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James Luther Bevel (October 19, 1936 – December 19, 2008) was a minister and leader of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. As the Director of Direct Action and of Nonviolent Education of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), he initiated, strategized, directed, and developed SCLC's three major successes of the era:〔Randall L. Kryn, "James L. Bevel; The Strategist of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement", in (Garrow )], ''We Shall Overcome, Volume II'' (1989), Carlson Publishing Company〕〔(Randy Kryn, "Movement Revision Research Summary Regarding James Bevel" ), October 2005, Middlebury College〕 the 1963 Birmingham Children's Crusade, the 1965 Selma Voting Rights Movement, and the 1966 Chicago Open Housing Movement.〔Kryn in Garrow, 1989.〕 He suggested that SCLC call for and join a March on Washington in 1963.〔Kryn in Garrow, 1989, p. 533.〕 Bevel later strategized the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches, which contributed to Congressional passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Prior to his time with SCLC, Bevel worked in the Nashville Student Movement, which conducted the 1960 Nashville Lunch-Counter Sit-Ins, the 1961 Open Theater Movement, and recruited students to continue the 1961 Freedom Rides after they were severely attacked. He initiated and directed some of the 1961 and '62 voting rights movement in Mississippi. In 1967, Bevel was chair of the Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam. He initiated the 1967 March on the United Nations as part of the anti-war movement.〔〔Kryn, 2005.〕 His last major action was as co-initiator of the 1995 Day of Atonement/Million Man March in Washington, DC. For his work Bevel has been called a father of voting rights, the strategist and architect of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement,〔Kryn in Garrow, 1989, title & p. 532.〕 and half of the first-tier team that formulated many of the strategies and actions to gain federal legislation and social changes during the 1960s civil rights era.〔〔Kryn, 2005.〕 In 2005 Bevel was accused of incest by one of his daughters and abuse by three others. He was tried in April 2008. Maintaining his innocence, Bevel was convicted of unlawful fornication; he was sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined $50,000. After serving seven months he was freed awaiting an appeal; he died of pancreatic cancer in December 2008. He was buried in Eutaw, Alabama. ==Early life and education== Born in Itta Bena, Mississippi in 1936, Bevel was one of seventeen children. He grew up in rural LeFlore County of the Mississippi Delta and in Cleveland. He worked on a cotton plantation for a time as a youth and later in a steel mill. He was educated at segregated local schools in Mississippi and in Cleveland, Ohio. After high school he served in the U.S. Navy for a time and seemed headed for a career as a singer.〔 Called in a different direction, he attended the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee, from 1957 to 1961, becoming a Baptist preacher. He also joined the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.〔 While at seminary, he reread Leo Tolstoy's ''The Kingdom of God is Within You,'' which had earlier inspired his decision to leave the military. Bevel also read several of Mohandas Gandhi's books and newspapers while taking off-campus workshops on Gandhi's philosophy and nonviolent techniques taught by Rev. James Lawson of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Bevel also attended workshops at the Highlander Folk School taught by its founder, Myles Horton, who emphasized grassroots organizing. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「James Bevel」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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