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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
LEONARD GREENE: From upstart activist to political giant, Charles Rangel's death marks end of an era
Nearly 25 years have passed since an upstart Harlem minister tried to unseat the venerable Charlie Rangel, as much an institution as the Apollo Theater or the nearby Lenox Lounge. He didn't even come close. But as the Rev. Conrad Tillard recalls all these years later, he didn't make a political rival. He gained a friend for life. 'We had a great relationship,' Tillard said in a social media post after Rangel's death last week. 'I had great respect for him even though I attempted to push up on him in 2002. Yes, young lions do rise up on the Alpha. He and that formidable uptown organization did a smack down on us.' Thirty years before that, Rangel had been the young lion rising up on the Alpha. The only difference then was that the young lion won. Rangel, a lawyer with a few years in the state assembly under his belt, had vanquished the legendary congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr. for the right to represent Harlem in the United States House of Representatives. Rangel held the seat for 46 years before retiring in 2017, smacking down any and all comers, including Powell's namesake son. Along the way, he became the first Black chair of the House's influential Ways and Means Committee, and was instrumental in the creation of the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation that helped change the economic face of Harlem. 'A towering figure in American politics and a champion for justice, equity, and opportunity, Congressman Rangel dedicated over four decades of his life to public service,' the Rangel family said in a statement announcing his death Monday. 'Throughout his career, Congressman Rangel fought tirelessly for affordable housing, urban revitalization, fair tax policies, and equal opportunities for all Americans.' It was only fitting that Rangel, a decorated war hero, would die on Memorial Day. As an artillery operations specialist in an all-Black battalion during the Korean War, Rangel earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for leading a group of soldiers out of a deadly Chinese army encirclement during the Battle of Konu-ri. The experience inspired his lifelong mantra, and the title to his 2007 memoir, 'And I Haven't Had a Bad Day Since.' After the war, Rangel spent much of the 50s as a desk clerk at Harlem's historic Hotel Theresa, which housed a bevy of Black royalty from Joe Louis to Josephine Baker. 'Those were my most exciting days,' a wistful Rangel told me years ago. 'I saw all the entertainers.' He also saw all the hardship. Men like him, who risked their lives for a country a world away, were repaid with doors slammed in their faces. 'If you were poor in Harlem you weren't part of the renaissance,' Rangel said. 'People talk about the good ol' days, but for me the good ol' days were piss poor.' Rangel used money from the G.I. Bill to earn a bachelor's degree from New York University, and a full scholarship to earn a law degree from St. John's University. Rangel, a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, the nation's oldest African-American fraternity, worked in various jobs as a lawyer before jumping into politics. Along the way, he met Alma Carter, a social worker, while on the dance floor of the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. They were married for 60 years until her death in 2024. The other key partnership in his life was his membership in Harlem's historic Gang of Four, an alliance and friendship that broke political barriers. It included former Secretary of State Basil Paterson, former businessman and Manhattan Borough President Percy Sutton and David Dinkins, New York City's first Black mayor. Rangel was the last surviving member. Such a rich life is worthy of honor and accolades, but Rangel wasn't much on any of it. When asked how he would like to be remembered, the ever-witty Rangel didn't miss a beat. 'If I'm gone, quite frankly,' he said. 'I don't give a damn.'
CBS News
26-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Harlem community mourns loss of "guiding light" Charles Rangel
The Harlem community was in mourning Monday after the death of Charles Rangel, the longtime United States congressman who had a profound impact on the neighborhood. From community centers to college programs, the name carries a legacy that will live on for generations. "When it came to his community, he guarded it with his life" Flags were at half-staff at the City College of New York. The school has the Center for Public Service in Rangel's name, as well as the Charles B. Rangel Infrastructure Workforce Initiative. Board member Michael J. Garner says Rangel was involved in both. "Seeing that it was funded and that the training started and residents stated ascertaining jobs in Harlem, in other places where taxpayer-driven capital construction projects were being built," Garner said. Garner is also the former president of the founding chapter of One Hundred Black Men, which focuses on mentoring and economic development. Rangel was a member of that prominent community organization, as well as Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity's Harlem chapter. "With respect to the pathway he has opened up for people like me ... giving us a guiding light to how we should move in the community to be able to improve the communities that we live and work in," said Robert Alleyne, president of the Alpha Phi Alpha Harlem chapter. Photos of Rangel hang on the wall of Sylvia's Restaurant on Malcolm X Boulevard. Second generation owner Kenneth Woods says Rangel was his mom's attorney when the restaurant went into business back in 1962. "He was very critical in the creation of the corporation of this restaurant," Woods said, "and a very close confidante of my mom, dad and the family. He was family." Rangel always remembered what Harlem did for him, as well. In fact, he said that it was the Apollo Theater that helped to shape him. "The Apollo was like the Mecca. It just, if you've been there as a kid, and I used to play hooky and go there, and I used to sit in the front," Rangel said in an interview in 2007. "And until this day, when Billie Holiday was singing, I swear she was singing to me." "There's a reason why they call him the 'Lion of Lenox Avenue' because, you know, he can make you feel like you were the most important person in the world, but when it came to his community, he guarded it and he guarded it with his life," said Keith Wright, county leader of the Manhattan Democratic Party. Rev. Al Sharpton recalls decades-long friendship with Rangel Rev. Al Sharpton of the National Action Network says he met Rangel when he was 12 years old, and their friendship spanned over 60 years. "I remember when I had a youth group, National Youth Movement, and we began saying there are crack houses in the community and everyone knows where they are and we painted red Xs. Charlie Rangel came and got a pail of paint and helped us paint red Xs on crack houses," Sharpton said. NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 04: (L-R) Charles Rangel and Al Sharpton attend Rev. Al Sharpton's Private Birthday Celebration at The Grand Havana Room on October 4, 2013 in New York City. Johnny Nunez/WireImage He added, "[In] 1999, when police killed Amadou Diallo and we were leading protests against that, Charlie Rangel called me and said, 'I see y'all getting arrested every day at 1 Police Plaza.' He came down, while he was this powerful congressman with seniority, and got on a knee and was arrested in front of 1 Police Plaza protesting police brutality." Sharpton added he feels God has a sense of humor, because Rangel, a decorated war veteran, died on Memorial Day. Lisa Rozner Lisa Rozner joined CBS News New York in 2017. She covers a wide range of stories. contributed to this report.
