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Joseph “Big Lester” Hankerson, Black civil rights activist, dies of a heart attack in Atlanta, Georgia, at age sixty-three.
1988 (Aug 2)
Joseph “Big Lester" Hankerson, Black civil rights activist, died of a heart attack in Atlanta, Georgia, at age sixty-three. Hankerson, a leader of the civil rights movement in Savannah, Georgia, often marched at the side of Martin Luther King, Jr., during the 1960s. Joseph E. Lowery, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), called Hankerson "one of the earliest among the valiant field workers who was a heart and soul of the civil rights movement. They did the harsh and dangerous groundwork that made it possible for the captains and generals to claim the victory." Another veteran civil rights activist, Hosea Williams, remarked, “Big Lester was a true unsung hero. ... He contributed as much to the street movement as Dr. King did in the suite movement. He didn't go to jail as many times as I, but no one took more beatings and no one shed more blood."
References:
- • Hornsby, Alton. Chronology of African-American History: Significant Events and People from 1619 to the Present. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995.