That summer, Hamer attended a meeting led by civil rights activists James Forman of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and James Bevel of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). And my sisters and my brothers also, you know, because my brothers were also stood behind us 100 percent and said, you know we have to do something. Her father, the Rev. Bevel pleaded not guilty to the one count charged and maintained his innocence. Im very proud to be the daughter of a man who contributed so much to the world through his civil rights work, one of his daughters, Chevarra Orrin, of Winston-Salem, N.C., told The Associated Press. During his childhood years, he resided in both Itta Bena and in Cleveland, Ohio working as a plantation laborer in the . MARTIN: How do you understand this as this kind of culture of acceptance of abuse of children? The trial court found that abating the conviction would deny the victim the closure that she sought and denied the motion to abate. "If you're going to bring it up at all, deal with it in a way that's helpful and healing," she said last week. I secured political freedoms for you." MARTIN: Aaralyn Mills tells her powerful story of rape and recovery in the pages of the Washington Post Magazine. James Bevel, a key aide to Rev. The Rev. You know, it was just me. James Luther Bevel (born October 19, 1936 in Itta Bena, . Bevel was the brilliant, eccentric visionary who, among other things, helped orchestrate the march from Selma to Montgomery and helped persuade King to voice his opposition to the Vietnam War. Bevel said that he had no interest in getting her pregnant. Because the executor of Bevel's estate had not sought to prosecute the appeal, the Court affirmed the dismissal of his appeal as moot. And when she told me that everything I told her about what's happening as I was telling her that really hurt me. ", (For more information about the support group, call Orrin at 722-4671.). The Movement began to stage regular marches to the county courthouse, which had limited hours for blacks to register as voters. As Dr. Martin Luther King's collaborator, Bevel was a key strategist of the Southern Civil Rights Movement. They were severely penalized for missing work and were trying to support their families. Their meetings occurred at Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church, and it was from there that Bevel directed the students, 50 at a time, to peacefully walk to Birmingham's City Hall to talk to Mayor Art Hanes about segregation in the city. So, I grew up with a fear of society and of people, and a great mistrust for the system and a great trust in my father. In the melee, Jackson was shot in the stomach while defending his mother from an attack. And I hid them in her purse or in her shoes and things. James Luther Bevel (born 1936) was a civil rights activist of the 1960s who aligned himself with Martin Luther King, Jr. James Luther Bevel was born in the farming community of Ittabena, Mississippi, on October 19, 1936. I had no idea that it happened to anyone but me including my other sisters. James Bevel, one of the architects of the civil rights movement, a chief lieutenant to Dr. Martin Luther King, was also a child molester. In March 1965 protesters made a symbolic march, inspired by a fiery speech by Bevel at Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church, where much organizing was done. But Bevel testified and denied the charge. Ms. MILLS: It was actually, as in the article, I was actually watching a Oprah show and it was - the difference in this, was there was a little girl. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, In 1961 James and Diane were married. John Lewis, another King confidant who has been a Georgia congressman for more than 20 years, recalled in a memoir that at Spelman College in Atlanta, Mr. Bevel once declared himself a prophet and made his student disciples drink urine to signal their loyalty. She could not share it. James L. Bevel, 71, a key architect of the 1963 Children's Crusade in Birmingham, Ala., and other pivotal moments of the civil rights movement, was convicted earlier this year of a single count of incest. How do we look at this country with these two dynamics? Particularly my - one of my - little sister, not the youngest one that was in the household, but particularly her because I had, I had sought to protect to her. 'You dont like to work on anything that isnt your own idea,' King said, 'Bevel, I think you owe me one.'"[22]. And he used his historical background in the civil rights as an example of see what I did so far, I'm still doing that. And unfortunately not all of us are able to see the abuse even things that are obvious. He was 72. [13] They were under an injunction by the state, so stayed within the city limits. One of the things you said to me was that the healing growth and happiness that my family and I experienced need to be shared. [39] Bevel's attorney appealed the denial of the abatement motion to the Supreme Court of Virginia. James Luther Bevel, one of 17 children, was born on Oct 19, 1936, in Itta Bena, in central Mississippi, and divided his childhood between there and Cleveland, where he worked in the steel mills as a teenager. But this was the meeting in which we called other members of the community, Bernard Layfette and Will Sanders and