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Remembering Reverend James Lawson Jr.
For Black History Month, join the Library and Politics and Prose Bookstore for a special conversation about Nonviolent: A Memoir of Resistance, Agitation, and Love, the memoir of the late Reverend James Lawson Jr. Rev. Lawson's co-author Emily Yellin will be joined by John C. Lawson II and Episcopal Bishop of Washington Mariann Budde to remember and celebrate Lawson's life and legacy.
Copies of the book will be available for sale from Politics and Prose.
The posthumous memoir of Rev. James Lawson Jr., peer of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., mentor to Congressman John Lewis and the Freedom Riders, and a principal architect of a nonviolent resistance movement that changed the world. Rev. Lawson was one of the most influential yet unheralded heroes of the civil rights era. He rose as a strategist, teacher, and organizer in pivotal campaigns on the national stage against racial and economic injustice. Lawson’s memoir spans 95 years, but it begins far from the spotlight in a large, working-class Ohio family. The son and grandson of Methodist ministers, he receives his license to preach before graduating from high school. Lawson goes on to serve time in prison for refusing the Korean War draft, and learns from independence movements during three years in India and Africa. He then fortifies the principles of a new American Revolution when he teaches nonviolent direct action centered in love and moral clarity to the Little Rock Nine, the Mississippi Freedom Summer volunteers, and countless others. He also becomes a leader in the 1960 Nashville sit-ins, the 1963 Birmingham campaign, the 1966 Meredith March Against Fear, and the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers’ strike.
Nonviolent delivers an intimate self-portrait of Lawson as a man who recognized the inherent dignity of everyone, and challenged all forms of violence, including police brutality, enforced poverty, and what he called plantation capitalism. It shows his quest for justice continuing in Los Angeles well into the 21st century, as he helped foster a more inclusive labor movement and an enduring immigrant rights movement.
Nonviolent is a riveting historical narrative from a central figure in global liberation and a testament to compelling a nation to live up to its founding ideals of liberty and justice for all.
The late Rev. James Lawson Jr. was a pastor who was integral to the Civil Rights Movement and a key figure in ongoing campaigns for labor, gender, and immigrant rights. He introduced the tactical, philosophical, and spiritual facets of nonviolence to generations of activists, and inspired countless people worldwide to join in creating the beloved community.
Emily Yellin is a journalist, writer, and producer. A longtime contributor to The New York Times and author of two other books, she produced a ten-part video series, 1,300 Men: Memphis Strike '68, for The Root. She first met Rev. Lawson when she was five, while attending elementary school in Memphis with his eldest son, John.
John C. Lawson II is a lawyer, judge, and father, and the eldest son of Rev. James M. Lawson Jr. and Dorothy Lawson. He began his career in the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office, where he spent nearly two decades representing some of the county’s most vulnerable residents. In 2009, he was appointed as a Los Angeles Superior Court judge and has dedicated much of his judicial career to working with young people, focusing on rehabilitation, education, and second chances. He has served as a supervising judge of the Los Angeles County Juvenile Justice division.
Much of John Lawson’s life and work is rooted in the values he learned watching his father lead movements for justice, dignity, and nonviolence, and his mother work as a public school teacher. He often describes his work with young people as a continuation of his parents’ legacy: meeting people where they are, believing in their potential, and helping them envision a path forward.
John was born in Nashville. His family soon moved to Memphis, where he was one of the first Black students at Memphis State University Campus elementary school. He continued his public school education during school busing when his family moved to Los Angeles in 1974, where he eventually graduated from Pacific Palisades High School in 1979. John earned his undergraduate degree in Government and Sociology from Oberlin College and his law degree from Howard University School of Law. John and his wife, Cima, live in Southern California and are the proud parents of Raven and Devin Lawson.
Mariann Edgar Budde serves as spiritual leader for the congregations and Episcopal schools in the District of Columbia and four Maryland counties that comprise the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. The first woman elected to this position, she also serves as the chair of the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation, which stewards the ministries of the Washington National Cathedral and Cathedral schools. A passionate believer in the gospel of Jesus and the Episcopal Church’s particular witness, Bishop Budde is committed to the spiritual and numerical growth of congregations and developing new expressions of Christian community. She believes that Jesus calls all who follow him to strive for justice and peace, and to respect the dignity of every human being. She is proud to serve a diocese committed to spiritual maturity, mercy, and justice. She cherishes her friendship with interfaith leaders in the Washington Metro Area and their joint endeavors in service to the common good.
Karen Attiah (moderator) is a journalist and columnist for The Washington Post, known for her insightful work on race, gender, human rights, and international affairs. A native of Dallas Texas, Karen is a former Fulbright Scholar to Ghana, and has a masters degree in international affairs from Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs. She has reported from countries including Nigeria, Curacao, Ghana, and Germany. Her work has appeared various global outlets including Associated Press. In 2016, she became The Washington Post’s founding Global Opinions editor, commissioning op-eds on global issues, and was named an Opinions columnist in 2021. Karen has received numerous awards, including the 2019 George Polk Special Award and NABJ’s Journalist of the Year, and Washingtonian Magazine’s “Star to Watch” Award. She was an adjunct lecturer at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. She is currently working on a book, Say Your Word, Then Leave, a book about the murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
AGE GROUP: | Seniors | Adults |
EVENT TYPE: | Black History Month | Author Talk |
