Sherrilynn is also estranged from her brother and from both of her adult children. James Bevel Obituary (2008) - Atlanta, GA - Atlanta Journal-Constitution MARTIN: Your father's name is one that appears in many, many history books. James Bevel - Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia Liese also shares custody of an 11-year-old son with her first husband, with whom the boy lives. They agreed to continue until they had achieved these goals, and to ask for funding from the SCLC only if the group was involved in organizing a movement. On December 19, 2008, at the age of 72, he died of pancreatic cancer in Springfield, Virginia. To fight those feelings, she decided to track down her attacker. There's no exception" Wittmann said. From the Helen L. Bevel Archives, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_Bevel&oldid=1146647965, Statements by Rev. "He confronted Bevel, who had been a mentor to Jackson and Young, as 'a genius who flummoxed his own heart'. [26][27] A year earlier, Bevel had denounced the deprogramming of a Moon follower and called for the protection of religious rights. His education: American Baptist College (1957-1961). Virginia was No. Bevel had hoped for probation so he could enter hospice care. In May 2007, Bevel was arrested in Alabama on a charge of incest committed sometime between October 1992 and October 1994 in Loudoun County, Virginia. In September 1963, a bombing at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham killed four young girls attending Sunday School and damaged the church. This was financially backed by the Unification Church of Sun Myung Moon, which appeared to be trying to improve its controversial image by allying with such respected leaders. They could go to jail for this. Orrin said she too was molested by her father when she was a child. [citation needed] During his speech to the crowd that day, Bevel called for a larger march in Washington D.C., a plan that evolved into the October 1967 March on the Pentagon. The Rev. He was 72. At a family reunion, three other daughters had also alleged that Bevel sexually abused them. Court testimony revealed that accusation had stemmed from a family reunion during which several family members recalled having been molested by Mr. Bevel. Ms. MILLS: I don't, I don't think he's mentally ill. 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. And I didn't say anything to them, mainly because they knew - because they had either witnessed it or I'd witness them doing behavior. [37] On October 15, 2008, the judge sentenced him, based on the jury's recommendation, to 15 years in prison and fined him $50,000. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. She was not able to deal with it. He suggested a march from Selma to Montgomery, the capital, to protest Jackson's death and press Governor George Wallace to support voting rights for African Americans. And as if it was a conspiracy against him. Vivian and others, Bevel participated in the Nashville Sit-In Movement organized by Nash, whom he would later marry to desegregate the city's lunch counters. [6] Bevel strategized the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches, which contributed to Congressional passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. James Bevel was one of seventeen children born to a sharecropping family in Itta Bena, Mississippi. How much you describe it? The Sad Fall of James Bevel. | PostBourgie Anyone can read what you share. This movement ended within a Summit Conference that included Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley. We will have a link to it on our website. Martin Luther King Jr. to tear down the walls of segregation. Ms. MILLS: Her - the exact statement was that I spelled molest wrong. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. He grew up in rural LeFlore County of the Mississippi Delta and in Cleveland. In 1963, as the Alabama project director for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the organization led by Dr. King, Mr. Bevel persuaded Dr. King to allow children to participate in antisegregation demonstrations, in which they would almost surely face arrest. ", (For more information about the support group, call Orrin at 722-4671.). James Bevel was born on October 19, 1936 (age 71) in Itta Bena, Mississippi, United States. James Luther Bevel | American minister and political activist Ms. MILLS: There are eight girls. She said that her mother, who is white, told her that no one would have believed them. They should have been helping her father confront his problem, she said. They were poor, and Bevel was a civil-rights giant. And so I chose a very difficult conversation we had in June with a daughter of civil rights strategist James Bevel. And I realized that, one, that it wasn't just you know, one way to live. 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. Civil rights activist Reverend James Luther Bevel was born in Itta Bena, Mississippi, on October 19, 1936. I don't want to live that anymore. Mr. Bevel had been released from prison in November because he had pancreatic cancer.. [31], In 1992, Bevel ran on LaRouche's ticket as the vice presidential candidate. How do you understand that? In the melee, Jackson was shot in the stomach while defending his mother from an attack. He was tried in April 2008, convicted of incest, sentenced to 15 years in prison, [11] and fined $50,000. You can cancel at any time. There are other ways to live, and you could choose how you wanted to live your life. "I'm very proud to be the daughter of a man who contributed so much to the world through his civil-rights work," she told The Associated Press on Dec. 19, the day her father died at the age of 72. A one-time top lieutenant to Martin Luther King Jr. was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in prison for having sex more than a decade ago with his then-teenage daughter. "I love him for the sacrifices he made that have enabled me to enjoy political freedom and social justice. Bevel then launched into an extended explanation of his philosophy, which includes applying the teachings of the New Testament to the "science of constitutionality." Another daughter, Sherilynn Bevel, confirmed the death, The Washington Post reported. We are not just, you know, one way all the time. Do you have any idea where you were able to find that within yourself to do this? He worked on a cotton plantation for a time as a youth and later in a steel mill. It happened in the Memphis area when she staying with her father while her mother was out of town. