Sullivan, Leon (Howard) (1922– )

US civil rights activist and Baptist minister. As pastor at Zion Baptist Church in North Philadelphia 1950–88, he espoused ‘evangelistic materialism’ and led boycotts of Philadelphia businesses that refused to hire black Americans. He founded organizations to assist black American economic development. The ‘Sullivan Principles’ (1977) became guidelines for American corporations doing business in South Africa with the intent of destroying apartheid.

He was born in Charleston, West Virginia. Ordained in 1939 while still in high school, he studied at the Union Theological Seminary 1943–45, and then Columbia University gaining an MA in Religion in 1947. He founded the Opportunities and Industrial Centers of America, located in an abandoned jailhouse purchased by the congregation (1964). In 1971 he was elected to the board of directors of General Motors Corporation. Widely honored, he was given the Freedom Foundation Award (1960), made pastor emeritus at his church (1988), and awarded a Medal of Freedom (1991). He began a $40-million aid program for Africa in 1992.