RIP James Lawson

James Lawson taught nonviolent resistance to a generation of civil rights leaders that ended government-imposed discrimination.  

•  The protests forced a reckoning, and Nashville became the first Southern city to desegregate its downtown lunch counters in 1960. 
• Vanderbilt expelled Lawson in 1960 due to his leadership role in the sit-ins. Lawson later reconciled with Vanderbilt, and the university created an institute in his honor.

Obituary:  Axios Nashville