The International Civil Rights Walk of Fame is a historic promenade that honors some of the activists involved in the Civil Rights Movement and other national and global civil rights activists. It was created in 2004, and is located at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta. The site is more than just a promenade; it is an outdoor exhibit that showcases, in granite and bronze, the footstep impressions of those honored.
According to the National Park Service, which runs the historic site, the Walk of Fame was created "to give recognition to those courageous soldiers of justice who sacrificed and struggled to make equality a reality for all." The Walk of Fame has enriched historic value and cultural heritage to the area it is located, priming it into a tourist attraction.
The Walk of Fame is a product of Xernona Clayton, an American civil rights activist and executive broadcaster. In the National Historic Site location the Walk of Fame gets around 800,000 visitors a year.
Beginning in 2012, inductions will be held every two years.
In 2019 it was announced that the Walk of Fame would be partially relocating to the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in downtown Atlanta.
List of inductees
2004
Ralph David Abernathy, Sr., civil rights leader who had a close and enduring partnership with Dr. King Juanita J. Abernathy, civil rights activist Ivan Allen, Jr., former mayor of Atlanta during the turbulent civil rights era of the 1960s Julian Bond, civil rights leader Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States Medgar Evers, civil rights activist Dorothy Height, educator, social activist Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., minister, civil rights activist Judge Frank M. Johnson, United States Federal judge Lyndon Baines Johnson, 36th President of the United States John Lewis, politician, civil rights leader Joseph E. Lowery, minister, civil rights leader Evelyn G. Lowery, civil rights leader Thurgood Marshall, former US Supreme Court Justice (1969–1991) Rosa Parks, civil rights activist Hosea Williams, civil rights leader Andrew Young, civil rights activist, former mayor of Atlanta
2005
Henry Aaron, baseball player, social activist
Harry Belafonte, musician, actor, social activist
John Conyers, Jr., politician, social activist
Dick Gregory, comedian, social activist
Maynard H. Jackson, former mayor of Atlanta
Ralph E. McGill, journalist, social activist
Fred L. Shuttlesworth, social activist
Ted Turner, media mogul and philanthropist
Judge Elbert P. Tuttle, former chief judge of the US Court of Appeals (1960–1967) Nancy Wilson, singer, social activist Reverend Addie L. Wyatt, Labor leader, civil rights pioneer, pastor
2006
Reverend Joseph E. Boone, social activist
Reverend William Holmes Borders, Sr. Xernona Clayton, civil rights leader, broadcasting executive Lena Horne, singer, actress, social activist John E. Jacob, former president and CEO of the National Urban League Reverend James Orange, pastor, civil rights activist Bernard Parks, politician, social activist Archbishop Desmond Tutu, South African cleric, social activist William Clinton, 42nd President of the United States Stevie Wonder, singer, civil rights activist
2007
Lerone Bennett, Jr., scholar, author, historian, social activist
Tony Bennett, singer, social activist
Marian Wright Edelman, social activist for the rights of children
Shirley Franklin, 58th mayor of Atlanta
Frankie Muse Freeman, civil rights attorney
Joe Louis, boxer, social activist
Sir Lynden Pindling, former Premier of the Colony of the Bahama Island (1967–1973) Sidney Poitier, actor, social activist Dr. Otis W. Smith, physician Maxine Waters, politician, social activist L. Douglas Wilder, former governor of Virginia Jean Childs Young, civil rights activist and educator
2008
Dr. Maya Angelou, poet, memoirist, actress
Senator Edward W. Brooke, social activist, politician
Tyrone L. Brooks, Sr., social activist, politician
Sammy Davis Jr., singer, dancer
Jesse Hill, business executive
Dr. Benjamin Hooks, established Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change
Clarence B. Jones, Martin Luther King's attorney
Tom Joyner, radio host
The Right Honorable Prime Minister Michael Manley, former Prime Minister of Jamaica Herman J. Russell, founder and CEO of H. J. Russell and Company Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker, executive director of the SCLC 1960-1964