Editing Ralph Abernathy (section)

==Early life, family, and education==
Abernathy, the 10th of William L. and Louivery Valentine Abernathy ({{nee}} Bell)'s 12 children,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://doi.org/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1501076 |title=Abernathy, Ralph David |last=Williams |first=Kenneth H. |website=American National Biography |year=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1501076 |access-date=August 22, 2022}}</ref> was born on March 11, 1926, on their {{convert|500|acre|ha|adj=on}} family farm in [[Linden, Alabama]].<ref name="legacy"/><ref name="SE">{{cite web | url=https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/abernathy-ralph-david| title=Abernathy, Ralph David | publisher=Stanford University | work=The Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute | date=April 18, 2017 | access-date=December 3, 2019}}</ref><ref name=EB>{{cite encyclopedia |editor-first=Dale H. |editor-last=Hoiberg |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |title=Abernathy, Ralph David |edition=15th |year=2010 |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. |volume=I: A-ak Bayes |location=Chicago, Illinois |isbn=978-1-59339-837-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia2009ency/page/29 29] |url=https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia2009ency/page/29 }}</ref><ref name="Who's Who">{{cite book|title=Who Was Who in America, with World Notables, v. 10: 1989–1993|year=1993|publisher=Marquis Who's Who|location=New Providence, NJ|isbn=0837902207|page=1|chapter=Abernathy, Ralph David}}</ref> Abernathy's father was the first African-American to vote in [[Marengo County, Alabama]], and the first to serve on a grand jury there.<ref name="nb"/> Abernathy attended Linden Academy (a Baptist school founded by the First Mt. Pleasant District Association). At Linden Academy, Abernathy led his first demonstrations to improve the livelihoods of his fellow students.<ref name="nb">{{cite web | url=http://www.notablebiographies.com/A-An/Abernathy-Ralph.html | title=Ralph Abernathy Biography | publisher=Advameg, Inc. | access-date=March 13, 2015 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402093559/http://www.notablebiographies.com/A-An/Abernathy-Ralph.html | archive-date=April 2, 2015 | df=mdy-all }}</ref>

During World War II, he enlisted in the [[United States Army]] advancing in rank becoming platoon sergeant before being discharged.<ref name="legacy"/><ref name="huff">{{cite news | url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/19/rev-ralph-abernathy-civil-rights_n_6482176.html | title=Rev. Ralph Abernathy: Martin Luther King Jr.'s Overlooked 'Civil Rights Twin' | work=Huffington Post | date=January 19, 2015 | agency=Religion News Service | access-date=March 12, 2015 | author=Banks, Adelle | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318072139/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/19/rev-ralph-abernathy-civil-rights_n_6482176.html | archive-date=March 18, 2015 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> Afterwards he enrolled at [[Alabama State University]] using the benefits from the [[G.I. Bill]], which he earned with his service.<ref name="rowman3">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nzlEdUaG_xkC&q=%22ralph%20david%20abernathy%20jr%22&pg=PA177 | title=The Human Tradition in the New South | publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers | author=Klotter, James | year=2005 | pages=176 | isbn=1461600960 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150514174754/https://books.google.com/books?id=nzlEdUaG_xkC&lpg=PA177&ots=61LvhMba4z&dq=%22ralph%20david%20abernathy%20jr%22&pg=PA177#v=onepage&q=%22ralph%20david%20abernathy%20jr%22&f=false | archive-date=May 14, 2015 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> As a sophomore, he was elected president of the student council, and led a successful hunger strike to raise the quality of the food served on the campus.<ref name="rowman3"/> While still a college student, Abernathy announced his call to the ministry, which he had envisioned since he was a small boy growing up in a devout [[Baptists|Baptist]] family. He was ordained a Baptist minister in 1948 and preached his first sermon on Mother's Day (in honor of his recently deceased mother). In 1950 he graduated with a bachelor's degree in mathematics.<ref name=EB/> During the summer of 1950 Abernathy hosted a radio show and became the first black disc jockey on a white radio station in [[Montgomery, Alabama]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Abernathy |first=Ralph |title=And the Walls Came Tumbling Down: An Autobiography |publisher=Harper & Row |year=1989 |isbn=0060161922 |edition=1st |location=New York |pages=88 |language=en}}</ref> In the fall, he went to [[Atlanta University]] earning a Master of Arts degree in sociology with high honors in 1951.<ref name="rowman3"/><ref name=EB/> While enrolled at Alabama State, Abernathy pledged becoming an initiated brother of [[Kappa Alpha Psi]] fraternity.

