Ralph David Abernathy III (March 19, 1959 – March 17, 2016) was an American politician and businessman.

Biography

Born in

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...

, Abernathy was the son of

Ralph Abernathy Ralph David Abernathy Sr. (March 11, 1926 – April 17, 1990) was an American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was ordained in the Baptist tradition in 1948. As a leader of the civil rights movement, he was a close friend and ...

and

Juanita Abernathy Juanita Odessa Jones Abernathy (December 1, 1931 – September 12, 2019) was an American civil rights activist, and the wife of Ralph Abernathy. Life Juanita Odessa Jones was born in Uniontown, Alabama. She studied at Selma University and afte ...

, the

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life ...

activists. He was named "III" after his older brother, Ralph David Abernathy Jr., died in infancy. He received his bachelor's degree in English and Linguistics from

Morehouse College , mottoeng = And there was light (literal translation of Latin itself translated from Hebrew: "And light was made") , type = Private historically black men's liberal arts college , academic_affiliation ...

in 1981. Abernathy owned Clean Air Industries in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

. Abernathy served in the

Georgia House of Representatives The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republicans have had a majority in the chamber since 2005. ...

, as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

in 1988 and then in the

Georgia State Senate The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Legal provisions The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, with the lower house being the Georgia ...

in 1992. In 1997, Abernathy was indicted and convicted of smuggling marijuana into the United States from Jamaica, forgery, making a false statement, and witness tampering. In 1999, he was convicted of defrauding the state of Georgia of thousands of dollars in expense money, numerous counts of theft, forgery and tampering with a witness. He was sentenced to four years in prison. Abernathy died of cancer in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 17, 2016, two days before his 57th birthday.

Notes

1959 births 2016 deaths Politicians from Montgomery, Alabama Politicians from Atlanta Morehouse College alumni African-American state legislators in Georgia (U.S. state) Businesspeople from Georgia (U.S. state) Democratic Party Georgia (U.S. state) state senators Democratic Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives Georgia (U.S. state) politicians convicted of crimes Deaths from cancer in Georgia (U.S. state) 20th-century American businesspeople Prisoners and detainees of Georgia (U.S. state) 21st-century American criminals 21st-century African-American people Abernathy family of Alabama 20th-century African-American businesspeople {{GeorgiaUS-politician-stub