“Hey Leader!,” was his common greeting to all he met; a call to action of sorts; but to a countless mass, the Rev. James Orange, with unwavering dedication to civil and labor rights was the leader himself; a "towering" example of nonviolent activism.

A close aide to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whom he was hired by as the first full-time SCLC field organizer, Orange was honored Sat. Oct. 29 in Atlanta, during a dedication ceremony, where Oakland City Park was renamed, “Rev. James Orange Park.” Apparently a street or station renaming could not serve adequate honor for the individual held responsible for much of the modern civil and labor rights movement, countless marches, and more than 30 years fighting for worker justice as an AFL-CIO organizer- “The James Orange Commission with strong backing from Councilman C.T. Martin and through feedback received from community forums, determined that dedicating the park to Rev.

ATLANTA (Oct. 18, 2011) – After months of planning and construction as a result of collaboration with partner and sponsor organizations, as well as the City of Atlanta, representatives of the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) and its grassroots initiative, America’s Backyard, are ready to host the grand re-opening of historic Selena Butler Park in Atlanta on Wed., Nov. 2 at 4 p.m.

NRPA CEO Barbara Tulipane announced in April the D.C.-based nonprofit’s plans to duplicate the Parks Build Community initiative on Atlanta’s Butler Park – named for an iconic figure in the struggle for racial equality in American education and cofounder of the National Parent-Teacher Association. In just seven months, Butler Park has undergone a massive facelift to the tune of $1.6 million.

“Two years ago, we decided to dedicate resources and forge new partnerships to proactively revive local parks in underserved urban areas,” says Tulipane.