Southern Christian Leadership Conference

==1968–1997==
In August 1967, the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) instructed its program "[[COINTELPRO]]" to "neutralize" what the FBI called "black nationalist hate groups" and other dissident groups.<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/hueypnewton/actions/actions_cointelpro.html "COINTELPRO" A Huey P. Newton Story], Public Broadcasting System website.</ref> The initial targets included Martin Luther King Jr. and others associated with the SCLC.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=COINTELPRO |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/COINTELPRO |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|date=October 19, 2023 }}</ref>

After the [[assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.]] in 1968, leadership was transferred to [[Ralph Abernathy]], who presided until 1977. Abernathy was replaced by [[Joseph Lowery]] who was SCLC president until 1997. In 1997, MLK's son, [[Martin Luther King III]], became the president of SCLC. In 2004, for less than a year, it was [[Fred Shuttlesworth]]. After him, the president was [[Charles Steele Jr.]], and in 2009, Howard W. Creecy Jr. Next were Isaac Newton Farris Jr. and [[C. T. Vivian]], who took office in 2012.{{Contradict-inline|section=Leadership|reason=The other section does not have Farris nor Vivian, and shows Steele twice.|date=September 2020}}