Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays in my hero. Dr. Mays fought on behalf
of young, black men who deserve an opportunity to demonstrate
that they are as intelligent, as moral, as brave, and as able to
achieve as any other men or persons in this world. He believed
in the dignity of all beings, and his life reflected that ideal.
Benjamin Mays was born the eighth child of tenant farmers in a
small town in Greenwood Country, South Carolina, in 1894. From
the very beginning, he had to overcome the poverty and racism
that plague his birthplace. Hard work and intellectual curiosity
triumphed, and Benjamin Mays excelled in his early scholarly
endeavor. He was valedictorian of his high school class, a Phi
Beta Kappa graduate of Bates College, and he earned a master's
degree at the University of Chicago. Later, he became the
president of Morehouse College and one of the greatest educators
of the twentieth century. His chief crusade was to rid the world
of prejudice for the betterment of all people. He said, "The
chief sin of segr