Past Honorees
It has been a pleasure to honor the men and women who have received our prestigious I Am A Man Award and our Open Door Award.
The I AM A Man Award
Congresswoman Barbara Lee, 2024
Dr. Frederick "Freddie" Haynes, Pastor, 2023
Harry Belafonte, Actor & Activist
Judge Joe Brown, Shelby County Juvenile Court Judge & Television Judge
William "Bill" Clinton, 42nd President of the United States
John Conyers, Congressman
Harold Ford, Sr., Retired Congressman (Memphis, TN)
John Lewis, Congressman
Rev. Joseph Lowery, SCLC
William "Bill" Lucy, AFSCME
Bobby Rush, Congressman
Maxine Waters, Congresswoman
Rev. Jeremian Wright
Father Michael Pfleger, Priest
Dr. Tonea Stewart, Actress, Activist
Bingham Civil Rights Institute
Dr. C.T. Vivian Wright, Leader, Strategist
James Meredith, Activist,
Peggy Wallace Kennedy
Rev. Dr. Bernard, Lafayette, Jr., Activist, Leader
Diane Nash, Activist
Rep. Charles Rangel, Congressman
Joan Mulholland, Activist
Rev. Dr. Jesse Douglas, Activist
James Clyburn, Congressman
Kris Kistofferson, Activist, Actor, Singer/Songwriter
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The Open Door Award
Congressman Steve Cohen, 2025
Dr. Tyrone Burroughs, 2025
Memphis Municipal Employee Credit Union, 2025
Judge Mablean Ephram World, Renowned Judge & Founder of the Mablean Ephriam Foundation, 2024
Muletrain Historical Society, Preservation of the 1968 Mule Train in Marks, MS, and Dr. King's Dream, 2024
Rev. Dr. Inette Rogers, 2023
Rosaline Withers, 2023
Fuller Story of Franklin, TN, 2023
Memphis, State University 109
Honorable Lee Harris, Shelby County Mayor
Bonnie Lee Blair
Eddie Jones, Shelby County Clerk
Gary Shorb, Executive Director of The Urban Child Institute
Charles Patrick
Dr. Glenda Baskin Glover, Past President of Tennessee State University
Bishop G.E. Patterson, Founder Temple of Deliverance COGIC Cathedral of Bountiful Blessings and Presiding Bishop of Church of God In Christ
Rev. James "Jim" Lawson
Tennessee Human Rights Commission
Bishop William Graves
Rev. Steve Gaines, Pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church & Past President of the Southern Baptist Convention
LeMoyne-Owen College, HBCU located in Memphis, TN
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