Nashville desegregation leader King Madison Hollands has passed away at the age of 82.  Hollands was one of the first students to integrate Father Ryan High School.

“I was pretty much the only Black in most of my classes,” Hollands said in a 2022 interview. “The Civil Rights movement, which had a great impact in Nashville, has not been recognized as much here. I think that our history is very important. We have to understand the nature and power of racism.”

He went on to participate in the 1960 lunch counter sit-in at Woolworth’s while studying at Fisk University in 1960.

“Mr. King Hollands spent two weeks in jail for participating in the lunch counter sit-ins,” said Councilperson Zulfat Suara. “Thank you sir for your part in desegregation. Rest in power.”