The Passing of Reverend Walter “Slim” Coleman

The Historical Preservation Society of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party offers our deepest condolences to Slim’s family, Party members, and the Intercommunal Survival Committee. Reverend Walter “Slim” Coleman passed on April 16, 2024, at 80 years old.

Harvard University–Rev Walter Coleman spent fifty years in the struggle in Chicago – from the anti-war and civil rights movement of the 1960s to the Rainbow coalition organized by the Black Panther Party to the historic election of Mayor Harold Washington.

He served as Pastor of Adalberto United Methodist Church during Elvira Arellano’s time in sanctuary and worked as an aide to Congressman Luis Gutierrez for ten years.

He is married to the current pastor of the church, Rev Emma Lozano, who continues to lead the ministry for the undocumented. Rev Coleman serves as the director of Familia Latina Unida Ministries he holds a Master of Divinity from Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary.

He is the author of Elvira’s Faith – The Struggle for the Rights of Undocumented Families” and “Fair Share, The Rights of the People, an account of the movement that led to the election of Mayor Harold Washington in Chicago.

City-Wide Memorial May 30

From United Methodist Church:

A special Sunday service dedicated to Rev. Coleman will be held on April 21, 11:00 a.m., at Lincoln United Methodist Church, 2242 S. Damen Ave., Chicago. Pastor Tonya Lozano and her husband, Allen Lozano Coleman, will lead the services.

There will be a city-wide memorial honoring Rev. Coleman on May 30. More details to come.

Messages of condolence can be sent to his family:

Mrs. Emma Lozano and family
2009 W. 22nd Pl.
Chicago, IL 60608

In lieu of flowers, donations in his name can be made to the following:

Lincoln United Methodist Church
2242 S. Damen Ave.
Chicago, IL 60608

Tribute to Walter “Slim” Coleman

by Yvonne King, Illinois Chapter and Historical Preservation Society Member

I wish to convey my condolences to the family of Walter ‘Slim’ Coleman, members of the Intercommunal Survival Committee, the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party and other members of the Black Panther Party (BPP) on Slim’s passing.

I wish to pay tribute to Slim, whom I had the opportunity to work with, especially from 1971 – 1973, and I was among the team of Illinois Chapter Panthers who interviewed him 12/17/2020.

As Coordinator of the Intercommunal Survival Committee (ISC), Slim published an article in the Black Panther Party newspaper on the 10th Anniversary of the organization, Vol. XV No. 27, Oct. 16, 1976, entitled, “On The Intercommunal Survival Committee.”

He wrote: “The ISC was formed in 1970 at the direction and with the guidance of the Black Panther Party, in Chicago, IL. Initially applying the tested methods of work of the BPP to the oppressed White community . . . .

To develop a strong base on principled lines, we believe that there must be a dedicated cadre functioning through a well-organized structure that makes it possible to develop consistent literature to interpret events of the day, and operate what the BPP has called basic ‘Survival Programs’ creating a lifeline to the community.

With the basic structure for our cadres established, including democratic centralism, criticism and self-criticism, a collective means of survival eliminating class differences, daily procedures for evaluation of practice, we began to establish our organized structure in the community.”

Slim was working in the SDS District Office on Clinton Street in Chicago in 1968, according to Slim, when “Bobby Rush [then Deputy Minister of Defense] came into the [SDS] office and said that they were establishing the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party and could they get some tables and chairs? And I said, ‘We can do that, Bobby. We can get you some tables and chairs.’ I started working with the Party then, and I started working with Fred (Hampton), almost on a daily basis after that.”

In our 2020 interview with Slim, he shared a story about Fred Hampton: “Remember that Mike Gray [producer of the documentary, The Murder of Fred Hampton] had a little studio. He’d (Fred) say, Come on, Slim, pick me up, and we would meet over there at 3:00 in the morning at the studio, and Fred would be listening to speeches by King or whomever . . . . And, he’d try it out, work it out. [Fred would say] Okay, now I’ll go over the tape; let me add some more stuff like that, so he [Fred] worked on being a communicator. He knew that communication was an important thing.”

Eyes on the Prize Interview

Learn More About Slim

We encourage you to view the many articles, tributes and statements released on Slim to learn about his dynamic life in the struggle for human rights.

In this Eyes on the Prize interview, he talks about his role in the election of Harold Washington.

The Historical Preservation Society

We are in a race against time to capture the living history of the Black Panther Party, the Rainbow Coalition and the Intercommunal Survival Committee.

Our history has been erased from Chicago’s landscape, and we must provide these histories' actual narrative and context.

Thank you for helping us with this work.

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Walter “Slim” Coleman: City-Wide Memorial May 30