as well as relatives. Ms. MILLS: Well first of all, I had that feeling, too, that I didn't want to touch it, that I have moved on with my life. [13] King was initially reluctant, but agreed. They should have been helping her father confront his problem, she said. Sentencing guidelines called for probation only. While in the Jackson jail, Bevel and Bernard Lafayette initiated the Mississippi Voting Rights Movement. The Rev. And I would always tell her the things that he did to me and what he would say if he got a chance to do it to her. Bevel would not reveal the evidence, and Ray was convicted of the crime. You know, so it was just - it was like, why? Instead, she told the jury to focus on the single incident for which Bevel is charged: an act of sexual intercourse that occurred in 1993 or 1994 while the daughter was a teenager and was living with her father in Leesburg. He helped with initiating and directing the 1961 and 1962 voting rights movement in Mississippi. [13] While at seminary, Bevel reread Leo Tolstoy's 1894 book The Kingdom of God Is Within You, which had previously inspired his decision to leave the military. When she approaches people and identifies herself as James Bevels and my daughter, many are very welcoming and attempt to help her in any way possible, not knowing that she and I have been estranged for decades. [citation needed] During his speech to the crowd that day, Bevel called for a larger march in Washington D.C., a plan that evolved into the October 1967 March on the Pentagon. What saddened Orrin was that speakers at the five-hour funeral danced around the fact that Bevel had been convicted just this past spring of molesting one of his daughters in the 1990s. MARTIN: So in his world, he decides what true and not true. Bevel then launched into an extended explanation of his philosophy, which includes applying the teachings of the New Testament to the "science of constitutionality." In 2005, Bevel was accused of incest by one of his daughters and abuse by three others. But first, we go behind Closed Doors, that's our weekly segment when we talk about painful issues. The street lights were turned off by Alabama State Troopers who attacked the protesters. Bevel never submitted the collected petitions and left the state the following summer. Bevel, 72, died Friday in Virginia after a fight with pancreatic cancer, said a daughter, Chevara Orrin, who lives in Winston-Salem, N.C. Social services would have taken custody of Orrin and her siblings if they pressed charges, Orrin said her mother told her. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Some protesters were jailed, but the movement kept the pressure on. While working on SNCC's commitment to desegregate theaters, Bevel successfully directed the 1961 Nashville Open Theater Movement. Those that suffer in similar or different ways need to know that they don't have to carry the burden of their trauma and pain for the rest of their lives. Ms. MILLS: Perhaps. [15] Diane Nash, the Nashville Student Movement's chairman, urged the group to continue the Freedom Rides, and called for college volunteers from Fisk and other universities across the South. But what options do they have. [30] The commission was associated with conspiracy theorist Lyndon LaRouche, and sought to persuade the state legislature to reopen its two-year investigation into the Franklin child prostitution ring allegations. Martin Luther King Jr. and a legendary leader of the student sit-in and Freedom Ride movements. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. After leaving the SCLC the year prior, Bevel created the Making of the Man Clinic in 1970. Later efforts in Mississippi developed as Freedom Summer in 1964, when extensive voter education and registration efforts took place. He subsequently joined the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), serving as project director and becoming one of the most influential advisers to the SCLCs head, Martin Luther King, Jr. On Bevels recommendation, hundreds of youth were mobilized in 1963 in the childrens crusade to participate in peaceful antisegregation protests in downtown Birmingham, Ala. A jury yesterday convicted an iconic figure in the civil rights movement of incest, after concluding that he had sex with his teenage daughter 15 years ago. "He confronted Bevel, who had been a mentor to Jackson and Young, as 'a genius who flummoxed his own heart'. It has been more than a year since I sat with my older brother at my father's side, watching him slowly succumb to pancreatic cancer. One, their own stories, each of them being able to tell their stories to me and for us to share. How do you understand that? James L. Bevel is shown in a photoprovided by the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office. Did you always know that it was wrong? [13], Actor and rapper Common portrays Bevel in the 2014 film Selma.[42]. While in the Seminary, Bevel joined the Nashville chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), then led by the Reverend . She and several of her siblings compiled affidavits detailing sexual abuse and confronted their father. "I'm very proud to be the daughter of a man who contributed so much to the world through his civil-rights work," she told The Associated Press on Dec. 19, the day her father died at the age of 72. Ms. MILLS: Yeah, it was - it was like intervention, but for my father it was a meeting, it was a, you know, you present your case, I'll present my case. He worked on a cotton plantation for a time as a youth and later in a steel mill. 