January 29, 2025
The Black Leadership Family Plan
for the Unity, Survival, and Progress of Black People
Congressional Black Caucus
h2-344 House Annex #2
Washington DC 20515
February 5, 1982
PAGE 7 BLACK INK FEBRUARY 23, 1982
Black family
Leaders unveil rules for unity, progress
From The Winston-Sarem Chronicle
WASHINGTON, D.C. — An array of
black leaders from the church, civil rights,
political, entertainment and athletic worlds
gathered here on Capitol Hill recently to
release to Black America a long-awaited
"Black Leadership Family Plan for the Unity,
Survival and Progress of Black People."
The plan is the product of the cooperation of more than 150 heads of national black
organizations who worked together over much of 1981 to draft it.
The plan has three objectives, said Congressman Walter E. Fauntroy, D-Washington, D.C., chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus and coordinator of the plan's development.
Those three objectives are:
* To set forth 12 rules for black unity,
survival and progress, which this broad
cross-section of black leaders urge black
people to follow
* To establish a Black Development Fund
by which black citizens are to contribute
directly to existing black organizations
which are working for the progress of black
people
* To provide a set of instructions to
numerous categories of black organizations
for implementing its strategies
: Fauntroy says that the plan is really a
response to the appeal of actor-producer
Ossie Davis to black leadership 10 years
ago.
At the first Congressional Black Caucus
Dinner in 1971, Davis said: "Give us a plan
of action . . . a 10 Black Commandments;
simple, strong, that we can carry in our
hearts and in our memories no matter where
we are, and can reach out and touch and feel
the reassurance that there is behind everything we do,
a simple moral, intelligent plan
that must be fulfilled in the course of time.
"If all of our leaders, one by one, fall in
battle, somebody will rise and say
'Brother!!
Our leader died while we were on page
three of the Plan. Now that the funeral is
over, let us proceed to Page Four."
Quoting Davis further, Fauntroy said,
'It's not the man, it's the plan; it's not the
rap, it's the map.' "
The 12 rules for black unity survival and
progress are:
1. Support the black church.
2. Protect the elderly and support the
youth.
3. Excell in education.
4. Oppose crime.
5. Contribute to the Black Development
Fund.
6. Buy and bank black.
7. Register and vote.
8. Hold your elected officials accountable.
9. Support black family and community
life.
10. Challenge and boycott negative
media and support positive media.
11. Secure and defend the black community.
12. Support Mother Africa and Caribbean nations.
THE BLACK DEVELOPMENT FUND
The Black Development fund is not a formal organization
controlled by any one individual or group. It is, rather,
a national movement to keep more of black income
and wealth in the black community. It is a
concept of giving for black self-support. The
only requirement is that every able black
understand the need to give and then give to
a black organization or institution of his or
her choice on a regular basis.
Under the plan, each month one of the
following 12 categories w ill be identified
and publicized at the local level:
January,
black civil rights organizations;
February,
black candidates, black political and voter
participation organizations.
Also the following will be identified and
publicized:
March, black religious institutions;
April, black senior citizens organizations;
May, black Africa and Carribbean relief;
June, historically black colleges;
July, black legal defense funds;
August, black hospitals and health care organizations;
September, Congressional Black Caucus
(Political Action Com m ittee);
October, black arts and cultural organizations;
November, black family support organizations,
December, black youth and child care organizations.
A MISSION FOR EVERYONE
In addition to the 12 rules and the Black
Development Fund, the plan contains a mission
for blacks in every walk of life.
"There is now a plan of action in which all
black people can play a meaningful part,"
Fauntroy said. "Whether one is a black in
business, labor, civic, fraternal or professional activity;
whether one is involved in civil rights, comm unity action, religion,
politics, education, youth and elderly services, or in prison,
there is now a plan by which blacks may coordinate in our struggle
for the common good."
THE ACTION ALERT NETWORK
Finally, the plan urges blacks in all walks
of life to join Action Alert Communications Network
so that blacks may be able to communicate directly with one another when
there is a need for concerted action.
The network is established in about 11 congressional districts where blacks are 15 percent or more of the population.
National organizations are urged to designate a coordinator for their members in each
congressional distria and to break down their membership lists by congressional district. Participating organizations are also invited to make their lists available to the Congressional Black Caucus, which w ill coordinate the network.
Included in the plan is a card for individual black citizens to volunteer to work for
the network.
The National Congress of Black Churches,
a voluntary association of representatives
from seven historically black denominations
played a significant role in the development
of the plan
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