The age 94 never looked so good.
Asked Friday how he felt, venerable civil rights veteran and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Joseph E. Lowery – dressed nattily of course – altered a bit from his standard refrain of, “I am just an old man, doing young things. I am tired, but happy.”
Instead, he channeled James Brown.
“I feel good,” he said, humming the familiar melodic bridge of the song. “Like I knew that I would.”
On Tuesday, Lowery will celebrate his 94th birthday with a star-studded party to raise funds for the institution named after him and his wife.
For the party, the Joseph and Evelyn Lowery Institute for Justice & Human Rights partnered with Delta Air Lines to present, "Grounded in History, Soaring into the Future."
The event will be begin Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at the Delta Flight Museum in Atlanta.
As has become tradition at one of Lowery's parties, the music will be hot, featuring vocalists Kathleen Bertrand, Jennifer Holliday and British pop star Estelle.
Cheryl Lowery, Lowery's youngest daughter and executive director of the institute, said that in addition to honoring her father, they will also highlight the work of "our 50 incredible change agents who are truly working for the common good."
Valerie Jarrett, a top aide to President Barack Obama – who presented Lowery with his Presidential Medal of Freedom -- is scheduled to attend and will receive the institute's "Change Agent of the Year" award.
"The response has been tremendous," Joseph Lowery said. "People have been so thoughtful and attentive. I'm overwhelmed by their love and I love them bountifully in return."
The Joseph and Evelyn Lowery Institute for Justice & Human Rights was founded in 2001 and is housed on the campus of Clark Atlanta University.
Evelyn Lowery, who was married to Lowery for nearly 70 years, died in 2013.
Money raised from the event will go toward supporting several of the Institute's existing programs, including the "Change Agents Violence Initiative," which trains and awards grants to Metro Atlanta undergraduates to mentor students in developing conflict-resolution skills and non-violent strategies.
"The Lowery Institute is an attempt to wrap Evelyn and my legacies into understandable, yet graphic terms," Joseph Lowery said. "We need financial support to continue to translate nonviolent strategies into what Cheryl calls dispute resolution techniques to the hundreds of children we reach in the Atlanta Public Schools. If they can learn how to disagree without violence, they have more opportunity to learn, and live, and graduate to become productive citizens."
For tickets and information on the institute: www.loweryinstitute.org/lowery94
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