Charles RangelOne of the oldest congressmen in American history and a veteran of the purple heart, died on the day of the fallen on May 26 at age 94.
“An imposing figure in American politics and a champion of justice, equity and opportunity, Congressman Rangel dedicated in four decades of his life to the public service,” said his family in a statement on Monday. “Through his career, Congressman Rangel fought tirelessly for affordable homes, urban revitalization, fair fiscal policies and equal opportunities for all Americans.”
As a representative of the 13th New York District, which included the birthplace of Rangel de Harlem, Rangel or “The lion of Lenox Avenue”, as it was called something called, served as a congressman for almost half a century. Heer his career in Congress in 1970 and retired 47 years later, in 2017. Although his mandate was tarnished by 11 positions of ethical violations, or found guilty For an ethics committee of Congress in 2010, Rangel, a liberal Democrat, was a uniquely influential force in New York policy and one of the most important black members of Congress for decades.
“Charlie was a real activist: we have marched together, we were arrested together and painted crack houses,” Reverend to Sharpton told a statement. “My heart is broken by the death of a Harlem lion today.”
Rangel was the last surviving member of the Four Gang, a coalition of Harlem’s black politicians that included former New York City Mayor David Dinkins, state senator Basil Paterson and local politician Percy Sutton. As a native and long service representative of Harlem, Rangel also became a cultural ambassador for the neighborhood, recovery stories later from the crossroads with the great jazz Miles Davis and Charlie Parker. In 2019, Hey Talk with Rolling stone On the importance of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, the series of concerts that Tok Place just before his election to Congress and was documented, more than 50 years later, in 2021’s Summer of soul. “White can have a county fair, but we had no cows, things like that,” Rangel told Rolling stone. “We had the best jazz musicians in the world.”
Charles B. Rangel He was born in Harlem in 1930 and had a turbulent education. “I come out of nowhere,” hey, hey saying In 2018. “I was an abandonment of the high school of the fight with a gift of living for my ingenuity and hiding my deficiencies behind the bravery.” In 1948, he enlisted in the army, and soon found himself in the first line of the Korean War, where he received a bronze star and a purple heart.
After becoming a fixed element in local policy, Rangel was chosen for Congress in 1970 and co -founded the Black Congress Caucus The following year. Duration of his mandate in Congress, Rangel fought for his work and middle class components: he was a key defender of the Law of Low Price Health Care, helped expand tax credit for won income, created “areas of empowerment” in countries in Couaes such as Haiti and Cuba. In 2007, he became the first black politician to direct the House and Media Committee.
In 2010, the Ethics Committee of the House of Representatives found him guilty of 11 separate positions related to his personal finances and financial revelations. Even so, he was re -elected in 2012 and fulfilled several more periods before retiring in 2017 at age 86. After announcing his retirement, Rangel reflected on his long career. “Since November 30, 1950,” he said, referring to the day he was injured in Korea, “regardless of what crisis we have passed through individuals or collectively, Charlie Rangel has ever blessed, never having a bad day.”
But speaking a decade earlier, Rangel reflected on the country in which he had spent most of his adult life working on a interview Mother Jones. “The hopes and dreams of so many who have come to this country and those who have struggled to enter the middle class and now, due to the prices of food and oil and an unequal fiscal system, people are losing their home, their jobs, heer, hey.” saying. “When a country loses that … loses its heart.”