Civil Rights Legend Laid To Rest At Age 85, Civil Rights Movement
Following a long illness, Benjamin Hooks, inspirational speaker, defender of minorities and the poor, and legendary director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), died Thursday, April 15 at his Nashville, Tenn., home. He was only 85 years old. Benjamin Hooks’ death ends a journey that started when he was growing up in the segregated south. Hooks was a lawyer and Baptist minister best known for boosting membership in the NAACP and transforming it into a relevant political force. After a lifetime of advocacy for the downtrodden, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007.
Benjamin Hooks Biography
Jan. 31, 1925 in Memphis Tenn. was when Benjamin Hooks’ biography began. He went to LeMoyne College in Memphis. He served three years in the Army in World War II and rose to staff sergeant. Nashville blogger Tom Humphrey reports that Hooks’ inspiration to fight social injustice and bigotry stemmed from his experience of guarding Italian prisoners of war while serving overseas in the Army during World War II . Foreign prisoners were allowed to eat in “for whites only” restaurants while he was barred from them. He earned a law degree in 1948 after no law school in South would admit him and he used his GI bill to attend DePaul University in Chicago. He opened a law practice in his hometown of Memphis later. In 1951, practicing law in Memphis, he wed Frances Dancy.
Career highlights of Benjamin Hooks
Part of Benjamin Hooks’ biography is that he was a Baptist minister. He headed two churches. He was the first black person appointed to the bench in Tennessee as a criminal court judge. Appointed by Richard M. Nixon in 1972, he was the first black man named to the Federal Communications Commission. While he was a businessman, he owned a few fried chicken franchises in Memphis. In 1976 the NAACP asked him to lead the organization, where he guided it through some of its greatest challenges. “Black Americans are not defeated,” he told Ebony Magazine soon after his induction. “The civil rights movement is not dead. If anyone thinks that we are going to stop agitating, they had better think again. If anyone thinks that we are going to stop litigating, they had better close the courts. If anyone thinks that we are not going to demonstrate and protest, they had better roll up the sidewalks.”
Legacy of Benjamin Hooks
Benjamin Hooks resigned from the NAACP in 1992 when his influence declined. His other achievements included serving as chairman of the board of directors of the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis and the creation of The Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University of Memphis. He is survived by his daughter, Patricia Gray, and his wife, Frances.
Sources:
Nashville blogger Tom Humphrey: blogs.knoxnews.com/humphrey
Ebony Magazine
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