One of the underrecognized giants of the Civil Rights era has passed away. The Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker's life as a freedom fighter began through community organizing work that led him to become the president of an NAACP chapter, and co-founder of the Congress of Racial Equality, in his native Virginia in the mid 1950's.
And the legacy born of his work as an activist pastor would lead him to eventually retire from the ministry as a university professor who authored 29 books, held positions atop some of the most reputable social justice organizations and received numerous national honors.
Over the course of his six decades of contributions to the struggle for racial equality, however, Walker is no doubt best remembered for his work beside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. -- whose Southern Christian Leadership Conference he helped spearhead as its very first Executive Director. Actually, Walker's association with King grew so strong through the height of the Civil Rights icon's most impactful years, that he became recognized as his most coveted strategist while operating, eventually, as King's Chief of Staff.
From putting in work on the ground as King led actions to push for the Civil and Voting Rights acts, to being present to document such historic events as King's scribing of the famous "Letter From Birmingham Jail" (which Walker was handed and delivered to the public), the Reverand was there every step of the way to help lay the grounds for what many believe to be a movement that continues forth today.
Walker would eventually branch off from King and go his own route, starting with his move up north to preside over Harlem's Canaan Baptist Church, which King installed him into 10 days before his death. He'd go on over the years to take on a number of other fights, including the resistance to apartheid in South Africa in the 1980's. Walker was pronounced dead at his Chester, VA home on Tuesday, January 23. He was 88 years old.
Source: nydailynews.com
