Tuskegee University hosted a celebration of life for Rev. Dr. Bernard LaFayette Jr. on March 23, as hundreds gathered at the university chapel to honor the civil rights leader and advocate of nonviolent social change.
The event brought together family, friends, and colleagues to remember LaFayette’s legacy in advancing civil rights, voter rights movements, and his commitment to teaching nonviolence principles worldwide.
Ambassador Andrew Young attended the service alongside Martin King III and Rev. Bernice King, who both spoke about their experiences working with LaFayette at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. Attendees included many veterans of the civil rights movement who had participated in Freedom Rides and lunch counter protests with LaFayette, who was arrested 27 times during his activism.
Dr. Mark A. Brown, President and CEO of Tuskegee University, said during his remarks: “He walked shoulder to shoulder with those who were students themselves when their moral clarity shaped the movement… How fitting it is, how beautifully poetic that we return Rev. LaFayette to a campus today.” Brown also said: “The movement was not an event, it was a calling for him… Rev. Lafayette left footsteps large enough for a nation to step into. We unite because he marched. We teach because he taught.”
Omar Neal, a former barber and friend of LaFayette’s from his days at American Baptist College in Nashville with John Lewis, urged attendees: “If we want to honor Dr. Bernard Lafayette Jr., each of us needs to go to the polls and vote.”
LaFayette’s influence extended internationally through promoting nonviolence in Nigeria—where thousands put down weapons—and training efforts in Israel among Palestinians.
Dr. Charles Steele called attention to Jesse Jackson’s inspiration from LaFayette: “Jesse Jackson told me the reason he got in the movement was because of Dr. LaFayette… Dr. LaFayette didn’t want scared folks with him.” U.S Representative Terri Sewell stated from Congress: “Through his ministry and teaching new generations… I get to walk the hall of Congress as Alabama’s first Black woman Congressman because of Bernard LaFayette.” Bryan Stevenson described him as a liberator whose perseverance inspired others: “If you close your eyes and reflect on his life, he’ll say to us ‘keep on keeping on.’”
Video tributes came from national figures including Rev. Al Sharpton; Allen Onyema; CEO of Air Peace Nigeria; Rep Terri Sewell; Tennessee State Representative Justin Jones also attended.
