I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8730 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Reverend James Morris Lawson, 

Jr., in recognition of his contributions to the United States through 

the promotion of nonviolence during the Civil Rights movement and 

beyond. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 5, 2020 

Mr. KHANNA (for himself, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CLYBURN, Ms. BASS, Mr. 

CLEAVER, and Mr. RIGGLEMAN) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Reverend James 

Morris Lawson, Jr., in recognition of his contributions 

to the United States through the promotion of nonviolence during the Civil Rights movement and beyond. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Reverend James 

5 Lawson, Jr. Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Reverend James Morris Lawson, Jr. (‘‘Rev. 

2 Lawson’’) was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, on 

3 September 22, 1928, to Reverend James Morris 

4 Lawson, Sr. and Philane May Cover. 

5 (2) Rev. Lawson received his local preacher’s li6 cense in 1947, the same year he graduated from 

7 high school. 

8 (3) While attending Baldwin-Wallace College, 

9 Rev. Lawson joined the Fellowship of Reconciliation, 

10 the oldest pacifist organization in the United States 

11 and an advocate of nonviolent resistance to racism, 

12 as well as the Congress of Racial Equality, where he 

13 was exposed to the nonviolent teachings of world-re14 nowned civil rights and spiritual leader Mohandas K. 

15 Gandhi (‘‘Gandhi’’). 

16 (4) From 1953 to 1956, Rev. Lawson served as 

17 a Methodist missionary at Hislop College in Nagpur, 

18 India, where he continued his studies of satyagraha, 

19 Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolent resistance, and 

20 met with associates and fellow students of Gandhi. 

21 (5) Rev. Lawson was instrumental in bringing 

22 the message of Gandhi to the United States. 

23 (6) Rev. Lawson viewed segregation in the 

24 United States as ‘‘much like the ‘untouchables’ of 

25 India’’ and was inspired by the view of Gandhi that 


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1 it could be through African Americans that ‘‘the un2 adulterated message of nonviolence will be delivered 

3 to the world.’’. 

4 (7) In 1956, Rev. Lawson enrolled in the 

5 Oberlin School of Theology in Ohio, where he first 

6 met Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (‘‘Dr. King’’), 

7 who urged Rev. Lawson to move to the South to 

8 spread his teachings on nonviolence, saying ‘‘Don’t 

9 wait! Come now! You’re badly needed. We don’t have 

10 anyone like you!’’. 

11 (8) In 1957, Rev. Lawson answered the call of 

12 Dr. King, moving to Nashville, Tennessee, and en13 rolling at Vanderbilt Divinity School as the second 

14 African-American student in its history. 

15 (9) Rev. Lawson opened a Fellowship of Rec16 onciliation field office, became the southern secretary 

17 for the organization, and held seminars to train vol18 unteers in Gandhian tactics of nonviolent direct ac19 tion. 

20 (10) Rev. Lawson was an advisor for the Little 

21 Rock Nine, teaching the students, in the living room 

22 of Arkansas NAACP Chair Daisy Bates, how to re23 sist their opponents using the ‘‘superior weapons’’ 

24 offered by nonviolence. 


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1 (11) Rev. Lawson led the Nashville sit-in cam2 paign of 1960 that successfully challenged ‘‘Jim 

3 Crow’’ and trained a new generation of civil rights 

4 activists. 

5 (12) In 1960, the Southern Christian Leader6 ship Conference, led by Ella Baker, organized the 

7 Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, with 

8 Rev. Lawson writing the statement of purpose for 

9 the organization and delivering the keynote speech 

10 at the organization’s founding meeting in April of 

11 that year. 

12 (13) Rev. Lawson, and the activists he trained, 

13 organized many famous campaigns, including the 

14 Freedom Rides, Freedom Schools, 1963 March on 

15 Washington, Mississippi Freedom Summer, Mis16 sissippi Freedom Democratic Party, 1963 Bir17 mingham Children’s Crusade, 1965 Selma Voting 

18 Rights Movement, and 1966 Chicago Open Housing 

19 Movement. 

20 (14) In 1968, Rev. Lawson chaired the strike 

21 committee for the Memphis Sanitation Workers, a 

22 campaign that advanced the slogan ‘‘I Am A Man’’ 

23 and was the first successful effort to organize Afri24 can-American municipal workers in the South. 


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1 (15) Dr. King lauded Rev. Lawson as the 

2 ‘‘leading theorist and strategist of nonviolence in the 

3 world’’ and civil rights leader Diane Nash stated 

4 that Rev. Lawson’s ‘‘impact was fundamental and 

5 tremendous. I think that he, more than anyone else 

6 really, is why the civil rights movement was non7 violent’’. 

8 (16) In 1974, Rev. Lawson became pastor of 

9 Holman United Methodist Church in Los Angeles, 

10 where he continued his nonviolent advocacy for ra11 cial equality and social justice, including through 

12 Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, the 

13 Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the 

14 American Civil Liberties Union, Interfaith Commu15 nities United for Peace and Justice, the National 

16 Committee for Worker Justice, and many others. 

17 (17) Rev. Lawson received dozens of awards, 

18 honorary degrees, and lectureships, including the 

19 National Civil Rights Museum Freedom Award, 

20 Vanderbilt University’s Walter R. Murray Distin21 guished Alumnus Award, Harvard University’s 

22 Henry Luce Lectureship, and recognition for his 

23 leadership and lifetime achievements from the Con24 gressional Black Caucus Foundation and the Amer25 ican Civil Liberties Union. 


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1 (18) Rev. Lawson has played an invaluable role 

2 in the progress of the United States due to his tire3 less work to create what Dr. King called a ‘‘beloved 

4 community’’ where people treat each other with re5 spect and dignity and end all forms of violence in 

6 favor of a politics of love. 

7 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

8 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

9 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem10 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

11 for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold 

12 medal of appropriate design to Reverend James Morris 

13 Lawson, Jr., in recognition of his contributions to the 

14 United States. 

15 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For purposes of the 

16 presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 

17 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec18 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

19 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec20 retary. 

21 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

22 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

23 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 

24 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

25 a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 


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1 materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead expenses, and 

2 the cost of the gold medal. 

3 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

4 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu5 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

6 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

7 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 

8 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 

9 struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 

10 items. 

Æ 


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