Annual Meeting Sponsor Page
Roy Innis is National Chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality, one of America’s oldest and most respected civil rights groups. He is a life-long advocate of economic development rights for poor families and communities around the world.
Mr. Innis has become an icon of economic civil rights: the power and legitimacy of self-reliance and independence.
He now extends these beliefs to America’s energy life blood, in opposition to all who would deny our society the energy we have and need, while we strive to develop the energy for our future.
Mr. Innis is also the author of the new book: Energy Keepers - Energy Killers: The new civil rights battle.
He has been featured in the nightly news of every American network. He is a frequent guest on talk shows and in newspaper op-ed columns.
Mr. Innis is listed in Who’s Who in America, and is profiled in Wikipedia, the Online Encyclopedia.
Born in St. Croix, Virgin Islands in 1934, he moved at age 12 to New York City, where he went to high school. He joined the US Army and was honorably discharged when he finished his tour of duty.
He then enrolled in a four-year chemistry program at City College of New York and subsequently held positions as a research chemist at Vick Chemical Company and Montefiore Hospital.
Mr. Innis' leadership in the civil rights movement began when he joined CORE’s Harlem Chapter in the early Sixties. As he advanced to top positions, he also co-founded and directed the Harlem Commonwealth Council (HCC), an investment corporation whose long-term goal was to create independence and stability in Harlem. It became a highly successful model for economic development in minority communities.
During this time he also founded and co-edited the Manhattan Tribune newspaper. After losing two of his sons to criminal gunfire, Mr. Innis became a national champion of armed self-defense and sits on the NRA Board of Directors.
He makes his home in New York City with his wife Connie.
