Activist, organizer and educator Walter Palmer continues to champion change

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Paid Sponsor Partnership: Philadelphia Corporation for Aging

In his 91 years, Walter Palmer has worked with many human rights advocates.

"I worked on Nelson Mandela's release for 25 years here in Philadelphia," says Palmer, Founder of the W.D. Palmer Foundation.

He dedicated his life to being a champion of change and fighting for racial equality.

"I learned segregation early on," he says. "West Philadelphia, Black Bottom, 36th and Market Street. Black people lived on the north side of Market Street. White people lived on the south side of Market Street."

Palmer's father taught him how to play the drums at age five.

"And 14 years old, start playing professionally with a lot of great musicians, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie," he says.

In his early twenties, he set up a freedom school.

"Black People's University of Philadelphia in 1955. This is before Dr. King, before Jesse Jackson," he says.

The school taught communities how to advocate for what they needed, which Palmer says was "housing and education and health care."

It was fueled by data collected from his nonprofit, the W.D. Palmer Foundation. He says the foundation worked to educate Black communities on the "history of African slavery, racism, etc."

Palmer was a strong influence in making some changes in Philadelphia in the world of medicine.

"I responded to an ad in the paper for a surgical attendant at University of Pennsylvania," says Palmer. "And at age 25, I left there and went to Children's Hospital. I loved it for ten years. I became director of cardiopulmonary management."

He broke barriers, helping to desegregate both hospitals.

"Black blood was segregated, marked 'C' for colored and 'W' for white," he says. "And I challenged all that."

He was also a late blooming athlete, sprinting to success in his 30s and setting a world record at age 40.

"And I amassed over hundreds of medals, trophies, plaques," he says.

In the '60s, he became a community organizer and planner.

Over the years, he's worked with a variety of people, including Winnie Mandela. And he continues teaching courses on Institutional Racism and Social Change at the University of Pennsylvania.

Palmer says he tells his students that if they really want freedom, "become the change that you dream of."

To put in perspective the timeline of Palmer's work, he set up the W.D. Palmer Foundation in 1955, the same year Rosa Parks was arrested. And this is just a sampling of the work he's done to promote change.

For more information:
The W.D. Palmer Foundation
Walter Palmer