Joe Dickson

Joseph Dickson (born March 5, 1933 in Montgomery; died July 2018) was a Civil Rights activist, business executive, and publisher of the Birmingham World newspaper.

Dickson was the son of Robert and Mary Rachael Dickson. His father died when he was young and he was raised by his mother and an aunt. They moved to Birmingham in 1939 and Dickson graduated from Fairfield Industrial High School in 1950. He found work as a welder before enlisting in the U.S. Army.

After his discharge, Dickson enrolled at Miles College and completed a bachelor of arts in sociology. While a student he participated in planned boycotts and demonstrations, and was one of those arrested with Fred Shuttlesworth for "parading without a permit" on 5th Avenue North on April 5, 1963.

Dickson was employed by A. G. Gaston's Booker T. Washington Insurance Company as an agent. He also served with the Urban League in Birmingham and helped direct a demonstration project at Miles College to train African Americans for newly-desegregated careers.

In 1970 Dickson enrolled at Howard University Law School, completing his juris doctorate in 1973. He returned to Alabama and opened his own real estate and construction company. He was president of the Alabama Republican Council and was appointed to the position of "Assistant of Minority Affairs" in Governor Guy Hunt's administration.

Dickson joined the Birmingham World as a columnist in 1987 and took over publication of the paper in 1989. He and his wife, Dr Charlie Mae Dickson, had eight children.

Dickson died in July 2018.

References

• "Joe Dickson, Civil Rights activist, Owner of the Birmingham World newspaper, dies at 85." (July 23, 2018) The Birmingham Times