On May 16, 1929, John Conyers Jr. was born in Highland Park, Michigan. Conyers would go on to become a towering figure in American politics, serving in the U.S. House of Representatives for over 50 years—from 1965 to 2017. A founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus, he was a tireless advocate for civil rights, workers’ protections, and justice reform. He introduced the bill to establish Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a national holiday just four days after King’s assassination in 1968—a campaign that lasted 15 years until the holiday was signed into law in 1983.

Conyers also authored the End Racial Profiling Act and repeatedly introduced H.R. 40, legislation to study reparations for African Americans. His long career symbolized steadfast commitment to civil rights through legislative action.