A Tribute to Bernard Lafayette
by Sue Thrasher, Scarritt College Alumna Class of 19663
I met Bernard Lafayette at just the right time in my life. I arrived at Scarritt in the fall of 1961. Nashville had an exceptionally strong Freedom Movement, whose student leadership included Bernard, John Lewis, Diane Nash, and Jim Bevel. All of them would leave Nashville to help the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) lead direct action campaigns across the South. Bernard and his first wife, Colia, as well as Jim Bevel and Diane Nash provided key leadership to the Freedom Movement in both Birmingham and Selma.
Bernard and Colia returned for a brief while to Nashville following the Birmingham movement, where Colia, who was pregnant at the time, had taken a direct hit from Bull Connor’s firehoses. Fortunately, she was able to give birth in Nashville to their son, Bernard Lafayette III. By this time, a few students from Scarritt were regularly attending SNCC meetings. Bernard, Colia and John Lewis became our teachers and mentors. Bernard and John were deeply committed to nonviolence; both had participated in the nonviolent workshops led by James Lawson, and both would go on to teach nonviolent workshops across the country.
Bernard was a magical soul. He had a beautiful voice and a quick laugh; it was always a joy to be in his company. Bernard’s dedication to nonviolence and human rights continued in his post-Nashville years as he became an ordained minister, earned a Master’s and Doctorate degree from Harvard University, and established Peace and Nonviolent programs at several higher education institutions. In his purpose driven life, Bernard Lafayette changed and shaped this world for the better. I believe it was because of the great love he had for all people.
I was extremely lucky. My years at Scarritt were shaped by knowing and learning from the Freedom Movement’s most dedicated leaders and practitioners of nonviolence. I am deeply grateful.
*Image credit: The Guardian.
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