IV 

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; 


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•HRES 1349 IH 

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 AfricanAmerican 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 


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•HRES 1349 IH 

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 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives recog2 nizes Percy Sutton, one of New York’s leading public fig3 ures, for his many years of service to the State of New 

4 York and the Nation as a defender of equal rights, justice, 

5 and economic opportunity for all people in the United 

6 States. 

Æ 


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