History
As told by Isaiah Robinson, Founding Member

The Supreme Court decision of Brown v Board of Education (1954) ordered the desegregation of public schools “ with all deliberate speed ”. Then other events in quick succession such as Rosa Parks’ refusal to move to the back of the bus in Montgomery, Alabama, Daisy Bates’ involvement in the struggle to integrate Central High School with nine black children in Little Rock, Arkansas, Governor George Wallace’s stand against desegregation at the University of Alabama, and James Meredith’s struggle to become the first black African-American to enroll in the University of Mississippi became black America’s national wake-up call. These courageous acts of defiance ignited a ground swell of black pride, support and pro-active purpose led by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that were manifest by further acts of civil disobedience, boycotts, sit-ins and demonstration marches. These non-violent protests were nationally televised and projected Martin as the King of the Civil Rights movement. New regional organizations emerged: the Deacons for Defense, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee,
the Black Panther Party and others. King and his Southern Christian Leadership Conference was imitated everywhere, including Harlem, but the magnitude his charisma and organization were never duplicated. All of this mobilization throughout the nation culminated in the 1963 March on Washington where black America bought into Dr. King’s dream.

New York Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., with the support of the Kenndey Administration, spearheaded the production of a massive amount of legislation intended to fulfill Dr. King’s dream. The centerpiece of this legislation was the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and National Voting Rights Act of 1965. Everything stopped abruptly after President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Nevertheless, President Lyndon B. Johnson’s first act of office was to initiate a conference at Howard University entitled, “To Fulfill These Rights”. The Johnson Administration shifted the national focus and funds to a “War On Poverty” in the indigent minority neighborhoods. Every organization in America, including churches, sought federal funds by developing proposals in competition for money. Super-agencies sprung up at the state and local level.

The street militants of New York City held a conference at the Mt. Morris Park Presbyterian Church entitled “The Empowerment of Harlem via Ownership of homes, Businesses, etc.” with Malcolm X as keynote speaker. The idea of Harlem as a “Commonwealth” was born. In the next several months, meetings were held at the homes of Preston Wilcox and Kenneth Marshall to develop a strategy and a proposal for the economic development of Harlem. Since the proposal did not strictly meet the federal funding guidelines of the War On Poverty program, we chose to seek the federal funds using the resource of the Columbia University School of Foreign Affairs. The concept was to characterize Harlem as a “third world country” with Columbia and the New School of Social Work doing the research for Harlem’s economic development. Federal funding of $350,000 was approved after the filing of the organizational documents in 1967. Roy Innis was HCC’s first President and Executive Director. The Harlem community representative board members were from the merged entity of Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited and Associated Community Teams (HARYOU-ACT), the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), Harlem Parents Committee, United Block Association, one elected official, one business person, one person from the local police precinct, and two organizational founders. For the next two years, $300,000 went to the Columbia and New School for Research professors, while only $50,000 went to Harlem Commonwealth Council for salaries and rent. It became readily apparent to the Board of Directors that our quarterly meetings with our research professors were not producing the kind of results expected. Accordingly, the Board moved to take control of and hired a professional business manager. This strategy succeeded and the first professional staff members were hired. James H. Dowdy was voted onto the Board to replace the local business representative. Everything seemed to be coming up roses. Then it happened. Our Treasurer Kenneth Marshall discovered embezzlement throughout the organization upon auditing the books. An emergency meeting was called where the directors voted to discharge the entire professional staff. The newest director, James H. Dowdy, was the only one person with the available time to reorganize a professional staff and develop a business strategy and plan for Harlem Commonwealth Council. Within six months of taking control, Dowdy and HCC’s staff had gone far beyond the Board’s expectation. As President, James Dowdy presented, and the Board approved, a Conglomerate Business Model and mission under the banner to “Own A Piece of the Block”. The Acme Foundry Company business and building was HCC’s first acquisition. From these meager beginnings, HCC continues as one of 8 organizational models to survive since the Carter Administration and it continues to be self-sustaining to this day.