LOS ANGELES — A celebration of the co-naming of a milelong stretch of Adams Boulevard in South Los Angeles as the Reverend James Lawson Mile will be held Thursday at Holman United Methodist Church.
The 4 p.m. unveiling of the sign at the church where Lawson was the pastor from 1974 to his retirement in 1999 will be preceded by a 3 p.m. march from the intersection of Adams and Crenshaw boulevards, the western end of the mile, to Arlington Avenue, its eastern end.
The peaceful march will pay homage to Lawson and his teachings of unity, according to Councilwoman Heather Hutt, who introduced the motion to name the stretch of the street for Lawson.
Hutt and Yvonne Wheeler, the president of the Los Angeles County Federation, will be joined in speaking at the unveiling by other community leaders and activists.
“Rev. James Lawson was a relentless advocate who, during the Civil Rights Movement, led Freedom Rides, advocated for voting rights, and truly built a legacy that left an indelible mark on social justice movements around the world,” Hutt said in a statement Sept. 21, two days after she introduced the motion to create the Reverend James Lawson Mile, which was approved by the council on a 13-0 vote Wednesday.
“As someone who pushed for a world of nonviolence and unity amongst all people, we must ensure that his legacy and name is carried on for generations to come. It brings me much joy to pay homage to the immense impact Reverend Lawson has made on our society by naming a portion of Adams Boulevard the Reverend James Lawson Mile.”
Born James Morris Lawson Jr. Sept. 22, 1928, in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, the son and grandson of Methodist ministers, Lawson was raised in Massillon, Ohio.
ATLANTA, GA – JULY 30: Civil rights leader Rev. James M. Lawson speaks during the funeral service of the late Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) at Ebenezer Baptist Church on July 30, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia. Former U.S. President Barack Obama gave the eulogy for the late Democratic congressman and former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton were also in attendance. Rep. Lewis was a civil rights pioneer, contemporary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and helped to organize and address the historic March on Washington in August 1963. (Photo by Alyssa Pointer-Pool/Getty Images)
FILE – In this Sept. 17, 2015, file photo, the Rev. James Lawson speaks in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Lawson, who led nonviolence workshops during the civil rights struggles of the 1960s, said he’s encouraged by efforts to maintain equality at the polls amid what he see as attempts to thwart it. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)
Anna Sandhu Ray displays her wedding ring and certificate of marriage on Oct. 13, 1978 in Petros, Tennessee, she was married to James Earl Ray at Burshy Mountain Prison Friday. Behind her is Rev. James Lawson who heard the vows. (AP Photo/JHJR)
MEMPHIS, TN – APRIL 04: Rev. James Lawson speaks from the balcony outside room 306 at the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated 50 years ago, April 4, 2018 in Memphis, Tennessee. The city is commemorating his legacy with a series of events, including speeches and memorials on the balcony outside his hotel room 306, which is now part of the complex of the National Civil Rights Museum. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
FILE – In this Sept. 17, 2015, file photo, the Rev. James Lawson speaks in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Lawson, who led nonviolence workshops during the civil rights struggles of the 1960s, said he’s encouraged by efforts to maintain equality at the polls amid what he see as attempts to thwart it. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)
Rev. James Lawson, a Civil Rights era activist and 1961 Freedom Rider, gestures during a labor rally Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2003 in Oakland Park, Fla. Lawson was among a group of union and civic leaders announcing the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride where immigrant workers and supporters will set out in buses from Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Miami, Boston, Chicago and Minneapolis to Washington, D.C. in support of immigration reform. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
LOS ANGELES, CA – AUGUST 12: Director Lee Daniels (L) and James Lawson attend LEE DANIELS’ THE BUTLER Los Angeles premiere, hosted by TWC, Budweiser and FIJI Water, Purity Vodka and Stack Wines, held at the Ritz-Carlton on August 12, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for TWC)
LOS ANGELES, CA – AUGUST 12: Director Lee Daniels (L) and James Lawson attend LEE DANIELS’ THE BUTLER Los Angeles premiere, hosted by TWC, Budweiser and FIJI Water, Purity Vodka and Stack Wines, held at the Ritz-Carlton on August 12, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for TWC)
