORE office there. He was 58 years old and the first monarch to unite the crowns of Scotland and England. And you can listen to it for, you know, over and over again and it won't make sense. You had moved on with your life, but there was another young girl, another child he had had through a subsequent marriage. MARTIN: You confronted your father at one point. Ms. MILLS: Perhaps. James Bevel Civil Disobedience 746 Words | 3 Pages. Ms. MILLS: I mean we have to look at a lot of aspects of life, in those parallels. Actions, most emphatically, did not distinguish King from his equally courageous colleagues, whose words, like his, were congruent with their lives. MARTIN: I think it's fair to say that you, your other siblings went through a very great deal. "My hope was for him to apologize in a Christian way, to repent. In September 1963, a bombing at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham killed four young girls attending Sunday School and damaged the church. They agreed to work until they had ended segregation, obtained voting rights, and ensured that all American children had a quality education. 'You dont like to work on anything that isnt your own idea,' King said, 'Bevel, I think you owe me one.'"[22]. He was recently released on bond while appealing a 15-year prison sentence. Civil rights activist Reverend James Luther Bevel was born in Itta Bena, Mississippi, on October 19, 1936. We all sought to press charges in different environments and Virginia was the only one that was able to. You can also ask. The Institute cannot give permission to use or reproduce any of the writings, statements, or images of Martin Luther King, Jr. In the end, Nash served just 10 days in jail, sparing her from the . In March 1965 protesters made a symbolic march, inspired by a fiery speech by Bevel at Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church, where much organizing was done. This movement ended within a Summit Conference that included Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley. In 1961, Nash was arrested for "contributing to the delinquency of minors," because she led young people in the fight against segregation. "[33] When Bevel introduced LaRouche at a convention of the 1996 National African American Leadership Summit, both men were booed off the stage. In 1992, he was vice presidential running mate to political extremist Lyndon LaRouche, who at the time was in a federal prison for a tax conviction. James Luther Bevel was born in the farming community of Ittabena, Mississippi, on October 19, 1936. James D Bevel's bio. We'll talk about that in just a few minutes. When the winds from the East. Tina Howard Bevel Expand search. [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. During his trial, testimony indicated that Bevel considered it parents' duty to "sexually orient" their children. But it's this idea that he was teaching all his daughters to look at the evils in the world and within men whatever - whoever the man was, whether it's your father or the guy next door or your husband. She was kind enough to join us here on our Washington studio. He studied at segregated schools in Mississippi and in Ohio. And yes, she dismissed it in that regard. Copyright 2008 NPR. When King was jailed, Bevel organized black children and marched against Commissioner Bull Connor's fire hoses and police dogs. As the Chicago movement neared its conclusion A. J. Muste, David Dellinger, representatives of North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh, and others asked Bevel to take over the directorship of the Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam. Yet when he died, disgraced after a conviction for incest in 2008 (the incident occurred in 1993, and Bevel said he was innocent), he was almost as unknown as he was in the 1960s. James I died on this day in 1625. Memorialize James's life with photos and stories about him and the Bevel family history and genealogy. James Bevel was born on October 19, 1936 in Itta Bena, Mississippi, USA. But what options do they have. Bevel selected the student teams for the buses. Movies. [17] Activists encountered severe violence at that time and retreated to regroup. Diane Nash is an acclaimed American civil rights activist. All photos and bio are bevel-cut and double matted under glass. After years of failed attempts to draw the concern of family members, Mills pursued charges against her father, and in April, Bevel was convicted of incest. He went on to plan some of the movement's major . Bevel passed away on December 19, 2008 at age 72. Richard Boone and the Rev. He had stints in the Navy and graduated in 1961 from Nashville's American Baptist Theological Seminary. To fight those feelings, she decided to track down her attacker. James was 72 years old at the time of death. Bevel was forced from his position in the SCLC after exhibiting erratic behaviour. Nash married civil rights activist James Bevel in 1961 and moved to Jackson, Mississippi where she began organizing voter registration and school desegregation campaigns for the SCLC. So, I grew up with a fear of society and of people, and a great mistrust for the system and a great trust in my father. They invited King and other SCLC leaders to Selma to develop larger protests and actions, and work alongside Bevel's and Nash's Alabama Project. