Honoring the Life of Ed Amir Charles Brown, Jr.

Honorin
E/AmirC

Program
WoodruffArts Center/High Museum ofArt
1280 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, Ga. 30309
Sunda~January15,2012
3:00PM
Prelude ..................................................................................................................... Jazz Medley - Bilal Sunni-Ali Heritage Drummers
Opening Remarks.................................................................................................... Kalamu ya Salaam, Moderator Welcome................................................................................. ..................... Carol Thompson, High Museum ofArt
..... ....... ... Kalamu ya Salaam
~~~pe-..:lfidl.a.el Thelwell- SNCC
u~~...~~~~~~~~Mc-Ieer - Early MACE
- Pr~smt MACE
u ya Salaam . . ......::....................................................................................................... Heritage Drummers Reception Immediately Following Service at High Museum ofArt's Taylor Lobby
Open Testimonials and Refreshments

Eil Amir Cliarle Brown, Jr., a great-souled human
being committed to fighting the oppression of all people from Mississippi to South Africa, died November 23, 2011. In political circles, Ed was respected for his enduring commitment to our people. As a consequence of his tireless devotion to and success in advancing the culture and economic progress of poor Black folk, Ed Brown was widely recognized as among the most incorruptible, responsible, resourceful and effective of the activist leaders of the Movement. As his SNCC colleagues said of him, "More than most, Ed's life embodies and exemplifies to a remarkable degree, the principle of undying love for our people both here and in the Motherland. "
Although the consummate organizer and community activist in matters of the aesthetics of Black musical culture and the southern oral tradition, Ed had the soul of a poet and the eloquence of a griot. Similarly, his great sensitivity to African cultures is reflected in the quality of the extraordinary collection of traditional African religious art, which he and his wife, Valinda of 31 years, have painstakingly gathered.
A year prior to his passing, his younger brother, Imam Jamil AI-Amin {formerly known as H. Rap Brown), gave Ed his Shahada {acceptance of Islam). Ed's observable devotion, loyalty and commitment were widely seen as an unconditional and admirable example of brotherly love.
A native of louisiana, Ed was born on August 19, 1941 in New Orleans to Thelma Warren and Eddie Charles Brown, Sr. and raised in Baton Rouge. Ed's historical efforts to fight segregation and all forms of oppression and to empower Black people started in 1960 as a young student at louisiana's Southern University, where he and 16 other classmates staged a sit-in protesting racial segregation. After they ~w~e:r~e-~ilill~--.i~ arrested, expelled and banned from all universities in louisiana, Ed began the ongoing struggle for justke, which would define his entire life. This expulsion led Ed to Howard University in Washington, D.C. in 1961 where he landed on the front line of the Civil Rights Movement as an active member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and Nonviolent Action Group (NAG), the SNCC affiliate at Howard. As a leader and field secretary for SNCC, he fought to win constitutional rights for Blacks and all disenfranchised people. Ed always proclaimed that he was fighting fire with a feather," but he knew he would prevail because he often said, ironically, he was protected by asbestos gloves.
A Life ofS rvice
Ed never held a job not directly concerned with human advancement. Highly regarded 1n white political and philanthropic circles for a selfless incorruptibility, Ed bridged the gap between both communities and was able to direct very significant financial resources into poor Black communities. The three abiding concerns of his professional life, both here and in Africa, can be seen as: democratic political liberation; economic empowerment; and the celebration and enhancement of our cultures. Through Ed's efforts, thousands of people have had their lives significantly improved.
Among fellow workers, he is remembered for his uncommon diplomatic skill, personal charm and political tact. The respect he commanded, coupled with a delightful sense of humor, enabled him to soothe the most outrageous egos, resolve conflicts and bring apparent irreconcilable warring factions together.
In 1965, as a staffer at the Citizen's Crusade Against Poverty in Washington, D.C., Ed developed information networks among community-based organizations to support anti-poverty legislation. In 1967, he organized

efforts to improve the political and economic conditions of Blacks in the Mississippi Delta as the executive director and founder of the Mississippi Action for Community Education (MACE) and The Delta Foundation in Greenville, Mississippi. At MACE, he developed community-based enterprises, producing Fine Vines blue jeans and establishing catfish farms in the Delta and promoted the annual Mississippi Delta Blues Festival.
