Civil Rights Leader, MLK Aide Joseph Lowery Dies At 98

(Audio: Former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young speaks about Joseph E. Lowery with “Morning Edition” host Lisa Rayam.)

The Rev. Joseph E. Lowery, a veteran civil rights leader who helped the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and fought against racial discrimination, died Friday, a family statement said. He was 98.

A charismatic and fiery preacher, Lowery led the SCLC for two decades — restoring the organization’s financial stability and pressuring businesses not to trade with South Africa’s apartheid-era regime — before retiring in 1997.