[1] He became the executive director of the Chester branch of the NAACP and partnered with George Raymond to desegregate businesses and improve minority hiring practices.
The demonstrations focused on ending the de facto segregation that resulted in the racial categorization of Chester public schools, even after the landmark Supreme Court case Brown v. The Board of Education of Topeka.
Following public attention to the protests stoked by media coverage of the mass arrests, the mayor and school board negotiated with CFFN and NAACP.
CFFN expanded their organization goals to include better public schools in all of Chester, an increase in employment, better healthcare and an end to racial discrimination.
[7] In March 1964, CFFN hosted the "Freedom Now Conference"[8] in Chester and national civil rights leaders such as Dick Gregory and Malcolm X participated.
The mayor of Chester, James Gorbey, issued "The Police Position to Preserve the Public Peace", a ten-point statement promising an immediate return to law and order.
[13] Governor Scranton created the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission to conduct hearings on the de facto segregation of public schools.
CFFN joined with CORE and petitioned the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare to cut off federal funding for Chester schools due to violations of Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.