Civil Rights icon Rev. Joseph E. Lowery has passed away at the age of 98. Sometimes referred to as the “Dean” of the Civil Rights Movement, Lowery passed away peacefully at home on Friday surrounded by family.
Born in Huntsville, Alabama in 1921, Lowery dedicated his life to civil rights. He helped lead the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 following the arrest of Rosa Parks and founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., leading the organization as president from 1977 to 1997.
Lowery also participated in the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery and protested Apartheid in South Africa as co-founder and president of the Black Leadership Forum.
In 2009, Lowery delivered the benediction at former President Barack Obama’s first inauguration. Obama later awarded Lowery the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The activist is survived by his daughters. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.