Editing Ralph Abernathy

{{short description|American civil rights activist and minister (1926–1990)}}
{{about||his son, the American politician and businessman|Ralph David Abernathy III}}
{{good article}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix    = [[The Reverend]]
| image               = Ralph Abernathy.jpg
| caption             = Abernathy in 1968
| birth_name          = David Abernathy
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1926|03|11}}
| birth_place         = [[Linden, Alabama]], U.S.
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1990|04|17|1926|03|11}}
| death_place         = [[Atlanta, Georgia]], U.S.
| office1             = 2nd President of the [[Southern Christian Leadership Conference]]
| term_start1         = 1968
| term_end1           = 1977
| predecessor1        = [[Martin Luther King Jr.]]
| successor1          = [[Joseph Lowery]]
| occupation          = Clergyman, activist
| party               = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| known_for           = {{ubli|[[Civil rights movement]]|[[Peace movement]]|Closest friend and mentor of Martin Luther King Jr.}}
| children            = 5, including [[Ralph David Abernathy III|Ralph&nbsp;III]] and [[Donzaleigh Abernathy|Donzaleigh]]
| spouse              = [[Juanita Abernathy|Juanita Jones Abernathy]]
| allegiance          = <!-- United States -->
| branch              = [[United States Army]]
| battles             = [[World War II]]
| rank                = [[Platoon sergeant]]
}}

'''Ralph David Abernathy Sr.''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|b|ər|n|æ|θ|i}}; March 11, 1926 – April 17, 1990) was an American civil rights activist and [[Baptist minister]]. He was ordained in the Baptist tradition in 1948. Being the leader of the [[civil rights movement]], he was a close friend and mentor of [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] He collaborated with King and [[E. D. Nixon]] to create the [[Montgomery Improvement Association]], which led to the [[Montgomery bus boycott]] and co-created and was an executive board member of the [[Southern Christian Leadership Conference]] (SCLC). He became president of the SCLC following the [[assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.|assassination of King]] in 1968; he led the [[Poor People's Campaign]] in Washington, D.C.,<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Lewis |first1=Femi |title=How Did Ralph Abernathy Work Alongside MLK During the Civil Rights Movement?|url=https://www.thoughtco.com/ralph-abernathy-biography-4019498|access-date=April 15, 2021|website=ThoughtCo|language=en}}</ref> as well as other marches and demonstrations for disenfranchised Americans. He also served as an advisory committee member of the [[Congress on Racial Equality]] (CORE).

In 1971, Abernathy addressed the [[United Nations]], speaking about world peace. He also assisted in brokering a deal between the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] and [[American Indian Movement]] protestors during the [[Wounded Knee incident]] of 1973. He retired from his position as president of the SCLC in 1977 and became [[president emeritus]]. Later that year, he unsuccessfully ran for the [[U.S. House of Representatives]] for the 5th district of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]. He later founded the Foundation for Economic Enterprises Development, and he testified before the [[U.S. Congress]] in support of extending the [[Voting Rights Act]] in 1982.

In 1989, Abernathy wrote ''[[And the Walls Came Tumbling Down]]'', a controversial autobiography about his and King's involvement in the civil rights movement. Abernathy eventually became less active in politics and returned to his work as a minister. He died of heart disease on April 17, 1990. His tombstone is engraved with the words "I tried."<ref name="philly" />

==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"/>

==Civil rights activism==
===Montgomery bus boycott===
{{external media
| float  = right
| video1 = [https://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip_151-cz3222s11s#at_674_s “Interview with Reverend Ralph Abernathy”] from [[Eyes on the Prize]] conducted in 1985 discusses his involvement in helping to organize the Montgomery Bus Boycott.}}

After the arrest of [[Rosa Parks]] on December 1, 1955, for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man, Abernathy, then a member of the Montgomery [[NAACP]], collaborated with King to create the [[Montgomery Improvement Association]], which organized the [[Montgomery bus boycott]].<ref name="legacy"/><ref name=EB /><ref>{{cite book |author-link1=Peter Brock (historian) |first1=Peter |last1=Brock |first2=Nigel |last2=Young |title=Pacifism in the Twentieth Century |publisher=Syracuse University Press |location=New York |year=1999 |isbn=0-8156-8125-9 |page=232}}</ref><ref name="WP">{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/wife-of-civil-rights-leader-abernathy-says-lack-of-invite-on-march-anniversary-is-a-slight/2013/08/31/89d71028-0a9f-11e3-8974-f97ab3b3c677_story.html | title=Ralph Abernathy's widow says march anniversary overlooks her husband's role | newspaper=The Washington Post | date=August 31, 2013 | access-date=March 13, 2015 | author=Fletcher, Michael | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150529045004/http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/wife-of-civil-rights-leader-abernathy-says-lack-of-invite-on-march-anniversary-is-a-slight/2013/08/31/89d71028-0a9f-11e3-8974-f97ab3b3c677_story.html | archive-date=May 29, 2015 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> Along with fellow English professor [[Jo Ann Robinson]], they called for and distributed flyers asking the black citizens of Montgomery to stay off the buses.<ref name="leaflet">{{cite web | url=http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/documentsentry/leaflet_dont_ride_the_bus_come_to_a_mass_meeting_on_5_december/ | title=Leaflet, "Don't Ride the Bus" | publisher=Stanford University | work=The Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute | date=December 2, 1955 | access-date=March 15, 2015 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402155441/http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/documentsentry/leaflet_dont_ride_the_bus_come_to_a_mass_meeting_on_5_december/ | archive-date=April 2, 2015 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> The boycott attracted national attention, and a federal court case that ended on December 17, 1956, when the [[U.S. Supreme Court]], in ''[[Browder v. Gayle]]'', upheld an earlier District Court decision that the bus segregation was unconstitutional.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TU_HozbJSC8C&q=%22352%20U.S.%20950%22%20(1956)&pg=PA127 | title=The Papers of Martin Luther King Jr: Threshold of a new decade, January 1959 – December 1960 | publisher=University of California Press | author1=King, Martin | author2=Holloran, Peter | author3=Luker, Ralph | author4=Russell, Penny | year=2005 | pages=127 | isbn=0520242394 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150514165836/https://books.google.com/books?id=TU_HozbJSC8C&lpg=PA127&ots=TXp5cDtFRX&dq=%22352%20U.S.%20950%22%20(1956)&pg=PA127#v=onepage&q=%22352%20U.S.%20950%22%20(1956)&f=false | archive-date=May 14, 2015 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> The 381-day transit boycott, challenging the [[Jim Crow laws|"Jim Crow" segregation laws]], had been successful.<ref name="demnow">{{cite news | url=http://www.democracynow.org/2005/12/1/50th_anniversary_of_montgomery_bus_boycott | title=50th Anniversary of Montgomery Bus Boycott | work=Democracy Now | date=December 1, 2005 | access-date=March 15, 2015 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150313124551/http://www.democracynow.org/2005/12/1/50th_anniversary_of_montgomery_bus_boycott | archive-date=March 13, 2015 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> And on December 20, 1956, the boycott came to an end.<ref name="bp">{{cite web | url=http://www.blackpast.org/aah/montgomery-bus-boycott-1955-56 | title=Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955–56) | date=November 24, 2007 | publisher=BlackPast.org | access-date=March 15, 2015 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150326031450/http://www.blackpast.org/aah/montgomery-bus-boycott-1955-56 | archive-date=March 26, 2015 | df=mdy-all }}</ref>

