Channing Emery Phillips (March 23, 1928 – November 11, 1987) was an American minister,

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...

leader, and social activist based in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

In 1968, he was the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

in history to be placed in nomination for

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

by a major political party.

Early life

Phillips was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. His father was a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

minister. He grew up in New York City and

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

in the late-1940s. Phillips earned a bachelor's degree from

Virginia Union University Virginia Union University is a private historically black Baptist university in Richmond, Virginia. It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. History The American Baptist Home Mission Society (ABHMS) founded the school as Rich ...

and a Master of Divinity from the

Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School is a Baptist seminary in Rochester, New York It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. History 1820s-1960: Early history Four Baptist institutions merged over the course of the 19th and 20t ...

. He also did postgraduate work at

Drew University Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey. Drew has been nicknamed the "University in the Forest" because of its wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three sch ...

Career

Phillips moved to

, where he was a founding member of Coalition of Conscience. He also worked as a professor of divinity at

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

. This conglomeration of local organizations worked to alleviate social problems in the capital. For seven years, Phillips served as the pastor of Lincoln Temple,

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximatel ...

, in Washington. In 1968, Phillips headed

Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, ...

's presidential campaign in D.C. He led the delegation from the District of Columbia to the

1968 Democratic National Convention The 1968 Democratic National Convention was held August 26–29 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Earlier that year incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson had announced he would not seek reelection, thus maki ...

in Chicago. Members of the District's Delegation were originally pledged to

. But, following Senator Kennedy's assassination in early June in California, the delegation voted instead to nominate Rev. Phillips as a

favorite son Favorite son (or favorite daughter) is a political term. * At the quadrennial American national political party conventions, a state delegation sometimes nominates a candidate from the state, or less often from the state's region, who is not a ...

. He received 68 votes (behind

Hubert Humphrey Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American pharmacist and politician who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing Mi ...

, Eugene McCarthy and George McGovern). By some accounts, Rev. Phillips was the first black person ever so nominated at a major party convention. He was the first African American to receive votes for the presidential nomination at a Democratic National Convention. Abolitionist

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...

received votes for president at the

1888 Republican National Convention The 1888 Republican National Convention was a presidential nominating convention held at the Auditorium Building in Chicago, Illinois, on June 19–25, 1888. It resulted in the nomination of former Senator Benjamin Harrison of Indiana for presid ...

, but it does not appear from the official record that his name was put into nomination.CNN: Think you know your Democratic convention trivia?
/ref> Phillips said that his candidacy was meant to show that "the Negro vote must not be taken for granted." At the time of his candidacy, Phillips was president of the Housing Development Corporation, a government-backed housing venture in the federal capital. In 1971 Phillips ran to become the first congressional delegate to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from D.C., but lost the Democratic primary to Walter E. Fauntroy. He was an advocate for full home-rule status for the District of Columbia. Phillips later moved back to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in 1982. He became Minister of Planning and Coordination at the

Riverside Church Riverside Church is an interdenominational church in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, on the block bounded by Riverside Drive, Claremont Avenue, 120th Street and 122nd Street near Columbia University's Mornin ...

Personal life

He died of cancer at the age of 59 and was survived by his wife, Jane, and their children, two sons: Channing D. Phillips, acting

United States Attorney for the District of Columbia The United States Attorney for the District of Columbia (USADC) is the United States Attorney responsible for representing the federal government in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the ...

, and John E. Phillips of Manhattan, and three daughters: Sheilah P. Peterson and Tracy J. Phillips of Manhattan, and Jill C. Phillips of Oakland, California. The funeral was held at Riverside Church in New York.

References

Sources

Our Campaigns - Candidate - Channing E. Phillips
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Channing E. 1928 births 1987 deaths Candidates in the 1968 United States presidential election 20th-century American politicians People from Brooklyn African-American candidates for President of the United States Activists for African-American civil rights African-American Baptist ministers African-American people in Washington, D.C., politics Activists from New York (state) Washington, D.C., Democrats Baptists from New York (state) Deaths from cancer in New York (state) 20th-century African-American politicians 20th-century Baptist ministers from the United States