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ENROLLED
2026 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 35
BY REPRESENTATIVE WALTERS
A RESOLUTION
To express the condolences of the House of Representatives on the death of Bernard
LaFayette, Jr.
WHEREAS, it is with immense sadness and profound regret that the House of
Representatives of the Legislature of Louisiana has learned of the passing of Bernard
LaFayette, Jr.; and
WHEREAS, Bernard LaFayette, Jr., was born on July 29, 1940, in Tampa, Florida,
and grew up in Tampa and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS, Dr. LaFayette was a student at the American Baptist Theological
Seminary during the Freedom Rides of 1961 and served as a leader in both the Nashville
Student Movement and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee; and
WHEREAS, Dr. LaFayette was one of twenty-one student Freedom Riders who were
attacked during a demonstration at the Montgomery Greyhound Bus Station on May 20,
1961; after the attack, he traveled to Jackson, Mississippi, where he was arrested on a
breach-of-the-peace charge and spent nearly forty days in Parchman Prison; and
WHEREAS, after his release from prison, Dr. LaFayette remained in Jackson to
recruit new Freedom Riders and organize the Jackson Nonviolent Movement; he later joined
the staff of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and worked on numerous
campaigns, including Selma, from 1963 to 1965; and
WHEREAS, Dr. LaFayette served as the national coordinator for the Poor People's
Campaign in 1968; during his final conversation with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., he was
charged to "institutionalize and internationalize nonviolence", and this challenge shaped his
life as an activist, minister, educator, lecturer, and authority on Kingian Nonviolence; and
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HR NO. 35 ENROLLED
WHEREAS, Dr. LaFayette attended the Boston University School of Law and
Harvard University; he completed a master of education degree from Harvard in 1972 and
a doctor of education degree in 1974; he taught at numerous colleges and universities and
served as the senior scholar in residence at the Candler Divinity School at Emory University;
and
WHEREAS, Dr. LaFayette served as president of American Baptist College and as
chair of the national board of the SCLC; in 2013, he published a memoir entitled In Peace
and Freedom: My Journey in Selma; and
WHEREAS, Dr. LaFayette received numerous awards and honors, including the
Mahatma Gandhi International Award for Reconciliation and Peace in 2016; he is featured
in the book The Children and in numerous documentaries, including When I Get Grown: The
Story of How Bernard LaFayette, Jr. Became a Freedom Rider; and
WHEREAS, Bernard LaFayette, Jr., was married to the former Kate Bulls and was
the father of two sons and grandfather of seven grandchildren; he will be deeply missed, but
his legacy of service during the civil rights movement and to social justice causes across the
nation shall live on in perpetuity in the hearts and minds of those who were privileged to
have known him.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby express heartfelt condolences on the death of Bernard
LaFayette, Jr.; does hereby extend enduring appreciation for his contributions to the civil
rights movement in the United States; and does hereby extend sincere wishes that his family,
friends, and loved ones find comfort in their shared memories of his beautiful life.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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