Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. On November 29 it will be the 109th anniversary of his birth in New Haven, New Jersey.
Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (November 29, 1908 – April 4, 1972) was a Baptist pastor and an American politician, who represented Harlem, New York City, in the United States House of Representatives (1945–71). He was the first person of African-American descent to be elected from New York to Congress. Oscar Stanton De Priest of Illinois was the first black person to be elected to Congress in the 20th century; Powell was the fourth.
Re-elected for nearly three decades, Powell became a powerful national politician of the Democratic Party, and served as a national spokesman on civil rights and social issues. He also urged United States presidents to support emerging nations in Africa and Asia as they gained independence after colonialism.
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As early as 1944 Powell ran for congress on a “of platform of civil rights for African Americans: support for ‘fair employment practices, and a ban on poll taxes and lynching.’"
Lynchings were still being reported in the 1960s.
Powell was obliged to protest the use of the word “nigger” in congressional debate, as well as to liberate the “Whites Only” facilities in congressional buildings.
Unfortunately, flamboyant and a tad excessive, Powell was brought down by his own human failings, notably, absenteeism, budget mismanagement …
In January 1967, the House Democratic Caucus stripped Powell of his committee chairmanship. The full House refused to seat him until completion of an investigation by the Judiciary Committee. Powell urged his supporters to "keep the faith, baby," while the investigation was under way. On March 1, the House voted 307 to 116 to exclude him. Powell said, "On this day, the day of March in my opinion, is the end of the United States of America as the land of the free and the home of the brave."
Ibid.
Powell bucked the DNC power structure, advanced civil rights, brought focus to Africa and other developing nations, one of America’s pioneers in political thought and enlightenment.