Civil Rights Leader & Global Humanitarian Dr. Joseph Henry Beasley Passes at 88

The family of Dr. Joseph Henry Beasley announces with profound sorrow the passing of their beloved father, grandfather, and a towering figure in the civil rights movement. 

Dr. Beasley, a pioneer of faith-based community outreach and tireless advocate for human rights across the globe, transitioned peacefully on Tuesday, December 9, 2025, at 5:59 PM. He was 88 years old.

Born December 27, 1936, to sharecroppers on a rural plantation in Inman, Georgia, Dr. Beasley received his primary education in a segregated one-room schoolhouse. From these humble beginnings emerged a global champion whose impact stretched from the cotton fields of South Georgia to the corridors of the Vatican.

Dr. Beasley served 21 years in the United States Air Force Security Forces, retiring as a Police Superintendent. Even within the military, he fought for recognition and equality for African American service members.

Since 1985, Dr. Beasley served as Human Services Director at Antioch Baptist Church North under the leadership of the late Reverend Cameron M. Alexander.

When the Atlanta Community Food Bank relocated to the westside in the mid-1980s, Dr. Beasley partnered with Bill Bolling to create the feeding and outreach program at Antioch—one of the largest programs of its kind in the nation.

Under Dr. Beasley's leadership, Antioch Baptist Church North expanded its mission to serve the whole person—creating programs for the homeless, those struggling with addiction, and job training initiatives for homeless women. This comprehensive model of faith-based social services was replicated in Black Baptist churches across Georgia, transforming how communities of faith responded to the needs of their most vulnerable neighbors.

Dr. Beasley also served on the Board of Directors of the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, championed the Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter, and was instrumental in saving Grady Memorial Hospital.

As Georgia Deputy Director for Reverend Jesse Jackson's historic 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns and Southern Regional Director of the National Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, Dr. Beasley helped transform American politics. He was a named plaintiff in Brooks v. Georgia State Board of Elections, a landmark Voting Rights Act case that increased African American representation on the bench, and played a pivotal role in changing Georgia's state flag.

Through his work with the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and the Wall Street Project, Dr. Beasley held Corporate America accountable, successfully advocating for diversity and supplier inclusion with Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, UPS, AT&T, PepsiCo, Wells Fargo, and numerous Fortune 500 companies. His advocacy persuaded the CocaCola International Foundation to invest $2.1 million in educational institutions serving African-descendant communities in Brazil.

Dr. Beasley's impact spanned five continents. In South Africa, he worked with the African National Congress to register voters for President Nelson Mandela's historic 1994 election. In Brazil, he co-founded Zumbi dos Palmares College in São Paulo— the only Historically Black College in the Americas outside the United States—where the library bears his name.

He visited Haiti nearly 30 times over two decades, establishing schools, clinics, and orphanages. In 2017, his work with Coca-Cola's Replenish Africa Initiative ensured 220,000 Somalis gained improved access to clean water. As Chairman of the Board of African Leadership Magazine, he amplified African voices and connected the diaspora with empowerment opportunities.

Dr. Beasley traveled to the Vatican to advocate for repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery—a victory realized in 2023 when the Vatican formally repudiated the 1493 Papal Bull that had been used to justify colonization.