Poll: Most Influential Deceased Civil Rights Activists

Results of 198 votes:

1. 1.
   

   Martin Luther King

    

   King, a pastor, fought for equality of black and white people.
2. 2.
   

   Nelson Mandela

    

   Mandela fought against Apartheid in South Africa.
3. 3.
   

   Mohandas K. Gandhi

    

   Gandhi fought for India's independence from the United Kingdom.
4. 4.
   

   Malcolm X

    

   Malcolm X fought for equality of black and white people.
5. 5.
   

   Sophie Scholl

    

   Sophie and Hans Scholl fought together for free speech while the Nazis reign supreme. So this option is also for Hans. In selfmade flyers they called upon to make a clear decision against the NSDAP, t…
6. 6.
   

   Rosa Parks

    

   In the 1950s, she denied a white person sit on her seat in the bus and therewith started the bus boycott of Montgomery, which helped overcome the Jim Crow laws by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the …
7. 7.
   

   Harvey Milk

    

   Milk fought for gay people's rights.
8. 8.
   

   John Lewis

    

   Lewis fought for equality of black and white people.
9. 9.
   

   Václav Havel

    

   Writer, dissident under the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia, first president of the Czech Republic and advocate for humanitarian and environmentalist causes.
10. 10.
    

    Elie Wiesel

     

    US-Romanian writer. He played an exemplary role in fighting violence, oppression, and racism.
11. 11.
    

    Cesar Chavez

     

    Probably the most famous labor organizer, he championed economic justice and dignity for working people, especially migrant workers. Like Martin Luther King and Ghandi, he advocated nonviolence.
12. 12.
    

    Emmeline Pankhurst

     

    Emmeline Pankhurst fought for English women's rights to vote in elections.
13. 13.
    

    Alice Paul

     

    Suffragette, she fought for the 19th amendment to the constitution, which allows women to vote in the USA in 1920.
14. 14.
    

    Susan B. Anthony

     

    Womens rights activist and in 1856, she became an agent for the American Anti Slavery Society in the state of New York.
15. 15.
    

    Harriet Tubman

     

    After she fled from slavery, she helped former black slaves to flee from the Southern states to the Northern states and Canada.
16. 16.
    

    Jane Addams

     

    Feminist, sociologist and journalist, later founder of social work.
17. 17.
    

    Jawaharlal Nehru

     

    Fought for the independence of India.
18. 18.
    

    Patrice Lumumba

     

    Fought for the independence from Belgium and became the 1st Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
19. 19.
    

    Shirley Chisholm

     

    The first woman and first African-American to run for U.S. President from a major political party, she paved the way for the likes of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Chisolm sponsored and fought for…
20. 20.
    

    C.T. Vivian

     

    Vivian, a priest, fought for equality of black and white people.
21. 21.
    

    Elijah Cummings

     

    was an American politician and civil rights advocate who served in the United States House of Representatives for Maryland's 7th congressional district from 1996 until his death in October of 2019.[1]…
22. 22.
    

    Coretta Scott King

     

    Wife of Martin Luther King, continued his work after Martin Luther's death, she also wrote books about their fight.
23. 23.
    

    Betty Friedan

     

    Feminist, fought against discrimination of women. She tried to end stereotypes.
24. 24.
    

    Medgar Evers

     

    He was the leader of the Association of the Advancement of Coloured People. He forced the abolition of racial segregation in Mississippi, so he could attend the university like white people.
25. 25.
    

    W.E.B. Du Bois

     

    Sociologist, philosopher & jornalist, who joined the civil rights movement.
26. 26.
    

    Frederick Douglass

     

    African American, abolitionist & writer. Allegedly, he was the most influential African American in the 19th century.
27. 27.
    

    James Baldwin

     

    Baldwin made racism and sexuality an subject of discussion, especially black homosexuals.
28. 28.
    

    Booker T. Washington

     

    He was a teacher, social reformer and fought for civil rights.
29. 29.
    

    Liu Xiaobo

     

    He was a Chinese writer, dissident and human rights activist.
30. 30.
    

    Wangari Maathai

     

    Leader of the women's movement in Kenya, started the Green Belt Project for afforestation of the land.
31. 31.
    

    Muhammad Ali Jinnah

     

    Fought for the independence of Pakistan.
32. 32.
    

    Florynce Kennedy

     

    An African-American female lawyer who was an important activist in and advocate for the "Second Wave" of feminism, she fought for equal rights for women and other social minorities.
33. 33.
    

    Barbara Jordan

     

    Jordan was one of the first members of the U.S. Congress to have a disability. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her tireless efforts on behalf of the poor, racial minorities, and …
34. 34.
    

    Bella Abzug

     

    The first Jewish woman elected to the U.S. Congress, she was a labor organizer, civil rights activist and feminist activist.