Alabama state Senator Charles Steele, Jr. to helm Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Jet, Jan 17, 2005

Former state Senator Charles Steele, Jr., the new national president and CEO of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) promises to bring the organization back to "prevalence and relevance" by establishing "a new world order" for the venerable civil rights organization.

Steele, of Tuscaloosa, AL, who was elected to the state Senate three times before resigning to become president of the SCLC, told JET that organization will once again be a vital civil rights institution on the international level.

"We're setting up conflict resolution centers around the world ... but the first one will be in Dayton, OH, and simultaneously in the state of Israel [through] the African-American Hebrew Israelites [community] in Demona," said Steele of how the SCLC will hold true to their promise of international conflict resolution centers.

"Basically what we're doing is developing a curriculum dealing with the philosophy and principles of Dr. Martin Luther King. Various communities in other countries throughout the world [are] asking us as SCLC, civil rights workers and leaders, to implement these programs."

Steele graduated from public school in Tuscaloosa and attended Mississippi Valley State University and Oakland University. He received his bachelor's degree from American International University at the Paramaribo Suriname, South America Campus.

He and his wife, Cathelean Annette Steele, have two daughters, LeKeisha and Charla.