LOS ANGELES, CA – FEBRUARY 07: Reverend James Lawson attends USC School Of Cinematic Arts Presents “The Power Of Film To Create Social Change” Panel Discussion at Landmark Nuart Theatre on February 7, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Valerie Macon/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – FEBRUARY 07: (L-R) Cari Beauchamp, Reverend James Lawson, Octavia Spencer, Ai-Jen Poo, Tate Taylor, Michael Taylor and Rabbi Allen I. Freehling attend USC School Of Cinematic Arts Presents “The Power Of Film To Create Social Change” Panel Discussion at Landmark Nuart Theatre on February 7, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Valerie Macon/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – APRIL 04: Labor leader William Lucy (R) from AFSCME and civil rights leader Rev. James Lawson speaks attend an event in solidarity with union workers in Wisconsin on the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s assassination at First AME Church on April 4, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. Labor unions throughout the country rallied around Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s message for the rights of labor. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Rev. James Lawson speaks on the balcony outside Room 306 at the National Civil Rights Museum, formerly the Lorraine Motel, on the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Wednesday, April 4, 2018, in Memphis, Tenn. King was staying in Room 306 when he was assassinated in 1968. Lawson was serving as chairman of the sanitation workers strike committee at the time, for which King had come to Memphis to help. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
LOS ANGELES, CA – APRIL 04: Rev. James Lawson speaks from the pulpit of the First AME Church during an event in solidarity with union workers in Wisconsin on the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s assassination on April 4, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. Labor unions throughout the country rallied around Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s message for the rights of labor. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – APRIL 04: Rev. James Lawson speaks from the pulpit of the First AME Church during an event in solidarity with union workers in Wisconsin on the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s assassination on April 4, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. Labor unions throughout the country rallied around Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s message for the rights of labor. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – DECEMBER 06: James Lawson attends the Children’s Defense Fund California’s 28th Annual Beat The Odds Awards at the Skirball Cultural Center on December 06, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – DECEMBER 06: James Lawson speaks at the Children’s Defense Fund California’s 28th Annual Beat The Odds Awards at Skirball Cultural Center on December 6, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Gabriel Olsen/Getty Images)
US professor/activist Reverend James Lawson and Executive Director of the Children’s Defense Fund Shimica Gaskins arrive for the Children’s Defense Fund-California’s 28th Annual Beat the Odds awards at the Skirball cultural center in Los Angeles on December 6, 2018. (Photo by LISA O’CONNOR / AFP) (Photo credit should read LISA O’CONNOR/AFP via Getty Images)
Institute volunteer James Armstrong, left, speaks with Rev. James Lawson, center, and Rev. C.T. Vivian while they tour the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute during the final stop in Birmingham, Ala., for the Freedom Ride on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2007. A group from Nashville re-traced the historic journey from Montgomery, Ala., to Birmingham during the weekend trip. (AP Photo/Michelle Williams)
Rev. James Lawson, left, civil rights leader/activist and California Attorney General, Kamala Harris, share a laugh Friday Jan. 14, 2011 during an annual breakfast recognizing the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
LOS ANGELES, CA – FEBRUARY 07: Pastor Emeritus Holman United Methodist Church, Legendary Civil Rights activist – Reverend James Lawson, Octavia Spencer and Director/Writer Tate Taylor at “The Help – The Power Of Film To Create Social Change” Panel Discussion Presented By USC School Of Cinematic Arts at the Landmark Theater on February 7, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Invision/AP Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – FEBRUARY 07: Pastor Emeritus Holman United Methodist Church, Legendary Civil Rights activist – Reverend James Lawson and Octavia Spencer at “The Help – The Power Of Film To Create Social Change” Panel Discussion Presented By USC School Of Cinematic Arts at the Landmark Theater on February 7, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Invision/AP Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – FEBRUARY 07: Pastor Emeritus Holman United Methodist Church, Legendary Civil Rights activist – Reverend James Lawson at “The Help – The Power Of Film To Create Social Change” Panel Discussion Presented By USC School Of Cinematic Arts at the Landmark Theater on February 7, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Invision/AP Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – FEBRUARY 07: Pastor Emeritus Holman United Methodist Church, Legendary Civil Rights activist – Reverend James Lawson at “The Help – The Power Of Film To Create Social Change” Panel Discussion Presented By USC School Of Cinematic Arts at the Landmark Theater on February 7, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Invision/AP Images)
