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Cook: 50 years of the Unity Group, a resurrection people

Members of the Howard School marching band walk past a mural of Martin Luther King Jr. while lining up for a memorial parade and march along M.L. King Boulevard on Monday, Jan. 15, 2018 in Chattanooga, Tenn. The memorial parade and march was part of the Unity Group of Chattanooga's 48th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Week celebration, which began on Jan. 8th and ended on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Members of the Howard School marching band walk past a mural of Martin Luther King Jr. while lining up for a memorial parade and march along M.L. King Boulevard on Monday, Jan. 15, 2018 in Chattanooga, Tenn. The memorial parade and march was part of the Unity Group of Chattanooga's 48th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Week celebration, which began on Jan. 8th and ended on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

By David Cook January 11, 2020 5 min read

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Unity Group

Joyce Allgood bears the flag for the 44th United States Colored Troops as a memorial parade and march along M.L. King Boulevard prepares to start on Monday, Jan. 15, 2018 in Chattanooga, Tenn. The memorial parade and march was part of the Unity Group of Chattanooga's 48th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Week celebration, which began on Jan. 8th and ended on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

A crowd of about 100 people gathered for a town hall meeting to learn about what Community Benefits Agreements are and what it takes the form one Saturday, March 9, 2019 at Hope for the Inner City in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The meeting was hosted by Hope for the Inner City, Unity Group of Chattanooga, Chattanooga Area Labor Council, Chattanooga Organized for Action, Glass House Collective, Urban League of Greater Chattanooga and Accountability for Taxpayer Money.

People gathered for the wreath laying at the Chattanooga National Cemetery, as part of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, sing a verse from the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" on Monday, Jan. 21, 2019 in Chattanooga, Tenn. Hosted by Unity Group of Chattanooga, along with National Park Partners, the 44th United States Colored Troops reeenactors and the Mary Walker Historical and Educational Foundation, the wreath was laid to honor the members of the United States Colored Troops who fought in the Civil War and helped erect the Chattanooga National Cemetery.

Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 1/8/17. Henry Slayton, left, signs in as Sherman Matthews prepares to lead the Unity Group Meeting while at Eastdale Village Community Methodist Church on Sunday, January 8, 2017.

In 1969, one year after Martin Luther King was assassinated, the Hon. Bennie Harris – our city’s first African-American city court judge – called together a group of local black men.

Among them? The Rev. Paul McDaniel, who was just beginning his storied career at Second Missionary Baptist Church.

The gathering would change Chattanooga for decades to come.

Harris had a vision.

“We should unify all these groups doing things in the community for the well-being of the community,” McDaniels remembers.