29 Facts About Roy Innis

Roy Emile Alfredo Innis was an American activist and politician.

Roy Innis was National Chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality from 1968 until his death.

One of his sons, Niger Roy Innis, serves as National Spokesman of the Congress of Racial Equality.

In 1947, Roy Innis moved with his mother from the US Virgin Islands to New York City, where he graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1952.

At age 16, Roy Innis joined the US Army, and at age 18 he received an honorable discharge.

Roy Innis entered a four-year program in chemistry at the City College of New York.

Roy Innis subsequently held positions as a research chemist at Vick Chemical Company and Montefiore Hospital.

In early 1967, Roy Innis was appointed the first resident fellow at the Metropolitan Applied Research Center, headed by Dr Kenneth Clark.

From 1968 to 1972, Roy Innis co-published the Manhattan Tribune newspaper with journalist and Robert Kennedy presidential campaign advisor, William Haddad.

Roy Innis was selected National Chairman of CORE in 1968 a contentious convention meeting.

Roy Innis initially headed the organization in a strong campaign of black nationalism.

Roy Innis co-drafted the Community Self-Determination Act of 1968 and garnered bipartisan sponsorship of this bill by one-third of the US Senate and over 50 congressmen.

Roy Innis met with several heads of state, including Kenya's Jomo Kenyatta, Tanzania's Julius Nyerere, Liberia's William Tolbert and Uganda's Idi Amin, all of whom were awarded life memberships to CORE.

Roy Innis met with Amin and the aforementioned African statesmen as part of his CORE campaign drive for finding jobs in Africa for black Americans.

In 1973, Roy Innis was scheduled to participate in a televised debate with Nobel-winning physicist William Shockley on the topic of black intelligence.

In 1987, Innis testified at the confirmation hearings for Judge Robert H Bork along with several other noteworthy speakers such as economist and social commentator Thomas Sowell.

Roy Innis made his testimony before then Delaware Senator, Joe Biden.

Roy Innis was long active in criminal justice matters, including the debate over gun control and the Second Amendment.

Roy Innis chaired the NRA's Urban Affairs Committee and was a member of the NRA Ethics Committee, and continued to speak publicly in the US and around the world in favor of individual civilian ownership of firearms, gun issues, and individual rights.

Roy Innis lost two of his sons to criminal gun violence.

Roy Innis was noted for two on-air fights in the middle of TV talk shows in 1988.

Also that year, Roy Innis was in a scuffle on Geraldo with white supremacist John Metzger.

Roy Innis raised American volunteers to fight for UNITA, an Angolan rebel army fighting the communist government.

In 1986, Roy Innis challenged incumbent Major Owens in the Democratic primary for the 12th Congressional District, representing Brooklyn.

Roy Innis lost to Dinkins, who then lost to Giuliani in the general election.

In 1998, Roy Innis joined the Libertarian Party and gave serious consideration to running for Governor of New York as the party's candidate that year.

Roy Innis ultimately decided against running, citing time restrictions related to his duties with CORE.

Roy Innis served as New York State Chair in Alan Keyes's 2000 presidential campaign.

Roy Innis died on January 8,2017, at the age of 82, from Parkinson's disease.