About the Book

This volume contains twenty-one speeches on the long and enduring struggle for equal rights, from one of America's finest scholars and orators on race relations in American history. Dr. Benjamin E. Mays.

Historical Context

He witnessed race relations (1920s–1980s), and the transformation of America from a rigidly segregated society to a desegregated social structure.

Legacy and Influence

Mays is often referred to as the Godfather of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, since he mentored many of the leaders of the movement. And he is acknowledged as the spiritual and intellectual mentor of Martin Luther King, Jr.

The selfless leader of the most important social movement of the twentieth century, and the Nobel laureate's birthday is a national holiday celebrated on the third Monday in January annually. Outside of King's immediate family, Dr. Mays influenced his spiritual and intellectual maturation more than anyone else.