By BJ Austin
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-974786.mp3
Dallas, TX – Dallas residents are paying respects to former City Councilman and civil rights activist Al Lipscomb at the Hall of State in Fair Park. The 86 year old South Dallas political leader died Saturday. KERA's BJ Austin reports.
"I was the first African American to run for mayor in the city of Dallas, Texas - the first in history.
That's former City Councilman, longtime activist Al Lipscomb in a sidewalk interview Inauguration Day in Washington DC. He was there to see the nation's first African American president sworn in. In Dallas, decades before, Al Lipscomb helped lead the political and legal struggle to change the city council election system to single-member districts -- opening the door for communities to elect minorities to the council.
At the Hall of State in Fair Park, Dee Henderson and her teenage daughter Linnea came to pay their respects.
Dee Henderson: His quest for equality for all people, I'm appreciative of that. I wish we had a little bit more going on in the world today. Just wanted to pay homage to a great citizen, and teach my daughter.
Linnea Henderson: I know that he was a good leader, and that he stood up for what he believed in.
Lipscomb could be confrontational and loud - rubbing some people the wrong way. But not Jim Falvo, who met Al in 1985.
Falvo: Sometimes he had to be loud to be heard. He was just a character. He was funny. He had a funny sense of humor.
Lipscomb had his troubles. A federal bribery conviction forced him to resign the city council after more than a dozen years. That conviction was later overturned.
Helen Carter knew Al Lipscomb for more than 40 years. She says his legacy is so much larger than negative headlines. She says he stepped up to lead at a critical time.
Carter: And I feel that he's done a wonderful job. He's done so many marvelous things to help bring the black man to the front.
Thomas Muhammed was 19 years old when Al Lipscomb tapped him on the shoulder to be part of the South Dallas civil rights community.
Muhammed: He recruited me in a pool hall (lafs). So yeah, like a number of others, I grew up in the South Dallas Information Center - and turned my whole life around. Definitely a huge void left, but the good news is he planted a lot of seeds. And I see a lot of good things on the horizon as a result of his work.
Several current and former council members, including Mayor Dwaine Caraway say their political service at Dallas City Hall would not have happened without Al Lipscomb.
Visitation at the Hall of State is from noon to 6 Friday. The wake for Lipscomb is 6 - 8pm at Fair Park. Memorial services are tomorrow at 11 at Friendship West Baptist Church.