The Resume

(January 31, 1925-April 15, 2010)
Born in Memphis, Tennessee
Attorney/Baptist minister/Civil rights activist
Commissioner of the FCC (1973-78)
Executive director of the NAACP (1977-92)
Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2007)

Why he might be annoying:

He was originally afraid of public speaking, saying of an address he gave as 8th grade salutorian, 'I shall never forget that speech -- I cried all the way through it.'
He said, 'I wish I could tell you every time I was on the highway and couldn’t use a restroom. My bladder is messed up because of that.' (Not that I'm not sympathetic about being barred from places because of race, but couldn't he have taken a whizz by the side of the road like anyone else locked out of a rest stop?)
He feuded with Margaret Bush Wilson, chair of the NAACP board of directors, who suspended him and accused him of mismanagement.

Why he might not be annoying:

He was married to Frances Dancy for 58 years until his death.
During World War II, he guarded Italian POWs who were allowed to eat at restaurants that he was barred from.
After the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., he spent the night traveling throughout Memphis calling for non-violence.
He said about non-violence, 'The concept of rising against oppression through physical contact is stupid and self-defeating. It exalts brawn over brain. And the most enduring contributions made to civilization have not been made by brawn, they have been made by brain.'
He was an advocate for self-help in the black community, saying 'I’m calling for a moratorium on excuses. I challenge black America today—all of us—to set aside our alibis.'
Attending the inauguration of Barack Obama, he said 'In a nutshell, I am proud and happy to have lived to see this day.'

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• Attorney
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 28]
• Celebrities Born on the Same Date [January] (Ranked: 1311925)
• Civil Rights Activists
• I Adopted a Child
• I Attended DePaul University
• I Attended Howard University
• I Attended the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom [August 28, 1963]
• I Died in 2010 (Ranked: 85)
• I Died on April 15th [Death and Taxes] (Ranked: 2010)
• I Earned a Doctorate
• Look at Me, I'm Accepting My Award
• Look at Me, I'm Accepting the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom
• Look at Me, I'm with Dubya
• Omega Psi Phi Fraternity
• Profiles 28501-28750 (Ranked: 28666)
• Served in World War II
• Spingarn Medal Winners (Ranked: 1986)
• U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipients
• We Celebrated Our Golden Anniversary
• We Died on the Same Day (Ranked: 20100415)

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 13 Votes: 76.92% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 6 Votes: 83.33% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 44 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 70 Votes: 74.29% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 42 Votes: 52.38% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 91 Votes: 48.35% Annoying
In 2013, Out of 11 Votes: 45.45% Annoying
In 2012, Out of 49 Votes: 77.55% Annoying
In 2011, Out of 158 Votes: 72.78% Annoying
In 2010, Out of 211 Votes: 66.35% Annoying