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-------------------- February 23, 2000
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Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.
In 1937, Powell succeeded his father, Adam Clayton Powell Sr., as
pastor o f Harlem 's Abyssinian Baptist Church. Powell was elected to
the city council and went on to the House o f Representatives in 1945.
Janus Adams
.
•
•
It seemed the end o f the Ci vil Rights-
era “second R econstruction” had
com e even before it had fully begun.
On M arch 1,1967, by a vote o f 307
to 116, the House o f Representatives
expelled H arlem ’s A dam Clayton
P o w ell, Jr. C h a rg e d w ith high
ab se n te e ism an d d e fa m in g the
character o f a know n “bag w om an”
(num bers runner), the fiery Powell
had lo n g b een a th o rn in th e
E stablishm ent’s A chilles’ heel, and
. th e H o u s e s e iz e d u p o n th e
. o p p o r tu n ity a f f o r d e d b y h is
mishaps.
Powell ju st w o u ld n 't be a “N egro.”
W ell-educated, he w as uppity and
u n a p o lo g e tic , h a n d s o m e an d
charism atic. He loved the nightlife
alm ost as m uch as his day jo b as an
a c tiv is t/r e f o r m e r . A m a n o f
privilege, he led the D epression-
era “B uy-W here-Y ou-C an-W ork”
Boycott on segregated stores in
Harlem. His celebrity m arriage to
ja z z sin g e r/p ia n ist H azel S cott
caused a stir, so did his serm ons as
one o f the m ost riveting Baptist
preacher/orators o f his day. A s the
first northern black congressm an,
he refused to dem ure in the face o f
segregation; rejecting racial bans
on H ouse facilities, he encouraged
his sta ff to do the same. Best o f all,
his C om m ittee on E ducation and
Labor passed m ore m ajor legislation
than any other com m ittee in the
House. D esegregating the m ilitary,
ending Jim Crow travel, a new child
w e lf a re la w , u p g r a d in g th e
m inim um w age. M anpow er: all
th e sew e re cred ited to Powell. Bom
forty three years after Emancipation,
he was the grandson o f a slave. At
th e a g e o f te n , h e sa w h is
g ran d fath e r’s slave brand. T hat
m em ory had m otivated him for life.
Six w eeks after P ow ell’s expulsion,
Harlem returned him to Congress.
The special election established the
right o f a district - and o f a people,
given the fact that there w ere only
five A frican A m ericans in this pre-
V o tin g R ig h ts-e ra C o n g re ss-to
choose its own leaders. By 1969,
the Suprem e C ourt concurred. But
the dam age had been done. Powell
(and a nation o f underrepresented
blacks) had lost his seniority, his
com m ittee chairm anship, and his
place in line o f succession to the
p resid ency. A tw en ty -fo u r-y e ar
veteran and the ranking m ajority
leader, he had been third in line.
The Focus
___________________ /
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