John A. Stokes

John A. Stokes was born on December 31, 1931. He was one of six children who lived with their parents on a small farm in Kingsville, Virginia. His father, Luther, was a truck farmer, and his mother, Alice, worked in the laundry at a nearby college. Stokes and his siblings were all encouraged to study hard and get the best education possible. He was part of a student committee that planned and executed a strike for better conditions at Robert Russa Moton High School, a strike that made Stokes a plaintiff in the landmark civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education and helped change life in the United States of America forever. After these events, he served two years in the U.S. Army, then attended and graduated from Virginia State University. He was hired as a teacher in the Baltimore public school system, retiring as a principal in 1994. Stokes now devotes much of his time to lecturing on the Supreme Court case, hoping that he will encourage people to take a stand for equality and justice for all people. John Stokes current lives in Lanham, Maryland. [adapted from the jacket Students on Strike (2008)]