Larry Womble was a stalwart advocate for civil rights during a career that spanned more than 30 years.
Politics gave Larry Womble a pulpit, and he never backed down from using it.
As a state representative, Womble signed on early to fight for victims of the state's notorious sterilization program, waging a battle that would take years to get them compensation.
“Larry Womble was a giant for social justice, from his days at the local sit-ins as a college student to his landmark years in the state legislature, always standing up tall for underdogs and giving a voice to the voiceless,” says John Railey, former Winston-Salem Journal editorial page editor and current writer-in-residence for the Center for the Study of Economic Mobility at Winston-Salem State University.
“I was honored to stand beside my friend in our winning fight to make our state the first in the nation to compensate victims of forced sterilization. ..He was always there for all of us.”
Womble also led the effort on the Racial Justice Act, which allowed death-row inmates to challenge their sentences based on racial bias.
The law had so many unintended consequences that it was ultimately repealed.
“Rep. Womble had been a strong voice for the rights of the underprivileged while he served on the board of alderman and later as a state representative,” Mayor Allen Joines said in a prepared statement. “We remember his work as an alderman in pushing for downtown development of residential housing many, many years ago before it became an accepted concept.”
Womble was first elected in 1981, winning a seat on Winston-Salem's board in the predominantly white Southeast Ward. It was an era when pioneering black politicians — including longtime council member Vivian Burke, who also died this month — were using their careers in education as a springboard for politics.
Womble's political career ended in 2012, after he nearly died from injuries in a collision that killed the driver of the other car. He never ran for office again.
Larry Womble was 78.