C.T. Vivian, Civil Rights Icon, Honored At Georgia Capitol

July 22nd, 2020

The late C.T. Vivian laid in state at the Georgia Capitol Wednesday afternoon, the first civilian African-American man to be granted that honor.

Emma Hurt / WABE

The late C.T. Vivian, the Civil Rights leader and a lieutenant of Martin Luther King, Jr., laid in state at the Georgia Capitol Wednesday afternoon, the first civilian African-American man to be granted that honor.

Democratic State Representative Calvin Smyre, the longest-serving state lawmaker, called it a very important day in Georgia. He said that without the work of people like Vivian, black lawmakers like him would not be able to serve.

“We stand on the shoulders of the C.T. Vivians, the people that gave of their lives and their livelihoods to make it better for others,” he said.

Gov. Brian Kemp spoke at the ceremony, referencing the challenging times the country is in today. “It is in these moments that we can find inspiration from leaders like Dr. Vivian the most,” he said.

While Vivian’s name wasn’t as known as Martin Luther King Jr.’s, his contribution to the movement is large. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013.

He began organizing sit-ins in the 1940s against segregation in Illinois, where he grew up. He joined King in the earliest days of what became the Civil Rights Movement.

Vivian helped organize the Freedom Rides and was famously beaten by an Alabama sheriff while arguing black citizens be allowed to register to vote in Selma.

“He believed in standing up for black people and showing us it’s okay to speak up for yourself,” said Renee Spurlin, who is from Atlanta and attended the ceremony with her children. “If you look at the whole Civil Rights era, there were a ton of people that may not have been famous, but were just as important.”

“C.T. Vivian is one of the pillars of the Civil Rights Movement. He’s not one of the most known members of the movement,” Smyre said. “He helped lay the groundwork. He helped lay the blueprint.”

Vivian’s funeral is scheduled for Thursday.

“We have to learn to love one another as God has loved us, across all of our differences,” said Al Vivian, C.T. Vivian’s son at the ceremony. “We need to live out the history for my father and for [Congressman] John Lewis.”

Vivian died the same day as Lewis, whose funeral arrangements have not been released yet. Vivian thanked Lewis’s family for holding off their arrangements, “because both men deserve to have everything done well and in order.”