Civil Rights Leader Joseph Lowery Dies Of Natural Causes At 98

Rev. Joseph E. Lowery passed away Friday at his home in Atlanta, GA, surrounded by family members, according to a statement made by his family. “He died from natural causes unrelated to the coronavirus outbreak, the statement said.

The King Center in Atlanta honored Lowery in a tweet Friday night that read, “Tonight, the great Reverend Joseph E. Lowery transitioned from earth to eternity. He was a champion for civil rights, a challenger of injustice, a dear friend to the King family.”

Over 40 years after the death of his friend and civil rights icon, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Rev. Lowery was on the front line fighting for equality and refusing to back down, whether to a racist Jim Crow audience or a U.S. president.

Lowery prayed at forever President Barack Obama’s inaugural benediction in 2009. “We ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back; when brown can stick around; when yellow will be mellow; when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right.” The same year, Obama awarded Lowery the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

R.I.P to an icon, Reverend Joseph E. Lowery ??