Brooklyn-born assistant president of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, Guy Tyler, died 3 June in Florida. He was 99.

Before the March on Washington, there was the Walk to Freedom in Detroit, Mich.

Edgar Zivanai Tekere, described by current President Robert Mugabe as “fearless and highly temperamental,” was an outspoken and often controversial leader in the struggle for Zwimbabwe national independance.

An educator and civil rights leader, Clara Luper died Wednesday, June 8, at her home in Oklahoma City. She was 88.

Greensboro has tumultuous history as civil rights battleground

Albertina Sisulu, South African freedom fighter and wife of Walter Sisulu, died on Thursday, 2 June 2011. Upon news of her death, Archbishop Desmond Tutu said of Sisulu: "But try as they might, they could not break her spirit, they could not make her bitter, they could not defeat her love.”

Abdias do Nascimento, Brazilian artist, politican, and scholar, died in Rio de Janeiro from complications of diabetes on 23 May. He was 97.

Gil Scott-Heron, musician and poet of black culture in 1970s, died 27 May 2011 at age 62 in a New York City hospital.