Former Rep. John Conyers Has Died
Last edited Sun Oct 27, 2019, 05:19 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: BuzzFeed News
Former representative John Conyers, a civil rights icon whose decades-long career in Congress ended when he was accused of sexual harassment and abuse by multiple women, died on Sunday, a family spokesperson told BuzzFeed News.
Conyers, 90, represented a Detroit, Michigan, district from 1965 until his resignation in December 2017. At the time of his resignation he was the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives and the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee. He died in his sleep, his son told PBS News Hour.
Conyers was a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus and renowned for his work supporting voter registration drives and providing legal representation for black voting rights activists during the civil rights movement. He was lauded by Martin Luther King Jr., was Rosa Parks's boss for more than 20 years after he hired her as an aide, and was named in former president Richard Nixon's "Enemies List." Conyers was the first black member of Congress to serve on the House Judiciary Committee. He would go on to be the first black chair of the committee in 2007.
Conyers, an attorney, cosponsored the original Voting Rights Act of 1965. And just days after King was assassinated in 1968, Conyers introduced a bill that would create a federal holiday in honor of King, years before Ronald Reagan would eventually sign it into law...
Read more: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/lissandravilla/former-rep-john-conyers-died
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Conyers
- Detroit Free Press, 'U.S. Rep. John Conyers, former dean of Congress, dies at the age of 90' Oct. 27, 2019
U.S. Rep. John Conyers, a civil rights icon whose five decades in Congress were tarnished in his final years in office, died Sunday of natural causes at the age of 90, according to several friends. His death come after a long and illustrious career that spanned more than 50 years and 27 terms in office, but ended in 2018 with a resignation amidst claims of sexual harassment and verbal abuse of employees and misuse of taxpayer funds to cover-up those claims.
Conyers' tenure was a remarkable 53-year-run during which the lawmaker, the son of a well-known labor lawyer in Detroit, compiled a near-record legacy of civil rights activism, longevity and advocacy for the poor and underprivileged. He died with the sixth-longest tenure in congressional history. "For a long time he was black America's congressman," said Sam Riddle, a longtime family friend and consultant to the Conyers family, who confirmed the death Sunday. "On the streets of Detroit, he'll be mourned."
Conyers was born in Detroit and graduated from Northwestern High School. After a tour of duty with the U.S. Army during the Korean War, Conyers returned home to earn bachelor's and law degrees from Wayne State University. His law practice and work in the auto plants in Detroit led him to the office of former U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, where he worked as a legislative assistant for three years. But by 1964, at the age of 35, Conyers went after a seat of his own in Congress, winning the first of 27 general elections and serving portions of Detroit and some surrounding Wayne County suburbs for the next five decades.
He may not have had many bills that carried his name only 26 of the 712 bills he introduced became law, according to the Library of Congress but he fought for issues of civil rights and social justice, including seeking reparations for the descendants of African-American slaves, modifying the mandatory sentences for those convicted of non- violent drug crimes, defending assaults on the Voting Rights Act, reforming laws that put juvenile offenders in prison for life and calling for investigations into police brutality of African-American men.
And he was the key sponsor of the bill, introduced each session for 20 years, that designated the third Monday of January as a federal holiday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Conyers introduced the bill four days after King was assassinated in 1968, but it wasnt signed into law until 1989. In the thick of the civil rights battles, Conyers walked alongside King and other leaders of the movement in Selma, Ala., to bring equal voting rights to blacks...more.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/us-rep-john-conyers-former-dean-of-congress-dies-at-the-age-of-90/ar-AAJqPu4?ocid=HPCOMMDHP15
Response to appalachiablue (Original post)
applegrove This message was self-deleted by its author.
I_have_had_enough
(41 posts)Back when I was in collage as a volunteer for a summer.(1982)
Remember him as cheerful.
How sad to think of how much has changed for the worse...
Response to I_have_had_enough (Reply #21)
applegrove This message was self-deleted by its author.