Rev. C.T. Vivian, left, and Rev. James Lawson take part in a discussion at Middle Tennessee State University about the Voting Rights Act Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015, in Murfreesboro, Tenn. The two legends of the Civil Rights Movement say they’re encouraged by efforts to maintain equality at the polls amid what they see as attempts to thwart it. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Rev. C.T. Vivian, left, and Rev. James Lawson take part in a discussion at Middle Tennessee State University about the Voting Rights Act Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015, in Murfreesboro, Tenn. The two legends of the Civil Rights Movement say they’re encouraged by efforts to maintain equality at the polls amid what they see as attempts to thwart it. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
People march in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Wednesday, April 4, 2018, in Memphis, Tenn. From left are Rev. James Lawson, labor union leader Lee Saunders, Bishop Charles E. Blake Sr., Rev. Al Sharpton, and Martin Luther King III. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
FILE – In this Sept. 17, 2015, file photo, the Rev. James Lawson speaks in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Lawson, who led nonviolence workshops during the civil rights struggles of the 1960s, said he’s encouraged by efforts to maintain equality at the polls amid what he see as attempts to thwart it. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)
FILE – In this Sept. 17, 2015, file photo, the Rev. James Lawson speaks in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Lawson, who led nonviolence workshops during the civil rights struggles of the 1960s, said he’s encouraged by efforts to maintain equality at the polls amid what he see as attempts to thwart it. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)
Rev. James Lawson speaks speaks during a celebration of life marking the one-year anniversary of U.S Rep. John Lewis’s death Saturday, July 17, 2021, in Nashville, Tenn. A portrait of Rep. Lewis is shown in the background. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Rev. James Lawson speaks speaks during a celebration of life marking the one-year anniversary of U.S Rep. John Lewis’s death Saturday, July 17, 2021, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
While a student at Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio, Lawson was drafted by the U.S. Army but refused to serve due to his belief in nonviolence and was sentenced to two years in prison.
Released after 13 months, Lawson returned to college to finish his education, then traveled to Nagpur, India as a Methodist missionary to study the nonviolence resistance tactics developed by Mahatma Gandhi.
Lawson returned to the United States in 1956, entering the Graduate School of Theology at Oberlin College in Ohio. According to a biography from the Stanford University-based Martin Luther King, Jr. Research & Education Institute, one of Lawson’s Oberlin professors introduced him to King, who had also embraced Gandhi’s principles of nonviolent resistance.
In 1957, King urged Lawson to move to the South telling him, “Come now. We don’t have anyone like you down there.” He moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he attended Vanderbilt University and began teaching nonviolent protest techniques.
In February 1960, following lunch counter sit-ins initiated by students at a Woolworth’s store in Greensboro, North Carolina, Lawson and several local activists launched a similar protest in Nashville’s downtown stores. More than 150 students were arrested before city leaders agreed to desegregate some lunch counters.
Lawson was expelled from Vanderbilt in March 1960 because of his involvement with Nashville’s desegregation movement. Lawson eventually reconciled with Vanderbilt and returned to teach as a distinguished university professor. Vanderbilt established a institute for the research and study of nonviolent movements bearing his name in 2021.
Lawson participated in the 1961 Freedom Rides, which challenged segregation on interstate buses and bus terminals.
Lawson became pastor of Centenary Methodist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1962. In 1968, when Black sanitation workers in Memphis began a strike for higher wages and union recognition after two of their co-workers were accidentally crushed to death, Lawson served as chairman of their strike committee.
Lawson and King led a march in support of the strikers on March 28, 1968, which erupted in violence and was immediately called off.
In what would be his final speech on April 3, 1968, one day before his assassination, King spoke of Lawson as one of the “noble men” who had influenced the Black freedom struggle.
“He’s been going to jail for struggling; he’s been kicked out of Vanderbilt University for this struggling; but he’s still going on, fighting for the rights of his people,” King said.
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