One of America's Greatest Civil Rights Pioneers

The Unknown Hero

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The 33-cent Malcolm X stamp was issued January 20, 1999.

According to Juan Williams, author of Marshall’s biography, Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary, Marshall did more to erase the color line in America than anyone in history, even more than Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X: “It was Thurgood Marshall, working through the courts to eradicate the legacy of slavery and destroying the racist segregation system of Jim Crow, who had an even more profound and lasting effect on race relations than either King or X.”

While King was captivating a nation through peaceful and passionate calls for equality and Malcolm X was stirring up black pride through fiery words and actions, Marshall could be found in a courthouse, rewriting laws that would open new doors for African Americans all over the country.

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The 33-cent Martin Luther King Jr. stamp was issued September 17, 1999.