Cleveland’s longest serving pastor, a longtime civil rights activist, is celebrating a momentous anniversary.
The congregation of Cleveland’s Greater Abyssinia Baptist Church celebrated the 61st anniversary of their pastor this past Sunday.
E.T. Caviness was born in 1928 in the segregated town of Marshall, Texas, the son of a church janitor and a housewife. He was inspired by the pastor of his church at a young age to pursue ministry.
“At six years of age, I was mimicking preachers and mimicking ministry," Caviness said, "and at 17, I really felt a divine urge, a divine call, an intuitive kind of compelling kind of emphasis on doing the best you can for the totality of humanity.”
From the beginning of his career, he was inspired by the work of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Working at a church in East St. Louis, Illinois, Caviness led a movement to integrate the city.
“And it was then that I had asked Dr. King, who was in Montgomery, Alabama, at the time, to please come to East St. Louis to help us, and we tried to get him, but he was busy, and (fellow civil rights leader Ralph) Abernathy, he was busy," Caviness said. "And so, he sent his wife, Coretta Scott King.”
That connection to the King family and dedication to civil rights didn’t slow down when Caviness moved to Cleveland in 1961. Caviness said he was excited to work in a city less segregated than the deep South.
“And much to my chagrin when I got here, I realized that we were almost as segregated here as we were down South," Caviness said, "and I referred to this as being up South, because there were so many morays and traditions that kind of prohibited African Americans from being the kinds of free people that they had wanted to be.”
Caviness worked with Martin Luther King through his numerous trips to Cleveland, to help elect the first Black mayor of a major city, Carl Stokes, through King’s last campaign aimed at fighting for economic justice. Caviness said King’s work inspired his dedication to fight for racial justice for his entire career.
“And we have kind of mimicked what he has striven to do around the country, we were trying to do in miniature here in Cleveland," Caviness said.
To this day, Caviness heads Cleveland’s chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which was founded by King in 1957.
"We’ve been able to bridge a lot of gaps that were there, and we’ve just consistently worked on the things that appertain to the best interest of not only African Americans but to the totality of all of our people here in Cleveland.”Rev. E.T. Caviness
“I’ve been there 18 or 19 years of SCLC’s involvement in this city, and we’ve made rapid strides," Caviness said. "We’ve been able to bridge a lot of gaps that were there, and we’ve just consistently worked on the things that appertain to the best interest of not only African Americans but to the totality of all of our people here in Cleveland.”
Caviness hopes that his work has impacted all residents of Cleveland, not just the Black community.
"You know, they said, 'A rising tide lifts all boats.' And when you talk about justice and equity and equality, you're not talking about advantage of one group over another," Caviness said. "You're talking about spreading the table of equity and freedom for everybody."
During his years in Cleveland, Caviness has also served the community in the public sector. He served on Cleveland City Council for six years. He served as a special assistant to then Cleveland Mayor George Voinovich for 10 years, and he headed the Ohio Civil Rights Commission.
Today, at age 94, Caviness is not close to slowing down. He’s also heading a movement against Sherwin Williams, calling on the company to name a Black contractor as a key partner in the building of its new global headquarters in Cleveland.
“We have been working to try to say to America, say to Cleveland, Ohio, ‘It’s time for you to integrate us into the money stuff. It’s time for you to get us into economic progress.'" Caviness said. "So that we can send our children to college. So we can build our homes.”
Caviness said he relies on his relationship with God to persevere through decades of fighting the same fight, but he said change comes in inches, and looking back on his life, a lot of change as been made - for instance electing Black Americans to office as politicians and leaders.
"I always thought the White House was so white they would never get any Blacks in it, and here we are talking about a Black president having been in there," Caviness said. "And look at the other kind of blessings we've gotten."
Caviness said the biggest moment of his career was when a permanent exhibit of his life was opened in his hometown of Marshall, Texas.
"And to have an exhibit there was I think a monumental achievement for a little guy that was born in a little hut there," Caviness said.
He hopes his story of overcoming segregation in the South and dedicating his life to fighting for justice inspires the next generation.
“You can make a difference in this world, regardless of your servitude, regardless of your race or what have you," Caviness said. "You can go forward.”
Caviness said he's grateful to be in good health and to have the ability to keep working.
"It's a kind of rewarding to know that the Lord has been graceful and been as good to me as he has," Caviness said. "For me to be here for 61 years and be in my right mind, which is truly a blessing, so I'm privileged to have been able to try and effectuate some kind of change in this city in regard to race relations."
Caviness has no plans for retirement.
"I'll slow down when I'm in that funeral procession, and I'm in a hearse," Caviness said. "That's when I'll definitely retire."
He plans to keep working and fighting for racial justice in Cleveland.
