Willie Pickens

William Pickens (January 15, 1881 – April 6, 1954) was an American orator, educator, journalist, and essayist. He wrote multiple articles and speeches, and penned two autobiographies, first The Heir of Slaves in 1911 and second Bursting Bonds in 1923, in which he mentioned race-motivated attacks on African Americans, both in the urban riots of 1919 and by lynching in 1921. His works called for the liberty and emancipation of African Americans. He devoted much of his life... more