The Georgia Coalition for the Peoples' Agenda, the civil rights community and all justice loving people across the globe have lost a true friend with the passing of beloved Rev. Dr. Joseph Echols Lowery.

Dr. Lowery lived a remarkable and productive 98 years. For decades he stood as a strong advocate and representative of people who struggled to bring an end to racial discrimination and Jim Crow segregation policies across the Southern United States. Dr. Lowery worked closely with Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., as the Chair of SCLC Board of Directors, and with other national civil rights leaders, for the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the 1968 Housing Rights Act.

In 1998, following his retirement from SCLC and largely out of his concern about the adoption of regressive public policies across the state of Georgia, Dr. Lowery used his voice to bring together community-based social justice groups across the state of Georgia. That action resulted in the formation of the Georgia Coalition of the Peoples' Agenda whose mission is to promote voting rights and pro-poor policies. Under his leadership the People's Agenda continually challenged the State of Georgia to protect the voting rights of all its citizens.

Over the years, as the convener of the Peoples' Agenda, Dr. Lowery always stood-up for worker rights and fairness in educational and health policies throughout the state. In 2008, Dr. Lowery was also the first Civil Rights leader to endorse then Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States.

The People's Agenda will continue the social justice work of Dr. Lowery. In coordination with his family, the Peoples' Agenda will find appropriate ways to celebrate the life and legacy of this civil rights and human rights giant. The leadership, organizational members and staff of the People's Agenda offer our sincere condolences to his family.