Alabama State University News December 4, 2015 King, Abernathy Friendship Shapes the Civil Rights Movement Author: Timothy C. Ervin Relatives of civil rights icons Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Rev. Ralph Abernathy were among those who participated in a forum exploring how the friendship between King and Abernathy shaped the Civil Rights Movement. *** While Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was the most prominent figure of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, it was the friendship he shared with fellow civil rights activist, the Rev. Ralph Abernathy, that helped guide the direction of the Civil Rights Movement. The National Center for the Study of Civil Rights and African-American Culture at Alabama State University held a forum on Wednesday, Dec. 2 titled "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rev. Ralph Abernathy: Leaders and Partners in the Civil Rights Movement" that explored the ties that bonded King and Abernathy. "It's important to understand the relationship between these two men," said Howard Robinson, ASU archivist. "King and Abernathy had much in common." King and Abernathy first met in Atlanta when King was attending Morehouse College. They would meet again in Montgomery, when King was appointed pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. At the same time that King was pastor at Dexter, Abernathy was the pastor just a few blocks away at First Baptist Church on North Ripley Street. This was the beginning of a lifelong friendship. While King undoubtedly receives the most credit in the history books, Abernathy played an integral role in helping him form the Montgomery Improvement Association and later co-founding the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Friends and relatives of both said that they knew King and Abernathy as loving men with big hearts, but never saw them as the civil rights legends they are known as today. "I never saw them as historic figures, but just as men of God and pastors," said Thomas E. Jordan, pastor of Lilly Baptist Church, who was baptized by King in 1955. "I just hope young people today admire their pastors as much as I admired them as pastors." "When I saw my uncle, I didn't see a civil rights leader," said William Abernathy, nephew of Ralph Abernathy. "I just saw a man that I loved." Althea Thomas has been the organist for Dexter Avenue Baptist Church for 50 years. She said she received a phone call one afternoon from King asking her to be the church organist. "He said you've been enthusiastically recommended; we need an organist," Thomas recalled. "He paid me a compliment, and he said, 'I want to apologize for asking you to serve under somebody who has less training than what you have, but we have a choir director and we want to keep him, but we need an organist.'" Troy Jackson, executive director of the AMOS Project and author of "Becoming King: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Making of a National Leader," said Montgomery citizens were a big part of the success of the boycott. "Everyone in the boycott put their lives on the line every day," Jackson said. "I think this community was the crucible of what King became." Juanita Abernathy, the widow of Ralph Abernathy, said they had a protest in Montgomery that changed the course of America. "Alabama saved America from itself," Abernathy said. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-702-5854 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 Like us on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/hbculibraryalliance/ 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.