List of civil rights leaders

thumb|[[Martin Luther King Jr.]]

thumb|[[Mahatma Gandhi]]

thumb|[[Olympe de Gouges]]

thumb|[[Karl Heinrich Ulrichs]]

thumb|[[Victoria Woodhull]]

thumb|[[W.E.B. Du Bois]]

thumb|[[Alice Paul]]

thumb|[[B. R. Ambedkar]]

thumb|[[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]]

thumb|[[Walter Reuther|Walter P. Reuther]]

thumb|[[Dorothy Height]]

thumb|[[Nelson Mandela]]

thumb|[[Betty Friedan]]

thumb|[[Frank Kameny]]

thumb|[[Elie Wiesel]]

thumb|[[Desmond Tutu]]

thumb|[[James Bevel]]

thumb|[[George Mason]]

Civil rights leaders are influential figures in the promotion and implementation of political freedom

and the expansion of personal civil liberties and rights. They work to protect individuals and groups from political repression and discrimination by governments and private organizations, and seek to ensure the ability of all members of society to participate in the civil and political life of the state.

List

People who motivated themselves and then led others to gain and protect these rights and liberties include:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: left;"

! Name

! Born

! Died

! Country

! Notes

| data-sort-value="Mason, George"|George Mason

|| 1725

|| 1792

|| wrote the Virginia Declaration of Rights and influenced the United States Bill of Rights

| data-sort-value="Paine, Thomas"|Thomas Paine

|| 1737

|| 1809

|| English-American activist, author, theorist, wrote Rights of Man

| data-sort-value="Freeman, Elizabeth"|Elizabeth Freeman

|| 1744

|| 1829

|| also known as Mum Bett – first former slave to win a freedom suit in Massachusetts

| data-sort-value="Equiano, Olaudah"|Olaudah Equiano

|| 1745

|| 1797

|| <br>

|| purchased his freedom, helped found the Sons of Africa, and wrote the influential The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano depicting the horrors of the slave trade

| data-sort-value="Bentham, Jeremy"|Jeremy Bentham

|| 1748

|| 1832

|| British philosopher, writer, and teacher on civil rights, inspiration

| data-sort-value="de Gouges, Olympe"|Olympe de Gouges

|| 1748

|| 1793

|| women's rights pioneer, writer, beheaded during French Revolution

| data-sort-value="Cuguano, Ottobah"|Ottobah Cugoano

|| 1757

|| 1791

|| <br>

|| captured from West Africa, he became a member of the Sons of Africa and argued against slavery on Christian and philosophical grounds

| data-sort-value="Wilberforce, William"|William Wilberforce

|| 1759

|| 1833

|| leader of the British abolition movement

| data-sort-value="Wollstonecraft, Mary"|Mary Wollstonecraft

|| 1759

|| 1797

|| British author of A Vindication of the Rights of Men and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

| data-sort-value="Stevens, Thaddeus"|Thaddeus Stevens

|| 1792

|| 1868

|| representative from Pennsylvania, anti-slavery leader, originator of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

| data-sort-value="Mott, Lucretia|Lucretia Mott

|| 1793

|| 1880

|| women's rights activist, abolitionist

| data-sort-value="Neal, John"|John Neal

|| 1793

|| 1876

|| feminist essayist and lecturer active 1823–1876; first American women's rights lecturer

| data-sort-value="Brown, John" |John Brown

|| 1800

|| 1859

|| abolitionist, orator, martyr

|Angelina Grimké

|1805

|1879

|advocate for abolition, woman's rights

| data-sort-value="Garrison, William Lloyd"|William Lloyd Garrison

|| 1805

|| 1879

|| abolitionist, writer, organizer, feminist, initiator

| data-sort-value="Spooner, Lysander" |Lysander Spooner

|| 1808

|| 1887

|| abolitionist, writer, anarchist, proponent of Jury nullification

| data-sort-value="Sumner, Charles" |Charles Sumner

|| 1811

|| 1874

|| Senator from Massachusetts, anti-slavery leader

| data-sort-value="Kelley, Abby" |Abby Kelley

|| 1811

|| 1887

|| abolitionist and suffragette

|Wendell Phillips

|1811

|1884

|abolitionist, labor reformer, temperance activist, advocate for Native Americans

|Harriet Jacobs

|1813 or 1815

|1897

|her autobiography, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, considered an "American classic." Founded schools for fugitive and free slaves.

