Rev. Dr. C.T. Vivian mural dedication this Saturday

MACOMB — To honor one of Macomb’s greatest sons, the Macomb Area Convention & Visitors Bureau has partnered with C.T. Vivian Project Foundation of Macomb founder and director Byron Oden-Shabazz and artist and former WIU Professor of Art Michael Mahoney, to honor civil rights pioneer Rev. Dr. C. T. Vivian in the form of a 75 x 18 foot mural to be dedicated at 12 p.m. this Saturday, July 30th.

The mural, entitled Life of a Servant Leader: Rev. Dr. C. T. Vivian, is part of a multi-phased effort to bring recognition to Vivian as one of the pillars of the nation’s Civil Rights Movement. The key phase of the project is the creation of the Rev. Dr. C.T. Vivian Center for Civic & Cultural Engagement to be erected on the northeast side of the Macomb lot in which Vivian’s childhood home once stood.

Mahoney’s design of the mural features a profile of Rev. Dr. Cordy Tindell Vivian, in later years, looking over significant events in his life which include Vivian graduating from Macomb High School and attending Western Illinois University; preaching in Nashville, Tenn.; leading groups on steps of the Selma, Ala. Courthouse; Rev. Vivian seen with his colleagues Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and John Lewis; Vivian in Nashville as he leads a civil rights march; being arrested during the Freedom Ride protest in Jackson, Miss., and culminating with President Barrack Obama presenting Dr. Vivian with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States’ highest civilian award.

“It’s an honor to help recognize and share one of this nation’s greatest examples of a Servant Leader who served in one of America’s greatest campaigns: The Civil Rights Movement,” Shabbaz said. “(Vivian was) a man who was a recognized leader in that movement and native son, raised in Macomb, who never forgot his roots.”

“I feel very fortunate and excited to be making a mural here in the city where C. T. Vivian grew up,” Michael Mahoney the mural’s artist, said. “A mural that commemorates this remarkable man and his history-making achievements in the struggle for civil rights.”

“We are very proud to help coordinate and finance such a positive project dedicated to such an important unsung hero of the Civil Rights movement.” MACVB director Jock Hedblade said. “We are always happy to assist in bringing another attention getting attraction like this mural to the community.”

The event is open to the public and will be attended by area dignitaries and members of Rev. Dr. Vivian’s immediate family.