Bernard LaFayette, a key figure in the Civil Rights Movement and the advance man who laid the groundwork for the voter registration campaign in Selma, Alabama, culminating in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, has died at the age of 85, according to the Associated Press.
A Quiet Architect of Change
LaFayette died Thursday morning of a heart attack, as reported by his son, Bernard LaFayette, III. While the beating of future Congressman John Lewis and other marchers on Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965 captured the nation’s attention, LaFayette’s work two years prior was crucial in setting the stage for those pivotal events.
In 1960, LaFayette helped found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which organized desegregation and voting rights campaigns throughout the South. Initially, SNCC deemed Selma too challenging, believing “the White folks were too imply and the Black folks were too scared.” However, LaFayette persisted, becoming director of the Alabama Voter Registration Campaign in 1963 and working with Colia Liddell to build local leadership and momentum for change.
LaFayette faced significant danger during his work, including an assassination attempt coinciding with the murder of Medgar Evers in Mississippi. He was attacked outside his home and a neighbor intervened with a rifle, leading to a tense standoff where LaFayette urged the neighbor not to shoot. He described feeling “an extraordinary sense of internal strength instead of fear” in that moment, believing nonviolence was about “winning that person over.”
From Selma to Chicago and Beyond
By 1965, LaFayette had shifted his focus to Chicago, missing the initial “Bloody Sunday” march in Selma. He quickly organized transportation for others from Chicago to join a subsequent, successful march after President Lyndon Johnson introduced the Voting Rights Act to Congress.
LaFayette’s commitment to nonviolence stemmed from a childhood experience in Tampa, Florida, where he witnessed his grandmother fall after a trolley conductor pulled away before she could board. This event, he wrote, instilled in him a determination to fight injustice. He and John Lewis both helped desegregate Nashville, Tennessee, in the early 1960s.
He continued his activism after Selma, working with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Martin Luther King Jr. On the Poor People’s Campaign. He was with King at the Lorraine Motel on the morning of his assassination, and King’s final words to him emphasized the need to institutionalize and internationalize the nonviolence movement—a mission LaFayette pursued for the rest of his life.
LaFayette later earned a doctorate from Harvard University and worked internationally, promoting nonviolence in Latin America, South Africa, and Nigeria. He held numerous academic and ministerial positions, including serving as minister of the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Tuskegee, Alabama.
Frequently Asked Questions
What role did Bernard LaFayette play in the Selma voting rights campaign?
LaFayette was the director of the Alabama Voter Registration Campaign and worked to build local leadership and momentum for change prior to the events of “Bloody Sunday” and the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
What was LaFayette’s approach to dealing with violence and opposition?
LaFayette was a staunch advocate of nonviolence, believing it was a “struggle of the human spirit” aimed at winning over opponents rather than defeating them through force.
Where did LaFayette work after his involvement in Selma?
LaFayette continued his activism in Chicago, and later worked internationally promoting nonviolence, and held various academic and ministerial positions.
Given LaFayette’s lifelong dedication to nonviolence and social justice, how might his legacy continue to inspire future generations of activists?
