“A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus, but a molder of consensus…an individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all
humanity.”
— Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
What is the state of Black leadership in Detroit? Who are the Black drum majors of change for the almost one million African Americans living in Southeast Michigan? Is there still a need for Black leadership in this region? These are the questions inquiring minds want to know.
In the March edition of the Michigan Chronicle, the publication will unveil its list of the 50 most powerful Black leaders and difference makers in Southeast Michigan. However, some local Black leaders have already weighed in. “I think we are in a very vicarious position as it relates to Black leadership in Detroit,” said Bert Johnson, state senator, 2nd District, and Democrat candidate for U.S. Congress, 14th District. “What we are witnessing is the eratification of true and genuine Black leadership in Black communities. And what I mean by that is, only in the Black community is it not necessarily okay to truly represent Black interests, that somehow it flies in the face of being able to work together with others from a cooperative standpoint. When you get into other communities across the region, the people know how to represent their own interests. You’re not going to go into the Asian, Jewish and Arab communities and find those folks not advocating for their own interests.”
Rev. Wendell Anthony, president of the Detroit Branch NACCP, longtime civil rights leader and pastor of Fellowship Chapel, said, “As Black leadership relates to the city of Detroit, there has been a dent in the armor. However, there is still armor because there are still strong Black leaders all around this community. There will always be a need for positive, practical and visionary African- American leadership in Detroit because Black leadership is essential to enabling the underserved to hold on through the most tragic and challenging of circumstances.”
When speaking of Black leadership in Detroit, it’s difficult to pin-point, with certainty, who were the city’s first Black leaders. The city’s 313-year history has chronicled Blacks in this region for three centuries. Perhaps, however, it was Samuel C. Watson, who after a white politician resigned as a common councilmember in 1875, was appointed to the vacated position. He is believed to be the first Black person to hold a political office in Detroit. He would eventually be elected to the office. Then there was Obadiah C. Wood, who in 1880, was elected to the city’s Board of Estimates under the auspices of the Detroit Common Council where he served two terms.
Black history in Detroit also echoes the leadership of 13 former slaves (men and women) who in 1836 boldly formed the historic Second Baptist Church, the city’s first Black Church, and the oldest Black congregation in the Midwest. Several years later the church, through its strong Black leadership, established the city’s first school exclusively for Black children. Second Baptist would also serve as a station on the Underground Railroad and is purported to have sheltered more than 5,000 runaway slaves before they crossed the Detroit River into Canada to breathe the air of freedom.
From 1910 to 1946, Rev. Robert Bradby, pastor of Second Baptist, was perhaps Detroit’s most noted social and civil rights leader in the growing African-American community. Henry Ford trusted him to identify and direct Black workers to the emerging work force at Ford Motor Company.
After witnessing the racial hatred that was commonly displayed in Detroit in the early 1900s, Bradby, along with such Black leaders as Father Richard Bagnall, Benjamin Willoughby Lambert and William Osby, received a charter in 1912 to establish the Detroit Branch of the NAACP. Bradby served as the civil rights organization’s president in 1925.
Another strong organization that provided strong Black leadership in the city was the Detroit Urban League, which began in 1916 to advocate for issues impacting the Black community, such as jobs, education, housing and recreation. Forrester B. Washington was the organization’s first executive secretary and Henry G. Steven served as its first board president.
As Detroit’s auto industry continued to grow, the United Auto Workers (UAW) union was formed in 1933. In 1937, Paul Kirk would serve as the UAW’s first paid Black organizer. Other key Black pioneering leaders would follow, including Samuel Fanroy, Horace Sheffield, Jr., Walter Hardin, William Bowman, Leon Bates, Ato Johnson, Oscar Noble, William Lattimore, Oscar Oden, Leonard Newman, George Crockett, William Fowler, Wesley Thompson, John Conyers, Sr. and Coleman A. Young. Through the years, other African-American UAW powerbrokers would include Robert “Buddy” Battle, Nelson Edwards, Shelton Tappes, Marc Stepp and Jimmy Settles.
While Black leadership was increasing in the UAW, Black leadership of a different kind had already taken root in Detroit in the person of W. Fard Muhammad, founder of the Nation of Islam (NOI) in the early 1930s. He was followed by Detroiter Elijah Poole, who as Elijah Muhammad elevated the NOI to a powerful religious and Black preservation organization with a large national and international following. Reader’s Digest once called Elijah Muhammad “the most powerful Blackman in America.”
Likewise, in the early1970s, Rev. Albert Cleage, Jr. (later known as Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman), created the Shrine of the Black Madonna Pan African Orthodox Christian Church on the city’s west side, which offered a forward-thinking platform based on Black nationalism that focused on African-centered religion, culture and politics. The inception of the church, which eventually added congregations in Atlanta and Houston, came on the heels of the Black power and Black pride national movement that was born in the mid-to-late 1960s.
