A Long Journey: Dr. Benjamin E. Mays

Book excerpt: This volume contains twenty-one speeches on the long and enduring struggle for equal rights, from one of Americas finest scholars and orators on race relations in American history. Dr. Benjamin E. Mays. He witnessed race relations (1920s 1980s), and the transformation of America from a rigidly segregated society to a desegregated social structure. 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 laureates birthday is a national holiday celebrated on the third Monday in January annually. Outside of Kings immediate family, Dr. Mays influenced his spiritual and intellectual maturation more than anyone else.