After the boycotts, Abernathy's home and church were bombed. His family were barely able to escape their home, but they were unharmed. Abernathy's church, Mt. Olive Church, Bell Street Church, and the home of [[Robert Graetz]] were also bombed on that evening, while King, Abernathy, and 58 other black leaders from the south were meeting at the [[Southern Negro Leaders Conference on Transportation and Nonviolent Integration]], in [[Atlanta]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=ShakesAaseng |title=African-American Religious Leaders, Rev. ed.}}</ref><ref name="nyt"/><ref name="aberpdf">{{cite web | url=http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/primarydocuments/Vol4/28-May-1958_FromAbernathy.pdf | title=The Martin Luther King Jr. Papers Project: From Ralph Abernathy | publisher=Stanford University | work=The Martin Luther King Jr. Research Institute | date=May 28, 1958 | access-date=March 17, 2015 | author=Abernathy, Ralph | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110506203901/http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/primarydocuments/Vol4/28-May-1958_FromAbernathy.pdf | archive-date=May 6, 2011 | df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref name=EB/>

===Southern Christian Leadership Conference and support of Freedom Riders===
[[File:Abernathy Children on front line leading the SELMA TO MONTGOMERY MARCH for the RIGHT TO VOTE.JPG|thumb|Abernathy and his wife [[Juanita Abernathy]] with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife [[Coretta Scott King]]. [[James Reeb]] and the Abernathy children are shown in the front line, leading the [[Selma to Montgomery March]] in 1965.]]

On January 11, 1957, after a two-day-long meeting, the Southern Leaders Conference on Transportation and Non-violent Integration was founded.<ref name="statement">{{cite press release | url=http://www.thekingcenter.org/archive/document/statement-south-and-nation-1 | title=A Statement to the South and Nation | publisher=Southern Leaders Conference on Transportation and Non-violent Integration | date=January 11, 1957 | access-date=March 17, 2015 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402093020/http://www.thekingcenter.org/archive/document/statement-south-and-nation-1 | archive-date=April 2, 2015 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> On February 14, 1957, the conference convened again in [[New Orleans]]. During that meeting, they changed the group's name to the Southern Leadership Conference and appointed the following executive board: King, president; [[Charles Kenzie Steele]], vice president; Abernathy, financial secretary-treasurer; [[T. J. Jemison]], secretary; I. M. Augustine, general counsel.<ref name="SCLChistory">{{cite web |title=Our History |url=http://sclcnational.org/our-history/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206131140/http://sclcnational.org/our-history/ |archive-date=February 6, 2015 |access-date=March 17, 2015 |publisher=Southern Christian Leadership Conference}}</ref><ref name="EA2">{{cite encyclopedia | url=http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1909 | title=Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) | encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Alabama | date=January 12, 2009 | access-date=March 17, 2015 | author=Brooks, F. | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150328204223/http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1909 | archive-date=March 28, 2015 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> On August 8, 1957, the Southern Leadership Conference held its first convention, in Montgomery.<ref name="threshold">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TU_HozbJSC8C&q=southern%20christian%20leadership%20conference%20%22august%201957%22&pg=PA227 | title=The Papers of Martin Luther King Jr: Threshold of a new decade, January 1959 – December 1960 | publisher=University of California Press | author1=King, Martin | author2=Holloran, Peter | author3=Luker, Ralph | author4=Russell, Penny | year=2005 | pages=227 | isbn=0520242394 | editor=Carson, Clayborne | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150515112346/https://books.google.com/books?id=TU_HozbJSC8C&lpg=PA227&ots=TXp5fzxzVZ&dq=southern%20christian%20leadership%20conference%20%22august%201957%22&pg=PA227 | archive-date=May 15, 2015 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> They changed the conference's name a final time to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and decided to start voter registration drives for black people across the south.<ref name="threshold"/><ref name="tns">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j4dV9NHvdIsC&q=southern%20christian%20leadership%20conference%20%22august%201957%22&pg=PA183 | title=The New South, 1945–1980 | publisher=LSU Press | author=Bartley, Numan | year=1995 | pages=183 | isbn=080711944X | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150514171144/https://books.google.com/books?id=j4dV9NHvdIsC&lpg=PA183&ots=rVg1EKjY6b&dq=southern%20christian%20leadership%20conference%20%22august%201957%22&pg=PA183 | archive-date=May 14, 2015 | df=mdy-all }}</ref>

