NEWARK – The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice today celebrated the momentous Presidential Medal of Freedom award granted to Mr. Fred Gray.
At Mr. Gray’s invitation, Institute President & CEO Ryan Haygood attended the ceremony.
“If there’s anyone who deserves this prestigious honor, it’s Mr. Gray, who changed the course of civil rights history in America,” said Haygood. “We all rightly know the names of Dr. King, Rosa Parks and John Lewis. But often people behind the scenes alter the course of history, too. Today, America recognized one of those people.”
In 1954, Fred Gray received his law degree and began his career in Alabama with one mission in mind: to destroy everything segregated.
He became the legal engine of the civil rights movement, going on to represent Claudette Colvin and Rosa Parks. He was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s first civil rights attorney, referred to by him as “the brilliant young Negro who later [be]came chief counsel for the protest movement.”
He became the legal engine of the civil rights movement, going on to represent Claudette Colvin and Rosa Parks. He was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s first civil rights attorney, referred to by him as “the brilliant young Negro who later [be]came chief counsel for the protest movement.”
He also, one day after Bloody Sunday in 1965, filed a lawsuit on behalf of John Lewis and others that allowed marchers to finally peacefully cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama and march on to Montgomery in pursuit of voting rights – an historic moment that led to the Voting Rights Act.
In 2021, the Institute honored Mr. Fred Gray at its annual Gala with its Lifetime Engineer for Social Justice Award. The virtual Gala featured an interview between Haygood and Mr. Gray.
Earlier this year, the Institute partnered with change.org on a petition that drew over 22,000 signatures urging President Biden to grant the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Mr. Gray. Today, that happened.
“It has been a humbling privilege to walk the path toward this honor with Mr. Gray,” said Haygood. “Mr. Gray has played a huge role in bending the arc toward justice – and his work, determination and courage, even through setbacks, inspire us to keep fighting as we face our own contemporary challenges. We are thrilled to see him recognized in this monumental way.”