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. King wanted to fill the jails with protesters, but it was becoming more difficult to find adults to march. He subsequently joined the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), serving as project director and becoming one of the most influential advisers to the SCLCs head, Martin Luther King, Jr. On Bevels recommendation, hundreds of youth were mobilized in 1963 in the childrens crusade to participate in peaceful antisegregation protests in downtown Birmingham, Ala. In the 1960s, Bevel was a leader in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), two of the stalwart organizations that led efforts to desegregate the South. In March 1965 protesters made a symbolic march, inspired by a fiery speech by Bevel at Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church, where much organizing was done. [5] Together the groups became collectively known as the Selma Voting Rights Movement, with James Bevel as its director. They lived and raised their family in La Pryor before moving to Haskell in 1982. I mean my little sister was 14 at that time, but what if you know - what can you really do? She recently finished a book, Becoming Aaralyn, and is looking for a publisher, a search she thinks will lead to Europe. Ready to start "the second half of my life," after. "Everyone dies. [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. Ms. MILLS: Right. It was later proven that a Ku Klux Klan chapter was responsible. Things we often feel we have to keep hidden. At the time, Bevel was living in Leesburg, Virginia, and working with LaRouche's group, whose international headquarters was a few blocks from Bevel's apartment. Sherri Bevel, the daughter of civil rights legends Diane Nash and James Bevel, discussing her work spreading Kingian Nonviolence in Chicago with partner organization the Addie Wyatt Center for Nonviolence Training at #URISummerinstitite2017. Ms. MILLS: Well, it was in part my own experience when I left home at 16, and I went to stay with the Bruderhof, which is a Christian community similar to the Amish in Pennsylvania. That was our hope, but he wasn't ready to look at himself. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Later efforts in Mississippi developed as Freedom Summer in 1964, when extensive voter education and registration efforts took place. She testified Tuesday that he had sexual intercourse with her when she was 15 in the early 1990s after he pressured her by saying the sex would relieve him from demons that were sapping his strength. I would not have been able to do that without my other sisters. And when I left there, I began that process of deciding and designing how I wanted to live my life. The Rev. In 2007, one of his daughters accused him of molesting her in the 90s. James Bevel Biography And you can listen to it for, you know, over and over again and it won't make sense. They were severely penalized for missing work and were trying to support their families. Six weeks later, he died of pancreatic cancer. And he usually - he played the role of judge and jury in these meetings. (The completed march, which led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act, took place two weeks later.). But it's this idea that he was teaching all his daughters to look at the evils in the world and within men whatever - whoever the man was, whether it's your father or the guy next door or your husband. And we try to stay on one side of what we think is right and good. It includes this line: I'm gonna keep on a-walkin', Lord, keep on a-talking, Lord, marching up to freedom land. What if that does happen? Having background is important to get the whole picture. What saddened Orrin was that speakers at the five-hour funeral danced around the fact that Bevel had been convicted just this past spring of molesting one of his daughters in the 1990s. Years later, Orrin said, she asked her mother why they never pressed charges. 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. In 1992, he was vice presidential running mate to political maverick Lyndon LaRouche, who has a home in Loudoun County but at the time was in a federal prison for a tax conviction. James L. Bevel, a fiery top lieutenant of the Rev. And she was telling things that I experienced and that connected to me. He was 72. [25], In 1989, Bevel and Abernathy organized the National Committee Against Religious Bigotry and Racism. But he was also a child predator, who exploited the trust of his family by molesting his daughter Aaralyn Mills. So, I really felt powerless. Charismatic and eloquently quick-witted in a vernacular style, Mr. Bevel was known as a man of passion and peculiarity. James L. Bevel, 72, an Adviser to Dr. King, Is Dead While a seminarian, he participated in two forms of nonviolent protest against institutionalized racial segregation: sit-ins by African American youths at department-store lunch counters in 1960 and the Freedom Rides on bus lines throughout the South in 1961. 