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COMMUNITY
 Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts, III
Chairman of National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS
Reverend Dr. Calvin O. Butts, III, is the Chairman of the
National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS (NBLCA). Thanks to
his leadership, NBLCA has developed a mission to inform, coordinate
and organize the volunteer efforts of indigenous Black leadership
including clergy, elected officials, medical practitioners,
businessmen and women, social policy experts and the media
to meet the challenge of fighting AIDS in their local communities.
Reverend Dr. Calvin O. Butts, III, is Pastor of the nationally
renowned Abyssinian Baptist Church in the City of New York, and
President of SUNY College at Old Westbury. His sincere commitment
to enhancing the kingdom of God on earth is manifested in a loyal
attention to the daily activities and services of the congregation,
as well as the pervasive impact of the church on community development
initiatives: homelessness, senior citizen and youth empowerment,
cultural awareness and ecumenical outreach.
Under Dr. Butts' leadership, the Abyssinian Baptist Church
is committed to the expansion and maintenance of the Christian
mission. Rev. Butts was one of the founders, and is the current
Chairman of the Abyssinian Development Corporation, a comprehensive,
community-based not for profit organization, responsible for over
$500 million in housing and commercial development in Harlem. He
was also instrumental in establishing the Thurgood Marshall Academy
for Learning and Social Change — a public, state-of-the-art,
intermediate and high school in Harlem, and he is the visionary
behind the Thurgood Marshall Academy Lower School, which opened
in September 2005.
In addition to his professional and religious avocations, Dr.
Butts is Chairman of the Board of North General Hospital in Harlem;
President of the Council of Churches of the City of New York;
Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of United Way of New York
City; and he is a member of the Board of the New York Blood Center,
New Visions for Public Schools and the American Baptist College
in Nashville, Tennessee. Rev. Butts previously served as President
of Africare, an independent organization dedicated to the improvement
of the quality of life in rural Africa, and was formerly Chairman of
the Board of the Harlem Branch YMCA.
Dr. Butts has spearheaded numerous boycotts against institutions
that practice racist policies and employment discrimination. He led
a nationally acclaimed and most effective campaign to eliminate
negative billboard advertising in Central Harlem and New York City
communities, and was joined in this effort by religious leaders and
prominent officials in other areas of the country, who carried out
similar campaigns with equal success. He was also at the vanguard
of exposing rap music that includes violent and negative lyrics
targeted at women. Rev. Butts' boycott efforts have helped to
sensitize this nation to the evils of exploitive advertising, and
he continues on a mission to uplift the ethical standards of the
human community.
A native New Yorker, Rev. Butts is married and has three children
and three grandchildren.
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