By: D.L White

According to Psalm 90:10 “The days of our years are three-score years and Ten, and if by reason of strength they be four-score years, yet is there strength labor and sorrow, for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.”

All praise to the Most High, as the blessings from above continue to pour down on the iconic and legendary Emmy award-winning journalist, Author and civil rights stalwart Charlayne Hunter-Gault, who by strength and labor is working on that four-score plus.

The well traveled and seasoned Hunter-Gault, was the honored guest for the annual Delivering Democracy symposium hosted by the ASU Center for the Study of Race and Democracy which came to fruition in 2014, with the intentional purpose of “delivering” visionary individuals that have challenged the traditional boundaries, modified the landscape with their daring and insatiable thirst for the ‘real’. She dotted all the I’s and crossed off all the T”s” in her impactful historical retrospective in conversation with Dr. Lois Brown, Whose leadership and vision make these annual programs possible. Before an intimate and appreciative audience all sitting and hinging on each word of the iconic sole sitting only a few feet from them, the applause was plentiful and the vestiges of places traveled to and individuals known, all remarkable treasures.

From the moment she and childhood friend Hamilton Holmes arrived on University of Georgia campus in 1961 for admission into what had previously been only for white students – her life journey has been nothing short of amazing

”Hamilton and I desegregated UG, the school and most institutions are still working on proper integration,” Hunter-Gault noted.

Using a whimsical whit and remarkable recall from her 60 years engaging civil rights and world icons as well as an architects of change around the world, there sat a shero at Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church in Phoenix.

Hunter-Gault, shared personal stories of having known the legendary Georgia statesman the golden boy (early in his career) Julian Bond, a Morehouse graduate and key figure with John Lewis in the founding of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. She noted that despite being an excellent speaker Bond had no rhythm. Could not dance a lick. But he could write poetry as well as address the critical issues of the day.”

Dr. Lois Brown (pictured left of awardee)and Carole Coles-Henry (pictured right of awardee), with Center for the Study of Race and Democracy, award Rev. Dr. Warren H. Stewart, Sr. (left), and Michele Neptune McHenry (right).

Following her graduation from UG, Hunter-Gault began a career that placed her before heads of state, including the South African leader Nelson Mandela, who asked her if she knew Maya Angelou, as he and the other individuals imprisoned had read all of Dr. Angelou’s literary works.

Hunter-Gault has graced the studios and sat at the news desk delivering the truth as she recorded it for NPR, CNN, PBS the celebrated NewsHour, as well as the New Yorker and New York Times.

Through her endless travels Hunter-Gault has placed herself at the center, the heartbeat of a news account to understand the ebb and flow of how the incident affected those at the center of the issue.

An award winning author, Hunter-Gault has shared her experiences in several literary works that have gained high praise in the world of journalism and from the average consumer of thoughtful content.

Those writing include, “To the Mountaintop: My Journey Through the Civil Rights Movement,” in which she provides first hand encounters with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, and members of his inter-circle.

Excited and racing to introduce herself to Dr. King, Hunter-Gault recalled, at the moment of introduction, with her hand extended and smiling at Dr. King, she announced who she was and before finishing her name, Dr. King responded, “I know who you are and what you have done.”

Unhinged by the thought that Dr. King knew her, she melted in the moment and just glazed into the years of the unquestionable and quintessential leader of the Civil Rights Movement. She thought for a moment, “the unmeasurable weight and responsibility that he had to bare.”

Hunter-Gault chronicled her UG experience “In My Place,” a memoir about her pioneering enrollment as the first African-American female student at University of Georgia. The trials and tribulations and the grounding comfort of having the brilliant Hamilton Holmes by her side, most of the time.

Holmes would go on to be a respected surgeon. Hunter-Gault shared that an individual approached her later in life, and shared that he was in class with Holmes (a brilliant student) and was struggling to get by, however, he began to watch Holmes, and mirror his exact movements from picking up a flask in biology to arranging his desks as did Holmes. The individual went on to be a Doctor as well, yet, never spoke to Holmes in Class or afterward.

“That is the environment we had to survive in,” noted Hunter-Gault, who concluded her talk by sharing, “throughout the movement we constantly reminded ourselves that we “Would overcome someday!” On pulled the nostalgic piece up on her phone and lead the audience in the civil rights classic. We have and continually overcome, thanks to your infringed faith and work. Mrs. Hunter-Gault.”

Dr. Terry Mackey, pastor of Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church brought greetings on part of the host church and Rhoshawndra Cranes, community development consultant, APS did the same. Rev. Dr. Warren H. Stewart, Sr., and Michele Neptune McHenry, received an Architect of Change awards as the program began and Colleen Jennings Roggen-sack, vice president of ASU Cultural Affairs and executive director of ASU Gammage, presented the ASU Gammage Courage Award.

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