The late Rep. John Lewis with Rev. James Lawson and John Lawson, Esq., 2018
(Credit: Holman United Methodist Church)
John and Lillian Miles Lewis Foundation Honors the Legacy of the Late Rev. James Lawson
It is with the deepest sadness that the John and Lillian Miles Lewis Foundation mourns the loss of one of the greatest architects of the Civil Rights Movement in American history. He was not as well-known as those he tutored, like John Lewis, Diane Nash, and Dr. Bernard Lafayette, but his imprint is seen in the fervent adherence to the philosophy of nonviolent social protest even today.
The Reverend James Morris Lawson, Jr. died Sunday at the age of 95 in Los Angeles, California where he was pastor of Holman United Methodist Church for 25-years until 1999. But it was the path to justice he orchestrated that led to the dismantling of Jim Crow and emergence of integration in American life for which he will always be remembered.
The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s historic 1959 visit to India to study Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent principles made headlines when he returned home. But it was Rev. Jim Lawson who first traveled to India in the early 1950s to immerse himself in Gandhi’s teachings.
Congressman Lewis often expressed how important Rev. Lawson was in his life. On the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination in 2018 Representative Lewis said, “Jim Lawson had been my teacher, been my leader…This man imbues me with the teaching of Jesus, the teaching of Gandhi. My advice for the young people today is to study the movement, read the literature, watch the films, the videos, and accept nonviolence as a way of life.”
Rev. Lawson’s brilliant work of preparing his young warriors to face the humiliations of being spat upon, having items thrown at them, or beaten is well known and documented. Imagine having to learn now to tolerate a cigarette burned into your flesh! Rev. Lawson helped lead the formation of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Congress of Racial Equity (CORE), and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) among other groups and strategies. We at JLMLF cherish these accomplishments and most especially his personal relationships and influence on a generation of freedom fighters who not only changed America, but whose impact is felt around the world.
Click here to watch Rev. James Lawsons’ remarks at Rep. John Lewis’ funeral in 2020.
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As a nation, if we care for the Beloved Community, we must move our feet, our hands, our hearts, our resources to build and not tear down, to reconcile and not to divide, to love and not to hate.