Adam Clayton Powell Jr. was born on Nov. 29, 1908, in New Haven, Conn. His privileged upbringing was far removed from the struggles of the people whose causes he would later champion.

He graduated from Colgate University in 1930 and Columbia University in 1932 with a masters in religious studies. In 1937, his father handed him the pulpit of Harlem’s famed Abyssinian Baptist Church.

In Harlem, Powell saw domestic workers selling their housecleaning services for 10 cents an hour. He learned that while he lived in a comfortable home, most of Harlem’s children were hungry.

This was his rude awakening, and his destiny to fight for civil and social rights was sealed.

His first community charge was to help black doctors who were denied employment at Harlem Hospital, even though it was the only public hospital in the all-black community. It was Powell’s first march on a picket line.

Powell wrote of the experience, “Something happened to me. The people of the streets, the failure, the misfits, the despised, the maimed, the beaten, the sightless, the voiceless, had made a captive of me, and I was to know no other love than these people.”

Powell was a charismatic and fiery speaker, often mixing politics and civil-rights issues into his sermons.

Powell started the “Buy Black” campaign, in which he urged Harlem residents not to shop where they could not work. The campaign targeted stores on the main business thoroughfare of 125th Street that refused to admit African-Americans into their workforce.

When Con Edison refused to hire blacks, Powell organized a “Black Out Tuesday.” The next target was the phone company. Powell urged residents to use the operator for every call, which jammed up the dialing system.

These successful campaigns highlighted the power of organization within the black community, as well as the commercial strength of the black dollar. Powell coined the phrases “Black power” and “Keep the faith, baby.”

The wildly popular pastor ran for City Council in 1941. He was the first African- American to win the seat. In 1944, he was elected to Congress and became one of the most successful representatives ever.

Powell fought to pass more than 50 pieces of legislation, many of which still today protect working wages He fought for an anti-lynching bill and for school integration. He battled Dixiecrats – the Southern Democrats who opposed the civil-rights platform of their own party. He infuriated his white counterparts when he integrated the House gym and invited black constituents to dine with him in the “white only” dining room at the Capitol.

His famous “Powell Amendment” stopped any agency requests for federal funds if the agency practiced discrimination. Powell was a shameless fighter and unabashedly human – without apology.

In 1967, Powell was stripped of his congressional seniority and power amidst charges of misuse of funds. He was cleared and regained his seat in 1969. He used his last term to protest the Vietnam War. But the Harlem community voted him out in 1970 in favor of New York Congressman Charles Rangel.

In failing health, Powell resigned from the Abyssinian Baptist Church and retired to the Bahamian island of Bimini, where he died in 1972. His fiery voice was silenced, but the legislation he passed will benefit countless generations of Americans forever.

Harlem’s state office building bears his name, as does the former Seventh Avenue in Harlem, which was changed in 1974 to Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard.

Source: Adam by Adam, 1971, by Adam Clayton Powell Jr.

Today’s lesson fulfills the following New York standards: E1c, E3c, E3d, E4a, E4b, E5a,: Social Studies Standard 1.

Use the Internet or an encyclopedia to learn more about the life and career of Adam Clayton Powell Jr.

Look for articles in today’s paper that involve civil or social rights. Define these terms as they relate to the articles you choose.

Adam Clayton Powell wrote the story of his life, which is called an autobiography. Write a short autobiography of your life.