In 1974, Ed raised funds and helped organize the Sixth Pan African Congress held at the University of Tanzania at Dar-es-Salaam's Nkrumah Hall with delegates representing 52 independent states and/or liberation movements in Africa, the Caribbean and other people of African descent. As executive director of the New Orleans Area Development Project in 1976, Ed organized advocacy groups and communities to fight police brutality, and parentteacher committees for education reform. Ed went on to serve as president and CEO of the Southern Agriculture Corporation in the 1980s where he worked to organize and gain capital funding for small Black southern farmers. As executive director of the Voter Education Project (VEP) in Atlanta in the 1990s, Ed continued his tireless efforts to register Blacks and the poor to vote and fought legislation restricting disenfranchised people of all color from voting.
From 1990 to 2006, Ed took his "asbestos gloves" to nations outside the United States. As a senior consultant to the National Democratic Institute, Ed designed and implemented civic and voter education programs to prepare for national elections in Ethiopia, Namibia, Zambia, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe. He was especially involved in the antiapartheid movement in South Africa which resulted in the freeing of Nelson Mandela. As an international election observer for The Carter Center, Ed worked in Ghana, Zambia and The Dominican Republic. As a human rights activist in corporate board rooms, Ed served on the World Council of Churches and Emergency Fund for Southern Africa raising funds for humanitarian relief; at the Center for National Security Studies, monitoring American defense policies and budgets; and with the American Friends Service Committee fighting apartheid. He also consulted with the Asian Council of Churches and participated in the Consultation of Minority Peoples of Japan in Tokyo.
In addition to his international work during this time, from 1994 through 2003, Ed moved into the arena of municipal and city planning as southeastern marketing director for Sidney B. Bowne Engineering of New York, as a strategic planner in its negotiation and establishment of Geography Information Systems.
Love o A
Ed developed an early appreciation and love of art while studying at Howard University under Professors Sterling Brown and David C. Driskell. He became especially interested in the history of African art and cultures. During his later journeys throughout the continent, he began collecting African sculptures and masks which he and Valinda expanded with African and African-American art. Ed became a co-owner of Boston's Harris/Brown Art Gallery. He was widely known for furthering dialogue regarding the importance of nurturing artists of African-American and African descent. As a board member of the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, he was especially proud of being instrumental in helping to establish the David C. Driskell Prize in African American Art and Art History. Ed's years of advocating the ascension of African-American artists have resulted in their inclusion in successful exhibitions at various art venues.
Ed's love and dedication to Black culture embraced music of all kind. He promoted and made annual pilgrimages to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival with Valinda. Ed was a master New Orleans chef who was admired for his seafood gumbo, turtle soup, spinach shrimp dressing, sweet potato pone and crawfish bisque. Friends prized a cup of Ed's Gumbo." His demonstrations of affection for food and sharing led to his wife's publication of a loving cookbook. Ed was an elaborate storyteller, so with each meal came colorful .,adventures with Ed Brown. He was a passionate historian of African culture and accumulated a large library of African history. Ed spent many rewarding years studying Yoruba culture and during the 1970s, while in Nigeria following an elaborate ritual that included his running alongside camels with a net over his head, he was initiated into the ruling Ogboni Society of Yoruba manhood.
Ed is survived by his loving wife, Valinda; three sons, Michael Johnson, Kevin George and Keith George; two sisters, Pat Brown Leak (Alex) and Cheryl Brown Hill (Donald); brothers Jamil AI-Amin (Karima) and Lance Brown (Pat); grandchildren Alexis Johnson, Aliyah Johnson, Tyler Johnson, Kristin George, Christopher George, Brandon George and nieces, nephews, cousins and a host of other family and friends.

The family of Ed Amir Charles Brown, Jr. expresses our sincere appreciation for your sympathy and acts of love throughout Ed's illness and at this time. Your thoughtfulness and generosity are sources of strength and we are forever grateful for your expressions
of gentle, caring support.
In Memory of Ed, tax deductible donations may be forwarded to The Justice Fund, 971 N. Hairston Road, Suite A-9, #149, Stone Mountain, GA 30083

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