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BEVEL'S DEPARTURE FROM SCLC, 1969
"February 1969, at a closed staff meeting during which SCLC leaders mapped strategy for the spring and summer . . . James Bevel won the hearts if not the minds of SCLC leaders when he explained the details of his [new] proposal and his moral reasoning. [His proposal was] 1) To insist that James Earl Ray be given a fair and impartial trial; 2) An international pilgrimage for Ralph Abernathy and Mrs. King asking governments to cut back spending for military armaments; and 3) To address the question of inferior education, with the Philadelphia public school system as the target." -George Goodman. Ibid. p. 31
"Two SCLC attorneys argued against the Bevel proposals - not on moral grounds, but on the basis of practicality and because, as a staffer said, 'There are too many Negroes in this country who want blood too.'" -Goodman. Ibid., p. 31
"Ralph Abernathy did not object to the proposals as presented in Atlanta . . . Reportedly, he rebuked Bevel in response to a plea from Dr. King's father. Abernathy censored Bevel because the anguished father of an old friend asked him to." -Goodman. Ibid., p.31
"Bevel fought for these three actions so vocally that he was forced to leave SCLC. The heart had been taken out of the organization . . . after King's death and Bevel's departure, the group seems to have become a ceremonial shadow of its former self." -Kryn. Ibid.
PRESENT ACTIVITIES
After his departure from SCLC, Rev. Bevel pursued studies into the origin of violence and poverty. In 1969 he developed an award winning mental health program at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, which led in 1970 to the development of the Making A Nation (MAN) Clinic. It was this clinical research which produced the Nonviolent Clinical Process for eradicating ignorance, poverty and disease.
In 1984, Rev. Bevel ran for Congress (7th Congressional District) winning 33% of the vote on the platform of education and precinct council development modeled upon the Nonviolent Clinical Process. This platform has never been abandoned, and he is still focused on these two issues to the present day. His constitutional work in the 1980s and 1990s led him to develop SEED (Students for Education and Economic Development), through which he addressed the issues of violence and poverty by creating economic development projects based in the Southside area of Chicago. Through SEED, he worked with the Unification Church in defense of their right to religious freedom and formed the All-African Congress which organized efforts to negotiate the release of Nelson Mandela. In 1992 he ran for Vice-President of the United States with Lyndon LaRouche. In 1994-95 he served as the 'angel' who brought the idea of the Day of Atonement to Minister Louis Farrakhan which became the Million Man March.
Today, Rev. Bevel serves as the pastor of the Hebraic-Christian-Islamic Assembly and Associate Minister of New Life Baptist Church, both located in Chicago, Illinois. He also serves on the board of directors of the Camden County Economic Development Agency (Camden, NJ), the Democrat-Republican Candidates Forum (Camden, NJ), the University of Civilization (Chicago, IL), and the 9th Ward/43rd Precinct Family Association (Chicago, IL). Additionally, he serves as spiritual advisor to the Council of Mothers, the International Citizens Security Council, the Holy Day of Atonement national office, and WorkShip Coalition (all Chicago based).
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