“He was one of the architects of the Black Lives Matter movement before there was a hashtag, His presence is no longer with us but his voice will remain echoed through the work we and others do in civil rights movement.” Clayola Brown, president of the A. Philip Randolph Institute

“Justice and equality was the mission that spanned his life – from his leadership of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, to his founding role with the Southern Poverty Law Center, to his pioneering service in the Georgia legislature and his steady hand at the helm of the NAACP,” President Obama said in a statement Sunday. “Michelle and I have benefited from his example, his counsel, and his friendship – and we offer our prayers and sympathies to his wife, Pamela, and his children.”