John Wesley Mack (1937-2018)

August 06, 2018 
/ Contributed By: Martin Schiesl

John W. Mack

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Civic leader,ย civil rightsย advocate, andย police commissionerย John Wesley Mack was born on January 6, 1937 in Kingstree,ย South Carolina, to Abram Mack, a Methodist minister, and Ruth Wynita, a school teacher. Shortly after he was born, his family moved to Darlington, South Carolina. Mack attendedย North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NC A&T)ย located in Greensboro, North Carolina. He headed the student chapter of theย National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)ย on campus. Mack earned a bachelorโ€™s degree in appliedย sociologyย there in 1958. Two years later, he received a masterโ€™s degree in social work fromย Clark Atlanta University.

In 1960, Mack and his parents moved to Oxnard,ย California. He spent four years as a psychiatric social worker at Camarillo State Hospital. In 1964, he went to Flint,ย Michigan, and served as executive director of the Flintย Urban League. Here he devoted his work mostly toย fair housingย and voter registration issues. In 1969, the League sent him to Los Angeles, California, where he became president of the Los Angeles Urban League. Mack transformed the Urban League from relative obscurity to a center of black power, fighting against schoolย segregationย and the poor treatment of African American workers in the city.

In 1977, Mack co-founded and became chair of the Los Angeles Black Leadership Coalition on Education. He served as vice president of the United Way Corporation of Council Executives in the early 1980s.

In April, 1992,ย riotsย occurred in South Central Los Angeles following the acquittal of four white police officers who beat African Americanย Rodney King.ย  Mack joined Rebuild LA established by Mayorย Thomas Bradleyย after the rioting. The agency secured $380 million in investment from several companies, guided the renovation of 63 percent of the damaged businesses, and created jobs for a large number of unemployed and underemployed residents. After Rebuild LA disbanded in 1997, Mack helped guide the redevelopment of the Crenshaw district in South Central Los Angeles.

Mack retired as head of the Los Angeles Urban League in 2005. In the same year, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa appointed him president of the Board of Police Commissioners of the Los Angeles Police Department, where he became the fourth African American to hold this position.ย  Under Mackโ€™s leadership, the commission secured improvements in the police department, including video cameras in squad cars to increase accountability among patrol officers. Mack also forged a strong bond with Police Chief William J. Bratton. Together, they enacted major reforms required under a federal consent decree issued by the United States Department of Justice in 2000.

In 2013, Mack left the police commission and the following year Mayor Eric Garcetti appointed him to the Los Angeles City Planning Commission. While here he obtained more affordable housing in major development projects.

Mack received awards from several prominent organizations. Among them were the National Urban League,ย Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

John W. Mack died of cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on June 21, 2018 at the age of 81. He was survived by three children.

About the Author

Author Profile

Martin Schiesl is Professor Emeritus of History at California State University, Los Angeles. His specialities are the history of urban America in the twentieth century and the social, political, and governmental histories of Los Angeles and California since 1900. He is the author of The Politics of Efficiency: Municipal Administration and Reform in America, 1880-1920 (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1977), co-editor of 20th Century Los Angeles: Power, Promotion, and Social Conflict (Claremont, CA: Regina Books, 1990), editor of Responsible Liberalism: Edmund G. โ€œPatโ€ Brown and Reform Government in California, 1958-1967 (Los Angeles: Edmund G. โ€œPatโ€ Brown Institute of Public Affairs, California State University, Los Angeles, 2003), and co-editor of City of Promise: Race and Historical Change in Los Angeles (Claremont, CA: Regina Books, 2006). He is also the author of โ€œResidential Opportunity for All Californians: Governor Edmund G. โ€œPatโ€ Brown and the Struggle for Fair Housing Legislation, 1959-1963,โ€ Edmund G. โ€œPatโ€ Brown Institute of Public Affairs, Historical Essay, August, 2013, 1-6. Dr. Schiesl is currently writing a book on the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in California in the years from 1940 to 1970.

CITE THIS ENTRY IN APA FORMAT:

Schiesl, M. (2018, August 06). John Wesley Mack (1937-2018). BlackPast.org. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/mack-john-wesley-1937-2018/

Source of the Author's Information:

The History Makers, โ€œJohn W. Mack,โ€ The History Makers, http://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/john-w-mack-41; Catherine Greene, โ€œL.A. Riots: Rebuild L.A.โ€™s Ambitious Attempts to Revive the City,โ€ April 24, 2012, Neon Tommy, http://www.neontommy.com/; Howard Fine, โ€œCivic Leader and South LA Booster John Mack, 81,โ€ Los Angeles Business Journal, June 22, 2018; Joel Rubin, Sonali Kohli, and David Zahniser, โ€œJohn Mack, 1937-2018. L.A. civic leader a prominent voice on police reform,โ€ Los Angeles Times, June 23, 2018.

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