Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (1908-1972) was one of the most controversial and flamboyant figures in American politics.
He began speaking out for the oppressed from the pulpit of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, where his father had been pastor.
In 1941, he became New York’s first black city councilman, helped by the 14,000 members of his congregation. Three years later he was elected to the House of Representatives, where, boldly, he personally integrated the dining rooms, showers, and barbershops that black congressmen were not allowed to use.
Because of him, black reporters were admitted to the House press gallery, blacks were admitted to the U.S. Naval Academy, and blacks were able to serve on the U.S. delegation to the United Nations. He drafted bills to end discriminatory practices such as poll taxes and sponsored legislation advocating a minimum wage scale.
But Powell was soon accused of putting his friends on the congressional payroll. He was also frequently absent from congressional votes, and lived what some considered the life of a playboy. In 1967 the House condemned him, and he moved to the Caribbean island of Bimini.
In 1970 he lost the New York Democratic primary for his congressional seat, and retired officially. He died in Miami in 1972.
Related Posts
-
Who is Colin Powell and What were Colin Powell’s contributions in the United States military?
Colin Powell, born in New York City in 1937, is one of the most admired African Americans in the country today. His long career in the military began when he was in college.…
-
Where did the Term Adam’s Apple Come From and Why is the Lump in a Man’s Throat Called an Adam’s Apple?
The Adam's Apple, also known as the laryngeal prominence, is a feature of the human neck. Both men and women have the thyroid cartilage, but it is usually more prominent in adult men.…
-
Why Do Men Have a Bigger Adam’s Apple Than Women and What Is the Adam’s Apple Used For?
The larynx, like many other body parts, is under hormonal control during development. Male hormones encourage the growth of the larynx, and the Adam's apple is the prominence made by the cartilage that…
-
How did the Adam’s Apple get its name and Where does the term Adam’s Apple come from?
"In Adam's fall We sinned all," ran the first stanza of the seventeenth-century New England Primer. His "fall" has since been marked on all mortals, by superstitious belief, by a projection on the…
-
Who was Malcolm X and Why was Malcolm X a controversial figure in the African American Civil Rights Movement?
Malcolm X (1925-1965), was born in Omaha, Nebraska, as Malcolm Little. When Malcolm was six years old, his father, a Baptist minister, was murdered after receiving threats from the Ku Klux Klan. Malcolm's…
-
Where does the expression “not to know one from Adam” come from?
Wherever this is used the speaker means that he would be wholly unable to recognize the person of whom he speaks, probably a person once known but now forgotten. The source and antiquity…
