Black Coalition.

The Black Coalition was formed in response to the growing concern among certain members of the Greater Philadelphia Movement that efforts to establish a meaningful dialogue between whites and blacks in Philadelphia were failing. The reason for this was attributed to the lack of communication with the so-called “gang element” in the city. Convinced of the necessity to deal with this element, a meeting was planned for Good Friday, April 12, 1968, one week after the assassination of Martin Luther King. A broad cross section of both the white and black communities were invited to this meeting, including a number of gang leaders. It was at this meeting that the Black coalition was formed, as a vehicle to maintain an ongoing dialogue between the white business community and the gang element, as well as other segments of the black community within the city.

Funds up to $1,000,000 were to be raised by the business community. Projects would be initiated by the coalition and funded through the Good Friday Group of white businessmen. There was no attempt to dictate funds and responsibility was placed squarely in the hands of the blacks. Initially, a main goal of the Black Coalition was finding employment for African-Americans, but secondary goals included improving housing, education, and health services conditions. The founders intended for the members of the Black Coalition to find worthy community projects which would then be funded by the Good Friday Group, an arm of the Greater Philadelphia Movement.

The Black Coalition was comprised of prominent black Philadelphians from all walks of life: from militant gang members to religious leaders and judges. Some of the more well-known Black Coalition leaders included Reverend Jeremiah X, the Muslim leader responsible for Muhammad Ali’s conversion to Islam; Orrin Evans, a prominent black newspaperman who was the first African-American to be hired at a white Philadelphia newspaper; Reverend Thomas Logan, a leader in the Episcopal Church; A. Leon Higginbotham, who would become the first black trustee of Yale University, a U.S. District Court Judge, and the first black member of the Federal Trade Commission, making him the first African-American to serve on a federal regulatory committee; Robert N.C. Nix, Jr., who would become the first African-American to serve as a justice on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court; among others.

The Good Friday Group, an organization of high-profile white businessmen tasked with administering the Black Coalitions $1,000,000 endowment, included Richard C. Bond, chairman of the board for Wanamaker’s department stores; R. Stewart Rauch, Jr., President of the Philadelphia Saving Fund Society; and William H. Wilcox, executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Movement and an activist.

At the outset, the Black Coalition was representative of a rather broad cross-section of the black community. With the passage of time, however, dissension began within the Coalition and a power struggle began between the more moderate members of the Coalition and the militants. An incident in late 1968, involving gunplay outside the Black Coalition-funded Circle of African-American Unity, also known as the Muntu School of Culture, led to further rifts between the militant and non-militant members that affected a reorganization of the Coalition in November of the same year. However, these efforts proved fruitless as the Coalition never regained its erstwhile momentum. Allegations of misappropriation of funds arose and many of the more prominent members of the Black Coalition resigned in light of what they considered poor leadership. In addition, relations between the Black Coalition and the Good Friday Group were not always cordial. The Good Friday Group questioned the actions of Black Coalition president Stanley E. Branch, an outspoken, eccentric activist for black rights.

Despite many successful initiatives, such as the Simon Gratz High School Center for Personal Adjustment, a pre-apprenticeship training program, a garment industry training and employment program, and the Young Great Society Medical Center, operations faltered in early 1969 and in a joint decision, the Good Friday Group and the Black Coalition agreed to dissolve the latter. In April of 1969, the Black Coalition disbanded with $12,000 in overdue bills and $91,000 pledged to programs but not yet disbursed. The Good Friday Group agreed to assume this debt and complete any of the Black Coalition’s unfinished business. In late spring of 1969, the Good Friday Group then merged with the Urban Coalition, a group similarly aimed at fostering relations between the races and improving the city’s living conditions.