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. He was convicted earlier this year of having sex 15 years ago with his then-teenage daughter in Virginia. King asked Bevel to refrain from recruiting students, and Bevel instead said that he would organize the children to march to Washington D.C. to meet with Kennedy about segregation, and King agreed. MARTIN: How many siblings do you believe were abused by your father? Ms. MILLS: I mean we have to look at a lot of aspects of life, in those parallels. Lela was born in Brownwood, January 17, 1937, the oldest of four daughters of Berl and Lela Naomi (Sansing) Clark. And I realized that, one, that it wasn't just you know, one way to live. All rights reserved. In 1992, he was vice presidential running mate to political maverick Lyndon LaRouche, who has a home in Loudoun County but at the time was in a federal prison for a tax conviction. It's time for the silence to end, she said, whether the molester is famous or anonymous. We didn't know each other really, and we were just getting to know each other, but I didn't know how difficult it would be. During what was later called the Birmingham Children's Crusade, President John F. Kennedy asked King to stop using children in the campaign. He was a Black Civil rights activist and minister. Mr. Bevel had been released from prison in November because he had pancreatic cancer.. The Associated Press generally does not identify the victims of sexual abuse. I have to say, I think that it is powerfully courageous thing to do. She is telling us her story of rape and recovery. The accuser, one of his daughters, was 13-15 years old and lived with him in the Leesburg apartment. In subsequent years Bevel continued his political activism. MARTIN: You wrote her a letter telling her what happen. And as if it was a conspiracy against him. I'm Michel Martin, and this is tell me more from NPR News. Bevel testified during Wednesday's hearing that he was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer that has spread to his liver. Less than a month after his sentencing in October 2008, Bevel was released from prison on appeal. Soon after, another three daughters said he had sexually abused them as . A fight broke out between LaRouche supporters and black nationalists.[34]. As an adult, Orrin asked her father why he had not provided for his children. Martin Luther King Jr. to tear down the walls of segregation. They lived and raised their family in La Pryor before moving to Haskell in 1982. In late 1963 Bevel, Nash, and Orange also worked with local grassroots organizations to educate blacks and support them in trying to gain registration as voters, but made little progress. They invited King and other SCLC leaders to Selma to develop larger protests and actions, and work alongside Bevel's and Nash's Alabama Project. Some veteran civil-rights activists told her and her siblings not to press charges against Bevel, Orrin said, because the publicity would hurt the legacy of the movement. "Saying 'I'm sorry' is a game we play. This was financially backed by the Unification Church of Sun Myung Moon, which appeared to be trying to improve its controversial image by allying with such respected leaders. Although Bevel initially intended to pursue a recording career, he felt called to Christian ministry. [20] Bevel was influential in gaining King's support for the anti-war movement,[13] and with King's agreeing to participate as a speaker Bevel agreed to lead the antiwar effort. She said that her mother, who is white, told her that no one would have believed them. Its so amazing it doesnt matter if its yours or not. And it reminded us that those feelings of being ashamed and alone can be magnified when the perpetrator is in a position of trust, highly regarded by the community, perhaps a family member. Updates? Things we often feel we have to keep hidden. In 1962, Bevel was invited to meet in Atlanta with Martin Luther King Jr, a minister who was head of the SCLC. That really made me feel not just powerless but that, what can you do? 3. That resilience has been tested recently. And I know that good can win.. And we really wanted our father based on who he is and his own understanding to take that step to look at himself, to begin to if not challenge other men first by challenging himself. Bevel died Friday in Virginia. Public defender Bonnie Hoffman urged the jury to ignore evidence that Bevel led an unconventional, communal lifestyle in which he taught that it was parents' duty to "sexually orient" their children. