Clark Atlanta University News September 14, 2012 DR. JOSEPH E. LOWERY TO DELIVER CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERISTY'S FALL CONVOCATION ADDRESS SEPT. 18 Civil rights icon to lead voter registration march and rally after program Hailed as the "dean of the civil rights movement," the Rev. Dr. Joseph Echols Lowery will deliver the keynote address at the annual Clark Atlanta University (CAU) Fall Convocation Tuesday, Sept. 18, at 11 a.m. in the Vivian Henderson Center, Epps Gymnasium (corner of Atlanta Student Movement Boulevard (formerly Fair Street) and Vine Street). Immediately following his speech, Lowery will lead a voter registration march from the Epps Gymnasium to University's Bishop Cornelius L. Henderson Student Center on the campus. Lowery in 1957 co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), along with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He also has served as pastor of United Methodist churches in Mobile and Birmingham, Ala., and in Atlanta at Central United Methodist Church for 18 years and Cascade United Methodist from 1986 to 1992. His tremendous legacy of service and crusade for freedom and equality continue today through the Joseph E. Lowery Institute for Justice and Human Rights at Clark Atlanta University. Since 2001, the Institute has provided a forum for dialogue and a laboratory for research and analysis of issues related to human rights, workers' rights, civic engagement, voting rights, anti-poverty measures, sustainability, and environmental and economic justice. CAU President Carlton E. Brown said, "The civil rights movement must continue, and voter registration is as important now as it was 50 years ago, particularly in light of new challenges and recent voter identification laws. Rev. Dr. Lowery's experiences and perspectives will surely underscore the need for action on campuses and in communities around the nation. We are honored to have one who was at the vanguard of a struggle that raised the consciousness of America in the fight for freedom, justice and equality." A recipient of the NAACP's "Lifetime Achievement Award," Lowery has assumed and executed a broad and diverse series of roles: leader, pastor/preacher, servant, father, husband, freedom fighter and advocate. U.S. President Barack Obama in August 2009 awarded him the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in recognition of his lifelong commitment to the nonviolent struggle for the causes of justice, human rights, economic equality, voting rights, peace and human dignity. Earlier that year, he delivered the benediction on the occasion of President Obama's inauguration as the 44th president of the United States. Born in Huntsville, Ala., Rev. Dr. Lowery has a long and rich legacy of service and struggle. His work as a civil rights advocate dates to the early 1950s where, in Mobile, Ala., he headed the Alabama Civic Affairs Association, which ultimately led to the desegregation of buses and public accommodations. He was chosen in March 1965 by Rev. Dr. King to chair the delegation delivering the demands of the Selma-Montgomery March to Alabama Gov. George Wallace. As the world witnessed, Wallace ordered the marchers beaten in the incident that came to be known as "Bloody Sunday," and which ultimately led to the enactment of the Voting Rights Act. Years later in 1995, as Lowery led the 30th Anniversary reenactment of the historic march, former Gov. Wallace personally apologized to him for his conduct. As president of SCLC, Lowery negotiated covenants with major corporations for employment advances and business contracts with minority companies. He led one of the first protest campaigns against the Atlanta-based Southern Companies for contracting to purchase ten million tons of coal from South Africa, and was among the first five persons arrested at the South African Embassy in Washington, D.C., in the "Free South Africa" campaign. He co-chaired the 1990 Nelson Mandela visit to Atlanta, following Mandela's release from prison, and awarded Mandela the SCLC/Martin Luther King Jr. Human Rights Award. In 1998, he was the keynote speaker at the African Renaissance Dinner in Durban, South Africa, honoring Mandela's retirement. Rev. Dr. Lowery's distinguished career in public service has made a profound impact from boardrooms to local grassroots efforts. He served on the board of directors of Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) for 23 years, and was chairman for three years (including during the '96 Olympics in Atlanta). He was instrumental in securing millions of dollars in contracts for minority businesses and, since his 1998 retirement from SCLC, has helped black farmers settle a discrimination suit in Federal Court valued at $2 billion against the Department of Agriculture. Moreover, he has assisted black auto dealers seeking redress from discrimination claims against auto manufacturers, and has supported black concert promoters in their fight against exclusionary policies of talent agencies. As convener of the Georgia Coalition for the People's Agenda (GCPA), Lowery is active in election reform and voter empowerment, economic justice, and criminal reform, including alternative sentencing and a moratorium on the death penalty. In addition to honorary degrees, Lowery earned the bachelor's degree from Paine College in Augusta, Ga., and received a doctorate degree in divinity from the Chicago Ecumenical Institute in 1950. He is married to Evelyn Gibson Lowery, founder of SCLC/W.O.M.E.N., and an activist in her own right. He is the father of five children. 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 404-520-0593 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 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. Register now http://www.hbculibraries.org/html/2012meeting-form.html for the October 21-23, 2012 HBCU Library Alliance 5th Membership Meeting and the Photographic Preservation Pre-Conference in New Orleans, LA. The Pre-Conference and Membership meeting are open to directors and other librarians.