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Civil Rights Crusader Leon Sullivan Dies
Philadelphia Minister Persuaded U.S. Firms to Divest From South Africa
By Claudia Levy
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 26, 2001; Page B07

Leon Sullivan, 78, the retired Philadelphia minister and civil rights leader whose relentless crusade for U.S. divestiture from South Africa helped put an end to the policy of apartheid, died of leukemia April 24 at a hospital in Scottsdale, Ariz. He had lived in Phoenix since 1981.

Mr. Sullivan was for many years a central figure in the debate over U.S. involvement in segregated South Africa, where blacks were limited in where they could live, work and travel. His was one of the international voices whose demands helped end the long imprisonment of reform leader and later president Nelson Mandela in 1990, when apartheid was also ended.

Mr. Sullivan expanded his campaign for workers rights to other developing nations, and in 1999, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced the issuance of an updated version of the Sullivan Principles to encourage fair employment around the world. U.S. corporations began noticing Mr. Sullivan in the 1960s, when he organized economic boycotts against Philadelphia companies that refused to hire black workers. The slogan was: "Don't buy where you don't work."

When the boycotts were successful and the companies relented, Mr. Sullivan used an abandoned Philadelphia warehouse as a training facility to prepare city residents for the jobs. That first Opportunities Industrialization Center later expanded to 142 others in the United States and abroad.

The pastor for 38 years of Philadelphia's largest church, Zion Baptist, Mr. Sullivan also founded organizations to establish minority-owned businesses and fund housing, shopping, human services, education and other nonprofit ventures in the inner city.

In 1971 he became the first African American named to a major corporate board when General Motors appointed him a director. The automaker was not only the biggest company in the United States, it was also South Africa's largest employer of blacks. Mr. Sullivan began advocating a stockholder proposal of the Episcopal Church that GM pull out of South Africa to protest its apartheid policies.

The idea shocked corporate America, and the Wall Street Journal editorialized against Mr. Sullivan. Some of his fellow board members went so far as to turn their backs on the tall, imposing minister when he spoke of the matter.

A trip to South Africa in 1975 cemented Mr. Sullivan's determination that apartheid had to be ended, and he drafted a simple corporate code of conduct that newspapers later shortened to bear his name.

The Sullivan Principles called for equal treatment for black workers and for involvement in improving their lives outside the workplace. Companies were asked to pledge that they would integrate all eating, comfort and work facilities, stick to equal and fair employment practices for all employees and pay equal wages for all employees doing equal or comparable work for the same period of time.

They also pledged to initiate training programs that would prepare nonwhites for supervisory, administrative, clerical and technical jobs and that they would increase the number of blacks and other nonwhites in management and supervisory positions. They were asked to improve the quality of life for nonwhites in housing, transportation, school, recreation and health facilities. A seventh principle, added in 1984, called on corporations to work to eliminate laws and customs that impede social, economic and political justice.

Compliance was to be monitored and rated by the Arthur D. Little consulting firm. Companies that signed on to the principles paid annual fees and completed annual reports. Two years after the code of conduct was issued, a dozen of the top U.S. corporations, including GM, had adopted the principles and more than 100 had withdrawn from South Africa. Thousands of protesters, Mr. Sullivan among them, were arrested in demonstrations against the South African government. Businesses avoided new ventures or loans in the country, and institutional investors such as universities and pension funds withdrew their interests.

By 1985, half the U.S. companies doing business in South Africa had signed on to the Sullivan document. In 1986, Congress passed the Anti-Apartheid Act, over President Reagan's veto. The act embodied Mr. Sullivan's principles.

Leon Sullivan, the son of an elevator operator and movie theater janitor, was born in Charleston, W.Va. He was ordained a minister at the age of 17 and entered West Virginia State College on an athletic scholarship. After injuring his knee, he lost the scholarship but paid his way through school by working nights in a steel mill.

The Rev. Adam Clayton Powell, a New York Democratic congressman and Harlem minister, recruited him to be his church assistant. He studied in New York at Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University, then became pastor of a church in New Jersey. He began at North Philadelphia's Zion Baptist in 1950.

Within five years, Mr. Sullivan had established parish youth programs and worked in cooperative efforts to end gang wars. The U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce named him one of the 10 most outstanding young men in the country, and Life magazine named him one of 100 outstanding adults in 1963.

His work with juveniles led to the boycott and employment campaign, for which he recruited 400 fellow ministers. The city effort predated passage of federal equal employment legislation and opened up 3,100 new jobs in Philadelphia in 1961 alone. Mr. Sullivan's honors include the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award and 50 honorary degrees. A documentary about his life, "A Principled Man," was broadcast by PBS this year.

Survivors include his wife; three children; and seven grandchildren.

The Washington Post

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"Mr. Sullivan used an abandoned Philadelphia warehouse as a training facility to prepare city residents for the jobs. That first Opportunities Industrialization Center later expanded to 142 others in the United States and abroad."

