We Mourn the Passing Of Civil Rights Icon And Trailblazer, Benjamin Hooks.

Hooks, a trail-blazer

Benjamin Hooks died last week, but the cumulative effects of a life well-lived, and lived for others, will be felt by Americans for many years to come.

The Memphis native is probably best known as a former president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, providing leadership and boosting membership through the Reagan and (first President) Bush years. In that time, Mr. Hooks and the organization worked on issues that addressed civil and human rights, and served to lift humanity — sanctions against South Africa, voting rights, fair housing and the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday.

But his storied life was replete with other trails blazed: The ordained minister and lawyer who cut his teeth on early protests for equality also was the first African American to serve as a judge on the criminal bench in Tennessee (first appointed, then elected), and he was the first African American to serve on the Federal Communications Commission, appointed to a seat in the early 1970s by President Richard M. Nixon. In the latter role, Mr. Hooks worked to increase minority employment within the FCC and addressed the lack of minority ownership of television and radio stations, as well as the portrayal of blacks throughout the entertainment industry.

Two years ago, President George W. Bush presented Mr. Hooks with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

In the days since his death, deserved tributes have been paid. Benjamin Jealous, the current president of the NAACP, underscored Mr. Hooks' continued relevance in noting the late leader's ties to the Republican Party.

“His passing, I hope, will serve as a wakeup call and reminder to the remaining moderate leadership in the party, people like Michael Steele, that civil rights needs to be (on) a bipartisan agenda and that their party cannot again be permitted to continue to march backwards on race relations and civil rights,” Mr. Jealous told “The Root.”

That, indeed, would be a fitting, living memorial to Mr. Hooks.