Well-known Vietnam veteran Artie Guerrero and civil rights activist and historian Vincent Harding are the two recipients of the 2010 Civil Rights Award from the Anti-Defamation League’s Mountain States Office.
Guerrero, who as a 22-year-old Army Ranger was critically wounded in a firefight with three companies of Viet Cong, is being honored for advocacy for people with disabilities.
Harding, Iliff School of Theology Professor Emeritus, is being honored “as a leading voice in communicating the history and message of the African American civil rights movement.”
“Both Artie Guerrero and Vincent Harding have spent their careers working for civil rights and respect for all people,” said ADL Regional Director Bruce H. DeBoskey. “It is a privilege to be able to acknowledge their decades of work with ADL’s prestigious Civil Rights Awards.”
On April 23, 1967, Guerrero and his squad of 14 men on a reconnaissance patrol ran into the three companies of Viet Cong in the Central Highlands. He was hit four times and later developed multiple sclerosis. He is an avid spokesman for Vietnam veterans’ rights.
The ADL describes Guerrero as a dedicated leader, veteran and athlete committed to helping individuals with disabilities.
As president and national director of the Paralyzed Veterans of American Mountain State Chapter, Guerrero has brought issues of disabled veterans to the nation’s attention.
The ADL described Guerrero as a tireless advocate who has served as an advisor to civic accessibility projects including RTD, Jefferson county government, Coors Field and Invesco Field at Mile High. Among his athletic efforts include cofounding the Colorado Avalanche Sled Hockey Team and the Colorado Rockies Wheelchair Softball Program.
He served on the board of directors for the Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center (BOEC) and currently works to promote outreach and education at Adaptive Adventures.
Harding, in 1961, joined with Martin Luther King, Jr., and others, as reconcilers and nonviolence trainers in the Southern Freedom Movement.
Harding was the first director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Center for Social Change and the founding director of the Institute of the Black World.
He is the author of numerous essays and books, including “Martin Luther King, Jr: The Inconvenient Hero”. He also served as senior consultant to the PBS series on the history of the “Civil rights Movement, Eyes on the Prize”. Harding currently serves as chairperson of the Veterans of Hope Project, which he co-founded with his late wife, Rosemarie Freeney Harding.Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
