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[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1349 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1349

   Recognizing Percy Sutton as one of the Nation's most influential 
    political, civil rights, and business leaders, who, through his 
 brilliance, courage, and compassion, inspired countless people in the 
                             United States.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 11, 2010

 Mr. Rangel submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
            the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
   Recognizing Percy Sutton as one of the Nation's most influential 
    political, civil rights, and business leaders, who, through his 
 brilliance, courage, and compassion, inspired countless people in the 
                             United States.

Whereas Percy Sutton was born on November 24, 1920, the last of 15 children of 
        Samuel Johnson Sutton, Sr., a former slave, and Lillian Viola Smith;
Whereas despite their modest backgrounds, Percy Sutton and 11 of his siblings 
        who survived into adulthood all graduated from college;
Whereas Percy Sutton earned his first college degree, a Juris Doctorate, from 
        Brooklyn College Law School in 1950 while working two jobs to finance 
        his tuition;
Whereas Percy Sutton served his country in World War II as an intelligence 
        officer with the Tuskegee Airmen, who overcame prejudice and doubts 
        about their skills and bravery to perform heroically as the first 
        African-Americans in the U.S. Army Air Corps;
Whereas Percy Sutton was an accomplished civil rights attorney, famously 
        representing civil rights icon Malcolm X and his family, as well as 
        hundreds of civil rights protesters who were arrested in the South 
        during the 1960s;
Whereas Percy Sutton was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1964 and 
        assumed the position of Manhattan Borough President in 1966, becoming 
        the first African-American to do so, and went on to serve a record-
        setting 10 years in the office;
Whereas during Sutton's three-term tenure, he was the highest ranking African-
        American elected official in New York City;
Whereas Percy Sutton was a devoted member of the National Association for the 
        Advancement of Colored People and served as its New York chapter 
        president for two terms;
Whereas Percy Sutton was presented with the organization's highly prized 
        Spingarn Medal in 1987;
Whereas Percy Sutton pioneered African-American media ownership as a founder of 
        Inner City Broadcasting Corporation in 1971, which over the years owned 
        and operated 18 radio stations across the country and cable television 
        franchises in New York and Philadelphia;
Whereas in 1981, under his leadership, Inner City presided over the $20,000,000 
        renovation of the Apollo Theater, restoring it as a vibrant center of 
        entertainment, including production of ``Showtime at the Apollo'', the 
        popular national talent competition that was televised for over 20 
        years;
Whereas Percy Sutton was selected in 1995 and 1996 to represent the United 
        States as a business delegate to the Group of Seven (G7) Nations meeting 
        on Telecommunications and High Technology in Brussels and the G7 
        Developing Nations Intelligence Technology Conference in South Africa, 
        respectively; and
Whereas Percy Sutton died at the age of 89 on December 26, 2009, in Manhattan, 
        New York, survived by Leatrice Sutton, his wife of 67 years: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives recognizes Percy 
Sutton, one of New York's leading public figures, for his many years of 
service to the State of New York and the Nation as a defender of equal 
rights, justice, and economic opportunity for all people in the United 
States.
                                 <all>
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