Leadership in the Struggle For Freedom, Equality and Justice
The Struggle for freedom and Justice and equality has been an integral aspect of African American life throughout American history from the colonial period to the present. The leadership of courageous and persistent women and men has been a consistent aspect of that struggle. Some, but far from all of those leaders have been memorialized with public monuments. However, those represented here illustrate the central importance of leadership is to the struggle. It is also noteworthy that leadership in the struggle has come from people of many walks of life. Yes, some were politicians and clergy, but there are also artists, working people, union organizers, academics, teachers, and school children. All of them provided visionary leadership, thus giving the necessary direction, inspiration and encouragement that enabled others to move forward.
Dred and Harriet Scott
Dred Scott, an enslaved African American sued for his freedom and that of his wife and children in U.S. courts for ten years from 1847 through 1857. His case was finally heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1857 where his freedom was denied. The Court's decision in this case denied citizenship rights to all people of African descent, enslaved or free.
St. Louis, MO
Photograph by Devoree Crist
Robert Smalls
Robert Smalls (1839-1915) was among the earliest African Americans elected to Congress during the post Civil War Reconstruction era.
Beaufort, SC
W. E. B. DuBois
Intellectual, civil rights activist, author, publisher, educator, Pan-Africanist and more, W.E.B. Dubois (1868-1963) stands out as one of the most prominent and tireless advocates for African American freedom and equality of the late 19th and 20th Centuries.
Accra, Ghana - West Africa.
Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall (1908-1993) was a civil rights activist and attorney, who successfully led the legal challenge to school segregation. Later, he became the first African American to serve as a justice on the Supreme Court of the United States.
Morgan State College, Baltimore, MD
Photograph by Michael Black
Paul Robeson
Paul Robeson, (1898-1976) was multi-talented. He was an athlete, artist of stage, screen and concert hall as well as a relentless advocate for justice and equality in the United States and throughout the world. The pictured monument is one of few non-representational monuments in this collection. However, it does much to convey the undaunted spirit of this global citizen and American of African descent.
Washington, D.C.
Allen Uzikee Nelson, Sculptor
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) was the most prominent civil rights leader of the mid-20th Century. His soaring oratory, his written works and his courage in the face of often violent opposition are characteristics that inspired African Americans and others to engage in the struggle for justice and equality.
Washington, D.C.
Photograph by Michael Black
Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.
Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. (1908-1972) was the Pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church, New York City and Congressperson representing Harlem, NY from 1945 through 1971. Throughout his long tenure in Congress he was a staunch advocate for racial equality and justice. Noted for his fiery oratory, he consistently pointed out the racism and hypocrisy of many of his Euro-American Congressional colleagues.
New York, NY (Harlem)
In the wake of the Brown v. Board of Education decision in the U.S. Supreme Court in 1954, students in Clinton, Tennessee became the first African American students to integrate a public school in the South.
The Clinton 12
Photograph by Melvin Black
The Little Rock Nine
On September 4, 1957 nine African American students were registered to begin classes at the previously all white Little Rock Central High School. Their attempts to attend classes were met with staunch opposition from angry mobs and the Arkansas political establishment, led by then Governor Orval Faubus. Federal intervention on behalf of the students led to what was then referred to as the Little Rock Crisis. This monument, commemorating those nine courageous students, is located at the Arkansas State Capitol in Little Rock.
Little Rock, AK