He was also briefly affiliated with the Lee Cultural Center and the Printing Trade School in New York City.

Well regarded for his expertise and skill as an educator, Phillips served as an artist-in-residence at Howard University and as a visiting lecturer at the University of California at Berkeley. Most notably, he became a member of the “Harlem-founded Weusi Artist Collective, a group of young artists who made African iconic imagery and symbols a central part of their work, from 1969-1973.” Phillips was also a founding member of a member of AfriCobra, (acronym for African Commune of Bad Relevant Artist). Philips’s advocacy and participation in Weusi and AfriCobra is historically significant as both groups were essential to the development of the Black Arts Movement of the 1960’s and 1970’s. During this period, several black arts advocate groups formed. More broadly they sought take control of the narrative and/or define the black aesthetic, raise awareness of the historical significance and contributions of Blacks, reclaim their cultural pride in the contributions of the African diaspora. “African spirituality was the ignition, which these artists used as the connective link to the past, and African spiritual heritage was, a strong motivation for producing the art.”

AfriCobra member Barbara Jones Hogu wrote that members of the collective "wanted to speak to them and for them, by having our common thoughts, feelings, trials and tribulations express our total existence as a people. We were aware of the negative experiences in our present and past, but we wanted to accentuate the positive mode of thought and action. Therefore, our visual statements were to be Black, positive and direct with identification, purpose and direction."

Philips work includes richly colored, poly-rhythmic, surfaces with abstract forms and geometric elements. He “developed his own personal style of painting. He incorporated African patterns and designs throughout his compositions which included foreground and background to portray one design. In 1973 he became a member of AfriCobra, because some of the members were starting to use similar patterns and motifs to his. That evolved into what young writers and art historians are calling the AfriCobra style or tradition.

In a 2009 interview with Dr. Margaret Vendryes, the artists asserted that “he is able to talk about his art which is based on the figure ‘even when that is not evident. Then music—‘jazz, Coltrane, Sunra’—were inspirational.”