Eddie Brown Jr.

Family-Placed Death Notice

BROWN, Eddie Charles, Jr. "Fighting Fire with a Feather" Eddie Charles Brown, Jr., 70, a Civil and Human Rights Activist, committed to fighting the oppression of all people from Mississippi to South Africa, died at his home in Atlanta on November 23, 2011. Ed Brown was respected for his enduring commitment to Black and poor 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 Civil Rights Movement. In 2010, Ed gave his Shahada (acceptance of Islam) to his younger brother the Imam Jamil Al-Amin (formerly known as H. Rap Brown) to whom Ed's observable devotion, loyalty and commitment was widely admired. The janaza (last rites) were held November 24, 2011 at the West End Community Mosque in Atlanta, Georgia. A Memorial Service will be announced later. A native of Louisiana, Ed was born, on August 19, 1941, in New Orleans and raised in Baton Rouge to Thelma Warren and Eddie Charles Brown, Sr. Ed's historical efforts to fight segregation and all forms of oppression started in 1960 as a young student at Louisiana's Southern University when he and 16 classmates staged a sit-in protesting racial segregation. He was expelled. This led Ed to Howard University in Washington, D.C. in 1961, where he became a leader and organizer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the Civil Rights Movement. Thus began his ongoing struggle for justice, which would define his entire life. A Life of Service Ed never held a job not directly concerned with human advancement. Highly regarded in 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 here and in Africa can be seen to have been: democratic political liberation, economic empowerment and the celebration and enhancement of our cultures. Among fellow workers, he is remembered for his uncommon diplomatic skill, personal charm and political tact which enabled him to soothe the most outrageous egos, resolve conflicts and bring apparently irreconcilable warring factions together. In 1965 Ed worked at Citizen's Crusade Against Poverty in Washington, D.C. with community-based organizations to support anti-poverty legislation. In 1967, Ed was Executive Director and founder of the Mississippi Action for Community Education (MACE) and The Delta Foundation in Greenville, Mississippi, where he developed community-based enterprises producing blue jeans and catfish farms. In 1974, Ed raised funds and helped organize the Sixth Pan African Congress in Tanzania. In 1976, As Executive Director of the NO Area Dev. Project, Ed organized communities to fight police brutality and foster education reform. In 1980s as President/CEO of the Southern Agriculture Corp. he organized and obtained funding for Black farmers. In 1990s as Executive Director of the Voter Education Project in Atlanta, he registered people to vote and fought legislation restricting the disenfranchised. From the 1990s-2006, Ed was senior consultant to the National Democratic Institute. He designed and implemented civic/voter education programs for elections in South Africa, Ethiopia, Namibia, Zambia, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe. At the Jimmy Carter Center, Ed worked in Ghana, Zambia and The Dominican Republic as an international election observer. At the World Council of Churches and Emergency Fund for Southern Africa he raised funds for humanitarian relief; at the Center for National Security Studies he monitored American defense policies/budgets; and served with the American Friends Service Committee, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Citizens Advisory Comm. Equal Opportunity and Atlanta Council for International Coop. From 1994-2003, Ed worked with municipal and city planning as marketing director for Sidney B. Bowne and with the mayors of Macon and Albany, Georgia, in 2003 as a consultant with ABC Management. In his journeys to Africa, he collected African sculptures and masks which he and his wife, Valinda, expanded. He is widely known for nurturing artists of African-American and African descent. As a board member of the High Museum of Art, he helped establish the annual David Driskell Young Artist Award; became co-owner of Boston's Harris/Brown Art Gallery; and served on the boards of the Atlanta Photography Group and Academy Theater. He loved jazz, blues and gospel and he established the Mississippi Delta Blues Festival. Ed was a master New Orleans chef who was admired deliciously for his prized seafood, duck, or pheasant gumbos, and quail, and turtle soup. 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 an Ed Brown story. He was a historian of African culture and spent years studying Yoruba culture. During the 1970s while in Nigeria, 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 Al-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.