Rev. Fred D. Taylor: March, homegoing service planned for MLK lieutenant
Rev. Frederick Douglass Taylor (Atlanta City Council)
ATLANTA - Rev. Frederick Douglass Taylor, a lieutenant to Dr. Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks who died last month, will be honored later this week with a march and celebration of life ceremony.
Rev. Taylor died at Tranquility Hospice in Austell on June 21; he was 81.
Who was Rev. Frederick Douglass Taylor?
Rev. Taylor was born on Oct. 23, 1942, in Autauga County, Alabama. He would grow up on a plantation there.
At the tender age of 13, he would meet Dr. Ralph David Abernathy, forever changing his life. He was moved into action, ultimately becoming actively involved in the Montgomery Bus boycott and a lifetime of service.
After graduating from Booker T. Washington High School in 1961, he earned his undergraduate degree at Alabama State College and would later fulfill his calling by achieving his Master of Divinity from the Morehouse School of Religion at the Interdenominational Theological Center.
Rev. Taylor would go on to join the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1969, where he served various roles over the next four decades.
In addition to his close relationship with Dr. King and Ms. Parks, he worked closely with Coretta Scott King, Dr. Joseph Lowery, Rev. James Orange and other civil rights leaders.
He would retire from the SCLC in 2007, but he remained vocal in the community, particularly during the Black Lives Matter movement. He was also very active in the get out the vote push in Georgia and volunteered with Georgia Stand Up and Georgia Coalition for the People's Agenda.
READ MORE ABOUT REV. TAYLOR'S LIFE
March for Rev. Frederick Douglass Taylor
Rev. Taylor will lie in repose at the Ebenezer Horizon Sanctuary from 4 until 7 p.m. on Thursday.
Immediately following, at 5 p.m., a march will take place from the SCLC Headquarters to the King Center, pausing in front of Martin and Coretta Scott King’s grave site, then proceeding to Ebenezer Horizon Sanctuary.
Once there, a memorial service and remembrance tribute will take place.
Mural Time Lapse from Atlanta City Council on Vimeo.
Thursday’s memorial service will be presided over by Rev. Timothy McDonald III, senior pastor of First Iconium Baptist Church and former SCLC staffer. Ambassador Andrew Young will give remarks.
Rev. Frederick Douglass Taylor’s homegoing
On Friday, the public is invited to join friends and family for a public viewing at 10 a.m. at the West Hunter Street Baptist Church located at 1040 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd SW.
A celebration of life service will follow at noon with Rev. Dr. T. DeWitt Smith, Jr., will be presiding.
In lieu of flowers or other gifts, the family is requesting donations to be made to the A.D. King Memorial Fund at 2505 Creel Road, Suite A, Atlanta, GA 30349.