• Who We Are
    • Who We Are
    • Mission
    • History
    • General Synod
    • Leadership and Ministry
    • Staff
    • United Church of Christ Board
  • What We Believe
    • What We Believe
    • Worship Ways
    • Daily Devotional
  • What We Do
    • What We Do
    • Office of the General Minister & President
    • Justice & Local Church Ministries
    • Wider Church Ministries
  • News
  • Church Finder
  • Donate Now
  • Search
UCC Logo United Church of Christ
  • Church Finder
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Store
  • Frontline Faith Portal
  • Donate Now
  • Search
  • Who We Are
    • Column
      • About
        • Mission
        • Constitution and Bylaws
        • History
          • UCC Archives
        • UCC Brand Guidelines
        • General Synod
          • Synod 33 Worship Videos
          • Past General Synods
        • Abuse Prevention
    • Column
      • Structure
        • Conferences
        • Affiliated Ministries
    • Column
      • Team
        • Elected Officers
        • Staff
        • United Church of Christ Board
          • Board Minutes
        • Office of General Counsel
        • UCCOSSN
    • Column
      • Career Opportunities
      • Annual Reports
  • What We Believe
    • Column
      • Worship
        • Statement of Faith of the United Church of Christ – La Declaración de Fe de la Iglesia Unida de Cristo
        • Worship Ways
        • Daily Devotional
        • Sermon Seeds
  • How We Serve
    • Column
      • Office of the General Minister & President
        • Welcome to Human Resources
          • Employee Relations Resources
        • Center for Analytics, Research & Development and Data (CARDD)
          • General CARDD FAQs
          • About The Center for Analytics, Research & Development, and Data (CARDD)
          • Authorized Minister Opt Out
          • Access UCC
          • Archived Reports
          • Assessment Resources
          • Information Policies and Requests
          • Faith Communities Today (FACT) Survey
          • MissionInsite
          • Statistics and Reports
          • Vital Signs and Statistics Blog
          • Data Hub FAQs
          • Data Hub
          • Yearbook and Directory
    • Column
      • Justice & Local Church Ministries
        • Justice
          • Faithful Action Ministries
            • Environmental Justice Ministries
            • Economic Justice
            • Racial Justice
          • Office of Public Policy & Advocacy in Washington D.C.
            • Justice and Peace Action Network
            • Our Faith Our Vote
            • Justice Training Resources
            • Action Center
          • Health and Wholeness Advocacy
            • Disabilities and Mental Health Justice
            • Encuentros Latinx
            • UCC HIV & AIDS Network-UCAN
            • LGBTQ Ministries
            • Our Whole Lives
            • Overdose and Drug Use Ministries
            • Scouting
            • Wellness Ministries
          • The Pilgrim Press & Stillspeaking Publications
    • Column
      • Justice & Local Church Ministries
        • Local Church
          • The Faith Education, Innovation and Formation (Faith INFO)Team
            • Weekly Seeds
            • Youth & Young Adults
          • Worship Resources
            • Worship Ways
            • Sermon Seeds
            • Synod 33 Worship Videos
            • Music and Liturgical Arts
          • Stewardship & Generosity Resources
          • Ministerial Excellence, Support & Authorization (MESA)
            • History, Polity, and Theology
            • Search and Call
            • Ministerial Profiles
            • Ministry Opportunities
            • Manual on Ministry
    • Column
      • Wider Church Ministries
        • Global Ministries
        • Global H.O.P.E.
          • Volunteer Ministries
          • Refugee and Migration Ministries
          • Disaster Ministries
          • Recovering Hope
        • Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations
  • Resources
  • News
    • Column
      • News
        • United Church of Christ News
    • Column
      • Columns
        • Witness for Justice
        • Into the Mystic
        • Getting to the Root of It
        • The Pollinator: UCC Environmental Justice Blog
        • UCC Roots
        • Encounters at the Well
        • Reflexiones
    • Column
      • Upcoming Events
        • Webinars
      • Changes & Deaths
  • Giving
    • Column
      • Donate Now
      • Ways to Give
        • Giving Tuesday
        • General Synod 2021 Thursday in Black Offering
        • General Synod 2021 Racial Justice Offering
        • Disaster Ministries: How to Give
        • Our Church’s Wider Mission
          • Our Church’s Wider Mission Basic Support
          • Strengthen the Church
          • One Great Hour of Sharing
          • Neighbors in Need
          • Christmas Fund
          • 5 for 5
    • Column
      • Ways We Give
        • Scholarships & Grants

  • Home
  • News
  • Column
  • UCC Roots
  • He Pushed us to do the Right

He Pushed us to do the Right

by Bernice Powell Jackson | published on Oct 3, 2016

The civil rights movement was sweeping the country and the question for the UCC was not whether to respond, but how to respond.  This was the moment that Charles E. Cobb, a UCC pastor from Massachusetts, came onto the scene as the first Executive Director of the UCC’s Commission for Racial Justice.

Cobb led the Commission through the turbulent days of the civil rights movement, challenging the UCC to confront and dismantle racism in church and society and strengthening African American membership of the UCC. Upon learning about the plight of other people of color communities, he helped them organize and claim their place in church and society.  Cobb challenged unfair criminal justice systems, led the UCC to be one of the first denominational supporters of the South African anti-apartheid movement and laid the groundwork for UCC leadership in the environmental justice movement.

In 1971, when Benjamin Chavis, a Commission field worker was accused (along with nine others) of firebombing a grocery store in Wilmington, NC, Cobb insisted that the UCC provide bail money for the entire group.  During the decade before those convictions were overturned, the eyes of many UCC members were opened to unequal patterns in policing and criminal justice.  Long before there was a slogan “Black Lives Matter,” Cobb pressed the UCC to stand for justice.

Charles E. Cobb (1916-1999) was born in Durham, N.C.  A graduate of North Carolina College, he finished theological degrees at Howard University and Boston University. He was a larger-than-life personality—rather diminutive in stature but always memorable. His deep voice and profound commitment to justice could quiet a march on the streets or the floor of the General Synod.

Cobb once said, “The UCC has the proclivity to do right — when pushed.” Cobb pushed and the United Church of Christ is stronger and better because of his efforts.

Contributor: Bernice Powell Jackson

Download the PDF
Sign-Up

Categories: Column UCC Roots

Sign Up For Our Newsletter








Privacy Policy






Related News

Into the Mystic

Recrudescence

Listen to the...

Read More
Witness for Justice
Witness for Justice

Humane Reception of Immigrants Helps the Economy

The growing assertions of nativism and white supremacy in the United States have caused...

Read More
Into the Mystic

Eyes to See

Listen to the...

Read More
  • Column
    • Local Church and Conference Resource Directory
    • Mission
    • Justice & Local Church Ministries
    • General Synod 33 Resolutions
  • Column
    • Contact
    • News
    • Store

Content on ucc.org is copyrighted by the National Setting of the United Church of Christ and may be only shared according to the guidelines outlined here.


1300 E. 9th Street, Suite 1100
Cleveland, Ohio 44114
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • Subscribe on YouTube

Donate Now


UCC Crest
© United Church of Christ 2022. Privacy Policy.
Crafted by Cornershop Creative