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. [36], On April 10, 2008, after a three-hour deliberation, the jury convicted Bevel of incest. It contains an photo offset with an additional photo, coupled with a bio. Many of them died martyrs' deaths, just as King did. The Rev. He unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 1984, served as Lyndon LaRouches running mate in the 1992 U.S. presidential election, and helped organize the Million Man March in 1995. James Bevel was a leader of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. Bevel then called off plans for the children's march. Besides being a leader in the Children's Crusade in which police turned fire hoses and dogs on child protesters, Bevel was also an organizer at other civil rights movement events, including the 1965 march at Selma, Ala. On May 2, 1963, children marched from the 16th Street Baptist Church, and 600 were arrested on that first day of demonstrations. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). Their meetings occurred at Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church, and it was from there that Bevel directed the students, 50 at a time, to peacefully walk to Birmingham's City Hall to talk to Mayor Art Hanes about segregation in the city. MARTIN: How did you become aware that this was wrong? ); and chairman of the Camden, New Jersey, County Economic Development Board. Three months after the March on Washington, Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson ascended to the Oval Office. James Bevel and James Orange spent April 4, 1968 at Clayburn Temple Church organizing young people. Did you always know that it was wrong? Do you think that's what it was? SNCC had been conducting a Voting Rights Project (headed by Prathia Hall and Worth Long) since the early 1960s, meeting with violence in Alabama. She shares . [26][27] A year earlier, Bevel had denounced the deprogramming of a Moon follower and called for the protection of religious rights. Related Videos Bloody Sunday(TV-14; 4:10) Civil Rights Foot Soldiers(TV-14; 4:10) March from Selma to Montgomery(TV-14; 4:13) There is no indication that he followed Jesus at all during Jesus' earthly lifetime. That's not to excuse the extremes in which people go, but it's the understanding. She is telling us her story of rape and recovery. Bevel and Nash moved to Alabama in the spring of 1963 and played leading roles, along with Dorothy Cotton, Andrew Young, Bernard Lee, Fred Shuttlesworth, and the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights, in the campaign to desegregate Birmingham. And I would always tell her the things that he did to me and what he would say if he got a chance to do it to her. MARTIN: What made you realized that it was wrong? Historian Taylor Branch quotes King in At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 19651968 (2006) as saying that "Andrew Young had given in to doubt, Bevel to brains, and Jackson to ambition", and said that the movement had made them and now they were using the movement to promote themselves. He attended workshops at the . Ms. MILLS: The hardest part was learning of everyone's story. Ms. MILLS: There are eight girls. From the Helen L. Bevel Archives, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_Bevel&oldid=1140934352, Statements by Rev. James found out he had a gallbladder infection and needed emergency surgery. Bevel said that he had no interest in getting her pregnant. BEVEL, amongst cabinet-makers and joiners, is an in strument used to take any angle with, or by which to mark a line which is not square. "Saying 'I'm sorry' is a game we play. James Luther Bevel, one of 17 children, was born on Oct 19, 1936, in Itta Bena, in central Mississippi, and divided his childhood between there and Cleveland, where he worked in the steel mills as a teenager. In 1993, two 10-year-old boys tortured and murdered the toddler after leading him away from a . He helped plan the 1963 March on Washington and the Selma-to-Montgomery marches in 1965. Her husband, James Bevel, was a civil rights activist, too. [15] Diane Nash, the Nashville Student Movement's chairman, urged the group to continue the Freedom Rides, and called for college volunteers from Fisk and other universities across the South. The news coverage, which featured children being water-hosed by police and more than 600 youth being arrested, prompted a groundswell of support for the civil rights movement. While in the Seminary, Bevel joined the Nashville chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), then led by the Reverend . And unfortunately not all of us are able to see the abuse even things that are obvious. Mr. Bevel was Mr. LaRouches running mate in 1992, a time when Mr. LaRouche was serving time for fraud and tax evasion. What helped you to understand that? Nonetheless, Dr. King relied on his counsel. [13] In 1986, Bevel, Chicago alderman Danny K. Davis, singer-songwriter Kristin Lems, and others participated in a project of creating a summit in Chicago for Gorbachev and Reagan to bring peace and resolution to the ongoing Cold War. THE DIGITAL REPOSITORY FOR THE BLACK EXPERIENCE. He's been violent, mean and abusive, but he's always been honest.". This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. In 1992, Bevel ran for vice president on a ticket with Lyndon LaRouche. These quality collectors pieces are designed for visual appeal. James Bevel (1936-2008) James Bevel was one of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s most trusted advisors during the American Civil Rights campaigns of the mid-20th century. (In fact, by 1992, James Bevel was the vice-presidential candidate to LaRouche's presidential bid.) [21], In 1968 Dr. King objected to Bevel and other SCLC organizers' opposition to proceeding with King's planned Poor People's Campaign. Brother of Jesus Christ. And I'd never see my brothers and sisters again. This piece comes framed in a beautifully sculpted black lacquered frame. In