Lowery Receives Medal of Freedom
Civil rights pioneer and co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) Rev. Joseph Lowery received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor, along with 15 others at a ceremony at the White House Wednesday.
Here’s what President Obama had to say about Lowery:
Born and raised in Jim Crow Alabama, preaching in his blood, the Reverend Joseph Lowery is a giant of the Moses generation of civil rights leaders. It was just King, Lowery, and a few others, huddled in Montgomery, who laid the groundwork for the bus boycott and the movement that was to follow. A founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Lowery was later asked to serve as President. He agreed to serve for one year, but wound up serving, as he puts it, for 20 one-year terms. Throughout his life, some have called him crazy. But one of my favorite sermons that I heard Dr. Lowery once deliver, he said: There’s good crazy and there’s bad crazy and sometimes you need a little bit of that good crazy to make the world a better place.
Before Obama bestowed the medal, a military aide added this:
Reverend Joseph E. Lowery has marched through life with faith and purpose, carrying with him the legacy of a movement that touched America’s conscience and changed its history. At the forefront of the major civil rights events of our time – from the Montgomery bus boycott to protests against apartheid – he has served as a tireless beacon for nonviolence and social justice. As a pastor and civil rights advocate, he co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and championed the cause of peace and freedom around the world. The United States proudly honors this outstanding leader.