| data-sort-value="Stanton, Elizabeth Cady" |Elizabeth Cady Stanton

|| 1815

|| 1902

|| women's suffrage/women's rights leader

| data-sort-value="Stone, Lucy" |Lucy Stone

|| 1818

|| 1893

|| women's suffrage/voting rights leader

| data-sort-value="Douglass, Frederick" |Frederick Douglass

|| 1818

|| 1895

|| abolitionist, women's rights and suffrage advocate, writer, organizer, black rights activist, inspiration

| data-sort-value="Howe, Julia Ward" |Julia Ward Howe

|| 1818

|| 1910

|| writer, organizer, suffragette

| data-sort-value="Anthony, Susan B." |Susan B. Anthony

|| 1820

|| 1906

|| women's suffrage leader, speaker, inspiration

| data-sort-value="Tubman, Harriet" |Harriet Tubman

|| 1822

|| 1913

|| African-American abolitionist and humanitarian

| data-sort-value="Ulrichs, Karl Heinrich" |Karl Heinrich Ulrichs

|| 1825

|| 1895

|| writer, organizer, and the pioneer of the modern LGBT rights movement

| data-sort-value=" Blackwell, Antoinette Brown" |Antoinette Brown Blackwell

|| 1825

|| 1921

|| founded American Woman Suffrage Association with Lucy Stone in 1869

| data-sort-value="Gama, Luís" |Luís Gama

||1830

||1882

||former slave, a journalist, poet and an autodidact lawyer who defended enslaved people and was among the earlier proponents of the abolitionist and republican movements in 19th-century Brazil.

| data-sort-value="Woodhull, Victoria" |Victoria Woodhull

|| 1838

|| 1927

|| suffragette organizer, women's rights leader

| data-sort-value="Willard, Frances" |Frances Willard

|| 1839

|| 1898

|| women's rights activist, woman suffrage leader

| data-sort-value="Ruffin, Josephine St. Pierre" |Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin

|| 1842

|| 1924

|| suffragist, editor, co-founder of the first chapter of the NAACP

| data-sort-value="Sheppard, Kate" |Kate Sheppard

|| 1848

|| 1934

|| suffragist in first country to have universal suffrage

| data-sort-value="Debs, Eugene" |Eugene Debs

|| 1855

|| 1926

|| organizer, campaigner for the poor, women, dissenters, prisoners

| data-sort-value="Washington, Booker T." |Booker T. Washington

|| 1856

|| 1915

|| educator, founder of Tuskegee University, and adviser to Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft

| data-sort-value="Pankhurst, Emmeline" |Emmeline Pankhurst

|| 1858

|| 1928

|| founder and leader of the British Suffragette Movement

| data-sort-value="Grafton, Charles" |Charles Grafton

|| 1869

|| 1948

|| Reverend Charles Grafton Archdioceses of Wisconsin Fond Du Lac. Responsible for Rescue helping the Slaves. Under Ground Railroad Initiator Wisconsin Boston, New York, and the Southern States civil rights, known abolitionist. Brought the Convent of the Holy Nativity Nuns to Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin activist, movement leader, writer, philosopher, and teacher Responsible for helping to establish townships all over Wisconsin, and other parts of the United States

| data-sort-value="Catt, Carrie Chapman" |Carrie Chapman Catt

|| 1859

|| 1947

|| suffrage leader, president National American Woman Suffrage Association, founder League of Women Voters and International Alliance of Women

| data-sort-value="Addams, Jane" |Jane Addams

|| 1860

|| 1935

|| reformer, co-founder of the Hull House and American Civil Liberties Union, 1931 Nobel Peace Prize laureate

