See also Interview, 2013
As remembered by
SNCC Legacy Project
December 10, 2016
Passing of Our Brother Avon Rollins
The passing of our brother, Avon Rollins this past Wednesday (December 7, 2016), is a loss that is deeply felt within our community of SNCC veterans and the Movement as a whole. Like so many of us, activism pulled Avon into the freedom struggle while still in his teens. Just a few weeks after the Greensboro sit-ins erupted, Avon, a Knoxville, Tennessee native, then a high school student, joined other students, mainly from Knoxville College, in launching a sit-in movement. He was one of the youngest in this group of protesters.
Barely a year later he joined Marion Barry in enrolling in the recently desegregated University of Tennessee. By then his interest in SNCC, which he considered "the vanguard of the Civil Rights Movement," had grown. By the summer of 1963 he was a member of SNCC's executive committee. That year he went to Danville, Virginia as a SNCC organizer to support the burgeoning movement there. He stayed there a year.
From Danville, he pushed the Movement to evolve from focusing only on demonstrations to an economic struggle. Danville was home to Dan River Mills, then one of the world's largest textile companies. SNCC bought a few stocks and as Avon later put it, "raised hell" at a Dan River Mills corporate board meeting in New York City.
During his work with SNCC, he was arrested 30 times. Later, after a career at the Tennessee Valley Authority, he served as executive director of the Beck Cultural Exchange Center, a Knoxville institution dedicated to the preservation of African-American history and culture in the city.
"We have to pass the baton to a new generation to foster change and make America what she is intended to be," Avon told a reporter shortly before his death. The I-40 bridge in Knoxville is named for him.
As remembered by Bob Zellner
12/8/2016
I am just hearing this. Avon and I exchanged face book stuff and couple of days ago. I did not know he was close to the end of this and the beginning of the next. We have been bonded closer than brothers since the bloody summer in Danville, 1963. Please let us know of memorial plans. I am in Boulder Colorado helping in small ways with Standing Rock.
As remembered by Karen Spellman
12/8/2016
I am totally shocked and very saddened to hear about Brother Avon's departure. I did not realize he was seriously ill. This is a great loss for words community and for Washington DC. My condolences to his family.
As remembered by Bill Perlman
12/8/2016
This is truly sad news. Avon was a good friend and I will miss him. We talked a lot both online and on the phone.
As remembered by Joyce Ladner
12/8/2016
My heart is heavy as I inform you that our dear SNCC brother Avon Rollins passed last night in Knoxville, Tennessee. I kept in touch with him through Facebook. He was an avid Facbook user. Avon was a brave warrior.
As remembered by Casey Hayden
January 1, 2017
I remember Avon well as one of the kindest and most reliable people I worked with in SNCC. It was great to reconnect on Facebook and become friends again, so this is a big loss in my life. RIP, Bro.
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