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"A collaborative political resource." |
Civil rights leader James Bevel dies
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| Contributor | Thomas Walker |
| Last Edited | Thomas Walker Dec 22, 2008 03:31pm |
| Category | Obituary |
| News Date | Dec 22, 2008 03:30pm |
| Description | WASHINGTON (Map, News) - The Rev. James L. Bevel, a top lieutenant to Martin Luther King Jr. and key figure in civil rights campaigns in Birmingham and Selma, has died.
Bevel, 72, died Friday in Virginia of pancreatic cancer, said Chevara Orrin, a daughter who lives in Winston-Salem, N.C.
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.
But his legacy was clouded when he was convicted in April for having sex more than a decade ago with his then-teenage daughter. He was living in Loudoun County, Va., when the crime occurred.
Bevel was sentenced to 15 years in prison and was released on bond in November. At the time, doctors estimated he only had a few months to live. |
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