Rev. James M Lawson, Jr., bellwether of nonviolence in the civil rights movement

Amsterdam News has been reporting the news of the day from a Black perspective for 113 years. Donors who choose to give monthly or annually will receive Amsterdam News’ Weekly E-Edition and acclaimed weekday newsletter Editorially Black to their inbox!The Rev. James Lawson, an apostle of nonviolent protest who schooled activists to withstand brutal reactions from white authorities as the civil rights movement gained traction, has died at age 95.

Rev. Lawson’s deep immersion in nonviolence that he learned during his study in India was instrumental in giving Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. the ballast he needed during the turbulent sixties and the struggle for civil rights. His teaching and particularly his brilliance as a tactician were indispensable for a cadre of activists such as John Lewis, James Bevel and Diane Nash, to name but a few.

Upon his return to the States in 1956, he enrolled at Oberlin College’s Graduate School of Theology. It was there that he was formally introduced to Dr. King who a year later urged him to move to the south, convincing him of his uniqueness and how vitally important an asset he would be to the evolving movement.

After the initial wave of sit-ins, Lawson strategized with the students for a second advance of Freedom Rides from Alabama in which he joined. When they arrived at the whites-only waiting room they were arrested. They refused the bail payment offered by the NAACP, choosing to wait for trial. In September 1961, President Kennedy ordered that passengers be allowed to sit anywhere. A year later, Lawson played a critical role in uniting Dr. King and Rev.

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