On May 20, 1961, the [[Freedom Riders]] stopped in Montgomery while on their way from [[Washington, D.C.]], to New Orleans to protest the still segregated buses across the south.<ref name="crmvetM">{{cite web | url=http://www.crmvet.org/tim/timhis61.htm#1961frmont | title=Mobs in Montgomery AL | publisher=Tougaloo College | work=Civil Rights Movement Archive | access-date=March 17, 2015 | url-status=live | archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20100710102808/http://www.crmvet.org/tim/timhis61.htm#1961frmont | archive-date=July 10, 2010 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> Many of the Freedom Riders were beaten by a white mob once they arrived at the Montgomery bus station, causing several of the riders to be hospitalized.<ref name="crmvetM"/> The following night Abernathy and King set up an event in support of the Freedom Riders, where King would make an address, at Abernathy's church.<ref name="program">{{cite web | url=http://www.usmarshals.gov/history/mlk_doc.pdf | title=The Montgomery Improvement Association Salutes the "Freedom Riders" | publisher=The United States Marshals Service | work=The Montgomery Improvement Association | date=May 21, 1961 | access-date=March 17, 2015 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304114423/http://www.usmarshals.gov/history/mlk_doc.pdf | archive-date=March 4, 2016 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> More than 1,500 people came to the event that night.<ref name="wgbh">{{cite web | url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/freedomriders/people/ralph-abernathy | title=Ralph Abernathy&nbsp;— Freedom Rider | publisher=WGBH | work=PBS | access-date=March 17, 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><ref name="unc">{{cite web | url=https://lcrm.lib.unc.edu/blog/index.php/2012/05/21/on-this-day-first-baptist-church-under-siege/ | title=On This Day: First Baptist Church Under Siege | publisher=Special Collections Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | work=Publishing the Long Civil Rights Movement | date=May 21, 2012 | access-date=March 17, 2015 | author=Shay, Alison | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120141108/https://lcrm.lib.unc.edu/blog/index.php/2012/05/21/on-this-day-first-baptist-church-under-siege/ | archive-date=January 20, 2015 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> The church was soon surrounded by a mob of white segregationists who laid siege on the church.<ref name="EA">{{cite encyclopedia | url=http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1110 | title=Ralph David Abernathy | encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Alabama | date=March 14, 2007 | access-date=March 17, 2015 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407132743/http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1110 | archive-date=April 7, 2015 | df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref name="doj">{{cite web | url=https://www.justice.gov/crt/opa/pr/speeches/2011/crt-speech-110524.html | title=Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez Speaks at the All People's Program Honoring the Freedom Riders | publisher=The United States Department of Justice | date=May 24, 2011 | access-date=March 17, 2015 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113052231/http://www.justice.gov/crt/opa/pr/speeches/2011/crt-speech-110524.html | archive-date=November 13, 2014 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> King, from inside the church, called the [[United States Attorney General|Attorney General]] [[Robert F. Kennedy]], and pleaded for help from the federal government.<ref name="unc"/> There was a group of [[United States Marshal]]s sent there to protect the event, but they were too few in number to protect the church from the angry mob, who had begun throwing rocks and bricks through the windows of the church.<ref name="usm">{{cite web | url=http://www.usmarshals.gov/history/mlk.htm | title=An Emergency Call to Montgomery | publisher=The United States Marshals Service | access-date=March 17, 2015 | author=Turk, Dave | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402134052/http://www.usmarshals.gov/history/mlk.htm | archive-date=April 2, 2015 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> Reinforcements with riot experience, from the [[United States Marshals Service|Marshals service]], were sent in to help defend the perimeter.<ref name="usm"/> By the next morning, the [[Governor of Alabama]], after being called by Kennedy, sent in the [[Alabama National Guard]], and the mob was finally dispersed.<ref name="unc"/> After the success of the Freedom Riders in Montgomery, [[Birmingham, Alabama|Birmingham]], and [[Huntsville, Alabama]] in 1961, King insisted that Abernathy assume the pastorate of the West Hunter Street Baptist Church in [[Atlanta]]; Abernathy moved his family from Montgomery becoming the pastor in 1962.<ref name=EB/>

The King/Abernathy partnership spearheaded successful nonviolent movements in Montgomery; [[Albany, Georgia]]; Birmingham, [[Mississippi]], Washington D.C., [[Selma, Alabama]]; [[St. Augustine, Florida]]; [[Chicago]], and [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]]. King and Abernathy journeyed together, often sharing the same hotel rooms, and leisure times with their wives, children, family, and friends. And they were both jailed 17 times together, for their involvement in the movement.<ref name="nyt"/>

===During Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination===
{{further|Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.}}
On April 3, 1968, at the [[Mason Temple]], Abernathy introduced King before he made his last public address; King said at the beginning of his now famous "[[I've Been to the Mountaintop]]" speech:
<blockquote>
As I listened to Ralph Abernathy and his eloquent and generous introduction and then thought about myself, I wondered who he was talking about. It's always good to have your closest friend and associate to say something good about you, and Ralph Abernathy is the best friend that I have in the world.<ref name="mountaintop">{{cite web|url=http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/documentsentry/ive_been_to_the_mountaintop/|title=I've Been to the Mountaintop|last=King|first=Martin|date=3 April 1968|work=The Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute|publisher=Stanford University|access-date=19 March 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150411040853/http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/documentsentry/ive_been_to_the_mountaintop/|archive-date=April 11, 2015|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
</blockquote>

