Hailed the “Dean of the Civil Rights Movement,” Rev. Joseph Lowery stood a foot soldier in all of the epic civil rights battles of his day.

With determination, diligence and depth, he braved the front lines in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, refused to back down from a violent showdown with Bull Connor in Birmingham, maintained the faith to march from Selma to Montgomery and demanded jobs and justice on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Lowery was encased within the civil right movement’s inner circle, fighting alongside so many others who were cut down in their prime, but at the ripe age of 90 he’s among the few left to see the fruit of the labor.

Joseph Echols Lowery was born October 6, 1921 in Huntsville, Alabama and jokes one has to be a little crazy to answer to brutality with nonviolence, but it is what he calls “good crazy.” Although the times have changed and African Americans are not avidly organizing sit-ins and boycotts, Rev. Lowery is adamant that his fight, your fight, our fight is far from over.

Pictured: Civil rights pioneer Rev. Joseph E. Lowery on the red carpet with wife, Evelyn Lowery as they arrive for a celebration of his 90th birthday Oct. 9 in Atlanta.