After 46 years shaping the nation, pioneering Congressman Charlie Rangel, a real titan and beloved group fixture, has died. In a assertion, the political powerhouse and relentless trailblazer’s household confirmed his loss of life, asserting he handed away on Monday, Could 26 surrounded by household. He was 94.
He wasn’t as soon as referred to as the “Lion of Lenox Avenue” for nothing. From 1971 up till 2017, Rangel served as a consultant for 5 totally different congressional districts in Harlem. On the time of his retirement eight years in the past, he was the second-longest serving incumbent member of the Home.
New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams stated in a assertion on X how he’s “so unhappy to lose a pricey pal and exemplary mannequin of devotion and braveness. My prayers are together with his household, Harlem, and all who knew him.” He concluded: “Relaxation in energy, my pal.”
Charles Bernard Rangel was born on June 11, 1930. After dropping out of highschool at 16 years previous, he served in america Military from 1948 till 1952. He was an artillery operations specialist within the all-Black 503rd Area Artillery Battalion within the 2nd Infantry Division throughout the Korean Conflict. His braveness, management, and fearlessness helped him lead some 40 males from his unit over a mountain after they had been surrounded by Chinese language forces. He was awarded a Purple Coronary heart, the Bronze Star with Valor, and three battle stars.
His record of accolades prolong deep into the trenches of the Black group and Congress. He shortly emerged as a pacesetter among the many Black legislators in New York, taking part within the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches and initiating justice reform. He was elected to Congress in 1971 after defeating the Rev. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. by simply 150 votes, per his autobiography.
Dubbed an unapologetic champion of justice, Rangel gained re-election for Congress each two years till his retirement— often with over 90 p.c of the vote. Rangel additionally co-founded the Congressional Black Caucus, a non-partisan group that positively “influences the course of occasions pertinent to African People” in 1971. Rangel was a loyal champion for the Caribbean, who advocated for a normalization of relations between the U.S. and Cuba and later for Haitian refugees.
The proud Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity member was the final surviving member of the “Gang of 4,” a coalition of Harlem lawmakers comprising probably the most highly effective Black males within the state. Rangel, who graduated from New York College and St. John’s Faculty of Legislation, additionally served as an assistant U.S. Lawyer. He was additionally the first sponsor to then-President Barack Obama’s well being care reform regulation, now generally generally known as Obamacare. Rangel was the primary African-American chair of the Home Methods and Means Committee on Capitol Hill, however resigned in 2010 after being discovered responsible of a number of ethics violations.
Within the late Fifties, Rangel met social employee Alma Carter on the Savoy Ballroom dance flooring in Harlem. They tied the knot on July 26, 1964, and had two youngsters collectively, Steven and Alicia, whom he’s survived by.
Home Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries wrote on X how, “Harlem, NYC & America are higher at this time due to his service.” The Metropolis Faculty of New York in Harlem even named its faculty of public service after him.
In his 2006 autobiography, “And I Haven’t Had a Dangerous Day Since: From the Streets of Harlem to the Halls of Congress,” Rangel famously famous that the day he was wounded within the Korean Conflict on the Battle of Kunu-ri in 1950 as a 20-year-old employees sergeant was the worst day of his life. However ever since then, he stated he “by no means had a foul day since.”