Prathia Hall

Prathia Hall (January 1, 1940 – August 12, 2002) was a leader and activist in the Civil Rights Movement, a womanist theologian, and ethicist. She was the key inspiration for Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech.

Hall was raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of founders of Mount Sharon Baptist Church, an inner-city church in an under-served area of Philadelphia. Her father was a Baptist preacher and a passionate advocate for racial justice, who regarded her as his successor. He inspired her to pursue religion and social justice. Prathia believed she was brought into the world for a reason – to integrate religion and freedom together. Her leadership potential was recognized early. She credited many groups, such as the National Conference of Christians and Jews for singling her out and helping her to develop. Hall attended predominantly white schools until college. At the age of five, she took a train ride South with her sisters to visit their grandparents. The girls were forced to sit in the segregated car, located just behind the engine. This was her first experience of dehumanizing discrimination.

By her mid-teens, Hall hoped to join the Civil Rights Movement. In high school and college, she became involved with Fellowship House, a Philadelphia ecumenical social justice organization, where she studied the philosophy of nonviolence and direct action. After graduating high school, she attended Temple University in the city. In 1961, while still a junior at Temple, Hall was arrested in Annapolis, Maryland, for participating in the anti-segregation protests on Maryland's rural Eastern Shore. She was held without bail in jail for two weeks.

After graduating from Temple with a degree in political science, Hall joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC); she worked with Charles Sherrod in Southwest Georgia. She became one of the first women field leaders in southwest Georgia. Hall later worked in Terrell County, Georgia, known as "Terrible Terrell County." because of its violence against civil rights activists. African Americans who attempted to register to vote would end up missing or dead. On September 6, 1962, nightriders fired into the house where Hall and other activists were staying, wounding her, Jack Chatfield, and Christopher Allen.

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