The following day, April 4, 1968, Abernathy was with King in the room (Room 306) they shared at the [[Lorraine Motel]] in [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]]. At 6:01&nbsp;p.m. while Abernathy was inside the room getting cologne, King was shot while standing outside on the balcony. Once the shot was fired Abernathy ran out to the balcony and cradled King in his arms as he lay unconscious.<ref name="huff"/><ref name="rowman">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nzlEdUaG_xkC&q=abernathy%20king%20assassination%20arms&pg=PA188 | title=The Human Tradition in the New South | publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publisher | author=Klotter, James | year=2005 | pages=188 | isbn=1461600960 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150515112426/https://books.google.com/books?id=nzlEdUaG_xkC&lpg=PA188&ots=61LvgQdeby&dq=abernathy%20king%20assassination%20arms&pg=PA188#v=onepage&q=abernathy%20king%20assassination%20arms&f=false | archive-date=May 15, 2015 | df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref name="espn">{{cite news|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/7628616/cincinnati-bearcats-ralph-david-abernathy-iv-follows-family-footsteps|title=Ralph David Abernathy embraces legacy|last=Adelson|first=Andrea|date=February 29, 2012|publisher=ESPN|access-date=March 19, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402205122/http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7628616/cincinnati-bearcats-ralph-david-abernathy-iv-follows-family-footsteps|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}</ref> Abernathy accompanied King to [[St. Joseph's Hospital (Memphis, Tennessee)|St. Joseph's Hospital]] within fifteen minutes of the shooting.<ref name="dorrien">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rjlFDwAAQBAJ&q=Abernathy+accompanied+King+to+St.+Joseph%2527s+Hospital&pg=PA433 |title=Breaking White Supremacy: Martin Luther King Jr. and the White Social Gospel |last=Dorrien |first=Gary |date=January 10, 2018 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=9780300231359 |pages=433 |language=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316231902/https://books.google.com/books?id=rjlFDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA433&lpg=PA433&dq=Abernathy+accompanied+King+to+St.+Joseph%2527s+Hospital&source=bl&ots=_Eh8IjSCdi&sig=-iEs4kpELxmK9zIGllRXRCkSZiA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjis5qokazZAhURzmMKHXLXDKsQ6AEIOjAC#v=onepage&q=Abernathy%2520accompanied%2520King%2520to%2520St.%2520Joseph's%2520Hospital&f=false |archive-date=March 16, 2018 }}</ref> The doctors performed an emergency surgery, but he never regained consciousness.<ref>{{Cite web |author=<!--Not stated-->|date=November 11, 2008 |title=Society in Civil Rights Movement: "Black Power" Era |url=https://www.shmoop.com/civil-rights-black-power/society.html |language=en |access-date=February 17, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180217202724/https://www.shmoop.com/civil-rights-black-power/society.html |archive-date=February 17, 2018 }}</ref> King was pronounced dead at 7:05&nbsp;p.m. at age 39.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/select-committee-report/part-2a.html |title=Findings on MLK Assassination |date=August 15, 2016 |website=National Archives |language=en |access-date=February 18, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171203224058/https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/select-committee-report/part-2a.html |archive-date=December 3, 2017 }}</ref>

==Leadership of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference==
[[File:Ralph_Abernathy_portrait_by_Robert_Templeton.jpg|thumb|Abernathy as painted by the artist [[Robert Templeton (artist)|Robert Templeton]], oil, 1974]]

Until King's assassination, Abernathy had served as [[Southern Christian Leadership Conference]]'s first Financial Secretary/Treasurer and Vice President At-Large.<ref name="sixties">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JscEZeXBsZYC&q=Abernathy+had+served+as+SCLC%2527s+first+Financial+Secretary/Treasurer+and+Vice+President+At-Large.&pg=PA4 |title=Encyclopedia of the Sixties: A Decade of Culture and Counterculture |date=2012 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=9780313329449 |pages=4 |language=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316231902/https://books.google.com/books?id=JscEZeXBsZYC&pg=PA4&lpg=PA4&dq=Abernathy+had+served+as+SCLC%2527s+first+Financial+Secretary%2FTreasurer+and+Vice+President+At-Large.&source=bl&ots=S51klMMNKC&sig=muZtFwNXl3MMKo72UbGlD05N0hk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwid9u67kqzZAhVD6GMKHYvUBeEQ6AEINDAB |archive-date=March 16, 2018 }}</ref> After King's death, Abernathy assumed the presidency of the SCLC.<ref name=EB/><ref name="nyt"/> One of his first roles was to take up the role of leading a march to support striking sanitation workers in Memphis which King and Abernathy had planned to attend before King's assassination.<ref name="wp">{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/02/12/i-am-a-man-the-1968-memphis-sanitation-workers-strike-that-led-to-mlks-assassination/ |title='I Am a Man': The ugly Memphis sanitation workers' strike that led to MLK's assassination |last=Brown |first=DeNeen L. |date=February 12, 2018 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=February 17, 2018 |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180212191302/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/02/12/i-am-a-man-the-1968-memphis-sanitation-workers-strike-that-led-to-mlks-assassination/ |archive-date=February 12, 2018 }}</ref> In May 1968, Abernathy led the [[Poor People's Campaign]] in Washington, D.C.<ref name="npr">{{Cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91626373 |title=Poor People's Campaign: A Dream Unfulfilled |work=NPR.org |access-date=February 17, 2018 |language=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180208121912/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91626373 |archive-date=February 8, 2018 }}</ref>

===Protest at NASA===
On the eve of the launch of [[Apollo 11]], on July 15, 1969, Abernathy arrived at [[Cape Canaveral|Cape Kennedy]] with several hundred members of the poor people campaign to protest against the spending by government on space exploration, while many Americans remained poor.<ref name="rocket">{{Cite thesis |last=Tribbe |first=Matthew David |date=August 2010 |title=The Rocket and the Tarot: The Apollo Moon Landings and American Culture at the Dawn of the Seventies |type=PhD dissertation |location=Austin, Texas |publisher=The University of Texas at Austin |language=en |url=https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/bitstream/handle/2152/ETD-UT-2010-08-1584/TRIBBE-DISSERTATION.pdf.txt?sequence=5 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180217120923/https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/bitstream/handle/2152/ETD-UT-2010-08-1584/TRIBBE-DISSERTATION.pdf.txt?sequence=5 |archive-date=February 17, 2018 |access-date=February 17, 2018}}</ref> He was met by [[Thomas O. Paine]], the administrator of [[NASA]], whom he told that in the face of such suffering, space flight represented an inhuman priority and funds should be spent instead to "feed the hungry, clothe the naked, tend the sick, and house the homeless".<ref name="otto">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6pMqCjVynG0C&q=%2522abernathy%2522+met+Thomas+O.+Paine,+-wordpress+-blogspot+-facebook&pg=PA100 |title=Fool Me Twice: Fighting the Assault on Science in America |last=Otto |first=Shawn Lawrence |date=October 11, 2011 |publisher=Rodale |isbn=9781609613204 |language=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316231902/https://books.google.com/books?id=6pMqCjVynG0C&pg=PA100&lpg=PA100&dq=%2522abernathy%2522+met+Thomas+O.+Paine,+-wordpress+-blogspot+-facebook&source=bl&ots=_4dGdBUDaL&sig=EtUl5xC3QnzDMZ2XspX3QGCm8p4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj97sW296zZAhVY0GMKHdoWAzAQ6AEIOzAC#v=onepage&q=%2522abernathy%2522%2520met%2520Thomas%2520O.%2520Paine%252C%2520-wordpress%2520-blogspot%2520-facebook&f=false |archive-date=March 16, 2018 }}</ref> Paine told Abernathy that the advances in space exploration were "child's play" compared to the "tremendously difficult human problems" of society Abernathy was discussing.<ref name="otto" /> Despite protesting against the launch, Abernathy acknowledged that he was "profoundly moved by the nation's achievements in space and the heroism of the three men embarking for the moon", but added that "What we can do for space and exploration we demand that we do for starving people."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Niiler|first=Eric|date=July 11, 2019|title=Why Civil Rights Activists Protested the Moon Landing|url=https://www.history.com/news/apollo-11-moon-landing-launch-protests|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101070836/https://www.history.com/news/apollo-11-moon-landing-launch-protests|archive-date=November 1, 2020|access-date=December 28, 2020|website=[[History (American TV network)|History]]}}</ref> Later in 1969 Abernathy also took part in a labor struggle in [[Charleston, South Carolina]], on behalf of the hospital workers of the local union 1199B, which led to a living wage increase and improved working conditions for thousands of hospital workers.<ref name="momentum">{{Cite web |url=http://ldhi.library.cofc.edu/exhibits/show/charleston_hospital_workers_mo/movement_gains_momentum |title=A Movement Gains Momentum · The Charleston Hospital Workers Movement, 1968–1969 · Lowcountry Digital History Initiative |website=ldhi.library.cofc.edu |language=en-US |access-date=February 17, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180218024106/http://ldhi.library.cofc.edu/exhibits/show/charleston_hospital_workers_mo/movement_gains_momentum |archive-date=February 18, 2018 }}</ref>