In January, 1974, Coleman A. Young, a former union activist and state senator, made history as he was sworn in as Detroit’s first African-American mayor. “Coleman Young was a great mayor and a real example that it was alright to be a real Black man and be in Black leadership at the same time,” said Bert Johnson. “While there have been some people that have wanted to bastardize Coleman Young’s legacy, he stands today as one of the greatest mayors in American history.”
As with the early Black church in Detroit, today’s Black church still produces strong leaders in the quest to strengthen inner-city communities. Perhaps the city’s greatest pastor and civil rights leader was Rev. C.L. Franklin, who served as pastor of Detroit’s New Bethel Baptist Church for 38 years, beginning in 1946. Pastor E.L. Branch, senior pastor of Third New Hope in Detroit and Farmington, is organizing and hosting the C.L Franklin Preaching Conference in late April at the Westin Southfield. The event will honor the life and leadership of Franklin. “This prolific man of God was a truly gifted preacher,” said Branch, a leader in his own right. “However, he was not just a preacher. Rev. Franklin was a civil rights leader, humanitarian and an advocate for others.”
In addition to Franklin, there has been a litany of other Black clergy that has stepped from the pulpit into the Black community to help empower the underserved. Such clergy members include Rev. Anthony, E.L. Branch, Charles Adams, Tellis Chapman, Marvin Winans, Jim Holley, Horace Sheffield III, Lawrence Glass and many more. Additionally, there is a younger tier of Black religious leaders making a positive impact in the city and region, among them David Alexander Bullock, Solomon Kinloch, Jr. and Charles Williams II.
Many feel that young Black leadership on any level is important to the present and future empowerment of the Black community. “The real challenge for us is raising up another generation of young people who understand issues facing the Black community,” said Anthony. “We cannot have new Black leadership that is devoid of the strength and the power and the contribution of the old leadership. At the same time, we cannot have old Black leadership that does not connect and embrace opportunities for new leadership. It has to be a symbiotic relationship. We must feed off of each other.”
Ken Harris, president and CEO of the Michigan Black Chamber of Commerce, said, “There is a need for progressive, educated and experienced leadership under the age of 45 in the city of Detroit. We are falling behind other great urban environments because of the entitlement mindset and people staying too long, doing the same thing the same way with practically no innovation or creative visioning. Jobs, economic growth and entrepreneurial development are the cures to Detroit’s socioeconomic ills. Our entire focus as thought leaders should be to stabilize Detroit’s economy and create jobs, while reducing crime and racial tensions.”
Greg Jackson, president and CEO of Prestige Automotive and Jackson Land Holdings agrees with Harris. “We need young Black leadership in the business sector more now than ever before,” said Jackson. “We have to make a way for those under 45 years old to become involved in economic Black leadership. Certainly, we need those Black business leaders who have been around and know our history in this region. But at the same time, we need Black leadership in the business community that is reflective of the goals and wishes of younger generations, such as the Millennials.”
It would be impossible to name the hundreds of Black leaders in Detroit’s history that have worked tirelessly to improve the quality of life for Detroiters in such areas as civil rights, religion, education, labor, community, politics, business, and civic affairs. Yet Rev. Anthony has no problem with names. “When I think of the struggles of Richard Austin, Coleman Young, Erma Henderson, Clyde Cleveland, Robert Millender, Ken Cockrel, Sr., George Crockett, James Wadsworth, Buddy Battle, all of whom have contributed so much to this town…it is mind blowing to see where we are now as a city,” said Anthony.
The city of Detroit continues to evolve. The executive and legislative branches of city government have been usurped by the governor-appointed emergency manager. The city, however, ushered in Mike Duggan recently to serve as the city’s mayor. He is Detroit’s first White mayor in 40 years. He promptly appointed several African Americans to key positions on his executive staff. Congressman John J. Conyers, Jr., continues to be the strong advocate for Detroiters in Washington, D.C..
For the first time in decades, there seems to be an aura of hope for Detroit. Yet, for any comeback of true measurement, Black people must be a major part of the new Detroit story, especially with economic dollars expected to be in the billions. “We must challenge the city of Detroit to be receptive of economic opportunities for Detroit-based Black businesses,” said Harris. “Unlike most cities in America, African Americans are the majority in Detroit with 82 percent of the population. However, it’s not reflected in the support of Black businesses.”
“We as leaders cannot be silent,” Rev. Anthony said. “Now is the time for all good folks, Black, White, young and old, to lead by serving and to serve by leading. Be ready when you get the leadership call.”
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