Ralph Abernathy (1926 - 1990)

Thu Mar 11, 1926

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Ralph David Abernathy Sr. (shown left), born on this day in 1926, was a Baptist minister and civil rights activist who co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and helped lead the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign.

Abernathy was a close friend and mentor of Martin Luther King Jr., collaborating with King to create the Montgomery Improvement Association (which led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott) and co-founding the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).

Abernathy is noted for leading, among other demonstrations, the Poor People’s Campaign in Washington, D.C., testifying in Congress in favor of the Voting Rights Act of 1982, and helping broker a deal between Native Americans and the U.S. government during the Wounded Knee Incident of 1973.

His tombstone reads “I tried”.