===Wounded Knee===
In 1973, Abernathy helped negotiate a peace settlement at the [[Wounded Knee incident|Wounded Knee]] uprising between the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] and the leaders of the American Indian Movement, [[Russell Means]] and [[Dennis Banks]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/leaders-of-the-civil-rights-movement/2/ |title=Leaders of the civil rights movement |date=October 16, 2017 |work=CBS News |access-date=April 4, 2018 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sIaMBAAAQBAJ&q=%2522Abernathy%2522+%2522Wounded+Knee%2522&pg=PA295 |title=Power, Politics, and the Decline of the Civil Rights Movement: A Fragile Coalition, 1967–1973 |last=Lehman |first=Christopher P. |date=July 29, 2014 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=9781440832666 |pages=296 |language=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316231902/https://books.google.com/books?id=sIaMBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA295&lpg=PA295&dq=%2522Abernathy%2522+%2522Wounded+Knee%2522&source=bl&ots=EtANiaQa3J&sig=QxsGY250SDeIgRP0NjQ8FYXhYIA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjeyb-W-qzZAhVD2WMKHTA5A2UQ6AEINDAE#v=onepage&q=%2522Abernathy%2522%2520%2522Wounded%2520Knee%2522&f=false |archive-date=March 16, 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6N9oAgAAQBAJ&q=%2522Abernathy%2522+%2522Wounded+Knee%2522&pg=PA199 |title=Hippies, Indians, and the Fight for Red Power |last=Smith |first=Sherry L. |date=May 3, 2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199855605 |pages=199 |language=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316231902/https://books.google.com/books?id=6N9oAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA199&lpg=PA199&dq=%2522Abernathy%2522+%2522Wounded+Knee%2522&source=bl&ots=Ga7N7P7wqe&sig=QQx3-qnq2kx9mwd47bKiPPqAVIU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjeyb-W-qzZAhVD2WMKHTA5A2UQ6AEIMTAD#v=onepage&q=%2522Abernathy%2522%2520%2522Wounded%2520Knee%2522&f=false |archive-date=March 16, 2018 }}</ref>

Abernathy remained president of the SCLC for nine years following King's death in 1968.<ref name=EB/> After King's death the organization lost the popularity it had under his leadership.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.notablebiographies.com/A-An/Abernathy-Ralph.html |title=Ralph Abernathy Biography – life, family, children, mother, son, book, information, born, college, time |website=www.notablebiographies.com |language=en |access-date=April 3, 2018}}</ref> By the time Abernathy left the organization the SCLC had become indebted, and critics stated that it wasn't as imaginative as the SCLC led by Dr. King.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0311.html |title=Ralph David Abernathy, Rights Pioneer, Is Dead at 64 |access-date=April 3, 2018}}</ref> In 1977 Abernathy resigned from his leadership role at the SCLC, and was bestowed the title president emeritus.<ref name=EB/>

==Political career and later activism==
Abernathy addressed the [[United Nations]] in 1971; he spoke about world peace.<ref name="legacy">{{cite web | url=http://www.legacy.com/news/legends-and-legacies/ralph-abernathy-kings-right-hand-man/572/ | title=Ralph Abernathy: King's Right Hand Man | publisher=Legacy.com | date=March 11, 2011 | access-date=March 13, 2015 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402113219/http://www.legacy.com/news/legends-and-legacies/ralph-abernathy-kings-right-hand-man/572/ | archive-date=April 2, 2015 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> He was also a member of the board of directors of the [[Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.thekingcenter.org/archive/document/1965-annual-board-meeting-sclc |title=1965 Annual Board Meeting for SCLC |publisher=The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change |date=April 2, 1965 |website=www.thekingcenter.org |language=en |access-date=February 17, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180218090223/http://www.thekingcenter.org/archive/document/1965-annual-board-meeting-sclc |archive-date=February 18, 2018 }}</ref> In 1977, he ran unsuccessfully for Georgia's 5th Congressional District seat, losing to Congressman [[Wyche Fowler]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1977/02/15/a-free-for-all-race-for-youngs-seat/88044587-029a-42fe-9489-a51293dca1e3/ |title=A Free-for-All Race for Young's Seat |last=Brown |first=Warren |date=February 15, 1977 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=February 17, 2018 |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180217202954/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1977/02/15/a-free-for-all-race-for-youngs-seat/88044587-029a-42fe-9489-a51293dca1e3/ |archive-date=February 17, 2018 }}</ref> He founded the nonprofit organization Foundation for Economic Enterprises Development (FEED), which offered managerial and technical training, creating jobs, income, business and trade opportunities for underemployed and unemployed workers for underprivileged blacks.<ref name="SE"/>

