Adam Clayton Powell IV | |
|---|---|
| Member of the New York State Assembly from the 68th district | |
| In office January 1, 2001 –December 31, 2010 | |
| Preceded by | Nelson Antonio Denis |
| Succeeded by | Robert J. Rodriguez |
| Member of the New York City Council from the 8th district | |
| In office January 1,1992 –December 31,1997 | |
| Preceded by | Carolyn Maloney |
| Succeeded by | Phil Reed |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Adam Clayton Powell Diago July 1962 (age 62) San Juan,Puerto Rico |
| Spouse | Andrea Dial (divorced) |
| Education | Howard University (BA) Fordham University (JD) |
Adam Clayton "A.C." Powell IV (born Adam Clayton Powell Diago; [1] in 1962) is an American politician from the state of New York. He was a member of the New York State Assembly from 2001 to 2010. From 1992 to 1997,he served as New York City Council Member representing East Harlem and parts of the Upper West Side and the South Bronx. Beginning in 2001,Powell represented the 68th Assembly District,which includes parts of Harlem and East Harlem. [2] He was defeated by Charles Rangel in the 2010 Democratic Primary for the seat of the 15th Congressional District. [3]
Powell was born to civil rights leader and former congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and his third wife Yvette Diago in San Juan,Puerto Rico. [1] He was named Adam Clayton Powell Diago,as is the Spanish naming custom of using the mother's surname as part of his official name. [1] Powell's maternal grandfather Gonzalo Diago was a mayor of San Juan,Puerto Rico and served as such from 1941 to 1945. [4] When his parents separated,Powell's mother was granted custody,and he was raised and educated in Puerto Rico.
In 1980,Powell moved to the mainland United States to study at Howard University in Washington,D.C.. He changed his surname by dropping his mother's surname "Diago". He then continued to use the name Adam Clayton Powell IV. This has caused confusion as his half-nephew,8 years younger than he,was also named Adam Clayton Powell IV. He later earned a Juris Doctor degree from Fordham University School of Law in New York. [5]
Powell ran successfully for the New York City Council in 1991. [6]
Powell actually lost the Democratic primary vote by 34 votes to William (Bill) Del Toro in a seven-person field. Del Toro and his brother Assemblyman Angelo Del Toro,were powerful players in East Harlem politics for two decades with Angelo as a powerful Assembly committee chairman. Powell sued for a new election. His Campaign Manager Geoffrey L. Garfield,spent a month at the Board of Elections combing through every registered voter card (“buff card”) to ascertain whether non-Democrats voted in the primary. They found over 1,000 voters whom did not properly check the “party affiliation”box on the form. Del Toro sued to stop the effort by declaring “defective service”of legal documents to Del Toro’s home. Powell was successful in a hearing with an Elections Department Referee;on appeal the lower Supreme Court reversed the decision. Powell appealed to the state’s Appellate division where a five-judge panel ruled in Powell’s favor and mandated a Special Election the following week. Powell won 73-27 percent of the vote. (Source:Geoffrey L. Garfield,Campaign Manager) In 1994,Powell challenged Representative Charles B. Rangel for his seat in the United States House of Representatives,but lost. [2] In 1997,he ran for Manhattan borough president,but lost to C. Virginia Fields. [7]
Powell worked for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).[ when? ] In 2001,he participated and was arrested in the Vieques protests,which demanded the departure of the U.S. Navy from that island.
When Rangel retired in 2016,Powell ran again for the House seat. He lost to state Senator Adriano Espaillat. [8]
Powell married Andrea Dial,a former Ebony Fashion Fair model. They had a son,Adam Clayton Powell V,before divorcing in the mid-1990s. [5]
Powell was a Co-Producer of “Keep the Faith,Baby!”,a Showtime/Paramount Television feature film on the life and career of his father Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
When Powell ran for Congress in 1994,he raised $64,000,10% of which came from residents of his state, [9] [10] while the remainder were donated by contributors from Miami and New Jersey,including $5000 from Free Cuba PAC,Inc., [11] [12] headed by leading Cuban-exile community figure Jorge Mas Canosa who made a $1000 personal donation to Powell. [13]
Powell spent $1,200 of his campaign funds traveling to Ireland. [14] [15] Powell said he accompanied several lawmakers on the Ireland trip,which was sponsored by the New York American-Irish Legislators Society as a means to raise awareness of the issues that affect the Irish community. [14] [15]
In 2008,Powell was arrested and charged for allegedly driving while intoxicated (DWI) on the Henry Hudson Parkway in New York City. [16] [17] [18] He was acquitted of driving while intoxicated and found guilty of the lesser charge of driving while impaired. This charge is considered a traffic violation rather than a criminal conviction. One juror commented,"the whole thing is we didn't think he was drunk." [19]
Powell lost to Charles Rangel in the 2010 primary for the 15th district. [20]
Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez is a Puerto Rican-born Spanish actor. He has garnered critical acclaim and numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, and a Silver Bear for his portrayal of the jaded but morally upright police officer Javier Rodriguez in the film Traffic (2000). Del Toro's performance as despairing ex-con turned zealot Jack Jordan, in Alejandro González Iñárritu's 21 Grams (2003), earned him a second nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Adam Clayton Powell Jr. was an American Baptist pastor and politician who represented the Harlem neighborhood of New York City in the United States House of Representatives from 1945 until 1971. He was the first African American to be elected to Congress from New York, as well as the first from any state in the Northeast. 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.
