Bill > SJR37

This joint resolution commends Fred D. Gray, a 94-year-old senior civil rights attorney from Alabama, for his extraordinary 70-year legal career dedicated to fighting racial injustice. The resolution highlights Gray's significant legal achievements, including representing pivotal civil rights figures like Rosa Parks, Claudette Colvin, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Congressman John Lewis, and successfully challenging bus segregation through Supreme Court litigation. Gray has represented numerous civil rights organizations such as the NAACP, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and has also advocated for victims of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. The resolution acknowledges his numerous prestigious awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Biden, the American Bar Association's Medal, and recognition by the Smithsonian Institution with a permanent portrait in the National Portrait Gallery. The document emphasizes Gray's ongoing commitment to fighting racism and notes the upcoming inaugural Fred D. Gray Institute for Human and Civil Rights National Symposium, which will bring together scholars and activists to discuss contemporary civil rights issues, ultimately expressing the legislature's high regard and appreciation for his significant contributions to civil rights, Alabama, and the United States.