the 1960s, James Bevel was appointed the leader of the civil rights group known as Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Do you have any idea where you were able to find that within yourself to do this? And my sisters and my brothers also, you know, because my brothers were also stood behind us 100 percent and said, you know we have to do something. Bevel and others were grieved and outraged. MARTIN: One thing I want to point out is that one of the reasons that you decided to move forward with pressing charges is that there was a young woman in the house or a young girl in the house, with your father at the time your parents marriage had ended. Bevel had hoped for probation so he could enter hospice care. Credited by Martin Luther King with initiating the Childrens Crusade during the, of 1963, James Bevel emerged as a civil rights leader from the ranks of the Nashville, Tennessee, student movement. James Luther Bevel, (born Oct. 19, 1936, Itta Bena, Miss., U.S.died Dec. 19, 2008, Springfield, Va.), American minister and political activist who played a pivotal role in the civil rights movement in the early 1960s. When expanded it provides a list of search options that will switch the search inputs to match the current . Arguably, if James Bevel had died in 1968 instead of Dr. King then the national holiday which honors the movement would fall on October 19th instead of January 15th, a statement which comes not from bias towards Bevel but from a study of the facts of the Civil Rights Movements timeline, decision-making structure, and its growing importance in . Although Bevel initially intended to pursue a recording career, he felt called to Christian ministry. Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305. And I remember in school they talked about good touches and bad touches, but the difference was, I didn't trust the people in school. Because the executor of Bevel's estate had not sought to prosecute the appeal, the Court affirmed the dismissal of his appeal as moot. She later, she asked me to recount a tale - some other woman who in new environment, what happened. On August 28, 1963, SCLC participated in what became known as the March on Washington, an event organized by labor leader A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin, who had planned an earlier 1941 March. James E Bevel's bio. The duo wanted to be sure that young people knew how they could be most effective during protests because they had been blamed for strike-related violence previously. Here are 10 other facts if you don't know you should about the civil rights leader. You can also ask your. Bevel and others were grieved and outraged. Bevel was convicted of unlawful fornication; he was sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined $50,000. And I think, all of us were abused in some way or another. The 911 call was later reported to be made by Daniel. Housing in the area was segregated in a de facto way, enforced by covenants and real estate practices. Bevel also was active in the anti-war movement and greatly influenced King, who Bevel encouraged to confront the Vietnam War more directly. The U.S. Department of Justice had to step in and help end the protest on May 10. Bevel and Nash helped lead the Freedom Rides in 1961 and married later that year. And then also for us to go together, because we didn't grow up together. And we really wanted our father based on who he is and his own understanding to take that step to look at himself, to begin to if not challenge other men first by challenging himself. James Drury -- the star of the Western series, "The Virginian" -- has died. James L. Bevel dies at 72; civil rights activist and top lieutenant to King", "Bevel v. Commonwealth (Va.Ct.App., 14 Sept. 2010)", "Bevel v. Commonwealth (Va.S.Ct., 4 Nov. 2011)", "Years After Change, Activist Lives Her Conviction", "Common Is James Bevel, Andre Holland Is Andrew Young In Ava DuVernay's Mlk Tale 'Selma', (see request for download at bottom of page). [13] SCLC's remaining Board of Directors removed Bevel from his leadership positions in 1969. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Practices such as requiring payment of poll taxes and literacy tests administered in a discriminatory way by white officials maintained the exclusion of blacks from the political system in the 1960s. Please contact Intellectual Properties Management (IPM), the exclusive licensor of the Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Inc. atlicensing@i-p-m.comor 404 526-8968. I wrote her I love you letters, and you know, this was my day letters. Please c, ontact Intellectual Properties Management (IPM), the exclusive licensor of the Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Inc. at. And we'll decide what to do as a family. It's barbaric, but hey, it's home. These quality collectors pieces are designed for visual appeal. All rights reserved. He was educated at segregated local schools in both Mississippi and Cleveland. This beautifully matted collector's photo presentation is a collage. After serving seven months he was freed awaiting an appeal; he died of pancreatic cancer in December 2008. In the 1960s, Bevel was a leader in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, two of the stalwart organizations that led efforts to desegregate the South. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. LaRouche, characterized as a perennial candidate, was serving a prison sentence for mail fraud and tax evasion. Eventually, the Freedom Riders reached their goal of New Orleans, Louisiana, generating nationwide coverage of the violence to maintain Jim Crow and white supremacy in the South.