UM Men
INSIGHTS
James Lawson inducted into Society of John Wesley The Rev. James Lawson, 92, one of the pillars of the civil rights movement, was inducted as a fellow in the Society of John Wesley during a February 6 celebration. The UM Men of CaliforniaPacific Annual Conference, UM Men of Holman UMC, and UM Men of the Western Jurisdiction presented the award. “We so often honor our heroes after death; here we were able to share the moment with the living legend,” said Reggie Grant, a member of the General Commission on UM Men and sponsor of the event. “Jim Lawson is still a powerhouse of insight, knowledge and so inspiring. I am honored to have been a part of the celebration. Lawson is a leading theoretician and tactician of nonviolence. Recruited by Martin Luther King, he trained many activists in nonviolent resistance including Diane Nash; Washington D.C. Mayor Marion Barry; U.S. Congressional Representative John Lewis; Bernard Lafayette; and James Bevel.
Early life Lawson was born on September 22, 1928, in Uniontown, Pa. He grew up in Massillon, Ohio. Both Lawson’s father and grandfather were Methodist ministers. After graduating from Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio, he went to Nagpur, India, where he studied nonviolence resistance.
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He returned to the United States in 1956 and entered the Graduate School of Theology at Oberlin College in Ohio where he married Dorothy Wood and the couple had three sons, John, Morris and Seth.
Enrolls in Vanderbilt Lawson enrolled at the Divinity School of Vanderbilt University in 1958, where he served as the southern director for Congress on Racial Equality and began conducting nonviolence training workshops in his church basement. In 1959 and 1960 he launched sit-ins at Nashville lunch counters to challenge segregation laws. In 1960, he was expelled from Vanderbilt for these activities, a move that captured national attention and caused several faculty members to resign. He later graduated from Boston University School of Theology.
Pastor in Memphis In 1962, he was appointed pastor of Centenary Methodist Church in Memphis, Tenn. In 1968, black sanitation workers began a strike and Lawson chaired their strike committee. Six years later he extended an invitation to Dr. King to speak in Memphis. It was in that city, King delivered his “Mountaintop” speech, and was killed in April 1968.
