C  T  Vivian • Southern Christian Leadership Conference • Martin Luther King Jr  • Civil and politic
Channel: 11 World News & Stats
Date: 2020-07-18

The Rev. C.T. Vivian, a beloved civil rights veteran who marched alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., died at his home in Atlanta, his loved ones said Friday. He was 95.

Vivian's daughter, Denise Morse, confirmed her father's death and told affiliate WXIA that he was "one of the most wonderful men who ever walked the earth." The civil rights titan suffered a stroke about two months ago but seemed to be on the mend before “he just stopped eating” and died of natural causes, friend and business partner Don Rivers said. President Barack Obama in 2013 honored Vivian with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
The nation's first Black chief executive on Friday posted a touching picture of himself and the beaming Vivian at that White House ceremony. Obama thanked Vivian for his "friendship, encouraging words, and ever-present smile" and said he would have never become president without the blood and sweat shed by the late pastor and others of that generation. "The trail they blazed gave today’s generation of activists and marchers a roadmap to tag in and finish the journey," Obama wrote. "And I have to imagine that seeing the largest protest movement in history unfold over his final months gave the Reverend a final dose of hope before his long and well-deserved rest." 

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