Belafonte, Gregory roast Lowery for 85th birthday celebration

<p>To help him celebrate his 85th birthday, the Rev. Joseph Lowery invited two friends who share his quick wit, sharp tongue and tendency to create controversy.</p><p>First was Harry Belafonte, the actor, singer and activist who has criticized the Bush administration on the war in Iraq and the government's response to Hurricane Katrina. Belafonte quipped that when was surprised to see such a crowd lined up to pay tribute to Lowery, whose birthday was Oct. 6.</p><p>"I didn't know Joe Lowery had that many people fooled," Belafonte said.</p><p>Comedian and activist Dick Gregory, who celebrated his 74th birthday on Oct. 12, got a slap on the back from Lowery after his remarks _ more stand-up comedy act than salute. He began by apologizing for being late, which he blamed on mixing up his nutritional supplements with the sexual enhancement drug Viagra.</p><p>Belafonte and Gregory also heaped praise on Lowery and his wife, Evelyn Gibson Lowery, who endured the ridicule of their friends for the civil rights icon's birthday roast and fundraiser Thursday night.</p><p>"They made it look so easy, because they have caught hell in their lives," Gregory said. "You can't look at them and tell what they went through."</p><p>Some took the opportunity to poke fun at themselves as they teased Lowery.</p><p>Former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes was the lone white person to speak at the event. "I'm sorry to be a little late, but as they announced, white folks are always late," Barnes said.</p><p>Not to be outdone, Lowery stole the show at times. When state Rep. Alisha Thomas Morgan, D-Austell, asked everyone in the auditorium under 40 to stand and thank him for his lifelong struggle, Lowery stood, too.</p><p>Proceeds from the evening benefitted the Joseph E. Lowery Institute for Justice and Human Rights at Clark Atlanta University, where students, teachers and elected officials can use the lessons of the civil rights movement to continue to effect change. Among those filling the Martin Luther King Jr. Chapel at Morehouse College were politicians, clergy and the community.</p><p>Many roasters also recognized Evelyn Gibson Lowery for standing with her husband for half a century to fight social injustice and for her own work as head of SCLC/WOMEN, the sister organization to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Lowery co-founded the group with Martin Luther King Jr. and others in 1957 and was president of SCLC from 1977 until 1998.</p><p>Thanks came not only for Lowery's contributions during the civil rights movement, but for the work he has done since desegregation. U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., praised his work to fight HIV/AIDS and his continued outspokenness.</p><p>"He will say whatever's on his mind," Waters said. "That kind of courage is what has kept us in good stead."</p><p>Lowery continues to do so as head of the Georgia Coalition for the People's Agenda, addressing issues such as voting and workers' rights. Morgan called him the greatest male influence in her life, and asked other young people to continue his fight.</p><p>"If you love Joseph E. Lowery, do everything you can to make sure what he did is not in vain," she said.</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2006/10/114683