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. James Bevel - Uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia "My hope was for him to apologize in a Christian way, to repent. He was recently released on bond while appealing a . He was a Black Civil rights activist and minister. Lela was born in Brownwood, January 17, 1937, the oldest of four daughters of Berl and Lela Naomi (Sansing) Clark. Mr. Bevel had been released from prison in November because he had pancreatic cancer. James L. Bevel, 71, a top . But she believes that justice must be served, and that the victims have to come first. The 15-year sentence imposed by Circuit Judge Burke McCahill was the most severe allowed. MARTIN: If you are just joining us, I'm speaking with Aaralyn Mills. And I am wondering how it is that you and your siblings, you particularly, were able to do it. Orrin said he made no denials. And he used his historical background in the civil rights as an example of see what I did so far, I'm still doing that. [13] King was initially reluctant, but agreed. He and the others were arrested after they arrived in Jackson, Mississippi and tried to desegregate the waiting rooms in the bus terminal. At trial, Bevel denied committing the sexual act and his recorded statement was used against him. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. [24], In the 1980s, Bevel supported Ronald Reagan as president. John Railey writes local editorials for the Journal. The daughter is one of at least 14 children Bevel has with several different women, according to her testimony on Monday. As a girl she was repeated molested by her father the Reverend James Bevel, one of the most brilliant and daring strategists of the civil rights movement, an Icon. As a member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and then as its Director of Direct Action and Nonviolent Education, Bevel initiated, strategized, and developed SCLC's three major successes of the era:[2][3] the 1963 Birmingham Children's Crusade,[4] the 1965 Selma voting rights movement, and the 1966 Chicago open housing movement. Ms. MILLS: Is he appealing? [8][9], Bevel soon became SCLC's Director of Direct Action and Director of Nonviolent Education to augment King's positions as SCLC's Chairman and spokesperson. Mr. Bevel was Mr. LaRouches running mate in 1992, a time when Mr. LaRouche was serving time for fraud and tax evasion. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. Orrin, 32, is the daughter of Rev. Thank you so much for speaking with us. The two agreed to work together to end segregation, obtain voting rights, and to ensure quality education for ALL children in America. MARTIN: One thing I want to point out is that one of the reasons that you decided to move forward with pressing charges is that there was a young woman in the house or a young girl in the house, with your father at the time your parents marriage had ended. Bevel was born in Itta Bena, Mississippi, on 19 October 1936. He was ordained as a Baptist minister in 1959 and went on to pastor the Chestnut Grove Baptist Church. But first, we go behind Closed Doors, that's our weekly segment when we talk about painful issues. James L. Bevel, 71, a key 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. Reverend James Bevel's Biography - The HistoryMakers Soon after, another three daughters said he had sexually abused them as . After buses and riders were severely attacked, including a firebombing of a bus and beatings with police complicity in Birmingham, Alabama, CORE suspended the rides. She married James Henry Bevel in Corpus Christi on January 27, 1956. In March 1965, Mr. Bevel, a fiery orator, spoke at Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma, Ala., the starting point of a symbolic march to the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where demonstrators had been beaten two days earlier a day remembered as Bloody Sunday in a first attempt to march to Montgomery to protest discriminatory voting practices. And when she told me that everything I told her about what's happening as I was telling her that really hurt me. He was recently released on bond while appealing a. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). [citation needed]. And I think, all of us were abused in some way or another. And we have to find a way, because they exist. James Bevel, Activist, and Minister born - African American Registry Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. One of the reasons you pressed charges and it was decided that you would press charges is it's the statute of limitations in Virginia which is where this acts took place allowed him to be prosecuted. James L. Bevel dies at 72; civil rights activist and top lieutenant to King", "Bevel v. Commonwealth (Va.Ct.App., 14 Sept. 2010)", "Bevel v. Commonwealth (Va.S.Ct., 4 Nov. 2011)", "Years After Change, Activist Lives Her Conviction", "Common Is James Bevel, Andre Holland Is Andrew Young In Ava DuVernay's Mlk Tale 'Selma', (see request for download at bottom of page). After leaving the SCLC the year prior, Bevel created the Making of the Man Clinic in 1970. Omissions? He was educated at segregated local schools in both Mississippi and Cleveland. At the age of seventy-two, James Bevel had seen and experienced more than most men. Im very proud to be the daughter of a man who contributed so much to the world through his civil rights work, one of his daughters, Chevarra Orrin, of Winston-Salem, N.C., told The Associated Press. LaRouche, characterized as a perennial candidate, was serving a prison sentence for mail fraud and tax evasion. At her father's recent funeral in an Alabama church, Chevara Orrin of Winston-Salem listened to one civil-rights veteran after another praise him. She spoke out about her abuse to protect a younger sister. Bevel, James Luther | The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and But before the Poor People's campaign occurred, King and the SCLC organizers traveled to Memphis, Tennessee, to organize a march in support of a sanitation strike after King's and James Lawson's first march had turned into a riot. Children of the Movement - amazon.com A deathbed interview with Rev. Its that lovely thing A society grows great when old men , Justice Clarence Thomas' example shows need for better standards. In 2005, Bevel was accused of incest by one of his daughters and abuse by three others. [13] In 1986, Bevel, Chicago alderman Danny K. Davis, singer-songwriter Kristin Lems, and others participated in a project of creating a summit in Chicago for Gorbachev and Reagan to bring peace and resolution to the ongoing Cold War.