Meet DCBHCC Founder, Mr. Charles "Chuck" Hicks
"We are not makers of history. We are made by history" - Martin Luther King Jr.
Charles “Chuck” Hicks is the founder and director of the D.C. Black History Celebration Committee which recognizes and celebrates the contributions of the African American community in art, literature, politics, and education throughout the year.
He was born in Bogalusa, Louisiana, the eldest son of Robert and Valeira Hicks. He briefly attended Southern University but was forced to leave in retaliation because of his father’s participation in the civil rights movement. He earned his B.A. and M.S. at Syracuse University where he was elected the first African American student body president.
After graduation, Hicks moved to Washington, DC where he worked for the DC Public Library, primarily in the Black History Section of the Martin Luther King Library. He served as president of the AFSCME union for the DC Public library. He then went on to serve as president of AFSCME District Council 20, the largest public sector union in the District of Columbia. He was the coordinator for labor for the Million Man March in 1995. In 2019, he was elected to the Washington D.C. Hall of Fame and his name appears on the Hall of Fame Walkway. In 2021, he was selected to be in the Martin Luther King Jr. permanent exhibit as a Washington D.C. History Maker.
He currently co-hosts the Heal D.C. radio program on WPFW-FM with Joni Eisenberg. He is the founder of Bread for the Soul, an organization which provides support for children and families living with HIV/AIDS. Hicks is a well-known community organizer and active member of several prominent organizations, including the NAACP, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Martin Luther King Scholarship Committee, the D.C. Commission on Aging, the Waterside Tenants’ Council, and Stand Up for Democracy in D.C. Hicks is President of The Robert “Bob” Hicks Foundation and a longtime member of the Greater New Hope Baptist Church and serves on its trustee board.
