President- C.T. Vivian
The only child of Robert Cordie and Euzetta Tindell Vivian, young Cordy Tindell ("C.T.") moved to Macomb, Illinois with his mother and grandmother in 1930. The women chose Macomb because it had non-segregated schools and a local college. After graduating from Macomb High School in 1942 where he had been an active student leader, Vivian began a stint at Western Illinois University. He decided to leave college and moved to Peoria to work at the Carver Community Center as assistant boy's director. There he met his wife, Octavia, who also worked at the center.
In 1947, Vivian participated in his first non-violent action to end segregation at lunch counters in Peoria. But because of his strong religious upbringing and beliefs, he says he was called to a life in the ministry. However, he saw no separation between civil rights, faith and ministry because "racism is a moral issue." With the help of his church, he enrolled in American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville in 1955. Also in 1955, he and other ministers founded the Nashville Christian Leadership Conference, an affiliate of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The group organized and trained students to embark on a movement to end segregation in Nashville. The Nashville affiliate organized the city's first sit-ins in 1960 and led the first march of the Civil Rights Movement. In 1961, he joined Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) members and other ministers to continue the Freedom Rides into Jackson, Miss. after a group from the Congress of Racial Equality disbanded. The SNCC group was arrested and Vivian was badly beaten at Parchman Prison. In 1963, Martin Luther King asked Vivian to work on the Executive Staff of the SCLC as the national director of affiliates. As an SCLC strategist, he worked to help get the Civil Rights Bill and Voting Rights Acts passed. In 1965, he famously confronted Sheriff Jim Clark on the steps of Selma's courthouse while leading blacks to register to vote. After leaving SCLC in 1966, he moved to Chicago to direct the Urban Training Center for Christian Missions where he trained clergy, community leaders and others to organize. Later, as a coordinator for the Coalition for United Community Action, he led a direct-action campaign against racism in trade unions and helped mediate a truce among Chicago gangs. In 1972, he became the director of Seminary Without Walls at Shaw University Divinity School in Raleigh, N.C. Among his many leadership roles, he serves on the board of the Center for Democratic Renewal, the National Voting Rights Museum and as a founder of Capital City Bank, a black-owned bank in Atlanta. He has provided civil rights counsel to Presidents Johnson, Carter, Reagan and Clinton and continues to lecture on racial justice and democracy. He resides in Atlanta. |
CEO- Charles Steele, Jr.
Charles Steele, Jr. was born on August 3, 1946, in Tuscaloosa , Alabama. He is CEO of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Mr. Steele is a civil rights leaders first, using his constituency as a pulse to direct action and chapter development of public policies. His vision of a "national playing field" keeps him in touch with current issues and political fairness. In 1985 Mr. Steele was elected to the Tuscaloosa City Council where he served two terms. His dedication to serving his constituents is evident through his many worthwhile and tangible accomplishments in Tuscaloosa County and West Alabama. During his tenure as City Councilman, he organized the Unity Day Scholarship Fund, The Tuscaloosa Police Athletic League, and secured funds to build the Bernice Washington Insight Center, a drug treatment center. He organized the Tuscaloosa Drug Task Force and after many years of relenting efforts, the Partners for a Drug free Tuscaloosa County (formerly Tuscaloosa Drug Task Force). During that time the partnership was awarded one million dollars. In 1994, Charles Steele, Jr. was elected to the Alabama State Senate. The Senator played key roles in recruiting not one, but several new plants in his district. He was instrumental in locating Tire and Wheel Assembly (T&WA) in Greene County, H&H (truck beds) in Perry County and Greenco Dimensions, Inc. (drum sticks) in Greene County. He also sponsored a non-traditional educational program with Robert Townsend of Hollywood, California for the youth of his district. Additionally, he recruited the Rosa Parks movie to Alabama, where he served as a consultant to the production of the $7 million CBS movie project. He was serving his third terms as Senator before resigning to become the National Vice President of the SCLC, the Atlanta based organization founded by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In October 2000, Charles Steele was elected as a Senate Member of the High Chamber (U. S. Parliamentary Group) of the International States Parliament for Safety and Peace. The International Parliament nominated Mr. Steele to the Ministry of American Affairs on the 15th of March 2001. Charles Steele graduated from Druid High in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and attended college at Mississippi Valley State University and Oakland University. He received his bachelor's degree from American International University at the Paramaribo Suriname, South America Campus. He holds an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degree from the prestigious Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, an Honorary Doctorate of Christian Education from the F. T. Bozeman School of Ministry and Global Evangelical Christian College of Louisiana, and an Honorary Doctorate from American International University at the Paramaribo Suriname, South America Campus. He and his wife, Cathelean Annette Steele are the proud parents of two daughters, LeKeisha and Charla. Mr. Steele is co-owner of Vanhoose and Steele Funeral Home. He is a Democrat, a Baptist and President of The Steele Group, a consultant firm. |
National Staff
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Chief Operating Officer (COO)/ Executive Director
Damien A. Conners Chief Finance Officer (CFO) DeMark Liggins National Director of Communications Maynard Eaton |
Special Programs Director
Cathelean Steele Executive Assistant LaKiesha Raye Support Staff Field Staff |
