Percy Sutton

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Percy Sutton
Manhattan Borough President
In office
September 13, 1966 – December 31, 1977
Preceded byConstance Baker Motley
Succeeded byAndrew Stein
Personal details
Born
Percy Ellis Sutton

(1920-11-24)November 24, 1920
Civil Rights Movement, entrepreneur, lawyer[1]
Military service
Branch/serviceUnited States Army Air Corps
Years of service1941-1945
RankCaptain
Battles/warsWorld War II

Percy Ellis Sutton (November 24, 1920 – December 26, 2009) was an American political and business leader. An activist in the

Freedom Rider and the legal representative for Malcolm X. He was the highest-ranking African-American elected official in New York City when he was Manhattan borough president from 1966 to 1977, the longest tenure at that position. He later became an entrepreneur whose investments included the New York Amsterdam News and the Apollo Theater in Harlem.[1]

Early life, military service, education, and family

Sutton was born in

San Antonio, Texas
, the youngest of fifteen children born to Samuel Johnson ("S.J.") Sutton and his wife, Lillian.

His father, an early civil-rights activist, was one of the first black civil servants a teacher and school administrator in Bexar County, Texas, and used the initials "S.J." for fear his first name, Samuel, would be shortened to Sambo. In addition to being a full-time educator, S.J. farmed, sold real estate and owned a mattress factory, funeral home and skating rink.[2]

Sutton's siblings included G. J. Sutton, who became the first black elected official in San Antonio,[3] and Oliver Sutton, a judge on the New York Supreme Court.

At age twelve, Percy stowed away on a passenger train to New York City, where he slept under a sign on

borough of the city. His oldest sister, Lillian Sutton Taylor, who was 20 years his senior, was attending Columbia Teacher's College at the time. His oldest brother, John Sutton, a food scientist who had studied under George Washington Carver, and also in Russia
, was living in New York at the time Percy arrived there.

His family was committed to civil rights, and he bristled at racism. At age thirteen, while passing out leaflets in an all-white neighborhood for the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP), he was beaten by a policeman.

He joined the

Eagle Scout in 1936 and was recognized with the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award as an adult. Sutton stated that scouting was a key factor in shaping his life.[4] Percy and Leatrice Sutton married in 1943. He later took up stunt-flying on the barnstorming
circuit, but gave it up after a friend crashed.

During World War II, he served as an

Mediterranean theaters
.

Sutton attended [

LL.B. from the latter institution in 1950.[2][5]
Shortly thereafter, he was admitted to the New York bar.

Legal career

During the 1950s and 1960s, Sutton became one of America's best-known lawyers. He represented many controversial figures, such as Malcolm X. After the murder of Malcolm X in 1965, Sutton and his brother Oliver helped to cover the expenses of his widow, Betty Shabazz.[citation needed]

Sutton's civil-rights advocacy took him even further in the minds of many. Being jailed with Stokely Carmichael and other activists endeared him to the Harlem community and showed many that he was willing to place himself in harm's way for his client's sake.[clarification needed]

Harlem leader

Sutton was a longtime leader in Harlem politics, and was a leader of the

New York Governor in 2008. Sutton was the one who told David Paterson he should run for the State Senate. He also was a life member of the Kappa Alpha Psi
fraternity.

Political career

He was a member of the

ran for the Democratic nomination for New York City Mayor against Bella Abzug, a former U.S. Representative; U.S. Representative Herman Badillo; incumbent New York City Mayor Abraham Beame; New York Secretary of State Mario Cuomo; and U.S. Representative Ed Koch; Koch won the nomination and the general election.[citation needed
]

In his race for mayor, Sutton surprised his

liberal political base when he turned temporarily to the right. He assailed the rising crime rate, as he termed the situation "a city turned sick with the fear of crime". He attacked criminals for "cheating, stealing, and driving away our families and our jobs."[7] His candidacy was fatally injured by racial backlash that followed the looting and arson during the New York City blackout of 1977, directly precipitating his retrenchment from politics:[8]

"It was an especially cruel fate for ... Sutton, a master builder of color-blind alliances, who had long been tapped most likely to become New York's first black mayor. (New York magazine titled a May 1974 Sutton profile 'Guess Who's Coming to Gracie Mansion?'")[9][10]

Private sector

In 1971, Sutton cofounded the Inner City Broadcasting Corporation which purchased New York City's WLIB-AM, and WBLS FM the city's first African-American-owned radio station.[11]

Sutton served in the New York City Police Department Auxiliary Police during the late 1970s.[12]

Sutton produced

It's Showtime at the Apollo, a syndicated
, music television show first broadcast on September 12, 1987.

Awards and honors

In 1987, Sutton was awarded the Spingarn Medal, an award presented annually by the NAACP for outstanding achievement by an African American. In 1992, he received a Candace Award from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women.[13]

See also

Further reading

  • John C. Walker,The Harlem Fox: J. Raymond Jones at Tammany 1920:1970, New York: State University New York Press, 1989.
  • David N. Dinkins
    , A Mayor's Life: Governing New York's Gorgeous Mosaic, PublicAffairs Books, 2013
  • Rangel, Charles B.; Wynter, Leon (2007)And I Haven't Had a Bad Day Since: From the Streets of Harlem to the Halls of Congress. New York: St. Martin's Press.
  • Black, Blind, & In Charge: A Story of Visionary Leadership and Overcoming Adversity
    . New York, New York, 2020

References

  1. ^ a b Salazar, Cristian (December 27, 2009). "Percy Sutton, Attorney for Malcolm X, Dies at 89 — Percy Sutton, Attorney for Malcolm X and Pioneering Media Mogul, Dies at 89". The Associated Press (via ABC News). Accessed December 27, 2009.
  2. ^ a b Martin, Douglas. "Percy E. Sutton, Political Trailblazer, Dies at 89", The New York Times, December 28, 2009.
  3. ^ [1] Handbook of Texas Online. Accessed July 11, 2023.
  4. ISBN 0-312-36653-1
    . Retrieved December 29, 2006.
  5. ^ "Tribute to Percy Sutton, Class of 1950". 25 February 2010.
  6. New York Times
    on September 14, 1966 (subscription required)
  7. ISBN 9781400042623
  8. OCLC 56057911
    .
  9. New York Magazine
    . p. 39.
  10. OCLC 56057911
    .
  11. ^ Fahim, Kareem & Solie, Stacey. "In Harlem, Reflections on the Life of Percy Sutton," The New York Times, Monday, December 28, 2009.
  12. ^ New York Magazine article on Sutton, books.google.com
  13. ^ "Camille Cosby, Kathleen Battle Win Candace Awards". Jet. 82 (13): 16–17. July 20, 1992.

The African American Registry[clarification needed]

External links

New York State Assembly
Preceded by New York State Assembly
New York County, 11th District
1965 		Succeeded by
district abolished
Preceded by
new district
 New York State Assembly
77th District
1966 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by
Borough President of Manhattan

1966–1977 		Succeeded by
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