(BVN/WWBT) – King Salim Khalfani, a veteran civil rights leader who served as executive director of the Virginia State Conference of the NAACP for more than 15 years, has died. He led the state organization from 1998 until 2014.

Khalfani joined the Virginia NAACP in 1990 as director of branch and field activities, according to the Richmond Free Press, and was elevated to executive director eight years later. During his tenure, he helped shape the group’s advocacy efforts across the Commonwealth, guiding it through pivotal debates over voting rights, criminal justice and civil liberties.

A graduate of Virginia Union University, Khalfani began his career at the Richmond Peace Education Center. He was also among the early staff advocates for Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, underscoring a lifelong commitment to justice reform.

“Richmond lost a titan today,” JJ Minor, the president of the Richmond Branch of the NAACP said in an email to WWBT on Feb. 9.

“He was always active, a person who would speak up and people listened when he stood up. He was, and will always be a tree amongst many, but he was the whole tree. said J.J. Minor, president of the NAACP Richmond Branch. “He was the root, he was the trunk, and he was the crown. And he wore a crown because he was King Salim Khalfani. And there is no other.”

The civil rights activist and community leader never bit his tongue when it came to standing up and fighting for the community.

“When it was housing issues, he called it out,” Minor said. “Whether it was education issues, he called it out. He called out some of the politicians who he thought was doing harm to our communities.”

Minor first saw Khalfani speak when he was a teenager and was so inspired that he said to himself.

“When I grow up, I want to be just like him,” he said.

When he finally met him, he not only gained a mentor but a friend.

“He was more like an uncle to me,” Minor said. “He would always inspire me, help motivate me. He was sort of like the wind beneath my wings, always uplifting young people to do more.”

Whether it was a protest, a council meeting, or a community gathering, Khalfani was there on the front line.

“He was just the real deal, one of the most down-to-earth people that you could ever meet on this planet,” Minor said. “And God knows we’re really going to miss him.”

As the community mourns his loss, Richmond NAACP leaders say they are committed to making sure that Khalfani’s legacy will always be remembered and cherished. They hope to carry the torch he lit for many generations to come.

“His legacy will forever be imprinted in the sands of time,” Minor said. “A true soldier that was always on the front line.”

Khalfani was 66.