Frank Dukes
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Frank Dukes (born c. 1930) was President of Miles College's student body in the early 1960's and an influential local Civil Rights Movement leader.
Dukes was a Korean War veteran and former Detroit auto worker when he came to Miles. He urged public opposition to segregation in Birmingham, drafting a public statement signed by hundreds of students entitled "This We Believe" in December 1961 which called for more educational and employment opportunities for African Americans. He also founded an Anti-Injustice Committee at Miles that organized a Selective Buying Campaign at downtown stores in early 1962. The group coordinated closely with the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights and was advised by its founder, Fred Shuttlesworth.
References
- Miles College Centennial History Committee (2005) Miles College: The First Hundred Years. Campus History Series. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0738517933