interview with Ralph Abernathy
Recently, I sat down with Ralph Abernathy, and asked him a few questions regarding his social influence on society. He told me his main job or role in the community is a baptist minister and vice president (and co-founder) of The Southern Christian Leadership Conference. This is an association with the goal of redeeming "the soul of America" and abolishing racial segregation against African Americans. Ralph has made many influential contributions to our social environment over the years. He told me that he believed his biggest contributors include the fact that he helped organize the Montgomery Bus Boycott, led the Poor People's Campaign March in Washington DC, and wrote a book outlining his success. The book that he wrote is named, And the Walls Came Tumbling Down. This autobiography published in 1989 showed his motives and viewpoints on racial segregation by describing various events related to this from the time period in which the Montgomery Bus Boycott took place to that of the late 1960's. Abernathy explained to me that his goal in writing this book was to help people better understand his reasoning for performing various actions during those times, and to also to persuade them to feel the same way that Ralph did about several different scenarios.
I also had a chance to ask him about his supposedly close partnership with Martin Luther King, Jr. Ralph told me that when King first became a minister, he got to mentor Martin. Through this experience, the two colleagues established an unbreakable bond and became close friends from then on. Together, they created the Montgomery Improvement Association as well as the SCLC. In fact, Abernathy told me that in one of King's speeches, Martin said, "Ralph David Abernathy is the best friend that I have in the world." Not only is Ralph an unforgettable legend, but so was his very close friend, Martin Luther King Jr.
I also had a chance to ask him about his supposedly close partnership with Martin Luther King, Jr. Ralph told me that when King first became a minister, he got to mentor Martin. Through this experience, the two colleagues established an unbreakable bond and became close friends from then on. Together, they created the Montgomery Improvement Association as well as the SCLC. In fact, Abernathy told me that in one of King's speeches, Martin said, "Ralph David Abernathy is the best friend that I have in the world." Not only is Ralph an unforgettable legend, but so was his very close friend, Martin Luther King Jr.