The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is an Americancivil rightsorganization that played a prominent role in the Civil Rights Movementof the 1950s and 1960s. SCLC was closely associated with its first president, Martin Luther King, Jr.
March 16th, Dr. Charles Steele, the National President of the SCLC was in Albuquerque in response to an invitation extended by Dr. Charles Becknell, to participate with the chapter that they are organizing here for the state SCLC. Dr. Steele said that their hopes are to have as many as four local chapters throughout the state. “Several years ago there was a local chapter here and hopes are for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to become more active in this region, and Dr. Becknell is leading us in that direction,” said Dr. Steele.
Dr. Steele had an earlier experience in New Mexico, as his aunt, Mrs. EJ Archibald, his mother's twin sister, was a teacher at Little Mountain boarding school on a Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona, which is about 100 miles outside of Gallup, New Mexico in 1958 and 1959. “We would often travel to Gallup and from there to Albuquerque”, says Dr. Steele. They would ride the train from Tuscaloosa Alabama to Arizona. They would have to ride in the back coach, which was reserved for blacks. According to Dr. Steele, the air-conditioning in their coach would often go out, making a long trip even that much longer.
The origins of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference lie in the Montgomery Bus Boycottthat began after Rosa Parkswas arrested for refusing to give her seat on a bus to a white man. The bus boycott, which lasted from December 5, 1955, to December 20, 1956, brought together two Montgomeryministers: Ralph David Abernathyand Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as other Montgomery civil rights activists, and supporters from across the SouthOriginally, SCLC was composed of affiliated churches and some community organizations such as the Montgomery Improvement Associationand Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights, rather than individual members. In recent years SCLC has begun recruiting individual and corporate memberships. In the 1950s, SCLC's organizational role was initially seen as a central clearinghouse for information and marshalling support of local civil rights struggles by SCLC affiliates. By the early 1960s, SCLC began to offer direct organizational support to affiliates and conduct major campaigns in cooperation with affiliates.
Dr. Charles Kenzie Steele, Jr. is an Americanbusinessman, politician and civil rights leader and was the first African American elected to the City Council of Tuscaloosa and one of the first African Americans elected to the Alabama State Senate. In 2004, he took on the role of National President and CEO of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, that was co-founded by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dr. Steele served as a City Councilman in the City of Tuscaloosa for eight years and served 10 years in the Alabama State Senate, the political position he would leave to take over leadership of the SCLC.
“I was led by the Spirit of God to make the move from the political seat that I had, to take over the leadership role for the SCLC. People would ask me why would I leave such a prestigious position, but they didn't know that I know God, and when you have a relationship with God, he will lead you to where you should be”, said Dr. Steele.
Dr. Steele said that the word was out that the SCLC was along the same tracks as other civil rights organizations and was not going to make it and was not to be in business much longer. “The SCLC was said to be on the verge of collapse, and it would take God to resurrect the dead. Well I know God personally, and God didn't let us die, but we were on life support. When we checked to see if a funeral would be necessary, we discovered it had a pulse. SCLC at this particular time is needed more than ever. I am the first to admit and to tell you the reasons that we were able to survive is because we changed the format and the focus of the SCLC. We know that we have the history we have what is called the moral authority. The SCLC changed the whole world and without firing a shot. We brought about the 1964 civil rights bill and the 1965 voter's right bill and other significant changes. But we got stuck not knowing where we were going to go as far as the elevation of the organization for the future. That is what brought about the frustration for board members and staff members”, shared Dr. Steele.
Dr. Steele said the SCLC was given the vision to go and teach the principles, philosophy and the mindset of Dr. Luther King, Jr. to the world. SCLC is going forward with what is called Conflict Reconciliation on a worldwide scale. Dr. Steels says that corporate America has bought into the concept, and has partnered with the SCLC to accomplish these goals.
When asked what the condition of the SCLC is today, Dr. Steele shared the information contained in a recent news article of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a newspaper in Atlanta, which headlines read “The SCLC has built a building that is debt-free and is healthy financially”.
Dr. Steele has been with SCLC as a national board member for 25 years and has been President and CEO for the past three going on four years. When asked how much longer he will serve, Dr. Steele responded, “In taking over the presidency of SCLC, I gave up my political position and my business to make my contribution to SCLC. I came in thinking that I would be here for five years but I also know that God is in charge and whatever he has in store for me, that is the length of time that I would be charged to serve.”
The sermon provided that day by Rev. Dr. Charles Becknell was most appropriate for Dr. Steele's work and vision for the SCLC. The sermon's message was, “Your Condition is not your Conclusion”. The parallel message is in thinking about the unstable condition of the SCLC when Dr. Steele first took over.