When I got to college in 1964, I got involved with Floyd McKissick and CORE in Durham, NC. I participated in the marches and sit-ins to integrate downtown public accommodations. I also worked as a student intern with the United Organizations for Community Improvement (UOCI) in Durham, NC. I was drafted in 1966 and became the first black person from my county to "not step forward" at the induction center in Charlotte, NC. The next two years were spent in numerous appearances before my local draft board and working with the American Friends Service Committee Anti-Draft efforts in NC.
From 1966 to 1968, I worked for the Youth Educational Services (YES), a state-wide, student run tutorial program with over 5,000 volunteers throughout North Carolina.
In 1968 and 1969, I worked with Howard Fuller at the Foundation for Community Development to establish Malcolm X Liberation University (MXLU) (Durham and Greensboro, North Carolina). Most of the initial building renovations, furnishings, materials, supplies and teaching staff were donated or in-kind. Back then we referred to this as "liberating resources for the people".
From 1969 to 1972, I worked with Nelson Johnson, to establish the Student Organization for Black Unity (SOBU) to create a post-"civil rights era" black student organization. My next major "civil rights" experience was with the National Black Child Development Institute and the North Carolina Federation of Child Development Centers from 1972 to 1977. In this job, I worked with inner-city and rural communities to fight for state and federal resources to develop childcare centers.
After completing graduate school in 1979, I spent the next ten years working in Alabama, North Carolina and Florida working for rural community health centers, farmworker advocacy organizations, and church-based social and racial justice projects. Currently working with the New Georgia Project and NGP Action Fund during civic engagement work.
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