Married on May 5, 1947, Reverend Joseph Lowery and his wife Evelyn set the stage for a lifetime of “good trouble.”
The civil rights advocates had hoped they’d never go toe-to-toe with violent adversaries on their quest, but one such enemy gave them good reason to face off in Decatur, Alabama.
While protesting the conviction of a mentally challenged Black man named Tommy Lee Hines, whose unjust trial made national headlines in 1978, a mob of Ku Klux Klan members attacked!
Six Klansmen shattered Evelyn’s windshield with gunfire and physically attacked Joseph and other marchers. The close encounter naturally caused them to wonder if it was safe to press on. Nevertheless, their enduring love for each other and Black people steadied their resolve.
The Lowerys continued their work through Joseph’s co-founded organization the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and its sister arm Women’s Organizational Movement for Equality Now, Inc. (W.O.M.E.N.) where Evelyn led the fight for women and children.
They sacrificed their time, energy, safety, and expertise for over 66 years, until Evelyn’s death in 2013 and Joseph’s in March 2020, leaving behind a decades-long legacy of courage and moral resolve.
Just as this couple did all their lives, we must take big risks to create a legacy that impacts the world for generations. Now, that’s Black love.