Adam Clayton Powell, Jr (1908 -1972 ) Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. didn’t behave like most Afr
Adam Clayton Powell, Jr (1908 -1972 ) Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. didn’t behave like most African-American politicians. “I’m the first bad Negro they’ve had in Congress,” he bragged, and made more enemies on Capitol Hill than perhaps any legislator before or since. He was African-American pride personified. He swaggered into the congressional dining room and barber shop Knowing full well that African Americans were not served there, and demanded service. He won it. He badgered racist congressmen and stopped their habit of saying the word “nigger” in sessions of Congress. One of his most dangerous legislative weapons was the “Powell Amendment,” a rider he tried to attach to any proposals for federal funds. The beauty of the Amendment was that, if successfully attached to a bill, it would nullify federal grants to state or local governments if the agencies receiving the money discriminated. This meant, for example, that even school districts in the deepest South had to open their doors to African-American teachers and students or I risk losing funds set aside for them. by terry chappelle http://www.black-collegian.com/african/adam.shtml -- source link
#activist