The United League was an African-American social movement in Northern Mississippi established in 1978, during the height of Ku Klux Klan activity in America.
The United League's president and founder, Alfred "Skip" Robinson, was moved to act against Klan activity and police brutality in the turbulent American South.
Robinson and his followers fought against the brutality of the local police and Ku Klux Klan activity during the late 1970s and early 1980s in Mississippi.
Robinson said that charges of police brutality, which sparked the Tupelo protests, will mark Indianola and Grenada as sites for League activity."
People came to Tupelo from the tiny backwater towns and from the huge, far-away cities…Just as the civil rights movement of the 60's began with a spark of resistance and grew to include millions in a march towards equality, in 1978, Tupelo is an inspiration for all who will join this movement – an inspiration that tells all working people that we can fight back and eventually win."
During that same year, the members of the local community and the United League fired over one hundred rounds of bullets in a gunfight against the Ku Klux Klan.
[citation needed] In addition, during this time, the United League and its supporters led a citywide boycott and handed the local businesses a "list of demands, which included the hiring of blacks in stores and schools."
In Ripley, one of the first stops of the United League was a beauticians' school owned by a local community activist, Mrs. Hazel Foster Christmas.
George Williams, another League leader, stated, "[Women] are the ones who carry on the task of building the organization, planning protests and boycotts, and above all convincing people that they can stand ... against social violence."
The United League employed boycotts, armed defense, and organized protest activities in order to effect change in northern Mississippi.
Additionally, through the guidance of Robinson, the United League and its members in northern Mississippi organized community meetings and created a coalition of resources in the struggle for human and civil rights.
After 1964, in several communities, the boycott of White-owned commerce became the primary tactic utilized by human rights forces to disrupt the system of segregation.
The combination of economic boycott with armed resistance posed an effective coercive campaign to pressure the local White power structure for concessions demanded by the movement.
Abstract: "Throughout African Americans' struggle for liberation, there have been incidents of their engaging in violent revolt—from slave revolts to the urban riots of the 21st century.
The committee agreed to improve African American voter registration, investigate charges of police brutality, and hire black workers at downtown stores."
In a community requesting help, Robinson holds workshop meetings in each black neighborhood, where problems and needs are identified and strategies planned for addressing them.
Where the Klan is active and discrimination is practiced, the United League advocates demonstrations, business boycotts, and armed self-defense.