A father of the civil rights movement-Benjamin Elijah Mays (August 1, 1894 – March 28, 1984) was an American minister, educator, scholar, social activist and the president of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia from 1940 to 1967. Mays was also a significant mentor to civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and was among the most articulate and outspoken critics of segregation before the rise of the modern civil rights movement in the United States.
The mentor of Martin Luther King Jr.- Dr. Benjamin E. Mays has not yet been given the recognition and honor worthy of his contributions in the area of civil rights. It is well known that Dr. Mays delivered the eulogy for Dr. King at his passing but it is less well known that the reason he was selected to do so was that Dr. May's was the mentor for what would become Dr. Kings "non violent" civil response during the civil rights movement.
In 1940 Mays became the president of Morehouse College. There he enjoyed his greatest influence on events in the history of the United States, rising to national prominence. His most famous student at Morehouse was Martin Luther King Jr. During King's years as an undergraduate at Morehouse in the mid-1940s, the two developed a close relationship that continued until King's death in 1968. Mays's unwavering emphasis on two ideas in particular—the dignity of all human beings and the incompatibility of American democratic ideals with American social practices—became vital strains in the language of King and the civil rights movement.For this outstanding contribution to our lives and the lasting impact Dr. Mays has had in the lives of all Americans, it is our hope that we will gain the respect of President Obama and a nomination by him for the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