He began his professional career in 1951, when he was appointed as the dean of men at Alabama State University.<ref name="anb">{{cite web | url=http://www.anb.org/articles/15/15-01076.html | title=American National Biography Online: Abernathy, Ralph David | work=American National Biography Online | date=February 2000 | access-date=March 14, 2015 | author=Williams, Kenneth | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150405043351/http://www.anb.org/articles/15/15-01076.html | archive-date=April 5, 2015 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> Later in the same year, he became the senior pastor of the [[First Baptist Church (Montgomery, Alabama)|First Baptist Church]], the largest black church in [[Montgomery, Alabama|Montgomery]]; he held the position for ten years.<ref name=EB/><ref name="anb"/><ref name="pbs">{{cite web | url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/freedomriders/people/ralph-abernathy | title=Ralph Abernathy | publisher=PBS | work=WGBH | access-date=March 13, 2015 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150317074739/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/freedomriders/people/ralph-abernathy | archive-date=March 17, 2015 | df=mdy-all }}</ref>

He married [[Juanita Abernathy|Juanita Odessa Jones]] of [[Uniontown, Alabama]], on August 31, 1952.<ref name="bio"/><ref name="nps"/> Together they had five children: Ralph David Abernathy Jr., Juandalynn Ralpheda, [[Donzaleigh Abernathy|Donzaleigh Avis]], [[Ralph David Abernathy III]], and Kwame Luthuli Abernathy.<ref name="nps">{{cite web | url=http://www.nps.gov/featuresAbernathy.htm | title=International Civil Rights: Walk of Fame&nbsp;— Juanita Abernathy | publisher=National Park Service | work=nps.gov | access-date=March 13, 2015}}</ref><ref name="rowman2">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nzlEdUaG_xkC&q=%22ralph%20david%20abernathy%20jr%22&pg=PA177 | title=The Human Tradition in the New South | publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers | author=Klotter, James | year=2005 | pages=177 | isbn=1461600960 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150514174754/https://books.google.com/books?id=nzlEdUaG_xkC&lpg=PA177&ots=61LvhMba4z&dq=%22ralph%20david%20abernathy%20jr%22&pg=PA177#v=onepage&q=%22ralph%20david%20abernathy%20jr%22&f=false | archive-date=May 14, 2015 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> Their first child, Ralph Abernathy Jr., died suddenly on August 18, 1953, less than two days after his birth on August 16, while their other children lived on to adulthood.<ref name="rowman2"/> His grandson, [[Micah Abernathy]], is currently an [[American football]] player for the [[Atlanta Falcons]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Young |first1=Lindsey |title=The Hero that Micah Abernathy Never Met |url=https://www.vikings.com/news/longform/the-hero-that-micah-abernathy-never-met |website=Vikings Official Team Website |access-date=August 30, 2022 |ref=vikings}}</ref>

In 1954, Abernathy met [[Martin Luther King Jr.]], who was at that time becoming a pastor himself at a nearby church.<ref name="bio">{{cite web | url=http://www.biography.com/people/ralph-d-abernathy-9174397#early-years | title=Ralph D. Abernathy Biography | publisher=Bio | work=A&E Television Networks, LLC | access-date=March 13, 2015 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150312214116/http://www.biography.com/people/ralph-d-abernathy-9174397#early-years | archive-date=March 12, 2015 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> Abernathy mentored King and the two men eventually became close friends.<ref name="bio"/>