Chokwe Antar Lumumba, the mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, has been inducted into the National Civil Rights Hall of Fame.
The organization ventured down to the Southern city on Nov. 2 to officially induct the elected official. At the ceremony, they presented a Gold Blazer to Mayor Lumumba on behalf of the National Civil Rights Library.
According to WLBT , the Mayor was awarded this distinction for his efforts toward social justice organizations. Lumumba was the son of the renowned radical Black activist Chowke Lumumba. As a revolutionary attorney, the elder Lumumba represented other Black activists such as Black Liberation Army member Assata Shakur, and worked as a legal advocate for those facing legal action for acts of resistance. He later became mayor of Jackson in 2013 until his death a year later.
The junior Lumumba followed his father’s legacy by becoming mayor in 2017. He aimed to continue on his father’s political promises of participatory democracy and cooperative economics. During his tenure as the youngest mayor in Jackson’s history, he launched an infrastructure improvement initiative to improve the city’s water.