International Civil Rights Walk of Fame facts for kids

The Walk of Fame as it looked in 2012.

The International Civil Rights Walk of Fame is a special outdoor walkway that honors brave people who fought for civil rights. These are the rights that protect a person's freedom and guarantee equal treatment for everyone. The Walk of Fame was created in 2004. You can find it at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta, Georgia.

This isn't just a normal sidewalk. It's an outdoor museum! It features the actual footstep impressions of the honored heroes, captured in granite and bronze. It’s like walking in the footsteps of history-makers.

The National Park Service, which takes care of the site, says the walk was made to honor the "courageous soldiers of justice." These people worked hard and made sacrifices to help everyone be treated equally. The Walk of Fame has made the area an even more important historic place and a popular spot for tourists.

The idea for the Walk of Fame came from Xernona Clayton, an American civil rights leader and TV executive. About 800,000 people visit the site every year to see the Walk of Fame.

Starting in 2012, new people were added to the walk every two years. In 2019, it was announced that part of the Walk of Fame would move to the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in downtown Atlanta.

Who Is Honored on the Walk of Fame?

Here is a list of the amazing people who have been honored on the walk, year by year.

2004

• Ralph David Abernathy, Sr., a civil rights leader and close partner of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
• Juanita J. Abernathy, a civil rights activist.
• Ivan Allen, Jr., a former mayor of Atlanta during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.
• Julian Bond, a civil rights leader.
• Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States.
• Medgar Evers, a civil rights activist.
• Dorothy Height, an educator and social activist.
• Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., a minister and civil rights activist.
• Judge Frank M. Johnson, a United States Federal judge.
• Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th President of the United States.
• John Lewis, a politician and major civil rights leader.
• Joseph E. Lowery, a minister and civil rights leader.
• Evelyn G. Lowery, a civil rights leader.
• Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American justice on the US Supreme Court.
• Rosa Parks, the famous civil rights activist who helped start the Montgomery bus boycott.
• Hosea Williams, a civil rights leader.
• Andrew Young, a civil rights activist and former mayor of Atlanta.

2005

• Henry Aaron, a famous baseball player and social activist.
• Harry Belafonte, a musician, actor, and social activist.
• John Conyers, Jr., a politician and social activist.
• Dick Gregory, a comedian and social activist.
• Maynard H. Jackson, a former mayor of Atlanta.
• Ralph E. McGill, a journalist and social activist.
• Fred L. Shuttlesworth, a social activist.
• Ted Turner, a media creator and philanthropist (a person who gives money to good causes).
• Judge Elbert P. Tuttle, a former chief judge of the US Court of Appeals.
• Nancy Wilson, a singer and social activist.
• Reverend Addie L. Wyatt, a labor leader and civil rights pioneer.

2006

• Reverend Joseph E. Boone, a social activist.
• Reverend William Holmes Borders, Sr.
• Xernona Clayton, the creator of the Walk of Fame.
• Lena Horne, a singer, actress, and social activist.
• John E. Jacob, a former president of the National Urban League.
• Reverend James Orange, a pastor and civil rights activist.
• Bernard Parks, a politician and social activist.
• Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a church leader and social activist from South Africa.
• William Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States.
• Stevie Wonder, a famous singer and civil rights activist.

2007

• Lerone Bennett, Jr., a scholar, author, and historian.
• Tony Bennett, a singer and social activist.
• Marian Wright Edelman, an activist for children's rights.
• Shirley Franklin, the 58th mayor of Atlanta.
• Frankie Muse Freeman, a civil rights lawyer.
• Joe Louis, a world champion boxer and social activist.
• Sir Lynden Pindling, the first Prime Minister of The Bahamas.
• Sidney Poitier, an actor and social activist.
• Dr. Otis W. Smith, a physician.
• Maxine Waters, a politician and social activist.
• L. Douglas Wilder, a former governor of Virginia.
• Jean Childs Young, a civil rights activist and teacher.

