Congressman Cohen Introduces Bill to Award Reverend James Lawson the Congressional Gold Medal

MEMPHIS — Today, Representatives Steve Cohen (TN-09), Ro Khanna (CA-17), James Clyburn (SC-06), Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05), and Karen Bass (CA-37) reintroduced legislation to award the Congressional Gold Medal to civil rights icon Reverend James Lawson. They plan to reintroduce this bill every Congress until it is passed.

Lawson is recognized as among the most consequential leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. He spent three years in India as a missionary and studied Gandhi's strategy of nonviolence before returning to the United States to become a leader in the Civil Rights movement. Called the "architect of the Civil Rights movement" by Representative John Lewis, Lawson trained many civil rights activists, including the Little Rock Nine, and organized campaigns that included the Freedom Riders and the Nashville lunch counter sit-ins.

Lawson became the pastor of the Centenary United Methodist Church in Memphis in 1962 and invited Dr. King to Memphis during the 1968 Sanitation Workers strike.

Lawson was also a founding Member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the southern secretary for the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and an advisor to Dr. King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Dr. King called Lawson the "leading theorist and strategist of nonviolence in the world." Lawson continues to be active in civil rights and economic justice campaigns today, including the fight for a living wage.

"The brilliant, principled leader of the Centenary United Methodist Church in Memphis, Reverend Lawson became the Civil Rights Movement's ‘leading theorist and strategist of non-violence.' In the fight for justice and equality, Reverend Lawson was as much a general as Grant or Sherman were in the Civil War against slavery and secession," said Rep. Cohen.

"I can think of few people more deserving of a Congressional Gold Medal Award than Reverend James Lawson. He is a living legend and civil rights icon and continues to push our country forward on issues around civil rights and social justice, said Rep. Khanna. "The lessons he shared from Gandhi's nonviolent movement strengthened the Civil Rights movement here in America and demonstrated the interconnected nature of the struggles of oppressed people around the world. I look forward to passing this bill to honor his contributions."

"If Dr. King is remembered as the preacher of non-violent civil disobedience, Reverend James Lawson should be known as the philosophy's professor. By training the likes of Diane Nash and John Lewis during the Nashville Student Movement, Rev. Lawson set the Civil Rights Movement on the path to victory. I cannot think of anyone more deserving of this honor," said Rep. Cleaver.

The text of the resolution can be found here.

Endorsing organizations include: NAACP, AFSCME, United Methodist Church - General Board of Church and Society.

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