Lawrence Guyot

American activist (1939-2012)

Lawrence Guyot
Born	(1939-07-17)July 17, 1939 Pass Christian, Mississippi, U.S.
Died	November 23, 2012(2012-11-23) (aged 73) Mount Rainier, Maryland, U.S.
Alma mater	Tougaloo College
Occupation	Director Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party
Organization	Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party
Known for	Civil rights activist
Movement	Civil Rights Movement Peace movement
Spouse	Monica Klein Guyot
Children	Julie Guyot-Diangone, Lawrence Guyot III

Lawrence Guyot Jr. (July 17, 1939 – November 23, 2012) was an American civil rights activist and the director of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party in 1964.

Biography

Guyot was a native of Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he was raised Catholic.

He joined the Freedom Movement in Mississippi in 1961, when he was a student at Tougaloo College in Mississippi. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in biology and chemistry in 1963. Guyot also directed the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) project in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and later became director of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party via the 1963 Freedom Ballot of 80,000 participants and the Summer Project of 1964.^[1] The major accomplishment of SNCC/MFDP was to establish a close bond with the United States Department of Justice.^[2] In 1966, Guyot ran for Congress as an anti-war candidate.^[3]

Guyot was severely physically beaten many times, including while at the Mississippi State Penitentiary, also known as Parchman Farm, in the early 1960s. He has stated that his testicles were burned with sticks by police officers.^[4]

Guyot helped lay the groundwork for the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He received a degree in law in 1971 from Rutgers University, and then moved to Washington, D.C., where he worked for the election of Marion Barry as mayor in 1978.

Muhammad Ali, the world boxing champion, was a good friend of Lawrence Guyot.^{[citation needed]}

Guyot has appeared in many documentaries such as Eyes on the Prize, released in 1987. From the 1990s until the mid-2000s, Guyot often appeared as a commentator on Fox News, defending the legacy of the civil rights movement in heated discussions with hosts Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity. He continued speaking out on voting rights issues and encouraged people to vote for President Barack Obama. Until his retirement in 2004, Guyot was a program monitor for the D.C. Department of Human Services’ Office of Early Childhood Development.

His daughter Dr Julie Guyot-Diangone announced on November 24, 2012, that her father had died at home, in Mount Rainier, Maryland. She said he had had heart problems and had suffered from diabetes. ^[5]

References

^ Library of Congress
^ Library of Congress
^ Biography at History makers
^ Library of Congress
^ Harris, Hamil R.; Schudel, Matt (November 25, 2012). "Lawrence Guyot, civil rights leader and community activist, dies at 73". The Washington Post. Retrieved 25 November 2012.

External links

External videos
“Interview with Lawrence Guyot” circa 1979 conducted for America, They Loved You Madly, a precursor to the Eyes on the Prize documentary in which he discusses the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) and civil rights activism in Mississippi, including the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party at the Democratic National Convention in 1964. He also discusses being brutalized by police in Winona, Mississippi.

External videos

“Interview with Lawrence Guyot” circa 1979 conducted for America, They Loved You Madly, a precursor to the Eyes on the Prize documentary in which he discusses the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) and civil rights activism in Mississippi, including the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party at the Democratic National Convention in 1964. He also discusses being brutalized by police in Winona, Mississippi.

SNCC Digital Gateway: Lawrence Guyot, Documentary website created by the SNCC Legacy Project and Duke University, telling the story of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee & grassroots organizing from the inside-out
Lawrence Guyot, Jr. Archival Collection Finding Aid Washingtoniana Collection DCPL

Authority control databases
International	FAST VIAF
National	United States
Other	SNAC

Civil rights movement (1954–1968)

Events
(timeline)

Prior to 1954	Journey of Reconciliation Executive Order 9981 Murders of Harry and Harriette Moore Sweatt v. Painter (1950) McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents (1950) Baton Rouge bus boycott
1954–1959	Brown v. Board of Education Bolling v. Sharpe Briggs v. Elliott Davis v. Prince Edward County Gebhart v. Belton Sarah Keys v. Carolina Coach Company Emmett Till Montgomery bus boycott Browder v. Gayle Tallahassee bus boycott Mansfield school desegregation 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom "Give Us the Ballot" Royal Ice Cream sit-in Little Rock Nine Cooper v. Aaron Civil Rights Act of 1957 Ministers' Manifesto Katz Drug Store sit-in Kissing Case Biloxi wade-ins
1960–1963	New Year's Day March Sit-in movement Greensboro sit-ins Nashville sit-ins Atlanta sit-ins Savannah Protest Movement Greenville Eight Civil Rights Act of 1960 Ax Handle Saturday Gomillion v. Lightfoot Boynton v. Virginia University of Georgia desegregation riot Rock Hill sit-ins Robert F. Kennedy's Law Day Address Freedom Rides Anniston bombing Birmingham attack Garner v. Louisiana Albany Movement Cambridge movement University of Chicago sit-ins "Second Emancipation Proclamation" Meredith enrollment, Ole Miss riot Atlanta's Berlin Wall "Segregation now, segregation forever" Stand in the Schoolhouse Door 1963 Birmingham campaign Letter from Birmingham Jail Children's Crusade Birmingham riot 16th Street Baptist Church bombing John F. Kennedy's speech to the nation on Civil Rights Detroit Walk to Freedom March on Washington "I Have a Dream" Big Six St. Augustine movement
1964–1968	Twenty-fourth Amendment Chester school protests Bloody Tuesday 1964 Monson Motor Lodge protests Freedom Summer workers' murders Civil Rights Act of 1964 Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States Katzenbach v. McClung 1964–1965 Scripto strike 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches "How Long, Not Long" Voting Rights Act of 1965 Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections March Against Fear White House Conference on Civil Rights Chicago Freedom Movement/Chicago open housing movement Loving v. Virginia Memphis sanitation strike King assassination funeral riots Civil Rights Act of 1968 Poor People's Campaign Green v. County School Board of New Kent County Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co.