The second African American elected to the Illinois State Senate, William E. King was born on May 12, 1885 in Morehouse Parish, Louisiana to John and Selina King. King was educated at the Coleman Academy in Gibsland, Louisiana before completing his undergraduate studies at Philander-Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas. He then pursued the study of law at both Howard University and John Marshall Law School. Admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1915, King served as Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of Chicago from 1919 to 1923. He then served as Cook County Assistant State's Attorney until 1925, when he was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives.
King was reelected to the House in 1928, 1930, and 1932. He was then elected to the Illinois Senate in 1934. During his tenure in the Illinois General Assembly, King introduced a bill to prevent the Ku Klux Klan from operating in Illinois. The bill was signed into law. He also served on an interracial committee that studied the causes and effects of race riots in Illinois. King ran for a seat in the United States Congress in 1942 but was defeated by William L. Dawson, with Dawson receiving 26,965 votes to King’s 23,628. Married to the former Blanche Hastings on June 30, 1919, William King was the father of one child, Blanche King, born in 1920. King and his family lived on South Parkway (now Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr.) on Chicago’s South Side, where he also represented the 2nd Ward as a Committeeman. King was a member of the National Bar Association, the Cook County Bar Association and the NAACP.
Connie Goldsby
Salute to Foot Soldiers in Birmingham The NAACP saluted the foot solders of 1963 during its 18th event this year commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Movement. They're the men and women who played a role in changing the course of history. Birmingham NAACP President Hezekiah Jackson says, "They really turned this nation and this country and even this world around in terms of civil and human rights." The foot soldiers of 1963 played an integral part of the civil rights movement, putting themselves on the front line, marching for change. "We were the watch out foot soldiers where they had thrown bricks and stuff. we would let them know before they come down." Rev. Dr. Wilson Crum Jr., among those who received an NAACP medal of honor. He says now is time to mentor the younger generation. Many continue making a difference and sharing their courageous stories. Foot soldier, Connie Goldsby, says "some were foot soldiers by marching one time in 1963, but I marched in just about every state from Florida, to New Orleans, Maryland, Washington D.C., Decatur to save a young man accused of rape, marched there, I marched in Selma. Hezekiah Jackson says looking 50 years forward takes on a whole new era going from civil rights to human rights. "Once we embrace the concept of humanity, it will cover race, gender and it will make it to where bias will be unaccepted, especially in the United States of America.