Ralph Abernathy

Ralph David Abernathy (1926–1990) was an American Baptist minister and civil rights leader. Born in Linden, Alabama, he became pastor of First Baptist Church in Montgomery and emerged as a key organizer of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. A close associate of Martin Luther King Jr., Abernathy helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957 and served as its vice president. After King’s assassination in 1968, he succeeded him as SCLC president and led the organization during the Poor People’s Campaign. Abernathy later wrote the memoir *And the Walls Came Tumbling Down* (1989).