Nonviolent resistance was the core strategy of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and ‘60s, and its chief architect alongside Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was another pastor, Rev. James Lawson Jr. Like King, he studied the success of Gandhi’s anti-colonial resistance in India, and he answered King’s call to teach its precepts to thousands of young African-Americans in the South. Lawson died in 2024, but a new memoir — Nonviolent — gives vivid dimension to his life and his ideals. This week, we talk to the book’s co-author, writer and journalist Emily Yellin, who knew Lawson for most of her life and worked closely with him on the text. She says Lawson never stopped fighting for justice, over the years taking on causes including the rights of women, LGBTQ people, and Palestinians, among others.
Also: We look Elon Musk’s expanding corporate footprint across the South — a Tesla factory is draining Austin’s drought-depleted aquifer, xAI data centers in Mississippi and Memphis are threatening the local air and water, and his Boring Company is punching a hole in Nashville’s limestone despite the opposition of local residents.
Plus, a preview of this weekend’s MerleFest celebration of roots music in Wilkesboro, N.C.
Show Notes:
Nonviolent: A Memoir of Resistance, Agitation, and Love Rev. James Lawson Jr. and Emily Yellin
1,300 Men: Memphis Strike ‘68
“Tesla’s Gigafactory water use surges in Austin as new chip plant looms” Texas Tribune
“New Aquifer leader talks future of district and Stage 4 drought” KXAN, Austin
“Water plan killed at Elon Musk’s massive Memphis data center, billions of gallons now needed” The Cool Down
“’A different set of rules’: Thermal drone footage shows Musk’s AI power plant flouting clean air regulations” Floodlight
“NAACP Sues xAI for Illegal Pollution from Data Center Power Plant” Earthjustice
Music City Loop The Boring Company
“How TN Republican lawmakers insulated Musk’s Boring Company tunnel in Nashville from local officials” Tennessee Lookout
MerleFest