I recently had lunch with a city councilman from a large mid-western city and we were discussing what might be a good vehicle to use to promote economic diversity in his city as well work as a recruiting tool for new political leadership. His interest reminded me of a small network of community activists we had in Indianapolis back in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. We had a small but very "tough" group known, for lack of any other name, the Concerned Clergy. It was a misnomer in that the ministers in the group were a small base but the energy came mostly from the others who represented from a Black perspective all the sectors of the city: political, education, medical, construction, professional services, government employees, etc.
The Concerned Clergy would meet every Saturday morning between 9:00 a.m. until noon. Sometimes we would go longer than that but we never lack material that would cause us to end early. Rev. C.. Jeter was the president and we would meet at his church, Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church. I, being president of the Hoosier Minority Chamber of Commerce, was chair of the Economic Committee and would give my weekly report on the local issues. State Representative Bill Crawford led the political contingent that was comprised of state representatives, senators, local council members, township trustees. There were also School Board members, policemen, business owners, attorneys, realtors, etc. If something bad was happening around town the victims would come to speak before the Concerned Clergy and ask for help. We never let them down. Whether it was a kid locked up for the wrong reasons; someone losing their home over some jive; a recent college graduate having trouble finding work or a worthy business enterprise having trouble getting a permit we would respond to their request and usually before the next weekly meeting the issue was put to rest. There were many small issues but every now and then we had major issues. Regardless of the size we won them all for we knew what was right and had the faith to fight the power and change its ways. In essence, we were the real power and the city of Indianapolis was becoming better for that.
Through the Concerned Clergy every mayor, congressperson and even the governor paid attention to the concerns of 230,000 Black residents of Indianapolis. Mayors Bill Hudnut and Stephen Goldsmith understood this clearly. Governor Evan Bayh (now US Senator) on the other side had difficulty respecting this body. After great pain he finally understood that sometimes you have to respect a group that truly represented a very large number of the constituency. I remember a meeting with him where he started screaming at us. Afterwards, the ministers would say "What is wrong with that boy? He is not like his daddy (former Senator Birch Bayh)". Eventually, Governor Bayh would have to go along with our concerns or demands. If he didn’t his legislative agenda would be in jeopardy through the state representatives and senators that we had relationships with.
I remember Congressman Andy Jacobs assuring us that after his expected retirement our Center Township Trustee Julia Carson would replace him. He guaranteed it and Andy Jacobs never lied. The late Congresswoman Julia Carson was a very charismatic local leader who was always there for us in a confrontation. She would always have me laughing whenever she referred to Representative Bill Crawford as the "Executive Director of the Preachers" – speaking of his involvement with the Concerned Clergy. When Julia Carson spoke the power structure, Black or white or whatever, certainly listened. She was our major "trump card".
We integrated the procurement of Indianapolis Public School District which was massive. We had three Black architectural firms and three Black construction management firms selected for fourteen major school renovations. The good old boys threatened to go to court but backed down when they actually had no standing. There was a serious round of presentations and our guys beat them via professional selling and presentation. When the playing field is level good things happen.
We had criteria for the local banks to follow. Those that followed were certified to do business with our constituents. We had a major meeting at the local basketball arena and 27 churches had their members do business exclusively with the certified banks only. It was awesome as thousands of people publicly changed their accounts to the committed banks. Also, those Black churches started using Black contractors to build and renovate their properties. This was revolutionary.
In all, the Concerned Clergy brought billions of dollars to the Black community, incubated leaders and increased the quality of life for Indianapolis. I miss it but Kay and I had our destiny waiting for us in Washington, DC. Every city should have a group like this.
