In early 1967, Innis was appointed the first resident fellow at the Metropolitan Applied Research Center (MARC), headed by Dr. Kenneth Clark.
[6] From 1968 to 1972, Innis co-published the Manhattan Tribune newspaper with journalist and Robert Kennedy presidential campaign advisor, William Haddad.
The periodical aimed to cover news concerning the Upper West Side and Harlem from both a black and white American perspective.
Haddad was quoted, “Roy, for example, thinks I’m a soft, fuzzy white liberal and we disagree 80 percent of the time, but we have to live together in this little inner city, and the only solution lies in an honest and uninhibited dialogue.” [7] Innis was selected National Chairman of CORE in 1968 a contentious convention meeting.
[11] During his leadership, Innis paid a visit to Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson the Lubavitcher Rebbe, remarking that despite what the media says, his people sympathize with the Jewish community and that he wishes to express his condolences after the Crown Heights riots of 1991.
[12] Innis co-drafted the Community Self-Determination Act of 1968 and garnered bipartisan sponsorship of this bill by one-third of the U.S. Senate and over 50 congressmen.
In 1969 Innis appeared on William F. Buckley Jr.'s Firing Line elaborating on the main goals of CORE's proposed Community Self-Determination Act.
[14][15] In the debate over school integration, Innis offered an alternative plan consisting of community control of educational institutions.
As part of this effort, in October 1970, CORE filed an amicus curiae brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in connection with Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education (1971).
He met with several heads of state, including Kenya's Jomo Kenyatta, Tanzania's Julius Nyerere, Liberia's William Tolbert and Uganda's Idi Amin, all of whom were awarded life memberships to CORE.
[16] Innis met with Amin and the aforementioned African statesmen as part of his CORE campaign drive for finding jobs in Africa for black Americans.
In 1973, Innis was scheduled to participate in a televised debate with Nobel-winning physicist William Shockley on the topic of black intelligence.
[18] In 1984 Roy Innis led an initiative as described in a CORE publication, The CORELATOR, "A Call for Black Americans to Develop Bold New Political Strategies" and explained in another article, "Why We Must Desegregate the Republican Party."
He was quoted by The New York Times in 1984, "The successful desegregation of the Republican Party can be one of the most important and healthy political developments for the black community and for the country at large".
"[20] In 1987, Innis testified at the confirmation hearings for Judge Robert H. Bork along with several other noteworthy speakers such as economist and social commentator Thomas Sowell.
The first occurred in the midst of an argument about the Tawana Brawley case during a taping of The Morton Downey Jr. Show, when Innis shoved Al Sharpton to the floor.
In the 1993, New York City Democratic Party mayoral primary, Innis challenged incumbent David Dinkins, the first African-American to hold the office.