BumRushDaShow
(129,067 posts)CNN just had a breaking -
By Nia-Malika Henderson, CNN
Updated 4:16 PM ET, Sun October 27, 2019
Washington (CNN)Former Rep. John Conyers, a longtime Michigan Democrat who represented parts of Detroit for more than 50 years before his resignation in 2017, died Sunday, his son, John Conyers III, told CNN.
A founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus, Conyers was known as pushing a series of liberal causes, especially from his perch on the Judiciary Committee. He at one time served as chairman of the panel.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/27/politics/john-conyers-michigan-representative-dies/index.html
That's 2 stalwarts in a week.
He originated the famous "H.R. 40" for reparations, that he started back in the '60s, and that continues to be reintroduced every year.
R.I.P.
appalachiablue
(41,140 posts)the Buzzfeed piece but don't like the lede.
BumRushDaShow
(129,067 posts)the others were steeped in the weekend sports (WaPo has been excessively ruminating on the Nats-Astros game) and repeating older news (I guess that happens on weekends).
Not long after the CNN breaking came out, the others reluctantly started their breaking news banners.
appalachiablue
(41,140 posts)BumRushDaShow
(129,067 posts)Great article!
I expect many in Congress may be attending that funeral as well.
George II
(67,782 posts)https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_National_Health_Care_Act#targetText=The%20United%20States%20National%20Health
BumRushDaShow
(129,067 posts)when Medicare was first enacted so he knew about all the sausage-making that went on with getting Medicare on the books in 1965.
iluvtennis
(19,861 posts)Gothmog
(145,291 posts)sinkingfeeling
(51,457 posts)forgotmylogin
(7,529 posts)muntrv
(14,505 posts)BlueMTexpat
(15,369 posts)have been reunited. RIP, Rep. Conyers!
icymist
(15,888 posts)NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)Anon-C
(3,430 posts)Backseat Driver
(4,392 posts)Hulk
(6,699 posts)That's how my father died. Good for him. He was a good, good man. He deserved no less.
gopiscrap
(23,761 posts)DinahMoeHum
(21,794 posts)I first heard of him way back in 1973-4 when I read he was on Nixon's "enemies list"
George II
(67,782 posts)...the year before the Watergate breakin, I believe.
H2O Man
(73,558 posts)Recommended.
I first learned about him in the mid-1970s. He was an active supporter of Rubin Carter then, and attended a number of fund-raisers for the defense fund.
mountain grammy
(26,623 posts)Rest In Peace
NBachers
(17,119 posts)An imperfect man with perfect goals.
Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(108,010 posts)Another good man passes
sheshe2
(83,785 posts)Peace to you and your family.
politicaljunkie41910
(3,335 posts)To have served his country in the Army during the Korean War, and was able to go on and complete a Bachelor's and Law Degree, is quite a feat in itself. But then to go on and run for, and win 27 general elections in Congress is something we can all be proud of.
May the Honorable John Conyers, rest in peace. His family has much to be proud of. Our children of color need to know his legacy.
2naSalit
(86,646 posts)DFW
(54,403 posts)A summer intern, he used to tell me about the "fiery JC" he worked for. Smart, quite a temper, and never boring.
By the time I met "JC," he was about 80, had already had his stroke, and was a calm, eloquent, dignified elder statesman. This was at the Denver Convention where Obama was first nominated. He was about 80, and he would take time to explain the workings of Congress to younger people and hand out his business card to 12 year olds and tell them to keep aware of the world around them, maybe themselves intern for him in 5 or 6 years.
If his hormones got the better of him in the time when my brother worked for him, there was no trace of that by the time I met him. Just a quiet, forceful, but softly spoken great intellect who seemed to know he had accomplished much, and that his time was drawing to a close.
Mickju
(1,803 posts)I am sorry to hear this great man has passed.
Liberty Belle
(9,535 posts)A lot of people may not know that way back in 2009, he authored a healthcare for all bill. Too bad it didn't pass.
RIP,Senator Conyers, one of the greatest legislators of all time in my view. How sad to lose two civil rights giants in a single week.
greatauntoftriplets
(175,742 posts)Pepsidog
(6,254 posts)StarryNite
(9,446 posts)Kid Berwyn
(14,908 posts)He held all people equal and held the powerful to account.
Hasta Siempre, Hermano.