KYW Flashback: Philadelphia Reverend Gives Struggling Community Hope
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - During the height of the civil rights movement, Reverend Leon Sullivan had a vision of hope for the declining community surrounding North Broad Street.
He saw a shining corridor of commerce, but knew it would take more than marches to make that vision reality.
So the pastor of the iconic Zion Baptist Church created the Opportunities Industrialization Center -- one of the city's early job training programs and launched "Progress Plaza" in 1968, which soon became a burgeoning place for black business. His "Sullivan Principles" directed American attention to apartheid in South Africa.
KYW reported on Sullivan's ability to convince the city that its Philadelphia future was tied to his vision, which lives on 14 years after the mighty reverend has passed on.