Macomb City Leader Takes Part in Ceremony
The late Civil Rights icon the Rev. Dr. C.T. Vivian was recently honored in a community where he first took part in a Civil Rights Movement.
Last week, more than 100 community members, city officials and students joined Vivian’s family in Peoria, including Macomb Alderman and leader of Macomb's C.T. Vivian Project Byron Oden-Shabazz, to dedicate a portion of Florence Avenue as Dr.
C.T. Vivian Avenue. The intersection of Sheridan Road and Florence Avenue was chosen by local school officials, citing the cultural impact that Vivian had made to the city.
“As the founder and president of the C.T. Vivian Project of Macomb, which serves to honor, serve and continue the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Vivivian, it was truly an honor to be present and involved with the name change and being a sponsor for the street signs in Peoria,” Shabazz said. “It was a small offering to give for such a man who served in such a large capacity working for change for this nation.”
Vivian, who moved to Macomb when he was a toddler, graduated from Macomb High School and later Western Illinois University, where he worked as the sports editor for the Western Courier. His contributions to the Civil Rights movement, including being one of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, right-hand men, were many. Vivian's journey as an activist began in Peoria in 1947, where he participated in his first sit-in demonstration which resulted in the integration of Barton's Cafeteria.
During the Rev. Dr. Vivian's illustrious career, he served with Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King in Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and Florida. He joined King's executive staff and served as the national director of affiliates for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. While in Chicago he organized and directed the Coalition for United Community Action, which became known as Chicago's Black Front.
He was the first one of King's staff to write a book on the Civil Rights Movement, 'Black Power and the American Myth.' In 2013, he was among 16 individuals recognized with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Vivian was the director of the Urban Theological Institute at Atlanta's Inter-denominational Theological Center, a consortium of African-American seminaries, and was board chair of Capitol City Bank, a minority- owned bank in Georgia.
Through his C.T. Vivian Leadership Institute, he fostered innovative leadership and career development for at-risk youth and college graduates.
In October 2015, the Macomb High School Library was renamed the C.T. Vivian Library, and the City of Macomb issued an honorary designation of C.T. Vivian Way from University Drive to Carroll Street. In September 2003, Macomb City officials designated a portion of West Murray Street from Stadium Drive to University Drive, the roadway through the WIU campus, as C.T. Vivian Way.
The site of Vivian's former Macomb home at 630 E.
Adams St. was designated as a historic site on Sept. 26, 2020. His memory also lives on in Macomb thanks to WIU Art Professor Emeritus Michael Mahoney, who created a 70-foot public mural in 2022 at the intersection of Macomb's North Randolph and East Carroll streets.
