Ralph Abernathy
Civil Rights Leader, Ralph David Abernathy Died On This Date In 1990, In Atlanta, Georgia.
Abernathy Was Born In Linden, Alabama, On March 21, 1926, The Son Of A Farmer.
He Served In The Army During World War II, And Afterwards, Attended Alabama State University. He Earned A Mathematics Degree In 1950. A Year Later, He Got His Master's In Sociology From Atlanta University (Later Known As Atlanta Clark University).
He Became An Ordained Minister In 1948 And Eventually Became The Pastor Of The First Baptist Church In Montgomery, AL.
In 1955, When Rosa Parks Was Arrested, After Refusing To Move To The Back Of The City Bus, Ralph Abernathy And Friend, Martin Luther King, Jr., Organinzed The 381-Day Montgomery Bus Boycott. After More Than A Year The United States Supreme Court Ruled That Segregation On Buses Was Illegal.
In 1957, Martin Luther King, Jr. And Bayard Rustin Founded The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) King Was President And Abernathy Served As Secretary-Treasuerer. After Dr. King's Death, He Became President Of The SCLC.
Ralph Abernathy Continued The Work Started By Dr. King. In May 1968, He Along With Jesse Jackson, Directed The Poor People's Campaign March On Washington, DC. That Same Year He Helped Organize The Atlanta Sanitation Workers' Strike. He Also Organized The Charleston Hospital Workers' Strike In 1969.
Abernathy Resigned From The SCLC In 1977 And Ran Unsuccessfully For The Georgia Congressional Seat.
"In Order For Black History To Live, We Must Continue To Breathe Life Into It." -- Hubert Gaddy, Jr.
