I don't want to relive any of that. He renamed the organization the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, recruited members of many diverse groups, and organized the April 15, 1967 march from Central Park to the United Nations Building in New York City. The Rev. MARTIN: We were corresponding about your coming on the program because I had to be honest, I was hesitant to contact you because I was worried that you would see it as an intrusion or as a burden to talk about something so painful, again. During the trial, Bevel's daughter testified that she was repeatedly molested by Bevel beginning when she was just 6 years old, culminating in sexual intercourse in 1993 or 1994 that formed the basis of the incest charge. That didn't happen. Reverend James Bevel's Biography - The HistoryMakers He joined the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He was recently released on bond while appealing a 15-year. In 1965 SCLC gave its highest honor, the Rosa Parks Award, to James Bevel and Diane Nash for their work on the Alabama Voting Rights Project. It was later proven that a Ku Klux Klan chapter was responsible. He appeared headed for a career as a pop music singer he had signed a contract with a record label when he felt called to the ministry and enrolled in the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, where he joined the local chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. A wild man from Itta Bena, Mississippi, Taylor Branch called him in Parting the Waters, the first volume of his history of the civil rights movement, a self-described example of the legendary chicken-eating, liquor-drinking, woman-chasing Baptist preacher.. Virginia was No. Ms. AARALYN MILLS (Abuse Victim): Thank you for having me. daughter, Athena, clad in a pink leotard, twirl around her bright downtown Washington apartment, Aaralyn Liese says she cant help but be reminded of her own childhood. She said that "his thought process was this worldwide movement was for us.". In case of Aaralyn Mills, it was all three. He was a Black Civil rights activist and minister. The accuser was one of his daughters, who was 1315 years old at the time and lived with him. [6] Bevel strategized the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches, which contributed to Congressional passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. And we'll decide what to do as a family. They should have been helping her father confront his problem, she said. Less than a month after his sentencing in October 2008, Bevel was released from prison on appeal. MARTIN: How many siblings do you believe were abused by your father? She said he told her, "I got you the right to vote. (The completed march, which led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act, took place two weeks later.). Orrin said she too was molested by her father when she was a child. Ms. MILLS: There are eight girls. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. It's time for the silence to end, she said, whether the molester is famous or anonymous. Lela was born in Brownwood, January 17, 1937, the oldest of four daughters of Berl and Lela Naomi (Sansing) Clark. During that 90-minute call, Bevel's daughter asked him why he had sex with her the one time in 1993, and she asked him why he wanted her to use a vaginal douche afterward. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. There are other ways to live, and you could choose how you wanted to live your life. Sherri talked a little about being the daughter of the iconic Civil Rights leaders. "At the end of the day, they're still our fathers, our mothers, our uncles and aunts and brothers and sisters," she said. "I do love my father," she wrote me in a follow-up e-mail. [9] As the first march reached the end of the Edmund Pettus Bridge and passed out of the city, they were attacked by county police and Alabama State Troopers. The daughter is one of 16 children Bevel said he has had with several different women. Because the executor of Bevel's estate had not sought to prosecute the appeal, the Court affirmed the dismissal of his appeal as moot. James Bevel was one of the key strategists of the civil rights movement. Ms. MILLS: Yeah, it was - it was like intervention, but for my father it was a meeting, it was a, you know, you present your case, I'll present my case. Blake excels at uncovering the questions gnawing at his subjects. He worked on a cotton plantation for a time as a youth and later in a steel mill. [13], Feeling an inner call to become a minister, he attended the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee from 1957 to 1961 and became a Baptist preacher. They could go to jail for this. You know, it was just me. The Rev. [20] Bevel was influential in gaining King's support for the anti-war movement,[13] and with King's agreeing to participate as a speaker Bevel agreed to lead the antiwar effort. James Bevel - Bhamwiki In 1968, Mr. Bevel was at the Memphis motel where Dr. King was assassinated, and in a bizarre post-mortem, he claimed that the man who was arrested for (and later convicted of) the shooting, James Earl Ray, was not the killer and that he had evidence which he declined to reveal that Mr. Ray was innocent. "People don't just wake up one morning and stop being a pedophile," Orrin said. I think the community has not yet figured out what's the proper response to deal with pedophilia," said Orrin, who runs the WhiteSpace Gallery with her husband and is an administrator at Winston-Salem State University. James Bevel, was an icon of the civil-rights movement who worked closely with the Rev. He was 72. One, their own stories, each of them being able to tell their stories to me and for us to share. Bevel's daughter testified that she was repeatedly molested by Bevel beginning when she was just 6 years old, culminating in an act of sexual intercourse in 1993 or 1994 that formed the basis of the incest charge. On December 19, 2008, at the age of 72, he died of pancreatic cancer in Springfield, Virginia. Corrections? That was very hard for me. All rights reserved. But this was the meeting in which we called other members of the community, Bernard Layfette and Will Sanders and as well as relatives. He decides what's right and not right. Orrin has undergone years of counseling to deal with the abuse she said she suffered