2008

• Dr. Maya Angelou, a famous poet and author.
• Senator Edward W. Brooke, a social activist and politician.
• Tyrone L. Brooks, Sr., a social activist and politician.
• Sammy Davis Jr., a singer and dancer.
• Jesse Hill, a business leader.
• Dr. Benjamin Hooks, who started an institute for social change.
• Clarence B. Jones, Martin Luther King Jr.'s lawyer.
• Tom Joyner, a radio host.
• The Right Honorable Prime Minister Michael Manley, a former Prime Minister of Jamaica.
• Herman J. Russell, a founder and CEO of a major company.
• Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker, a leader with the SCLC.

2009

• Rev. Dr. C. M. Alexander
• Danny J. Bakewell, Sr., an entrepreneur.
• Dr. Erieka Bennett
• Roberto Goizueta, a CEO of the Coca-Cola Company.
• Cathy Hughes, an entrepreneur and media personality.
• Earvin "Magic" Johnson, a basketball legend and businessman.
• The Links, Incorporated, a service organization of professional African-American women.
• Sam Massell, a businessman and former mayor of Atlanta.
• Ernest N. Morial, a former mayor of New Orleans.
• Father Michael L. Pfleger, a priest and social activist.
• Rev. Al Sharpton, a social justice activist and media personality.
• Congressman William L. Clay, Sr., a longtime member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
• Rev. C. T. Vivian, a minister and associate of Martin Luther King Jr.

2010

• Congressman James E. Clyburn
• Judge Damon J. Keith
• Rev. Samuel Billy Kyles
• National Newspaper Publishers Association
• Eugene C. Patterson
• Albert Sampson
• Rita Jackson Samuels
• Congresswoman Diane E. Watson

2011

• Arthur Blank, a businessman and philanthropist.
• James Brown, the "Godfather of Soul" and music icon.
• Rev. Dr. Gerald Durley
• Bishop Neil C. Ellis
• Leon Hall
• Bishop Barbara King
• Marc H. Morial, a former mayor of New Orleans.
• Mayor Carl Stokes
• Congressman Louis Stokes
• Henry "Hank" Thomas, a Civil Rights Freedom Rider.

2012

• Rev. Willie Bolden
• J.T. Johnson and the Civil Rights Foot Soldiers
• Rev. Dr. E. T. Caviness
• Dosan Ahn Chang-ho, a Korean independence activist.
• Constance W. Curry, an author and activist.
• Fred D. Gray, a civil rights attorney.
• Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, a priest and former president of the University of Notre Dame.
• Charles J. Ogletree, a Harvard Law School professor.
• Dr. Walter F. Young

2014

• Bishop John Hurst Adams
• Governor Roy Barnes
• John Carlos, an athlete and activist known for his protest at the 1968 Olympics.
• Tommie Smith, an athlete and activist who also protested at the 1968 Olympics.
• Perry Gladstone Christie, a Prime Minister of the Bahamas.
• Dr. Norman C. Frances
• Harry E. Johnson
• Representative Calvin Smyre
• Thomas N. Todd
• Rev. Jasper W. Williams, Jr.

2016

• Dr. Amelia Boynton Robinson, a civil rights activist from the Selma voting rights movement.
• Rev. Dr. Jamal-Harrison Bryant, a pastor and author.
• Rev. Dr. Frederick D. Haynes III, a pastor and community activist.
• Rev. Dr. Jim Holley, a pastor from Detroit.
• Gordon L. Joyner, an important lawyer in Atlanta.
• Rev. Dr. Raphael Gamaliel Warnock, a pastor and defender of civil rights.

2018

• Jan Prisby Bryson, a business executive.
• Thomas W. Dortch Jr., a national chairman of 100 Black Men of America.
• Monica Kaufman Pearson, a broadcast journalist.
• Sir Franklyn R. Wilson, a Bahamian businessman.

See also

• List of civil rights leaders