Saturday, May 09, 2009

Morehouse College Honors Civil Rights Pioneer


Morehouse College Honors Civil Rights Pioneer: Earlier this month, Morehouse College honored Vivian Malone Jones by placing her image in its Hall of Honor. Jones, along with James Hood, desegregated the University of Alabama in 1963. She became the first Black graduate of the university in 1965 and later served as the director of civil rights and urban affairs and director of environmental justice for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She died in 2005.

Said U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who is Jones’ brother-in-law, at the unveiling: “The Justice Department has not acted in the way that is consistent with the great traditions of that great organization. We’re going to have a bunch of new judges. We are bound and determined to reshape the U.S. judiciary in a way you will be proud.”