"He troubled the conscience of the people"
In a newly discovered interview, a Black New Orleans leader recalls Father Twomey's civil-rights activism
Today I have an article in The Black Catholic Messenger that presents a preview of my research for A Priest in Good Trouble: “Fr Louis J. Twomey: Jesuit, activist, and ally to Dr. Martin Luther King.” It features part of a 1974 interview by Father John Payne, S.J., with Black sociologist and Dillard University Professor Daniel C. Thompson, who worked closely with Twomey on civil-rights issues for twenty years. Father Payne generously provided me with his transcript of the interview, which has never been published before, save for a few quotes that he used in his doctoral dissertation on Father Twomey.
I’m thrilled to be able to share Thompson’s recollections, as they provide a valuable perspective on how Twomey was viewed from within the Black community in New Orleans. Thompson says,
The Black community began to think of him as sort of their priest, and it was so utterly city-wide and not [just] church-wide. There was, for example, the Coordinating Council of Greater New Orleans, which was a tremendous organization. We wanted a guest speaker on Dillard’s campus, and we had two- or three-day meetings, and of course Fr Twomey was always there… .
He troubled the conscience of the people and he never let them rest, wherever he was… He didn’t browbeat anybody. He didn’t tell people, “You’re wrong; you ought to change.” He simply stood for what he stood for, and you couldn’t be in his [presence] and be a racist or bigot on any basis… I just don’t believe anybody ever sat in his presence and talked about Jews or Blacks or Spanish-Americans or even Germans, really. I think this is what he did: he revealed to us our littleness in these things, without preaching to us.
Beautiful article, Dawn!