Biography of Equality worker Rev. Joseph Lowerey
A Brief Resume of the Life & Times of Rev. Joseph Lowerey
Jan 21, 2009
Thanks to the part he played in the recent Inauguration of President Barack Obama, the Reverend Doctor Joseph E Lowerey has become better known to the international public. Reverend Lowerey delivered the Benediction concluding the inaugural ceremony in Washington DC on 20th January 2009.
A Methodist minister married to Evelyn Gibson Lowerey and father of 5 children, Dr Lowerey has worked tirelessly for 5 decades for racial equality and justice. He took the opportunity to lead the Nation in a prayer for forgiveness for having sown the seeds of greed and corruption and he asked God to bring forth forgiveness and healing for the Nation’s brokenness.
Alabama Civic Affairs Association
Civil Rights’ Leader Rev. Lowerey became prominent in the Civil Rights movement in the early 1950s in Mobile Alabama. He headed the Alabama Civic Affairs Association, which led the movement for the desegregation of the buses and public accommodation. While in Mobile a libel suit against him resulted in his property being seized by the Alabama courts. However this was later rescinded upon appeal to the Supreme Court.
Rosa Parks & Coretta Scott King Funerals
He became internationally known as a speaker for the Civil Rights’ Movement when he did the eulogies for the funerals of Rosa Parks in Detroit and Coretta Scott King in Atlanta. He took advantage of the international interest that these funerals occasioned to plead for equality and justice.
In 1957, Reverend Lowerey co-founded, along with Martin Luther King Jr, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, for whom he has served as both Vice President and Chief Executive Officer.
In 1967, the Selma to Montgomery march led to the Voting Rights Act. Reverend Lowerey led the delegation taking their demands to Governor George Wallace.
In 1987 he again shot to prominence when he led the Alabama to Washington pilgrimage to demand the freeing of Maggie Bozeman and Julia Wilder who had been falsely convicted of voter fraud. This helped to gain extensions to the Voting Rights Act to 2007.
The 1960’s and 1970’s
In 1968 Lowerey was arrested in Atlanta whilst fighting for the rights of the city garbage operatives. During the missing and murdered children’s crisis in 1979 he used his office to urge the federal, state and local law agencies to work towards justice. Pouring oil on troubled waters, he urged the community to pull together rather than fight against each other.
Affirmative Action Pioneer
Lowerey was a pioneer in the use of affirmative action to bring about equality and justice in society. Such actions were aimed at desegregation and also at bringing about inclusiveness in the workplace.
South Africa Activist
In 1984, during the “Free South Africa” campaign, he was arrested during a protest at the South African Embassy in Washington DC.
The catalogue of his works goes on and on, more than can be covered in this brief synopsis. In honour of his contributions he has received no less than 12 honorary doctorates and in 1992 was awarded Boston University’s first Annual Martin Luther King Jr Award, the latest of 37 awards he has received to date for his services to the community.
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