Bernard LaFayette, Freedom Rider and Selma Voting‑Rights Organizer, Dies of Heart Attack at 85
Mar 07
4
Bernard LaFayette, a civil‑rights organizer and former Freedom Rider who directed the Alabama Voter Registration Campaign and helped build local leadership in Selma, died Thursday morning in Nashville of a heart attack at 85, his son Bernard LaFayette III said. Shaped by a childhood trolley incident in Tampa, he insisted SNCC organize Selma, survived an assassination attempt the night Medgar Evers was killed, and mobilized Chicago supporters to join the later Selma‑to‑Montgomery "victory" march that helped produce the Voting Rights Act.
Civil Rights Movement
Voting Rights and U.S. Elections
DEI and Race