Civil Rights Pioneer Bernard LaFayette Passes

0:00On this March 6th in Tampa Bay, here's what is making headlines. Civil Rights pioneer Bernard Lafayette has passed away at age 85. His son says he died Thursday morning from a heart attack. Lafayette laid crucial groundwork for the voter registration drive in Selma, Alabama that helped spark the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Two years before the famous bloody Sunday march on the Edmund Pettis Bridge, Lafayette took on the risky job of directing non-violent organizing in. Selma, as part of the student non-violent coordinating committee from his Nashville student days, he built local black leadership and momentum, even surviving, a brutal assassination attempt. Growing up in Tampa, Florida, Lafayette drew inspiration from his grandmother, who sent him to seminary in Nashville. There, he roamed with John Lewis and led sit-ins that desegregated the city's downtown. In 1961, he joined Freedom Rides, facing beatings among gummery and jail time in Mississippi. Later, Lafayette shifted to Chicago, training youth leaders, forming tenant unions,

1:04and launching the country's first mass lead poisoning screenings for kids. He worked with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and held roles at universities like Harvard and Emory, spreading non-violence training. Worldwide, from South Africa to Latin America. Friends and colleagues remember him as a quiet force behind the scenes, whose legacy touches thousands through his global push for peace and justice. He often said life's worth comes from making it matter, not just how long it lasts. Quick thanks to today's sponsor. See the description for more. Comfort, you can hear. Sound you can relax into. S-O-L-I-SoliPillow.com.