Civil Rights Crusader Leon Sullivan Dies
Philadelphia Minister Persuaded U.S. Firms to Divest From South Africa
By Claudia Levy
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 26, 2001; Page B07

Leon Sullivan, 78, the retired Philadelphia minister and civil rights leader whose relentless crusade for U.S. divestiture from South Africa helped put an end to the policy of apartheid, died of leukemia April 24 at a hospital in Scottsdale, Ariz. He had lived in Phoenix since 1981.

Mr. Sullivan was for many years a central figure in the debate over U.S. involvement in segregated South Africa, where blacks were limited in where they could live, work and travel. His was one of the international voices whose demands helped end the long imprisonment of reform leader and later president Nelson Mandela in 1990, when apartheid was also ended.

Mr. Sullivan expanded his campaign for workers rights to other developing nations, and in 1999, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced the issuance of an updated version of the Sullivan Principles to encourage fair employment around the world. U.S. corporations began noticing Mr. Sullivan in the 1960s, when he organized economic boycotts against Philadelphia companies that refused to hire black workers. The slogan was: "Don't buy where you don't work."

When the boycotts were successful and the companies relented, Mr. Sullivan used an abandoned Philadelphia warehouse as a training facility to prepare city residents for the jobs. That first Opportunities Industrialization Center later expanded to 142 others in the United States and abroad.

The pastor for 38 years of Philadelphia's largest church, Zion Baptist, Mr. Sullivan also founded organizations to establish minority-owned businesses and fund housing, shopping, human services, education and other nonprofit ventures in the inner city.

In 1971 he became the first African American named to a major corporate board when General Motors appointed him a director. The automaker was not only the biggest company in the United States, it was also South Africa's largest employer of blacks. Mr. Sullivan began advocating a stockholder proposal of the Episcopal Church that GM pull out of South Africa to protest its apartheid policies.

The idea shocked corporate America, and the Wall Street Journal editorialized against Mr. Sullivan. Some of his fellow board members went so far as to turn their backs on the tall, imposing minister when he spoke of the matter.

A trip to South Africa in 1975 cemented Mr. Sullivan's determination that apartheid had to be ended, and he drafted a simple corporate code of conduct that newspapers later shortened to bear his name.

The Sullivan Principles called for equal treatment for black workers and for involvement in improving their lives outside the workplace. Companies were asked to pledge that they would integrate all eating, comfort and work facilities, stick to equal and fair employment practices for all employees and pay equal wages for all employees doing equal or comparable work for the same period of time.

They also pledged to initiate training programs that would prepare nonwhites for supervisory, administrative, clerical and technical jobs and that they would increase the number of blacks and other nonwhites in management and supervisory positions. They were asked to improve the quality of life for nonwhites in housing, transportation, school, recreation and health facilities. A seventh principle, added in 1984, called on corporations to work to eliminate laws and customs that impede social, economic and political justice.

Compliance was to be monitored and rated by the Arthur D. Little consulting firm. Companies that signed on to the principles paid annual fees and completed annual reports. Two years after the code of conduct was issued, a dozen of the top U.S. corporations, including GM, had adopted the principles and more than 100 had withdrawn from South Africa. Thousands of protesters, Mr. Sullivan among them, were arrested in demonstrations against the South African government. Businesses avoided new ventures or loans in the country, and institutional investors such as universities and pension funds withdrew their interests.

By 1985, half the U.S. companies doing business in South Africa had signed on to the Sullivan document. In 1986, Congress passed the Anti-Apartheid Act, over President Reagan's veto. The act embodied Mr. Sullivan's principles.

Leon Sullivan, the son of an elevator operator and movie theater janitor, was born in Charleston, W.Va. He was ordained a minister at the age of 17 and entered West Virginia State College on an athletic scholarship. After injuring his knee, he lost the scholarship but paid his way through school by working nights in a steel mill.

The Rev. Adam Clayton Powell, a New York Democratic congressman and Harlem minister, recruited him to be his church assistant. He studied in New York at Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University, then became pastor of a church in New Jersey. He began at North Philadelphia's Zion Baptist in 1950.

Within five years, Mr. Sullivan had established parish youth programs and worked in cooperative efforts to end gang wars. The U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce named him one of the 10 most outstanding young men in the country, and Life magazine named him one of 100 outstanding adults in 1963.

His work with juveniles led to the boycott and employment campaign, for which he recruited 400 fellow ministers. The city effort predated passage of federal equal employment legislation and opened up 3,100 new jobs in Philadelphia in 1961 alone. Mr. Sullivan's honors include the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award and 50 honorary degrees. A documentary about his life, "A Principled Man," was broadcast by PBS this year.

Survivors include his wife; three children; and seven grandchildren.

The Washington Post