In 1979, Abernathy endorsed Senator [[Edward M. Kennedy]]'s candidacy for the Presidency of the United States.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1980/10/17/abernathy-endorses-reagan-raps-carter-empty-promises/5f1075d6-a858-4bf0-b513-5f285d71dc99/ |title=Abernathy Endorses Reagan, Raps Carter 'Empty Promises' |last=Cannon |first=Lou |date=October 17, 1980 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=February 17, 2018 |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180217202948/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1980/10/17/abernathy-endorses-reagan-raps-carter-empty-promises/5f1075d6-a858-4bf0-b513-5f285d71dc99/ |archive-date=February 17, 2018 }}</ref> However, he shocked critics a few weeks before the 1980 November election, when he endorsed the front-runner, [[Ronald Reagan]], over the struggling presidential campaign of [[Jimmy Carter]].<ref name="carter">{{cite news|last=Herzog|first=James P.|date=October 17, 1980|title=Abernathy Tells Blacks: Reconsider Carter Vote|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=P0McAAAAIBAJ&pg=6939%2C491786|newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Press|The Pittsburgh Press]]|access-date=January 16, 2015}}</ref> Abernathy stated of his endorsement: "The Republican Party has too long ignored us and the Democratic Party has taken us for granted and so since all of my colleagues and the latter in various places across the country were supporting the Democratic Party, I felt that I should support Ronald Reagan."<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=http://www.booknotes.org/Watch/9718-1/Rev-Ralph-David-Abernathy |title=And the Walls Came Tumbling Down |date=October 29, 1989 |type=Video |access-date=February 17, 2018 |website=www.booknotes.org |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180217202811/http://www.booknotes.org/Watch/9718-1/Rev-Ralph-David-Abernathy |archive-date=February 17, 2018 }}</ref> Abernathy withdrew his endorsement of Reagan in 1984, citing his disappointment with the Reagan Administration on civil rights and other areas.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?9718-1/and-walls-tumbling-down&start=2655&noClip= |title=Walls Tumbling, Oct 23 1989 |website=C-SPAN.org |language=en-US |access-date=February 17, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316231903/https://www.c-span.org/video/?9718-1%2Fand-walls-tumbling-down&start=2655&noClip= |archive-date=March 16, 2018 }}</ref>

In 1982, Abernathy testified—along with his executive associate, James Peterson of Berkeley, California—before the Congressional Hearings calling for the Extension of the Voting Rights Act.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VSXfAQAAQBAJ&q=%2522Abernathy%2522+testified+Extension+of+the+Voting+Rights+Act&pg=PA291 |title=The Voting Rights Act of 1965: Race, Voting, and Redistricting |last=Darling |first=Marsha |date=October 31, 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781135730178 |pages=1395 |language=en}}</ref>
{{external media | width = 210px | float = right | headerimage= | video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?9718-1/walls-came-tumbling ''Booknotes'' interview with Abernathy on ''And the Walls Came Tumbling Down'', October 29, 1989], [[C-SPAN]]}}

Documents declassified in 2017 show that Abernathy was on the [[National Security Agency]] watchlist because of [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] leadership's hatred of the [[civil rights movement]].<ref>{{cite news |title=National Security Agency Tracking of U.S. Citizens – "Questionable Practices" from 1960s & 1970s |url=https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/cybervault-intelligence-nuclear-vault/2017-09-25/national-security-agency-tracking-us |access-date=January 3, 2020 |publisher=National Security Archive |date=September 25, 2017}}</ref>

===''And the Walls Came Tumbling Down''===
In late 1989, [[HarperCollins]] published Abernathy's autobiography, ''[[And the Walls Came Tumbling Down]]''.<ref name=EB/> It was his final published accounting of his close partnership with King and their work in the civil rights movement.<ref name="people"/> In it he revealed King's marital infidelity, stating that King had sexual relations with two women on the night of April 3, 1968 (after his "[[I've Been to the Mountaintop]]" speech earlier that day).<ref name="people">{{cite news | url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20121528,00.html | title=A Bitter Battle Erupts Over the Last Hours of Martin Luther King | work=People Magazine | date=October 30, 1989 | access-date=March 21, 2015 | author1=Kunen, James | author2=Sanderson, Jane | author3=Nugent, Tom | author4=Velez, Elizabeth | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150320114153/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20121528,00.html | archive-date=March 20, 2015 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> The book's revelations became the source of much controversy, as did Abernathy.<ref name="people"/><ref name="philly"/> [[Jesse Jackson]] and other civil rights activists made a statement in October 1989—after the book's release—that the book was "slander" and that "brain surgery" must have altered Abernathy's perception.<ref name="people"/><ref name="philly">{{cite news|url=http://articles.philly.com/1989-12-05/news/26157645_1_abernathy-white-marble-crypt-judas|title=Ralph Abernathy's Judgment Day With His Autobiography, He Hoped To Secure His Place In Civil-rights History. But Two Pages Of The Book Proved To Be His Undoing&nbsp;— And Earned Him The Label Of Judas.|last=Capuzzo|first=Mike|date=December 5, 1989|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|access-date=March 21, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402152014/http://articles.philly.com/1989-12-05/news/26157645_1_abernathy-white-marble-crypt-judas|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}</ref>

===Unification Church===
In the 1980s, the [[Unification Church]] hired Abernathy as a [[spokesperson]] to protest the news media's use of the term "[[Moonie]]s", which they compared with the word "[[nigger]]".<ref name="gorenfeld">{{Cite book |last=Gorenfeld |first=John |title=Bad Moon Rising |publisher=PoliPointPress |year=2008 |page=[https://archive.org/details/badmoonrisinghow00gore/page/96 96] |isbn=978-0-9794822-3-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/badmoonrisinghow00gore/page/96 }}</ref> Abernathy also served as vice president of the Unification Church–affiliated group [[American Freedom Coalition]],<ref name="leigh">{{Cite news |last=Leigh |first=Andrew |date=October 15, 1989 |title=Inside Moon's Washington—The private side of public relations improving the image, looking for clout |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |page=B1}}</ref><ref name="nix">{{cite news |last=Nix |first=Shann |date=August 10, 1989 |title=Church seeks new image |work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |page=B3}}</ref> and served on two Unification Church [[boards of directors]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Unification Church funnels millions to U.S. conservatives |work=[[The Dallas Morning News]] |date=December 20, 1987 |page=4A |publisher=The Dallas Morning News Company}}</ref>

