On Wednesday, Georgians will pay their respects to civil rights hero C.T. Vivian, who died last Friday at the age of 95.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Vivian, who permanently settled in Atlanta in the 1970s, will lie in state on Wednesday at the Georgia State Capitol Building, where Gov. Brian Kemp will receive his family and escort them to the rotunda. The casket will be covered by the Georgia state flag.
Vivian will lie in state for three hours, after which a horse-drawn open carriage will lead a processional through Atlanta, from the state Capitol and toward the crypt of Martin Luther King, Jr., another towering figure with whom Vivian worked with closely and directly in the battle for racial justice.
As the AJC notes, King himself was denied the honor after his assassination, when then-Gov. Lester Maddox refused to allow his body to lie in state.
However, in 2006, another civil rights leader, King’s wife, Coretta Scott King became the first Black American and the first woman to lie in state in the Georgia capitol.
Vivian’s funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday at Providence Missionary Baptist Church. Services will be private, due to the coronavirus pandemic, but will be streamed to the public.