| data-sort-value="Wells, Ida B." |Ida B. Wells

|| 1862

|| 1931

|| journalist, early activist in 20th-century civil rights movement, women's suffrage/voting rights activist

| data-sort-value="Du Bois, W.E.B" |W.E.B. Du Bois

|| 1868

|| 1963

|| writer, scholar, founder of NAACP

|Magnus Hirschfeld

|1868

|1935

|physician, sexologist and early advocate of homosexual and transgender rights

| data-sort-value="Gandhi, Kasturba Gandhi" |Kasturba Gandhi

|| 1869

|| 1944

|| wife of Mohandas Gandhi, activist in South Africa and India, often led her husband's movements in India when he was imprisoned

| data-sort-value="Gandhi, Mahatma" |Mahatma Gandhi

|| 1869

|| 1948

|| the Father of India, greatest unifier of Indians pre-Independence and peaceful activist, Pan-Indian Freedom movement Leader, writer, philosopher, social awakening reg Dalits and teacher/inspiration to many like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr.

| data-sort-value="Patel, Sardar Vallabhbhai" |Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

|| 1875

|| 1950

|| activist, movement leader, followed and trusted Mahatma Gandhi's Ideology and peaceful movement.

| data-sort-value="Jinnah, Muhammad Ali" |Muhammad Ali Jinnah

|| 1876

|| 1948

|| lawyer, politician, and the founder of Pakistan; lead Pakistan Movement for the rights of Muslims in the subcontinent

| data-sort-value="Burns, Lucy" |Lucy Burns

|| 1879

|| 1966

|| women's suffrage/voting rights leader

| data-sort-value="Phillips, Homer G." |Homer G. Phillips

|| 1880

|| 1931

|| Republican political figure, and a prominent advocate for civil rights.

| data-sort-value="do Patrocínio, José" |José do Patrocínio

|| 1854

|| 1905

|| journalist, one of the main leaders of the abolitionist movement in Brazil.

| data-sort-value="Roosevelt, Eleanor" |Eleanor Roosevelt

|| 1884

|| 1962

|| women's rights and human rights activist both in the United States and in the United Nations

| data-sort-value="Paul, Alice" |Alice Paul

|| 1885

|| 1977

|| Women's Voting Rights Movement leader, strategist, and organizer

| data-sort-value="Garvey, Marcus" |Marcus Garvey

|| 1887

|| 1940

|| political activist, publisher, journalist

| data-sort-value="Schlesin, Sonia" |Sonia Schlesin

|| 1888

|| 1956

|| worked with Mohandas Gandhi in South Africa and led his movements there when he was absent

| data-sort-value="Kagawa, Toyohiko" |Toyohiko Kagawa

|| 1888

|| 1960

|| labor activist, Christian reformer, author

| data-sort-value="Quinn, Bernard J." |Bernard J. Quinn

|| 1888

|| 1940

|| Roman Catholic priest

| data-sort-value="Nehru, Jawaharlal" |Jawaharlal Nehru

|| 1889

|| 1964

|| first Prime Minister of India, central figure in Indian politics before and after independence, advocate for freedom of the press

| data-sort-value="Randolph, A. Philip" |A. Philip Randolph

|| 1889

|| 1979

|| labor and civil rights movement leader

| data-sort-value="Bacha Khan" |Abdul Ghaffar Khan

|| 1890

|| 1988

|| Pashtun independence activist and strong advocate for non-violence. Founder of the Khudai Khidmatgar resistance movement against British colonial rule in India.

| data-sort-value="Ambedkar, B. R." |B. R. Ambedkar

|| 1891

|| 1956

|| social reformer, civil rights activist, and scholar and who drafted Constitution of India, campaigned for Indian independence, fought for the women's rights, fought discrimination and inequality among the people.