from her father. He was recently released on bond while appealing a . Omissions? But that you have to come to some understanding of what sex is outside of pleasure. MARTIN: Some people would call it intervention. ", "I don't believe he was a monster. He was convicted earlier this year of having sex 15 years ago with his then-teenage daughter in Virginia. In 2005, Bevel was accused of incest by one of his daughters and abuse by three others. A top lieutenant to Martin Luther King Jr. has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for incest. Civil rights activist Reverend James Luther Bevel was born in Itta Bena, Mississippi, on October 19, 1936. They invited King and other SCLC leaders to Selma to develop larger protests and actions, and work alongside Bevel's and Nash's Alabama Project. "He confronted Bevel, who had been a mentor to Jackson and Young, as 'a genius who flummoxed his own heart'. The demonstrations, early that year, overwhelmed the city, and the news coverage, complete with televised images of black children being arrested or soaked and bowled over by law enforcement officers wielding powerful fire hoses, helped rally much of the American public to the side of the civil rights movement. Ms. MILLS: I feel almost as if it's something I had to do. In April of this year, Mr. Bevel was convicted of having sexual intercourse with one of his daughters in the 1990s, when the girl was a teenager. Charismatic and eloquently quick-witted in a vernacular style, Mr. Bevel was known as a man of passion and peculiarity. You have permission to edit this article. Bevel would not reveal the evidence, and Ray was convicted of the crime. As an adult, Orrin asked her father why he had not provided for his children. And I never understood that. Ms. MILLS: And it's an hour and a half of him explaining his position. Well, it still comes as a shock to some people, but the Rev. Do you have any idea where you were able to find that within yourself to do this? During his four-day trial in 2008, the accusing daughter testified that she was repeatedly molested by him, beginning when she was six years old. [14], The Open Theater Movement, led by Bevel, had success in Nashville, the only city in the country where SCLC activists had organized such an action. And Orrin said her mother correctly assumed that she would have been afraid to confront her father in court. Instead, she told the jury to focus on the single incident for which Bevel is charged: an act of sexual intercourse that occurred in 1993 or 1994 while the daughter was a teenager and was living with her father in Leesburg. We'll talk about that in just a few minutes. That was our hope, but he wasn't ready to look at himself. "My hope was for him to apologize in a Christian way, to repent. Martin Luther King Jr. and a force behind civil rights campaigns of the 1960s whose erratic behavior and conviction on incest charges. This movement ended within a Summit Conference that included Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley. And she always told me, no he doesn't do that to me, I have a wonderful relationship with my dad. James Bevel Biography Last week, Joanna Connors a reporter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer told us about how 20 years later being raped still made her feel powerless and ashamed. James Luther Bevel (October 19, 1936 December 19, 2008) was a minister and leader of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement in the United States. As Dr. Martin Luther King's collaborator, Bevel was a key strategist of the Southern Civil Rights Movement. [39] Bevel's attorney appealed the denial of the abatement motion to the Supreme Court of Virginia. The Rev. James L. Bevel dies at 72; civil rights activist and top The biracial daughters of Reverend James Bevel, an influential sit-in leader and protest organizer, bemoan their absentee father, a civil rights "Daddy Dearest" who "speaks in political theory all the time" and lambastes interracial relationships. The Court of Appeals affirmed this judgment. Facebook To fight those feelings, she decided to track down her attacker. Accuracy and availability may vary. After years of failed attempts to draw the concern of family members, Mills pursued charges against her father, and in April, Bevel was convicted of incest. I love him for his role in the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the vote I was able to cast that helped put a man of color in the White House. [8][9] His last major action was as co-initiator of the 1995 Day of Atonement/Million Man March in Washington, D.C. For his work, Bevel has been called the strategist and architect of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement[10] and, with Dr. King, half of the first-tier team that formulated many of the strategies and actions to gain federal legislation and social changes during the 1960s civil rights era.[8][9]. She was not able to deal with it. . James L. Bevel | Encyclopedia.com He was looking at her and talking about her and, you know, being his jolly self, and I actually got really, really sad because I realized that, you know, I won't be able to experience him anymore. She shares her story, reflections about her father, and her experience as an abuse survivor. He worked on a cotton plantation for a time as a youth and later in a steel mill. After leaving the SCLC the year prior, Bevel created the Making of the Man Clinic in 1970. His education: American Baptist College (1957-1961). As the Chicago movement neared its conclusion A. J. Muste, David Dellinger, representatives of North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh, and others asked Bevel to take over the directorship of the Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam. [41] He married two other women in the following decades, and had told the court during his incest case that he had 16 children born of seven women. At a family reunion, three other daughters had also alleged that Bevel sexually abused them. The Rev. How should we think about those two James Bevels? Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. James Bevel - Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia At that meeting, which had been suggested by James Lawson, Bevel and King agreed to work together on an equal basis, with neither having veto power over the other, on projects under the auspices of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Housing in the area was segregated in a de facto way, enforced by covenants and real estate practices. