Civil Rights Icon and HBCU Leader Bernard LaFayette Dies At 85

Bernard LaFayette, a pivotal strategist in the Civil Rights Movement and proud alumnus of American Baptist College in Nashville, has died at age 85. LaFayette's groundbreaking organizing work in Selma, Alabama, helped pave the way for the historic Voting Rights Act of 1965 and left an indelible mark on American history.

LaFayette died March 5 of a heart attack, according to his son, Bernard LaFayette III. His decades-long career in activism, education, and nonviolence training demonstrated the transformative power of HBCU education in shaping leaders who change the world.

Martin Luther King III, son of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., paid tribute to LaFayette on social media, writing:

"I am saddened to learn of the passing of a dear friend and one of my father's trusted colleagues, Bernard Lafayette Jr...He was one of the great teachers of nonviolence in our time, dedicating his life to bringing the practice of nonviolence to people at home and abroad. He helped train new generations in the philosophy of nonviolence alongside my mother at the King Center and through his work with communities and leaders across the world."

Selma's Unsung Architect

While the violent images from "Bloody Sunday" in March 1965 shocked the nation and galvanized Congressional action, LaFayette's behind-the-scenes organizing work in Selma began years earlier.

He and his former wife, Colia Liddell, helped Selma residents build a grassroots movement through community organizing and training. The danger was constant. On the same night civil rights leader Medgar Evers was assassinated in Mississippi in 1963, LaFayette survived an assassination attempt outside his Selma home. After being ambushed and beaten by two men who had faked car trouble, LaFayette demonstrated his commitment to nonviolence by urging a neighbor who arrived with a rifle to not shoot his attackers.

A Life Committed to Justice

Born in Tampa, Florida, LaFayette traced his mission to fight injustice to a childhood incident. At age seven, he watched his grandmother fall while trying to board a segregated trolley after paying her fare at the front. "I felt like a sword cut me in half, and I vowed I would do something about this problem one day," he wrote in his memoir.

LaFayette's civil rights work extended far beyond Selma:

• Participated in the Freedom Rides of 1961, enduring beatings in Montgomery, Alabama, and arrest in Jackson, Mississippi
• Served time in the notorious Parchman prison alongside hundreds of other activists
• Worked as national coordinator of the Poor People's Campaign in 1968 alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
• Expanded his nonviolence training internationally to South Africa, Nigeria, and Latin America

LaFayette is survived by his wife, Kate Bulls Lafayette, and his children, including Bernard LaFayette III and James Lafayette Sr. His legacy as an HBCU graduate who transformed America's social landscape continues to inspire current and future generations of students pursuing justice and equality.

Originally reported by Black Enterprise.