Bernard Lafayette

Released

Date of birth:29. 07. 1940

Date of death:05. 03. 2026

Age:85^{† Deceased}

Gender:Male

Race:Black

Era:1960s

State:Alabama

Time Imprisoned:

10 Days

Support

Civil Rights Anti-War

Biography

Bernard Lafayette Jr. was a co-founder of SNCC, a Nashville Student Movement organizer trained by James Lawson, and an original Freedom Rider. Beaten unconscious during the May 1961 Montgomery Freedom Rides, he was arrested with the rest of the riders in Jackson, Mississippi and served time in Parchman Farm. He directed SNCC's Selma project beginning in 1962, surviving an assassination attempt outside his apartment in June 1963 the same night Medgar Evers was murdered. Across the LBJ era he was arrested repeatedly while organizing in Selma, Alabama and beyond, becoming national program director of SCLC's 1968 Poor People's Campaign after King's assassination.

Cases

Mississippi State Penitentiary (Parchman Farm)

Charges: Breach of peace — 1961 Freedom Rides (Jackson, MS); civil-rights demonstrations, Selma, Alabama, 1962-1965

Arrested: May 24, 1961

Incarcerated: May 24, 1961

Released: July 1961

Sentence: Multiple short jail terms (Freedom Rides + Selma organizing)

Institution State: Mississippi

Charges: Sit-in protesting segregated service at Shells City supermarket, Miami

Arrested: Aug 17, 1960

Sentenced: Aug 26, 1960

Incarcerated: Aug 17, 1960

Released: August 1960

Sentence: Held in Dade County jail after the August 17, 1960 sit-in. James R. Robinson individually names him among seven who remained jailed until the August 26 trial, describing ten days in custody. Judge George Schulz imposed suspended sentences, and the group was picketing again the next day. Release is recorded at August month precision; the ten-day total follows the contemporary firsthand account, which counts the arrest and trial days.

Judge: George Schulz

Bernard Lafayette

Biography

Cases

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