LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
2016 Honoree
Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker National Civil Rights Leader
Wyatt Tee Walker, Ph.D. is a civil rights leader, pastor, school co-founder, and author. Dr. Walker met Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in seminary school and developed a close bond that lasted until his assassination in 1968. From 1960-1964, Dr. Walker served as the first full-time executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He helped organize the 1963 March on Washington and was the chief strategist and tactician of the 1963 protests in Birmingham, Alabama, which led to the desegregation of Birmingham and the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Dr. Walker was arrested 17 times in the fight for civil rights. Dr. Walker served for 37 years as pastor of Harlem’s Canaan Baptist Church of Christ and retired from his position in 2004. His concern for educational excellence as a continuation of his civil rights activism led him to advocate for a charter school in the Harlem Community. He co-founded the SisuluWalker Charter School of Harlem, the first charter school in New York State approved by the State University of New York. Dr. Walker’s myriad awards include: honorary doctorates from Virginia Union University and Virginia State University; recognition as one of “The 15 Greatest Black Preachers” by Ebony; induction into the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame at the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta, GA; and one of 25 people to receive the “Keepers of the Flame” award at the African American Church’s Presidential Inaugural Ball honoring President Obama.
40
2016 National Charter Schools Conference
publiccharters.org/conference
publiccharters.org/conference
2016 National Charter Schools Conference
41