Civil rights advocate C.T. Vivian dies at 95

C.T. Vivian, a minister and advocate for civil rights who worked with Martin Luther King Jr., died July 17 in Atlanta.

Cordy Tindell Vivian was 95. He died of natural causes, business partner and friend Don Rivers told the Associated Press.

Vivian’s social justice work preceded King’s, as the Missouri native non­violently and successfully protested segregated lunch counters in Peoria, Illi­nois, in 1947. He later became part of King’s ex­ecutive staff at the Southern Christian Leader­ship Conference in Atlanta. He served as president of the SCLC into his late eighties.