C. O .R .E.  is the acronym for the Congress of Racial Equality. 

Founded in 1942, CORE is the third oldest and one of the ‘Big Four’ civil rights groups in the United States. From the protests against Jim Crow laws of the 40's through the Sit-ins of the 50's, the Freedom Rides of the 60's, the cries for Self-Determination in the 70's, Equal Opportunity  in the 80's, Community Development in the 90's, to the demand for equal access to information, CORE has championed true equality.  As the ‘shock troops’ and pioneers of the civil rights movement, CORE has paved the way for the nation to follow.  

Mission

CORE is officially classified as philanthropic omnibus human rights organization. CORE's aim is to bring about equality for all people regardless of race, creed, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion or ethnic background. In pursuing its aim, CORE seeks to identify and expose acts of discrimination in the public and private sectors of society. It is a national membership organization dedicated to making Equality a Reality for all people through the achievement of political, economic, cultural, educational and social justice leading to the unification of all people as American citizens. The parent organization is CORE, Inc., a 501(c) 4 organization.  CORE's National Headquarters is located in New York City.  From there a network of local chapters radiate across the United States, Africa, and other part of the world. Membership in CORE is open to anyone who believes that ‘all people are created equal’ and is willing to work towards the ultimate goal of true equality throughout the world.

CORE has established an impeccable record of finding solutions to the most difficult problems facing minorities by: (1) formulating the most pragmatic positions on important civil rights issues; (2) instituting the most successful actions to bring about non-violent social, political and economic change for the underprivileged and thereby leading
America down a path of equal opportunity for all of its citizens.  To many we have served as a buffer between them and a life of welfare, joblessness and dependency.  To others we have been the last hope in a never-ending struggle against tragedy, depression and hopelessness.  We are the light at the end of a long dark tunnel.

CORE FACTS

Did You Know?

• CORE was founded by a group of students on the Campus of the University of Chicago. 
   
• Many of the founders of CORE where followers of the Ghandian principles of non-violent civil disobedience and belonged to an organization called F.O.R. (Fellowship of Reconciliation). 
   
• CORE was first known as the Committee on Racial Equality. 
   
• Bayard Rustin was one of the original leaders of CORE.
   
• CORE moved its main offices and headquarters to New York City in the late 50’s. The office was located on Park Row directly opposite New York's City Hall. 
   
• CORE's 1st National Director, James Farmer, served as Under-Secretary of Labor for President Richard Nixon. He later ran unsuccessfully for Congress as a Republican in Brooklyn, NY against Shirley Chisolm. 
   
• James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, the three young civil rights workers who were murdered by the KKK in 1964 in Philadelphia, Mississippi were members of CORE on assignment to the Freedom Summer Voter Registration project. Their murders were the subject of the hit movie ‘Mississippi Burning.’ 
   
• CORE's 2nd National Director Floyd McKissick left in 1968 to organize a pilot program in Black Economic Development in North Carolina called ‘Soul City.’ 
   
• For a brief period in 1968, Wilfred Ussery, a relatively unknown activist from California, served as Chairman of CORE. 
   
• Before taking over as the National Director of CORE, Roy Innis, founded the Harlem Commonwealth Council (HCC) and served as its first Executive Director. HCC still exists today as a major funding vehicle and source for many successful economic development projects in Harlem and other African American Communities. 
   
• CORE was the first civil rights organization in this country to have been awarded a special non-governmental consultative status (NGO) at the United Nations. CORE is currently assigned to two of the United Nations' most prestigious departments: (1) the United Nations Department of Public Information (UNDPI), and (2) United Nations Economic and Social Council (UNESCO). 
   
• CORE Chairman, Roy Innis, was the first African American to attend the O.A.U. (Organization of African Unity) conference as a delegate. Prior to that, attendees from places other than Africa had only been granted ‘observer’ status. 
   
• In 1968 CORE became the first Black Organization in U.S. History to draft a bill that was introduced into Congress. The Community Self-Determination Bill that was drafted by CORE Chairman Roy Innis, garnered bipartisan sponsorship of one-third of the Senate and over 50 Congressmen. 
   
• CORE was one of only 9 organizations nationwide chosen by the Department of Justice to coordinate the implementation of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA-1986). 
   
• Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America, CORE was one of a hand-full of non- governmental agencies invited to serve in an official capacity at the Disaster Assistance Service Center (DASC) established by FEMA and the NYC to help victims of the World Trade Center collapse.