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Early Years
Vivian was born in Boonville, Missouri on July 28, 1924. A few years later he moved to Macomb, Illinois. Vivian grew up in a tiny African American community where he graduated high school in 1942. -
The First Sit-in
In 1947 Vivian participated in his first successful civil rights protest in Peoria. -
Attending Seminary
Vivian moved to Nashville to study at American Baptist Theological Seminary. There he met many of the leaders of the civil rights movement, including Diane Nash and John Lewis. -
Nashville Demonstration
Vivian led 4,000 demonstrators in a march on Nashville’s City Hall where they won concessions from Mayor Ben West who publicly agreed that racial discrimination was morally wrong. Later that year he joined the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). -
Selma to Montgomery March
Vivian denounced Sheriff Clark, one of the officials responsible for the violent arrests of civil rights protestors, during the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches at a voting rights protest rally. After being publicly humiliated Sheriff Clark beat Vivian. -
Black Power and the American Myth
Vivian wrote the book Black Power and the American Myth in 1970. This book is about the failings of the Civil Rights movement and this was the first book on the Civil Rights Movement by a member of Martin Luther King's staff. -
C. T. Vivian Leadership Institute, Inc.
Vivian founded the C. T. Vivian Leadership Institute, Inc. This organization created the "Yes, We Can" campaign which mobilized the Atlanta community to donate in excess of $500,000.