Charles Bernard Rangel is an American politician who was a U.S. representative for districts in New York City from 1971 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the second-longest serving incumbent member of the House of Representatives at the time of his retirement, having served continuously since 1971. As its most senior member, he was also the Dean of New York's congressional delegation. Rangel was the first African American chair of the influential House Ways and Means Committee. He was also a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Clara A. L. Virginia Fields, better known as C. Virginia Fields, is an American politician who served as Borough President of Manhattan. She was served two terms, elected in 1997 and reelected in 2001, with her second term expiring at the end of 2005.
Adriano de Jesús Espaillat Rodríguez is a Dominican-American politician. He is the U.S. representative for New York's 13th congressional district and the first Dominican American and first formerly undocumented immigrant to serve in Congress. He previously served in the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly.
Félix W. Ortiz is an American politician, formerly representing New York's 51st Assembly District. He is a Democrat and served as Assistant Speaker of the New York State Assembly.
Inez E. Dickens is the Assemblymember for the 70th district of the New York State Assembly. She is a Democrat. The district includes portions of El Barrio, Hamilton Heights, Harlem, and Morningside Heights in Manhattan. She formerly served on the New York City Council from 2006 to 2016, representing the 9th district.
Keith L. T. Wright is an American politician and a former member of the New York State Assembly. He was first elected to the assembly in 1992 and was re-elected eleven times. In early 2007, he proposed a bill limiting retail sale of violent video games for individuals below 18 years of age. This proposed law stirred up controversy and protest amongst gamer communities. Wright is also the author of the bill to apologize for African slavery in New York, which was second only to South Carolina in the American slave trade, the first Northern State make such an apology. Wright is also credited with coining the term "Super-Duper Tuesday" in response to the shifting of New York's election primary date to the 5th of February. This is now the common terminology for the change of dates nationwide.
Edward Richard Dudley was an American lawyer, judge, civil rights activist and the first African-American to hold the rank of Ambassador of the United States, as ambassador to Liberia from 1949 to 1953.
John Raymond Jones was the last Grand Sachem of Tammany Hall, a New York City Councilman for Harlem, a district leader, ran the Carver Democratic Club, and was Adam Clayton Powell's campaign manager in 1958, opposing Tammany Hall, and Carmine DeSapio.
The Gang of Four, also known as the Harlem Clubhouse, was an African-American political coalition from Harlem whose members later ascended to top political posts. It is named after the Gang of Four of China. J. Raymond Jones was influential in helping these men obtain power.
Nelson Antonio Denis is an American attorney, author, film director, and former representative to the New York State Assembly. From 1997 through 2000, Denis represented New York's 68th Assembly district, which includes the East Harlem and Spanish Harlem neighborhoods, both highly populated by Latinos.
Bessie Allison Buchanan, of Manhattan in New York City, became the first African-American woman to hold a seat in the New York State Legislature when she was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1954.
Michael D. Nieves is the president and CEO of Hispanic Information Television Network (HITN), the largest non-commercial, Spanish language television network in the United States. Since taking the role in 2015, HITN has added over 10 million new Latino households to its viewing audience and secured a partnership with Sprint Communications that will support HITN’s mission for at least the next 30 years.
The New York City mayoral election of 1985 occurred on Tuesday, November 5, 1985, with Democratic incumbent Mayor Ed Koch being re-elected to a third term by a landslide margin.
The 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in New York were held on November 8, 2016, to elect 27 U.S. representatives from the state of New York. The elections coincided with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections. The primaries took place on June 28.
Fannie Emma Pennington was an American activist, organizer, and fundraising coordinator for U.S. Congressional Representative (Harlem) Adam Clayton Powell Jr.'s Isaac Democratic Club and the Abyssinian Baptist Church A.C.P. Overseas Club. She was also a member of the New York City Board of Elections and the Frederick E. Samuel Community Democratic Club, the Satellite Club, the Courtesy Guild, the Progressive Ladies Usher Board of the Abyssinian Baptist Church, the ABC Welcome and Hospitality Committee. She was an official representative of the Barmaid Charity Organization. She was a New York leader of the bus organizing efforts in 1963 for the March on Washington.
Diana Ayala is an American politician, serving as a member and the deputy speaker of the New York City Council. Ayala represents the 8th district, succeeding former Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito in 2017. The district includes Concourse, East Harlem, Highbridge, Longwood, Mott Haven, Port Morris, and Randall's Island. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
Fritz Winfred Alexander II was an American judge who served as an Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals from 1985 to 1992, and a deputy mayor of New York from 1992 to 1993. Alexander was the first black judge to serve a full term on the Court of Appeals. Fritz Alexander was a part of the Harlem Clubhouse headed by J. Raymond Jones
The People's Voice, also known as Voice, was a newspaper based in Harlem, New York City to serve the African American community. Adam Clayton Powell Jr., a New York politician and pastor, founded the newspaper in 1942. Voice mainly focused on racial issues, local events and investigative news, but it also covered entertainment and sports. Many activists and writers contributed to Voice, including Ann Petry, Fredi Washington, and Marvel Cooke. The paper stopped publication in 1948 partly due to accusations that Voice was circulating Communist propaganda.
