Press Release: 2024-06-11

Saunders pays tribute to Rev. Lawson, ‘one of the greatest architects of social change in recent American history’

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MONDAY, JUNE 10, 2024

Contact: Nick Voutsinos

Email: nvoutsinos@afscme.org 

 

WASHINGTON– AFSCME President Lee Saunders released the following statement on the death of the Reverend James Lawson:  

“We have lost an educator, an activist, a pastor, a civil rights giant and one of the greatest architects of social change in recent American history. No one was more courageously committed than Rev. James Lawson to the philosophy of nonviolent resistance — both as a moral imperative and an effective strategy for the pursuit of justice. Rev. Lawson’s connection to AFSCME dates back to the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike, when he led the faith coalition in the community on behalf of the workers and persuaded his friend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to join the struggle. But that was just one of many campaigns he undertook on behalf of the labor movement – because a belief in the dignity of work underpinned everything he did. Rest in power, Rev. Lawson. Your legacy will inspire generations to continue organizing for racial, social and economic justice.”