==Death==
Abernathy died at [[Emory Crawford Long Memorial Hospital]] on the morning of April 17, 1990, from two blood clots that traveled to his heart and lungs, at the age of 64.<ref name="nyt">{{cite news |title=Ralph David Abernathy, Rights Pioneer, Is Dead at 64 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0311.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=April 18, 1990 |access-date=August 1, 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100531092121/http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0311.html |archive-date=May 31, 2010 }}</ref> After his death [[George H. W. Bush]], then the [[President of the United States]], issued the following statement:
<blockquote>
[[Barbara Bush|Barbara]] and I join with all Americans to mourn the passing of the Rev. Ralph Abernathy, a great leader in the struggle for civil rights for all Americans and a tireless campaigner for justice.<ref name="nyt"/>
</blockquote>

He is entombed in the Chapel Mausoleum of Lincoln Cemetery in Atlanta.<ref>Resting Places: The Burial Places of 14,000 Famous Persons, by Scott Wilson</ref> At Abernathy's behest, his tomb has the simple inscription: "I TRIED."<ref name="philly"/>

==Tributes and portrayals==
[[File:Alabama State University December 2018 29 (Ralph David Abernathy Home).jpg|thumb|Ralph David Abernathy Home on the campus of [[Alabama State University]] in [[Montgomery, Alabama|Montgomery]]]]

During his lifetime Abernathy was honored with more than 300 awards and citations, including five honorary doctoral degrees.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LPgNRyfXF4gC&q=Abernathy+was+honored+with+more+than+300+awards+and+citations&pg=PA74 |title=Black History: More Than Just a Month |last=Henry |first=Mike |date=2013 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=9781475802610 |pages=74 |language=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316231902/https://books.google.com/books?id=LPgNRyfXF4gC&pg=PA74&lpg=PA74&dq=Abernathy+was+honored+with+more+than+300+awards+and+citations&source=bl&ots=2NayK75UW_&sig=fbQ_0gcR2dBxtTvUS1fba8gJo-c&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiB-YWshK3ZAhVO6mMKHd1fD_QQ6AEIOTAC#v=onepage&q=Abernathy%2520was%2520honored%2520with%2520more%2520than%2520300%2520awards%2520and%2520citations&f=false |archive-date=March 16, 2018 }}</ref><ref name="mr">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N33iUl4ZQWgC&q=Abernathy+was+honored+with+more+than+300+awards+and+citations,&pg=PA149 |title=Why I Am so Proud to Be a Black Man: The Many Reasons to Uplift and Celebrate Our Uniqueness in the Universe |last=Michael |first=Mr |date=March 7, 2013 |publisher=iUniverse |isbn=9781475979299 |pages=149 |language=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316231902/https://books.google.com/books?id=N33iUl4ZQWgC&pg=PA149&lpg=PA149&dq=Abernathy+was+honored+with+more+than+300+awards+and+citations,&source=bl&ots=E8_L74g3k3&sig=TfeY4Juoa-4_Np4AOowNMitYVLQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjgs5SSg63ZAhUC5WMKHQsABUgQ6AEINTAB#v=onepage&q=Abernathy%2520was%2520honored%2520with%2520more%2520than%2520300%2520awards%2520and%2520citations%252C&f=false |archive-date=March 16, 2018 }}</ref>{{self-published source|date=March 2023}} He received a Doctor of Divinity from [[Morehouse College]], a Doctor of Divinity from [[Kalamazoo College]] in Michigan, a Doctor of Laws from [[Allen University]] of South Carolina, a Doctor of Laws from [[Long Island University]] in New York, and a Doctor of Laws from [[Alabama State University]].<ref name="mr" />{{self-published source|date=March 2023}}

*Ralph D. Abernathy Hall at Alabama State Hall is dedicated to him, with a bust of his head in the foyer area.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.pwba-architects.com/portfolio/alabama-state-university-college-education |title=Ralph David Abernathy Hall – College of Education - Alabama State University - pwba-architects.com |website=pwba-architects.com |language=en-US |access-date=February 17, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180218024130/http://www.pwba-architects.com/portfolio/alabama-state-university-college-education |archive-date=February 18, 2018 }}</ref>
*[[Interstate 20]] Ralph David Abernathy Freeway,<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1991/04/20/section-of-i-20-named-in-honor-of-rights-leader/ |title=Section Of I-20 Named In Honor Of Rights Leader |work=tribunedigital-orlandosentinel |access-date=February 17, 2018 |language=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180217202818/http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1991-04-20/news/9104200972_1_ralph-david-abernathy-perimeter-interstate |archive-date=February 17, 2018 }}</ref> Abernathy Road,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.citybeat.com/home/article/13008452/man-with-a-mission |title=Man With a Mission |website=CityBeat Cincinnati |language=en |access-date=February 17, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180218090126/https://www.citybeat.com/home/article/13008452/man-with-a-mission |archive-date=February 18, 2018 }}</ref> and Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard of Atlanta were named in his honor.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/features/malu/feat0002/wof/Ralph_Abernathy.htm |title=International Civil Rights: Walk of Fame – Ralph David Abernathy, Sr. |website=www.nps.gov |access-date=February 17, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180217203044/https://www.nps.gov/features/malu/feat0002/wof/Ralph_Abernathy.htm |archive-date=February 17, 2018 }}</ref>