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. [21], In 1968 Dr. King objected to Bevel and other SCLC organizers' opposition to proceeding with King's planned Poor People's Campaign. They divorced after seven years. It includes this line: I'm gonna keep on a-walkin', Lord, keep on a-talking, Lord, marching up to freedom land. He was recently released on bond while appealing a 15-year. In an opinion issued November 4, 2011, the commonwealth's Supreme Court held that abatement of criminal convictions was not available in Virginia under the circumstances of Bevel's case. How should we think about those two James Bevels? In 1962 Bevel met with Rev. How many of your sisters? [41] He married two other women in the following decades, and had told the court during his incest case that he had 16 children born of seven women. Bevel had hoped for probation so he could enter hospice care. And then also for us to go together, because we didn't grow up together. They worked together on civil rights, and had a daughter and son together. Six weeks later, he died of pancreatic cancer. Chris Kaiser bought a kit and built a grain silo thinking he would use it for storage. Mr. Bevel had been released from prison in November because he had pancreatic cancer. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. [31], In 1992, Bevel ran on LaRouche's ticket as the vice presidential candidate. James Bevel, a civil rights leader and close associate of Martin Luther King Jr.s, being sentenced to 15 years in prison for unlawful fornication. He and the others were arrested after they arrived in Jackson, Mississippi and tried to desegregate the waiting rooms in the bus terminal. In the phone call between Bevel and his daughter, Bevel never made an explicit admission that he had sexual intercourse with his daughter. It must have been even more painful to tell. The daughter is one of 16 children Bevel said he has had with several different women. They also revealed that at least four other daughters Bevel had with various women have made similar allegations against him. Sherrilynn is also estranged from her brother and from both of her adult children. His l. But she wanted Athena with her: I refuse to let my daughter live without what I so desperately needed: stability, happiness, home., To that end, Liese works three jobs. Bevel was born on October 19, 1936 in Itta Bena, Mississippi. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. James L. Bevel, 71, an architect of the 1963 Children's Crusade in Birmingham, Ala., and other pivotal moments of the civil rights movement, was convicted earlier this year of a single . In 1963, SCLC agreed to assist its co-founder, Fred Shuttlesworth, and others in their work on desegregating retail businesses and jobs in Birmingham, Alabama, where discussion and negotiations with city officials had yielded few results. Orrin, 32, is the daughter of Rev. And what really helped me was the fact that I had such a support system. And being there for two years, I was saturated in the environment where family values and just you know, I grew up where there was a lot of talked about love and peace, and happiness, and family values. Jurors heard a phone call between Bevel and his daughter in which he never explicitly admits to sexual intercourse but seems to take for granted that it occurred. Ms. MILLS: Yeah, that could be some, definitely can. I mean, I remember being afraid of being taken from my home, you know that that was an option that I could be leaved and I would have to stay at a foster home, and I had these horrible images that foster homes would be worse. Happiness is amazing. There was this American fellow, James Bevel, who initiated and organized the main events of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, and then turned around twice and initiated the first large-scale protests of the Anti-Vietnam War Movement. The assault occurred in the early 1990s in Loudoun County, when Bevel was working closely with the Virginia-based organization led by political extremist Lyndon LaRouche. Bevel's daughter testified that she was repeatedly molested by Bevel beginning when she was just 6 years old, culminating in an act of sexual intercourse in 1993 or 1994 that formed the basis of the incest charge. This defendant should die in jail.". Related Videos Bloody Sunday (TV-14; 4:10) [19] He worked to create tenant unions and build grassroots action to "end" slums. He said his family mistakenly perceived his refusal to deny the specific allegations against him as an admission of guilt. And I am wondering how it is that you and your siblings, you particularly, were able to do it. Six weeks later, he died of pancreatic cancer. In 1967, Bevel was chairman of the Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam. Orrin has undergone years of counseling to deal with the abuse she said she suffered from her father. After a stint in the services, Bevel was called to the ministry and enrolled in the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee. The news coverage, which featured children being water-hosed by police and more than 600 youth being arrested, prompted a groundswell of support for the civil rights movement. They were poor, and Bevel was a civil-rights giant. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. During that 90-minute call, Bevel's daughter asked him why he had sex with her the one time in 1993, and she asked him why he wanted her to use a vaginal douche afterward. MARTIN: Sounds like you would have made a hell of an organizer? Bevel was born in 1936 in Itta Bena, Mississippi, the son of Illie and Dennis Bevel. James Luther Bevel (October 19, 1936 December 19, 2008) was a minister and leader of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement in the United States. He was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. She later, she asked me to recount a tale - some other woman who in new environment, what happened. MARTIN: Have you spoken to your father since the trial? And Orrin said her mother correctly assumed that she would have been afraid to confront her father in court. James Bevel, October 19, James Bevel was an American minister and prominent civil rights activist.. James Bevel, October 19, James Bevel was an American minister and prominent civil rights activist.. . There's no exception" Wittmann said. James L. Bevel, 71, a key architect of the 1963 Children's Crusade in Birmingham, Ala., and other pivotal moments of the civil rights movement, was convicted earlier this year of a. His bond was revoked and he was taken into custody. [citation needed]. He was tried in April 2008, convicted of incest, sentenced to 15 years in prison, [11] and fined $50,000. Enoch Bevel Spring 2010. Bevel and others were grieved and outraged. And I wanted so much for him, not just to be a grandfather for grandfather's sake, but for him to find healing in himself and to come to some peace in himself so that he could be a grandfather and father. James L. Bevel, a prominent figure in the civil rights movement whose legacy was clouded by an incest conviction has died, a relative said. She was kind enough to join us here on our Washington studio. SNCC had been conducting a Voting Rights Project (headed by Prathia Hall and Worth Long) since the early 1960s, meeting with violence in Alabama. While a seminarian, he participated in two forms of nonviolent protest against institutionalized racial segregation: sit-ins by African American youths at department-store lunch counters in 1960 and the Freedom Rides on bus lines throughout the South in 1961. "I do love my father," she wrote me in a follow-up e-mail. And so, I had moved on and I had felt that my father perhaps - like it was my fault. [13], Feeling an inner call to become a minister, he attended the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee from 1957 to 1961 and became a Baptist preacher. Do you think that's what it was? From previous discussions with King, and from work of American Friends Service Committee activist Bill Moyer, Bevel organized, and directed the Chicago open housing movement. A deathbed interview with Rev. Ms. MILLS: Right, because I always wrote letters. At the time, he was living and working in Leesburg, Virginia, near LaRouche's headquarters. In April 2008 he was convicted of committing incest with one of his daughters and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. In 2007, one of his daughters accused him of molesting her in the 90s. James Bevel (1936-2008) James Bevel was one of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s most trusted advisors during the American Civil Rights campaigns of the mid-20th century. Bevel selected the student teams for the buses. Market data provided by Factset. And that you know they're my children, because my son knows his grandfather and he knows Martin Luther King and you know very respectful of him. In spite of everything, I was a happy kid, resilient, she says. James L. Bevel, The Freedom Rides, This page was last edited on 26 March 2023, at 04:18. Bevel's legacy is muddled, though. [18] Bevel and Nash did not attend, and instead watched Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech on television. Though initially reluctant, Dr. King finally agreed. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. And you describe this - I don't know what words to use, it's almost like a trial at - so you decided you should put him on trial, and then he defended himself in this, I don't even really know how to describe it. MARTIN: And you did try to tell your mother what was happening? "At the end of the day, they're still our fathers, our mothers, our uncles and aunts and brothers and sisters," she said. He reminded SCLC's executive board and staff that evening that King had left "marching orders" that, if anything should happen to him, he intended for Abernathy to take his place as SCLC's Chairman. During his trial, testimony indicated that Bevel considered it parents' duty to "sexually orient" their children. The daughter is one of at least 14 children Bevel has with several different women, according to her testimony on Monday. And she always told me, no he doesn't do that to me, I have a wonderful relationship with my dad. Recently, Mills shared her story in the Washington Post Magazine, and she joins us now. There are a lot of people who would have run in the other direction, who would have just, look I am gone - I don't - I can't deal with this. Bevel suggested recruiting students in the campaign. Bevel spent weeks developing strategy, recruiting and educating students in the philosophy and techniques of nonviolence. MARTIN: Your father's name is one that appears in many, many history books. James Bevel, was an icon of the civil-rights movement who worked closely with the Rev. And there is plenty of darkness. He put this barrier between us and the world. At trial, Bevel denied committing the sexual act and his recorded statement was used against him. It doesn't necessarily make sense. Suffering from terminal pancreatic cancer, Bevel was released on bond due to ill health in November, and died at another daughter's home in December. And when I left there, I began that process of deciding and designing how I wanted to live my life.
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