News - Michael Manley Inducted into International Civil Rights Walk of Fame

The late Most Honourable Michael Manley was inducted into the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, on January 12, 2008, in the presence of a large international gathering.

Among those attending the induction ceremony at the Martin Luther King Junior National Historic Site were the Most Honourable Mrs Michael Manley and the Chairman of the Michael Manley Foundation, Mr Danny Roberts.

Prints of a pair of Mr Manley's size 12 shoes embedded in a 2 ft x 2 ft granite square were unveiled, along with those of other new inductees including Maya Angelou and Sammy Davis Junior.

The International Civil Rights Walk of Fame was created by the Trumpet Awards Foundation in 2004 "to pay homage to the brave warriors of justice who sacrificed and struggled to make equality a reality for all".

Among previous inductees are Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Medgar Evers, Joe Louis, Rosa Parks, Stevie Wonder, Thurgood Marshall, and US Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.

According to the Trumpet Awards Foundation’s Executive Director, Ms Xernona Clayton, Mr Manley was selected for induction based not only on the outstanding contribution he made during his life but also because of his powerful enduring legacy in civil rights and his prominent voice in raising international awareness about the great civil rights issues that continue to resonate around the world.

Induction into the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame is the second international honour posthumously conferred on Mr Manley in recent years. In June 2004 the South African Government made him a Supreme Companion (Gold category) of O.R. Tambo for the Jamaican leader’s “lifelong contribution to the ideals of unity among the oppressed people in the diaspora and the African continent and to the struggle against apartheid”. Among numerous national, regional and international honours, in 1978 Mr Manley was awarded a United Nations Gold Medal for his “significant contribution in cooperation with the United Nations and in solidarity with the South African liberation movement in the international campaign against apartheid”.