This year, as the nation and the world pause to honor what would have been the 91st birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., The Community Voice also pauses to recognize a few other foot soldiers in the war for human equality.

In his 39 years on earth, Dr. King proved to be “America’s greatest champion of racial justice and equality, the leader who not only dreamed of a color-blind society, but who also led a movement that achieved historic reforms to help make it a reality.

But as that quote from his widow Coretta Scott King says, Dr. King led a movement made up of thousands of heroes across the country who, inspired by his bravery, stood up and brought about change in their own communities.

Here, we honor just a few of them, still living, whose shoulders we also stand on.