ATLANTA—Xernona Clayton, journalist, musician, and assistant to Martin Luther King, started the Civil Rights Walk of Fame 20 years ago.
“For those who don’t really know the significance of this moment, we took the real shoes of real people who made a difference in society—people who gave their lives … who sacrificed to make life better for us,” said Clayton at the recent induction ceremony for the Walk of Fame.
Clayton said she created the walk to tell the stories of people who lived unselfish lives. Each year new people are honored, in tandem with the Trumpet Awards, which honor the achievements of black Americans.
Once when Clayton visited a school, a 9-year-old boy flung himself to the floor and took off his shoes. Asking his teacher for “permission to tell Miss Clayton something,” he said, “One of these days I’m going to be somebody, and she’s going to need my shoes,” according to Clayton.
In the Martin Luther King Historic District, a wide pathway engraved with names and footprints starts at a statue of Gandhi and continues up a slight hill. Rosa Parks, Medgar Evans, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Thurgood Marshall are found among them.
This year for the first time, an Asian American joined the Walk of Fame.
Dosan Ahn Chang Ho (1878-1938) was a contemporary of Gandhi, and followed ideals of nonviolence as he worked for reforms in his native Korea. He was imprisoned and tortured repeatedly by the Japanese, but not silenced. “He spoke of the suffering, deprivations and misuse of the people …. See the parallel? Martin Luther King? Speaking when others did not dare?” asked Clayton.
Ho was one of the first Korean immigrants to the United States. His grandson Phillip “Flip” Cuddy flew from California to accept the medal and footprint.
His voice shaking, Cuddy stood at the podium, wearing his grandfather’s award. “I’m emotional, to be the first Asian representative of this twenty year history,” he said.
“Asians and Asian Americans have been integral to the fight for civil and human rights both here and abroad,” said Helen Kim Ho, Executive Director for the Asian American Legal Advocacy Center, in a statement. According to Cuddy, his grandfather said he must be “a good American citizen but never forget your heritage.” Had his grandfather lived longer, Korea would not be divided today, in his opinion.
“As the first nonprofit law center dedicated to promoting the civil rights of Asian Americans in the South, we applaud Xernona Clayton and other civil rights leaders for recognizing Dosan Ho’s fight for social justice,” said Ho.
“The spirit Martin Luther King gave is the same as Dosan gave Korea,” said Cuddy.
Walter Young, brother of the more famous Andrew Young, was honored for his lifetime of charitable work. A dentist, Young gave free dental care to people whose teeth were broken or knocked out when they were beaten at marches and lunch counter sit-ins. Now past retirement age, he still gives free dental care to people who need it, according to Clayton.
“You know what? This is my Nobel Prize!” Willie Bolden said he told his wife when he learned he would join the Walk of Fame. He accepted a civil rights foot soldier award, representing the many less famous activists, and told a story of King recruiting him to join SCLC from a pool hall in 1962, where “I was not playing for fun, you know what I mean?” His roguish humor belied a career in which he became a pillar of society, a professor, library administrator, and minister.
The other honorees were Emmitt Caviness, Constance Curry, Theodore Hesburgh, Fred Gray, J. T. Johnson and Charles Ogleltree.
After the spoken part of the ceremony in Ebeneezer Church, the inductees stood on their newly unveiled footprints. Cuddy stood smiling, repeatedly leaning forward to look at his grandfathers’ name engraved in Korean and English on the walk.
Bolden grinned and gave a thumbs up to the crowd.
