Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, answers questions at a news conference in Birmingham, Ala., Sept. 25, 1962. Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an integration group. opened a 4-day national convention in Birmingham Tuesday. (AP Photo)
On Jan. 10, 1957, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) was founded in Atlanta, Georgia. Emerging from the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which began in 1955, this pivotal organization was created by Southern civil rights leaders to coordinate efforts to end racial segregation and inequality in the South.
The SCLC adopted the philosophy of nonviolent resistance, inspired by the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and deeply rooted in the Black church. Martin Luther King Jr., already a national figure following his leadership in Montgomery, was elected its first president.
Dr. Joseph Lowery, President Southern Christian Leadership Conference, details plans for this Saturday?s march marking the 25th anniversary of the 1963 civil rights march in Washington, August 25, 1988. (AP Photo/Barry Thumma)Marchers lead the way to the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., during the 47th recreation of “Bloody Sunday” civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery on Sunday, March 4, 2012. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)Civil rights leader Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., president of the Southern Christian Baptist Leadership Conference (SCLC), displays the poster to be used during his Poor People’s Campaign this spring and summer, March 4, 1968. King said today in Atlanta that the campaign would begin April 22. (AP Photo/Horace Cort)Ralph David Abernathy, President of the SCLC outside the SCLC building in Atlanta, Georgia in February 1970. (AP Photo)
Under King’s leadership, the SCLC spearheaded major civil rights campaigns, including the Birmingham Campaign and the March on Washington, becoming a cornerstone in the fight for justice and equality during the Civil Rights Movement.
Clay Cane is an award-winning journalist, writer, radio host, and political commentator. A graduate of Rutgers University with a degree in African-American Studies, his work on race, culture, and politics have appeared in national publications, including the Washington Post, CNN, and The Grio. Clay is a regular political commentator on MSNBC.
