nps.gov - Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site
International Civil Rights: Walk of Fame
Tyrone L. Brooks, Sr.
Tyrone L. Brooks, Sr.
1945 - present

Representative Tyrone L. Brooks is known around the world as the man who brought down that old racist, divisive symbol, the Georgia Confederated flag. He currently serves in the Georgia General Assembly.

Representative Tyrone L. Brooks was born on October 10, 1945 in Warrenton, Georgia, where he was reared and educated in the public school system. He received further education at Boggs Academy, Keysville, Georgia; LaSalle Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Howard University, Washington D.C. ; Atlanta University; and The Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government, Cambridge, Massachusetts. In May of 2001, the John Marshall School of Law bestowed on him his first honorary degree of Doctor of Jurisprudence.

Tyrone L. Brooks began his career in public service as an activist for civil and human rights at the age of 15 as a volunteer with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He became a full-time staffer of the organization in 1967 under Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and served in many positions, nationally and locally. Brooks is president of the Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials. He has been at the forefront and involved in the struggle for freedom, justice and equality since 1960 and has been jailed 65 times for civil rights work.