James Luther Bevel

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James Luther Bevel

American minister and political activist

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Dec 15, 2024 • Article History

Quick Facts

Born:: Oct. 19, 1936, Itta Bena, Miss., U.S.

Died:: Dec. 19, 2008, Springfield, Va. (aged 72)

Role In:: American civil rights movement

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James Luther Bevel (born Oct. 19, 1936, Itta Bena, Miss., U.S.—died Dec. 19, 2008, Springfield, Va.) was an American minister and political activist who played a pivotal role in the civil rights movement in the early 1960s. Although Bevel initially intended to pursue a recording career, he felt called to Christian ministry. He entered the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville in 1957; he graduated and was ordained in 1961. 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 ...(100 of 297 words)

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