New Voices of Urban America

Carl Upchurch was the executive director of the Council of Urban Peace and Justice in Granville, Ohio when this interview appeared. He served as national coordinator of the Gang Summit. Jim Wallis spoke with him after the event.

- The Editors

Jim Wallis : You were the one to head out on the road and begin to talk to people in different cities about the idea of a national Gang Summit. Paint the picture of how it happened. How did you become involved at the beginning?

Carl Upchurch : I was very interested in finding and embracing the leadership of the truce movements springing up around the country. I went to Los Angeles for 30 days right after the uprising to examine what was going on and to look for who actually spoke for urban America.

There was absolutely no peace and justice presence there. Those folks who had operated there for years and who had some very credible track records with regards to peace and justice nationally and internationally were not present in South Central. That was the most painful observation.

Also, the traditional civil rights organizations and the communities of faith in South Central did not have sufficient credibility to speak on behalf of those in the streets--the people demonstrating frustration over the Rodney King decision and other local inequities and injustices.

I came back from LA and wrote a report called "Voices" that attempted to document from a grassroots perspective what was actually going on there. I realized that these voices weren't being heard. I wondered, How can we connect these truce movements that I had heard were going on around the country?

I contacted Spike Moss in Minneapolis, who had organized gangs there to form an organization called United for Peace, and that set the ball in motion. I went there to meet representatives of these youth organizations and ask for their blessing to pursue this. I came away from that meeting very heartened that they were interested.

After Minneapolis, it occurred to me that if these voices could all be brought together around the critical issues of urban America that would give more power to the voices and more urgency to the situation. I started doing the leg work to find out who's who and what's what. That took me to Boston, Santa Cruz, Chicago, Philadelphia, and to a lot of cities where nothing was happening.

I found people like Rodney Dailey up in Dorchester who was doing a remarkable job with the organization Gang Peace. I went back to Minneapolis to meet Sharif Willis, who was very instrumental because he is a high-ranking member of the Conservative Vice Lords. Afterward, I went back to LA and asked Fred Williams of the Common Ground Foundation--who was instrumental in sustaining the truce in Watts--to participate in this national summit. And I flew out to Santa Cruz looking for a Latino connection and met with Barrios Unidos represented by Nane Alejandrez.

Wallis: So you found truce movements occurring already all over the country. Why is it happening now?

Upchurch: This is miraculous to me. They were coming up all over the place. I watched Fred Williams and Spike Moss move around their communities with an urgency that suggested they were all aware of a simple fact: They have to unite and commit themselves to eliminating violence from their communities if they are to survive. So when I posed the possibility that they come together in a national summit, they jumped at the opportunity. The atmosphere was ripe for the suggestion.

Wallis: How did it feel to you as you finally saw this coming together?

Upchurch: It was unbelievable to me that this was actually happening. Here we were, urban America, and the people who serve urban America, coming together for the purpose of bringing peace and economic justice to our communities. Whether a person is wearing a baseball cap or a kufi, a dashiki or a three-piece suit, we are all on the same page with regard to saving urban America from disintegration.

Wallis: In this process, as you were connecting with these young men and women, you were also establishing supportive relationships with church folks and peace and justice folks. Tell us about that.

Upchurch: I understood that this process could not work in the long run unless those of us who have worked in the peace and justice field for a long time were involved. Early on, I spoke with you, Jim, who represents the peace and justice community; and Benjamin Chavis, who had a leg in both the traditional civil rights organizations and the peace and justice community.

I called St. Stephen's Baptist Church in Kansas City and spoke with Mac Charles Jones, who immediately took to the idea of a summit. This was key because Mac Charles Jones is well known throughout the country in communities of faith, as well as the peace and justice communities.

It was clear to me now that I was beginning to form a nucleus to help with the youth organizations. After that, I was introduced to Yvonne Delk, of the Community Renewal Society in Chicago; Jean Sindab, from the National Council of Churches; Felton E. May, a bishop in the United Methodist Church; Diane Porter, from the Episcopal Church; Thelma Mitchell of the American Baptist Church; and a number of other folks who had wonderful reputations in the peace and justice communities and the communities of faith.

Yet without the leadership and initiative of people in the streets, like Wallace "Gator" Bradley, Minister Fontaine, Prince Asiel Ben Israel, Fred Williams and Big Al in Los Angeles, Rodney Dailey in Boston, and Nane Alejandrez, Sharif Willis, Spike Moss, and the others we worked with at the summit, there is no peace and no truce movement. These people represent leadership and the voices of urban America. They have demonstrated that time and time again. Without them there is no movement at all.

Whatever they bring to the table must be supported by those progressive and committed forces in the communities of faith, and the peace and justice community. We must support the leadership who can heal and bring justice to urban America. Otherwise, failure is obvious.

We must also give rightful due to the traditional leadership who came out of Birmingham and Memphis and Selma, those who made voting rights and civil rights legislation a critical part of our history. Those people must throw their history, their legacy, their brilliance, and their experience to these new leaders who are prepared to take us home.