‘He loved the community’: Myrtle Beach, national civil rights leader dies at 70
Bennie Swans fought the good fight for decades no matter where he went.
He didn’t stop until he passed away at his Myrtle Beach home on Friday night at 70.
Swans, a civil rights leader and community activist who led the charge in bringing the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Rally Weekend to Myrtle Beach, succumbed to heart issues, leaving behind a legacy of fighting for the rights of African Americans and others from coast to coast.
In fact, Swans had been planning the 2021 Freedom Rally despite a slew of illnesses that plagued his body in his final weeks.
“I guarantee you, as sick as he was, he was either on the phone with them or right there with them,” said Myrtle Beach City Councilman Mike Chestnut, who noted that he spoke to Swans about a week ago while he was being treated at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.
Swans helped get the City of Myrtle Beach to recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day as an official holiday. More importantly, former Myrtle Beach Mayor John Rhodes said, Swans convinced the city council to do even more, leading to the Freedom Weekend, which has been around for 14 years.
“Bennie was a good person. He had a good heart,” Rhodes said. “He meant well in what he did. He tried to do things the right way to enhance the African American community.”
Swans moved to Myrtle Beach after becoming nationally known for his work as a member of a national gang task force, community organizer and civil rights activist in Philadelphia. Once he moved to the Grand Strand, his work continued.
“He was my hero. He was my leader. He was a great mentor to me,” said Timothy McCray, who spent nearly two decades working on community projects alongside Swans in Myrtle Beach. “He loved the community that we serve here in Myrtle Beach. He definitely addressed a lot of issues that we face in our community and tried to make an impact here. And he has made an impact here in Myrtle Beach for all these years he’s been here.
“We just celebrate his life and thank him for the time that we had.”
Swans and his wife, Marcella, met through family connections at end of his work in Philadelphia and the couple later settled in South Carolina. Though Marcella Swans was not with her husband of 30 years during much of his work in Philadelphia, she quickly learned the passion and impact he had on many.
“He just connected with the city and community,” Marcella Swans said. “He was just always trying to find a way to help people better themselves and make the system understand minorities’ plight, gangs’ plight.”
Swans served his country in many ways. Before his time impacting communities—including a stint as Horry County Democratic Party chair from 2016-18 — he served in the Army in the Vietnam War. He was awarded a Silver Star and Purple Heart.
According to Chestnut, Swans was always more concerned about others than himself, even as he battled health issues.
“He still had some encouraging words. He always had encouraging words,” Chestnut said of the chat they had about a week ago. “Like, ‘Mike, just keep up what you’re doing.’ I’m like ‘Bennie, I called to check on you.’ That was the kind of person he was.”
Funeral arrangements are still being planned. Swans is survived by his wife, three sons and more than a dozen grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
He also leaves behind McCray, who refers to himself as Swans’ “Myrtle Beach son.”
“He left me with some orders to do,” McCray said. “I’ll be looking after the family and looking after some of things he wanted us to complete in the community.”
This story was originally published September 19, 2020 at 4:06 PM.
