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2023 Keynote Speaker

Fred Gray

Fred David Gray, a pioneer of the Civil Rights Movement is a
native of Montgomery, Alabama, currently living in Tuskegee,
Alabama with his wife, Carol. One of the few courageous Black
lawyers who risked their lives to attack segregation in the court.
At 92 years old, he holds several Bar affiliations and continues
to practice law specializing in civil rights litigation. His legal
career spans over 68 years.

Educated at the Nashville Christian Institute, Nashville,
Tennessee; Alabama State University, Montgomery, Alabama;
and Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. He is
both a lawyer and an ordained minister in the Church of Christ.
Mr. Gray has lectured on local, state, national and international
levels.

Mr. Gray is a past President of the National Bar Association
(1985-86) and was the first African American President of the
Alabama State Bar (2002-2003). He has won many battles in
the struggle for equality and justice. His first civil rights case
was the representation of Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old African
American high school student who refused to give up her seat
on a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama, in March of 1955. In
December of 1955, he represented Ms. Rosa Parks, who was
arrested because she refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man, igniting the Montgomery Bus Boycott, City of
Montgomery v. Rosa Parks. He penned the Resolution that launched the Boycott. He was, also, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s
first civil rights attorney. The list of the civil rights cases he won are numerous and are included in many legal textbooks.

One of the first African Americans to serve in the Alabama Legislature since reconstruction, he served from 1970-1974. He
received the Capitol Press Corps Award for Best Orator in the House of Representatives in 1972.

Mr. Gray served as a member of the Board of Trustees of Case Western Reserve University and Faulkner University. He was
a Master Bencher of the Montgomery Chapter of the Hugh Maddox Inns of Courts; a life member of the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People; a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation; a Fellow of the American College of Trial
Lawyers; a Fellow of the International Society of Barristers; a member of the Executive Council of the National Conference of
Bar Presidents; and on the Board of Directors for the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

In recognition of his stellar contributions, he has received eleven honorary Doctor of Laws degrees, four honorary degrees of
Humane Letters, and two other honorary degrees from various educational institutions.

He authored “Bus Ride to Justice”, first released in 1995. A Revised Edition released in 2013 was previewed at the President
Jimmy Carter Center and broadcast on C-Span Book TV. Upon receipt of a copy, President Barack Obama wrote in a letter
to Mr. Gray, “Today, we stand on the shoulders of giants who helped move us toward a more perfect Union, and I appreciate
your sharing your story.” “The Tuskegee Syphilis Study” was released in May 1998. He also wrote “The Sullivan Case: A Direct
Product of the Civil Rights Movement”, a review for Case Western Reserve Law Review. Recently released in May 2022, is the
book, “Alabama v. King”, co-authored with Dan Abrams and David Fisher.

Mr. Gray was the moving force in the establishment of the Tuskegee Human and Civil Rights Multicultural Center, Tuskegee,
Alabama. This is a 501(c)3 Corporation, which serves as a memorial to the Study participants, and educates the public on
contributions in the field of human and civil rights by Native Americans, Americans of Africa and European descent. It also
strives to educate on the role Tuskegee-Macon County played in the Civil Rights Movement.

On July 7, 2022, President Joseph Biden awarded Mr. Gray with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, this country’s highest
award for a civilian. Mr. Gray’s life mission has been to “stamp out discrimination,” and that is what he continues to do.

38th Annual MLK Day of Celebration • 9