| data-sort-value="White, Walter Francis" |Walter Francis White

|| 1895

|| 1955

|| NAACP executive secretary

| data-sort-value="Hernández, Maria L. de" |Maria L. de Hernández

|| 1896

|| 1986

|| Mexican-American rights activist

| data-sort-value="Duc, Thich Quang" |Thích Quảng Đức

|| 1897

|| 1963

|| monk, freedom of religion self-martyr

| data-sort-value="Lutuli, Albert" |Albert Lutuli

|| 1898

|| 1967

|| President of the African National Congress, against apartheid in South Africa, 1960 Nobel Peace Prize laureate

| data-sort-value="Row Kavi, Ashok" |Ashok Row Kavi

|| 1947

|| LGBT rights activist, gay rights pioneer, founder of Humsafar Trust

| data-sort-value="Chavis, Benjamin" |Benjamin Chavis

|| 1948

|| activist, chemist, minister, author, leader of Wilmington Ten, led Commission for Racial Justice of the United Church of Christ, campaigned against environmental racism, executive director of NAACP, national director of Million Man March

| data-sort-value="Hampton, Fred" |Fred Hampton

|| 1948

|| 1969

|| NAACP youth leader and Black Panther activist, organizer, speaker

| data-sort-value="Rivera, Sylvia" |Sylvia Rivera

|| 1951

|| 2002

|| Gay liberation and transgender rights activist, STAR house co-founder

| data-sort-value="Prakash, Cedric" |Cedric Prakash

|| 1951

|| Jesuit Priest, Human Rights Activist, Organizer, Journalist, and Speaker

| data-sort-value="Shepard, Judy" |Judy Shepard

|| 1952

|| gay rights activist, public speaker

| data-sort-value="Cameron, Barbara May" |Barbara May Cameron

|| 1954

|| 2002

|| advocate for the rights of Native Americans, lesbians, and women

| data-sort-value="Sands, Bobby" |Bobby Sands

|| 1954

|| 1981

|| Hunger striker for better conditions for Irish prisoners in British prisons

| data-sort-value="Sharpton, Al" |Al Sharpton

|| 1954

|| clergyman, activist, media

| data-sort-value="Roscoe, Will" |Will Roscoe

|| 1955

|| gay rights activist

| data-sort-value="Menchú, Rigoberta" |Rigoberta Menchú

|| 1959

|| indigenous rights leader, co-founder of Nobel Women's Initiative

| data-sort-value="Nibizi, Eulalie" |Eulalie Nibizi

|| 1960

|| human rights activist, trade unionist

| data-sort-value="Goldstein, Steven" |Steven Goldstein

|| 1962

|| gay rights advocate, political activist

| data-sort-value="Chee Soon Juan" |Chee Soon Juan

|| 1962

|| politician, former political prisoner, democracy and human rights activist

| data-sort-value="Pradhan, Manasi" |Manasi Pradhan

|| 1962

|| women's rights activist, founder of Honour for Women National Campaign

| data-sort-value="Narmadji, Céline" |Céline Narmadji

|| 1964

|| human and women's rights activist, active in improving conditions for the local population

| data-sort-value="Parker, Deborah" |Deborah Parker

|| 1970

|| Indigenous rights and women's rights activist who was critical in ensuring the passage of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013

|Mariela Belski

|1971

|Executive Director, Amnesty International Argentina

|Gloria Casarez

|1971

|2014

|Latina lesbian civil rights leader and LGBT activist in Philadelphia

| data-sort-value="Iyer, Harish" |Harish Iyer

|| 1979

|| gender and sexuality rights activist, campaigner against child sexual abuse and for animal rights

| data-sort-value="Blatt, Kate Lynn" |Kate Lynn Blatt

|| 1981

|| transgender rights activist, Transgender pioneer and civil rights activist Kate Lynn Blatt won a landmark lawsuit against Cabela’s retail Inc. expandng protections for transgender people under the ADA, and became the first trans woman to sue under the Americans with disabilities act

| data-sort-value="Cudic, Edvin Kanka" |Edvin Kanka Ćudić

|| 1988

|| human rights activist, founder and coordinator of UDIK in Bosnia and Herzegovina

| data-sort-value="Yousafzai, Malala" |Malala Yousafzai

|| 1997

|| advocate for education for girls, 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate

References

See each individual for their references.

External links

BlackHistoryDaily.com – Activists

List

See also

References

External links