Honor Reverend C.T. Vivian

17, 2020, at the age of 95; and WHEREAS, C.T. Vivian was a Baptist minister and a member of Dr. King's inner circle of advisers, alongside The Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth, The Reverend Wyatt Tee Walker, The Reverend Ralph Abernathy and other civil rights luminaries; he was the national director of 85 local affiliate chapters of the Southern Christian Leadership Conferences from 1963 to 1966, directing protest activities and training in nonviolence as well as coordinating voter registration and community development projects; and WHEREAS, Cordy Tindell Vivian was born in Boonville, Missouri, on

July 30, 1924, the only child of Robert and Euzetta Tindell Vivian; and WHEREAS, His family moved to Macomb, Illinois, when he was six years-old, and he later graduated from Macomb High School in 1942; he went on to study history at Western Illinois University in Macomb, but dropped out and became a recreation worker in Peoria, Illinois, where he joined his first protest in 1947, helping to desegregate a cafeteria; and WHEREAS, In 1945, C.T. Vivian married Jane Teague, and together they had one daughter, Jo Anna; the couple separated amicably and in 1952, C.T. married Octavia Geans; and WHEREAS, While studying for the ministry at the American Baptist College in Nashville in 1957, C.T. Vivian joined services at a packed local church and for the first time heard Dr. King speak on nonviolence; and WHEREAS, In 1959, C.T. Vivian met The Reverend James Lawson, who was teaching nonviolent strategies to members of the Nashville Student Movement; his students included Diane Nash, Bernard Lafayette, James Bevel and John Lewis, all of whom became prominent civil rights organizers; and WHEREAS, Those students became the nucleus of a successful three-month sit-in campaign at lunch counters in Nashville in 1960; as

4,000 protesters marched on City Hall, C.T. Vivian and Diane Nash confronted Mayor Ben West, who acknowledged that racial discrimination was morally wrong; in less than three weeks, the lunch counters were desegregated; and WHEREAS, A year after the Nashville campaign, C.T. Vivian replaced an injured member of the Congress of Racial Equality on the Freedom Ride to Mississippi and submitted to his first beating; he would be arrested, jailed and beaten many times during his historic struggle for racial justice; and WHEREAS, After a year as a pastor in Chattanooga, C.T. Vivian helped organize Tennessee's contingent for the 1963 March on Washington and was invited to join Dr. King's staff; his civil rights work continued for a half century; he became director of the Urban Training Center for Christian Mission in Chicago in 1966 and Dean of the Shaw University Divinity School in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1972; and WHEREAS, He later founded the Black Action Strategies and Information Center in Atlanta to foster workplace race relations and was a founder of the National Anti-Klan Network, which monitored hate groups; it was later renamed the Center for Democratic Renewal to reflect broader educational goals; and WHEREAS, C.T. Vivian was the Deputy Director for clergy in the 1984 presidential campaign of The Reverend Jesse Jackson; appeared on "Eyes on the Prize" (1987), a 14-part PBS documentary on the civil rights era; and was later the focus of a PBS special, "The Healing Ministry of Dr. C.T. Vivian"; and WHEREAS, Furthermore, C.T. Vivian received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, from President Barack Obama in 2013; and WHEREAS, Predeceased by his wife of almost 60 years, Octavia Vivian, and his son, Cordy Jr., C.T. Vivian is survived by four daughters, Kira Vivian, Denise Morse, Jo Anna Walker and Anita Charisse Thornton; and two sons, Mark Evans Vivian and Albert Louis Vivian; as well as nine grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren, 28 great-great-grandchildren, and two great-great-great-grandchildren; and WHEREAS, In appreciation of his life of commitment, dedication and substantial contribution, it is the intent of this Legislative Body to inscribe upon its records this tribute to the memory of C.T. Vivian that future generations may know and appreciate his admirable character, his many benevolent deeds, and the respect and esteem in which he was held; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to mourn the death of The Reverend C.T. Vivian, and to express its deepest condolences to his family; and be it further RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to the family of C.T. Vivian.