Abernathy was portrayed by Ernie Lee Banks in the 1978 miniseries ''[[King (miniseries)|King]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wxa7BAAAQBAJ&q=Abernathy+is+played+by+Ernie+Lee+Banks+in+the+1978+miniseries+King.&pg=PA254 |title=Historical Dictionary of African American Television |last1=Fearn-Banks |first1=Kathleen |last2=Burford-Johnson |first2=Anne |date=October 3, 2014 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=9780810879171 |language=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316231902/https://books.google.com/books?id=wxa7BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA254&lpg=PA254&dq=Abernathy+is+played+by+Ernie+Lee+Banks+in+the+1978+miniseries+King.&source=bl&ots=KRpZOL0WmO&sig=ftr7YQIrxrGj52p_f6luVpkGKNM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjG8OCIh63ZAhUBIWMKHaDRDCIQ6AEIQzAE#v=onepage&q=Abernathy%2520is%2520played%2520by%2520Ernie%2520Lee%2520Banks%2520in%2520the%25201978%2520miniseries%2520King.&f=false |archive-date=March 16, 2018 }}</ref> He was also portrayed by [[Terrence Howard]] in the 2001 HBO film ''[[Boycott (2001 film)|Boycott]]'', [[Colman Domingo]] in the 2014 film ''[[Selma (film)|Selma]]'',<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/12/24/selma_fact_vs_fiction_how_true_ava_duvernay_s_new_movie_is_to_the_1965_marches.html |title=How Accurate Is Selma? |last=Lockett |first=Dee |date=December 24, 2014 |work=Slate |access-date=February 17, 2018 |language=en-US |issn=1091-2339 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171122065233/http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/12/24/selma_fact_vs_fiction_how_true_ava_duvernay_s_new_movie_is_to_the_1965_marches.html |archive-date=November 22, 2017 }}</ref> and [[Dohn Norwood]] in the 2016 film ''[[All the Way (2016 film)|All the Way]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.hbo.com/movies/all-the-way/cast-and-crew/ralph-abernathy |title=All The Way – Ralph Abernathy |website=HBO |language=en |access-date=February 17, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180217202940/https://www.hbo.com/movies/all-the-way/cast-and-crew/ralph-abernathy |archive-date=February 17, 2018 }}</ref>  [[Hubert Point-Du Jour]] also portrayed Abernathy in ''[[Genius (American TV series)|Genius]]''.<ref>{{cite web|last=Petski|first=Denise|title='Genius: MLK/X' Adds Ron Cephas Jones, Gary Carr, Hubert Point-Du Jour In Lead Roles, 5 More Cast|date=November 30, 2022|website=Deadline Hollywood|url=https://deadline.com/2022/11/genius-mlk-x-adds-ron-cephas-jones-gary-carr-hubert-point-du-jour-in-lead-roles-5-more-cast-1235183899/|accessdate=October 25, 2024}}</ref>

==Works==
* {{Cite thesis |last=Abernathy |first=Ralph |date=August 1958 |title=The Natural History of a Social Movement: The Montgomery Improvement Association |url= |url-access= |archive-url= |archive-date= |url-status= |type=M.A. thesis |location=Atlanta |publisher=Department  of  Sociology,  Atlanta University |isbn= |oclc= |access-date=}}
* {{Cite book |last=Abernathy |first=Ralph |year=2010 |orig-year=1989 |title=And the Walls Came Tumbling Down |title-link=And the Walls Came Tumbling Down: An Autobiography |edition=Unabridged |location=Chicago |publisher=Lawrence Hill Books |isbn=9781569762790 |oclc=460058436 |access-date=}}

==See also==
* [[List of civil rights leaders]]
* [[Timeline of the civil rights movement]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite encyclopedia |last=Kirkland |first=W. Michael |encyclopedia=The New Georgia Encyclopedia |title=Ralph Abernathy (1926–1990) |url=http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2736&sug=y |date=April 27, 2004 |publisher=Georgia Humanities Council |location=Athens, GA |oclc=54400935 |access-date=February 12, 2008 |archive-date=June 18, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130618102106/http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2736&sug=y |url-status=dead }}
*{{cite book |last=Abernathy |first=Ralph |title=And the Walls Came Tumbling Down |location=New York |publisher=Harper & Row |year=1989 |isbn=0-06-016192-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/andwallscametumb00aber }}
*Garrow, David: ''The Walking city: the Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1955-1956''; Carlson; 1989; {{ISBN|0-926019-03-1}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{commons category|Ralph David Abernathy}}
* {{C-SPAN|9746}}
*[http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1110 Ralph Abernathy article, Encyclopedia of Alabama] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131031101807/http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1110 |date=October 31, 2013 }}
*{{Find a Grave|8533}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110724214118/http://www.aacvr-germany.org/AACVR.ORG/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=103&Itemid=71 Ralph Abernathy Biography, The Civil Rights Struggle, African American GIs, and Germany]
*[http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/digital/rabin.html  The Jack Rabin Collection on Alabama Civil Rights and Southern Activists includes video, pictures and materials of Dr. Abernathy during the Selma to Montgomery March]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120323074759/http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/tocn-mla000676-ralph-abernathy Ralph Abernathy] on the WGBH series [https://web.archive.org/web/20140410020402/http://openvault.wgbh.org/collections/tocn-the-ten-o-clock-news ''The Ten O'Clock News''].
* [[iarchive:RalphAbernathy|FBI file on Ralph Abernathy]]
* Ralph Abernathy on [http://SoundTheology.org/audio-programs ''Night Call''] program in 1968

{{SCLC presidents}}
{{Civil rights movement|state=collapsed}}
{{Black church}}
{{Martin Luther King|state=collapsed}}
{{African American topics}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abernathy, Ralph}}
[[Category:1926 births]]
[[Category:1990 deaths]]
[[Category:African-American activists]]
[[Category:African-American Baptist ministers]]
[[Category:American autobiographers]]
[[Category:Activists for African-American civil rights]]
[[Category:American civil rights activists]]
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[[Category:Christian Peace Conference members]]
[[Category:Clark Atlanta University alumni]]
[[Category:Human spaceflight opponents]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Alabama]]
[[Category:American nonviolence advocates]]
[[Category:Activists from Atlanta]]
[[Category:People from Linden, Alabama]]
[[Category:Montgomery bus boycott]]
[[Category:Selma to Montgomery marches]]
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[[Category:Writers from Georgia (U.S. state)]]
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[[Category:United States Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:United States Army non-commissioned officers]]
[[Category:20th-century Baptist ministers from the United States]]
[[Category:Abernathy family (Alabama)]]
[[Category:Deaths from thrombosis]]
[[Category:20th-century American mathematicians]]
[[Category:Poor People's Campaign]]