Drs. Walter and Sharon Fluker to Receive Social Justice Leadership Award

Drs. Walter and Sharon Fluker have been selected to receive the prestigious “Beautiful Are The Feet” lifetime achievement award from the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference (SDPC). They are honored for their decades of collective work in social justice, ethical leadership, and community transformation.

The following is from the SDPC award notification:

In a letter to the Flukers, the SDPC Board of Trustees recognized their enduring impact, stating, “Despite the very real and dangerous attacks on the lives of African Americans and all people of color, the Board of Trustees recognizes that your collective work has had an impact in the present and will set the standard for generations yet unborn.”

The award honors “foot soldiers for justice” who have been relentless in the fight for full citizenship rights. The Flukers will be honored alongside Bishop Michael Curry and the Rev. Dr. Cynthia Hale. The theme for the 2026 conference, convening in Chicago February 23-26, is “Sacred Fire: Resilience, Resistance and Response.” The award ceremony will be held on Wednesday, February 25, 2026, and is considered the pinnacle of the conference.

“We want to pause during the conference and say ‘Thank you!’” the letter continued. “We honor you, love you, and consider it a privilege to welcome and affirm you for your outstanding work and many years of sacrificial service.”

Dr. Walter Earl Fluker, the Distinguished Professor of the Howard Thurman Center at HIU and Dean’s Professor of Spirituality, Ethics, and Leadership at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, is a renowned scholar and thought leader. His work carries on the legacies of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Howard Thurman, focusing on ethical leadership in times of societal challenge.

Congratulations, Mr. and Ms. Fluker!