Abraham Woods | Civil rights leader, 80
The Rev. Abraham Woods, 80, a longtime civil rights leader who stood behind the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during his "I Have a Dream" speech, died Friday at a Birmingham, Ala., hospital. He had battled cancer for several years.
The Rev. Abraham Woods, 80, a longtime civil rights leader who stood behind the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during his "I Have a Dream" speech, died Friday at a Birmingham, Ala., hospital. He had battled cancer for several years.
Mr. Woods helped coordinate the March on Washington and stood behind Dr. King in 1963, looking out over a crowd of 250,000 as Dr. King gave his famous speech.
Mr. Woods served as longtime president of the Birmingham chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He often led marches in Birmingham to protest police shootings, slumlords and neighborhood violence.
Mr. Woods was pastor of St. Joseph Baptist Church since 1967 and led the First Metropolitan Baptist Church in the early 1960s.
- AP