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. He was also the largely absent father, Orrin said, who molested her one night when she was 12. Sherrilynn is also estranged from her brother and from both of her adult children. James Bevel, October 19, James Bevel was an American minister and prominent civil rights activist.. James Bevel, October 19, James Bevel was an American minister and prominent civil rights activist.. . Bevel died Friday in Virginia after a fight with pancreatic cancer, said a daughter, Chevara Orrin, who lives in Winston-Salem, N.C. He also is the man who persuaded . After King was assassinated, Bevel made a bizarre[a] claim that James Earl Ray was not the killer and that he had evidence that Ray was innocent. Originally planned as a rally in Central Park, the United Nations Anti-Vietnam War March became the largest demonstration in American history to that date. And I was always buffering between my father, I never let her be alone with him. It includes this line: I'm gonna keep on a-walkin', Lord, keep on a-talking, Lord, marching up to freedom land. [citation needed]. After serving seven months, he was freed awaiting an appeal; he died of pancreatic cancer in December 2008 and was buried in Eutaw, Alabama . They were poor, and Bevel was a civil-rights giant. Bevel and others were grieved and outraged. King wanted to fill the jails with protesters, but it was becoming more difficult to find adults to march. In an opinion issued November 4, 2011, the commonwealth's Supreme Court held that abatement of criminal convictions was not available in Virginia under the circumstances of Bevel's case. Some protesters were jailed, but the movement kept the pressure on. While in the Seminary, Bevel joined the Nashville chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), then led by the Reverend . Bevel had hoped for probation so he could enter hospice care. She later, she asked me to recount a tale - some other woman who in new environment, what happened. James L. Bevel is shown in a photoprovided by the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office. [21], In 1968 Dr. King objected to Bevel and other SCLC organizers' opposition to proceeding with King's planned Poor People's Campaign. James Bevel. Nonetheless, Dr. King relied on his counsel. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-Luther-Bevel, African American Registry - Biography of James Bevel, Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Global Freedom Struggle - Biography of James Luther Bevel. Ms. MILLS: I mean we have to look at a lot of aspects of life, in those parallels. When she approaches people and identifies herself as James Bevels and my daughter, many are very welcoming and attempt to help her in any way possible, not knowing that she and I have been estranged for decades. Ms. MILLS: Right. Things we often feel we have to keep hidden. 'You dont like to work on anything that isnt your own idea,' King said, 'Bevel, I think you owe me one.'"[22]. MARTIN: Your father's name is one that appears in many, many history books. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. You Tell Us More, But In The Meantime : Tell Me More : NPR Bevel died Friday in Virginia. At the age of seventy-two, James Bevel had seen and experienced more than most men. So, we can assess it based on the truth or the facts in the matter and not just conspiracy as my father had called. Having background is important to get the whole picture. And then, so what are the options for children? Please subscribe to keep reading. While in the Jackson jail, Bevel and Bernard Lafayette initiated the Mississippi Voting Rights Movement. Ms. MILLS: The hardest part was learning of everyone's story. I mean, I remember being afraid of being taken from my home, you know that that was an option that I could be leaved and I would have to stay at a foster home, and I had these horrible images that foster homes would be worse. Soon after, another three daughters said he had sexually abused them as . Historian Taylor Branch quotes King in At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 19651968 (2006) as saying that "Andrew Young had given in to doubt, Bevel to brains, and Jackson to ambition", and said that the movement had made them and now they were using the movement to promote themselves. He was tried in April 2008, convicted of incest, sentenced to 15 years in prison, [11] and fined $50,000. But Bevel testified and denied the charge. Faithful to My Father's Dream - Dissent Magazine Particularly my - one of my - little sister, not the youngest one that was in the household, but particularly her because I had, I had sought to protect to her. In 1962, Bevel was invited to meet in Atlanta with Martin Luther King Jr, a minister who was head of the SCLC. James L. Bevel, 71, an architect of the 1963 Children's Crusade in Birmingham, Ala., and other pivotal moments of the civil rights movement, was convicted earlier this year of a single . And you describe this - I don't know what words to use, it's almost like a trial at - so you decided you should put him on trial, and then he defended himself in this, I don't even really know how to describe it. From the Helen L. Bevel Archives, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_Bevel&oldid=1146647965, Statements by Rev. A bubbly toddler might not seem to have much in common with the daughter of a convicted child molester, but Liese sees only the similarities as Athena slips on the kitchen floor and bounces back, still laughing. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, The daughter is one of 16 children Bevel said he has had with several different women. [7], Prior to his time with SCLC, Bevel worked in the Nashville Student Movement, which conducted the 1960 Nashville Lunch-Counter Sit-Ins, the 1961 Open Theater Movement, and recruited students to continue the 1961 Freedom Rides after they were attacked. A deathbed interview with Rev. Kennedy's staff, who already were drafted one, came to an agreement on its contents with SCLC's leadership. James Luther Bevel (born October 19, 1936 in Itta Bena, .

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