Long before Martin Luther King Jr. or Rosa Parks came on the scene, Amelia and S.W. Boynton were fighting for voting rights and property ownership for African-Americans.

As county agents for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the couple began their campaign in the 1930s.

Both were victims of brutality, but were not deterred. After her husband’s death in 1963, Amelia Boynton carried on, fighting for civil rights, human rights and the right to vote.

Recently, Amelia Boynton Robinson celebrated her 96th birthday at Booker T. Washington High School in Tuskegee.

The woman whose home was used in the 1960s as a center of Selma’s civil rights battles, continues to work for equality and justice – but in a new way. As vice chairman of Schiller Institute, she travels the United States, and the world, mentoring youth. She said her main objective is to give them direction.

She recently returned from a trip to the West Coast, and on Sept. 5 will leave for Europe.

She says her biggest accomplishment is helping young people have self-esteem and race pride, and “to strive for their potential in life.”

Boynton is an inspiration to everyone who meets her.

She has lived her life in a way that serves an example for all of us – to fight for what is right, and help others do the same.

Happy Birthday to Boynton and best wishes on her journeys to make life better for those who struggle.