ROY INNIS

interviewed in
June 1996

Roy Innis is the National Chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE); he was born in the U.S. Virgin Islands and grew up in New York City where he attended Stuyvesant High School. At age 16 he joined the U.S. Army and at age 18 received an honorable discharge. In 1963 he joined CORE's Harlem chapter. He led CORE's fight for an independent Police Review Board to address cases of police brutality. He has toured seven African countries and met with several heads of state; he established the CORE Community School in the South Bronx; his investigation of the Atlanta Child Murders uncovered evidence that Wayne Williams was not solely responsible for those crimes. Some of his current activities include: investigating and exposing the Tawana Brawley hoax; overseeing and participating in a citizen's anti-drug campaign; championing the rights of immigrants; and fighting against public indecency and predatory crime in New York. He is currently pioneering a multifaceted on-the-job training program for welfare mothers in New York.

 

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