James Lawson played an important role in the Civil Rights Movement from the outset. He served as a mentor to the Nashvile Student Movement and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). He led sit-ins in Nashville at local stores and was expelled from Vanderbilt for these activities. He later played an important role in the Freedom Rides in 1961 and in 1962 became Pastor of the Cenetary Methodist Church in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1968, during the Memphis Sanitation Strike, Lawson served as Chairman of the Strike Committee. Lawson extended an invitation to Martin Luther King to speak in Memphis. King delivered his famous "I've Been to the Mountaintop Speech" on April 3, 1968, one night prior to his assassination. After the movement, Lawson became Pastor of Holman United Methodist Church. He was active in the labor, reproductive choice and gay rights movement. He also continued to train activists in nonviolent techniques.
Bio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Lawson_(activist)
SNCC https://snccdigital.org/people/james-lawson/
Nonviolence https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8K4HLM03dw
Martin Luther King https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ohz_z1J-d4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbitIZ6nK2Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVRQ2M9tshI
Speeches https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHezXAKDePA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOxpSPT5PnI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGxNaIphLjE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7FW-OJY_cY
Interviews https://www.npr.org/2006/12/26/6676164/james-lawson-an-advocate-of-peaceful-change http://www.pbs.org/weta/forcemorepowerful/nashville/interview.html https://whospeaks.library.vanderbilt.edu/interview/james-m-lawson-jr https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUU3lQ3zyMs
Vanderbilt University https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0J9J1_7H_w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jBz5Xr0m4Y