The Cairo Story: And the Round-Up of Black Leadership

Cairo, Illinois: Koen Publishing, 1990. First Edition. 111 pp. VG+ (edgewear, light rubbing). Koen (1945-2018), born in Cairo, IL, devoted himself from a young age to working to ensure civil and human rights for African Americans in Cairo. The year before he was ordained in 1969, he founded the Black Liberators, a militant civil rights organization, in St. Louis, MO, in 1968 (www.chicagocrusader.com), and after he continued his work as a founder of the United Front Inc. of Cairo in order to secure economic and social equality for all citizens. He, along with many other Black activists, were targets of the IRS and the FBI at this time, which he mentions in this book. Koen worked for Rev. Jesse Jackson’s 1988 presidential campaign.Sections include Coming Down to Earth Again, My Childhood, Levels of the Struggle, Psychological Impact of Boycott, Women and Children, and Determination. In his Conclusion, after noting that the deaths of Huey P. Newton, Mickey Leland, and Abbey Hoffman were not accidental, Koen remarks, “It is clear that if we as blacks allow this ‘round-up’ of black leadership to take place and be successful, the progress that we have made heretofore will be completely wiped out.” No copies in commerce or in OCLC.