[16]. Thank you so much for speaking with us. My childhood was isolated in terms of - I wasn't isolated in terms of I couldn't interact with people outside, or I didn't go to school but in terms of my father's teachings. Below you will read the earliest known testimony to the death of James the Just, brother of Jesus our Lord. "I am very proud to be the daughter of a man who contributed so much to the world through his civil rights work. Menu. She was not able to deal with it. After the news media highlighted police commissioner Eugene "Bull" Connor's violent treatment of the children, public opinion began to shift in favor of the civil rights movement. In March 1965, Mr. Bevel, a fiery orator, spoke at Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma, Ala., the starting point of a symbolic march to the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where demonstrators had been beaten two days earlier a day remembered as Bloody Sunday in a first attempt to march to Montgomery to protest discriminatory voting practices. Answer to: How did James Bevel die? After the success of this action, and with the aid of SCLC's Ella Baker, activist students from Nashville and across the South developed the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). This button displays the currently selected search type. He was tried in April 2008, convicted of incest, sentenced to 15 years in prison,[11] and fined $50,000. So, it was my way of communicating to her. During that 90-minute call, Bevel's daughter asked him why he had sex with her the one time in 1993, and she asked him why he wanted her to use a vaginal douche afterward. And my grandmother was also there, and I didn't want my grandmother to know. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. [19] He worked to create tenant unions and build grassroots action to "end" slums. And she was telling things that I experienced and that connected to me. But first, we go behind Closed Doors, that's our weekly segment when we talk about painful issues. MARTIN: Your father's name is one that appears in many, many history books. [13] Virginia had no statute of limitations for the offense of incest. "He confronted Bevel, who had been a mentor to Jackson and Young, as 'a genius who flummoxed his own heart'. Even before the final march occurred, President Lyndon Johnson had gone on national television to address a joint session of Congress, appealing for passage of his administration-backed comprehensive Voting Rights Act. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. The assault occurred in the early 1990s in Loudoun County, when Bevel was working closely with the Virginia-based organization led by political extremist Lyndon LaRouche. MARTIN: Your story was very painful to read. One of the reasons you pressed charges and it was decided that you would press charges is it's the statute of limitations in Virginia which is where this acts took place allowed him to be prosecuted. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. whose influence spurred a pivotal event of the civil rights movement, the "children's crusade" in Birmingham, Ala . After buses and riders were severely attacked, including a firebombing of a bus and beatings with police complicity in Birmingham, Alabama, CORE suspended the rides. He earned extensive . When the winds from the East. Ms. MILLS: I don't, I don't think he's mentally ill. She said Bevel's recent conviction does not detract from his work in the civil rights movement. The large group were bludgeoned and tear-gassed in what became known as "Bloody Sunday". I mean, I remember being afraid of being taken from my home, you know that that was an option that I could be leaved and I would have to stay at a foster home, and I had these horrible images that foster homes would be worse. The Rev. I am equally as devastated and disgusted by his pedophilia," Orrin said. James Bevel: Well, it had a reputation equal to the Mississippi Birmingham had a reputation equal to the Mississippi Delta in terms of its brutalization of people. The Rev. Where the caravan camels roam. Ms. AARALYN MILLS (Abuse Victim): Thank you for having me. John Lewis, another King confidant who has been a Georgia congressman for more than 20 years, recalled in a memoir that at Spelman College in Atlanta, Mr. Bevel once declared himself a prophet and made his student disciples drink urine to signal their loyalty. Bevel, Memo to King, 13 April 1964, MLKJP-GAMK. 1997 at 38 years old. So, I really felt powerless. James Bevel, the Rev. Mr. Bevel retired in 1993 after a career in the farm equipment industry that. In case of Aaralyn Mills, it was all three. [35], During the trial, prosecutors presented key evidence: a 2005 police-sting telephone call recorded by the Leesburg police without Bevel's knowledge. People Photos Purpose. James Luther Bevel (October 19, 1936 - December 19, 2008) was a leader of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement who, as the Director of Direct Action and Director of Nonviolent Education of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), i . Bevel helped in the brainstorming for the March on Washington in 1963, and the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965. At a family reunion, three other daughters had also alleged that Bevel sexually abused them. After the scare, James says it took a month of "intensive therapy" before he could get back on stage. He was 72. And you describe this - I don't know what words to use, it's almost like a trial at - so you decided you should put him on trial, and then he defended himself in this, I don't even really know how to describe it.