Throughout his career Benjamin Hooks (1925- ), a lawyer and ordained Baptist minister, has addressed a range of political, economic and social problems confronting African-Americans and other minorities. In 1965, he was appointed a Memphis Criminal Court judge.

He gained further prominence when he was named to the Federal Communications Commission in 1972. The first black to serve on the commission, he was instrumental in paving the way for blacks to own and operate radio and television stations.

In 1977, Hooks became executive director of the NAACP, the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization, a post he held until early 1993.