Welcome to SCLC & BOSS. We have been providing community services and programs benefiting Tennesseeans for over 20 years.
Both of our organizations are rooted in the ideals of SCLC founder Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King dedicated his life to dismantling institutionalized racism. SCLC has always been a leading force in helping to eradicate racism for all mankind. BOSS has always been committed to improving the economic standing of small businesses in the city of Memphis.
The 2008 national theme defining the efforts of SCLC is "Building New Avenues Toward Health, Education, and Justice". SCLC is on a quick path towards preparing the next generation to be great leaders within their communities. We have a renewed spirit and a renewed agenda.
SCLC & BOSS have a combined focus on improving economic development for people of color, equal access to educational opportunities, the plight of senior citizens, and many health issues confronting this generation.
We are here to serve our community.
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| Dwight Ray Montgomery |
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Dwight Ray Montgomery is Chief Executive Officer and President of the Memphis Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He is also pastor of Cherokee Missionary Baptist Church located in Memphis.
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The very beginnings of the SCLC can be traced back to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The Montgomery Bus Boycott began on December 5, 1955 after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on the bus. The boycott lasted for 381 days and ended on December 21, 1956, with the desegregation of the Montgomery bus system. The boycott was carried out by the newly established Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA). Martin Luther King, Jr. served as President and Ralph David Abernathy served as Program Director. It was one of history’s most dramatic and massive nonviolent protests, stunning the nation and the world.
The boycott was also a signal to Black America to begin a new phase of the long struggle, a phase that came to be known as the modern civil rights movement. As bus boycotts spread across the South, leaders of the MIA and other protest groups met in Atlanta on January 10 – 11, 1957, to form a regional organization and coordinate protest activities across the South.
Despite a bombing of the home and church of Ralph David Abernathy during the Atlanta meeting, 60 persons from 10 states assembled and announced the founding of the Southern Leadership Conference on Transportation and Nonviolent Integration. They issued a document declaring that civil rights are essential to democracy, that segregation must end, and that all Black people should reject segregation absolutely and nonviolently.
Further organizing was done at a meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana on February 14, 1957. The organization shortened its name to Southern Leadership Conference, established an Executive Board of Directors, and elected officers, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as President, Dr. Ralph David Abernathy as Financial Secretary-Treasurer, Rev. C. K. Steele of Tallahassee, Florida as Vice President, Rev. T. J. Jemison of Baton Rouge, Louisiana as Secretary, and Attorney I. M. Augustine of New Orleans, Louisiana as General Counsel.
At its first convention in Montgomery in August 1957, the Southern Leadership Conference adopted the current name, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Basic decisions made by the founders at these early meeting included the adoption of nonviolent mass action as the cornerstone of strategy, the affiliation of local community organizations with SCLC across the South, and a determination to make the SCLC movement open to all, regardless of race, religion, or background.
SCLC is a now a nation wide organization made up of chapters and affiliates with programs that affect the lives of all Americans: north, south, east and west. Its sphere of influence and interests has become international in scope because the human rights movement transcends national boundaries.
Presidents
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: 1957 to 1968
Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy: 1968 to 1977
Rev. Joseph E. Lowery: 1977 to 1997
Mr. Martin L. King, III: 1997 to 2004
Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth: February 2004 to November 2004
Mr. Charles Steele, Jr.: November 2004 to Present
Rev. Dwight Mongtomery, Memphis Chapter
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| Johnnie J. Williams |
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Johnnie Williams is the Executive Director of Business-Oriented Self Support. He is also the Chief Operating Officer for American Drum Pallet Company located in Memphis.
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Our History
BOSS was founded in 1994 and has now come under the umbrella of SCLC. BOSS one and only agenda has been to serve as an outlet for economic development to promote future entrepreneurship and to get assist more employment for young adults. BOSS serves as a network for job training and is agressive about promoting better education throughout the Memphis City School System.
In the 1950's and 60's, African Americans owned 28% of the businesses in Memphis; in contrast to here in 1008 where they own less than 1%.
BOSS realizes that if the economic and educational status of African Americans is to change that it must be done collectively. The combining of our gifts, talents, skill, and teaching to bring about a visible impact of betterment in our communities.
Officers:
Johnny Williams, Executive Director
Dr. Reginald F. Davis, President
Rev. Ezekiel Bell, Vice President
Dr. Calverta McMorris, Executive Secretary
Joe Crittenden, Treasurer
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