In Riverside, California there would not be Martin Luther King (MLK) Boulevard, MLK High School, or an MLK statue in downtown if it wasn’t for Ms. Rose Mayes.

Ms. Rose Mayes has been the Director of Fair Housing Council of Riverside County since 1993, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting housing rights, and has over 30 years of public service experience. A daughter of sharecroppers, Ms. Rose Mayes attended Houston Community College and owned three record stores before going to New York and working for the Wall Street Journal for 10 years. In her spare time, she earned a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s in Management and Business Education.

Ms. Mayes came to Riverside in the 1990s and has served on a variety of Riverside community organizations including-- Riverside East Rotary Club, an active member of Riverside Mahatma Gandhi Peace Foundation, the past president of the Riverside African American History Society.  Through her work in the community, she realized that there were no monuments or buildings in Riverside that recognized MLK or any African American Leaders. And through her work with community organizations and local government, she established many of the African American public monuments and buildings we have today in Riverside California.

By Emily Thomas