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Rating: 
Summary: Exploration of a fascinating figure.
Review: Hamilton has done an extraordinary job with one of America's most enigmatic political figures. Representative Powell was a man hard to figure by anybody. A rascal, decried as a corrupt politician, loved by his constituents and vilified by much of the establishment.Powell was one of the century's (I guess that is now "last century's") first and longest serving African American members of Congress. He was on the forefront of the campaign against lynching. He brought the moral imperative of the Freedom Rides and the lunch counter sitins going on in the South to the major urban areas of the North. His position as a vociferous champion of civil rights (more than his indiscretions) led his colleagues in the House to try to oust him. When his constituents rejected this initiative and overwhelmingly returned him to Congress, he had to go the the Supreme Court for his right to continue service (even after being stripped of his seniority. Great history, and great reading. A thoroughly engaging subject. Even as an out-of-print book it is well worth waiting for.
Rating:
Summary: Exploration of a fascinating figure.
Review: Hamilton has done an extraordinary job with one of America's most enigmatic political figures. Representative Powell was a man hard to figure by anybody. A rascal, decried as a corrupt politician, loved by his constituents and vilified by much of the establishment. Powell was one of the century's (I guess that is now "last century's") first and longest serving African American members of Congress. He was on the forefront of the campaign against lynching. He brought the moral imperative of the Freedom Rides and the lunch counter sitins going on in the South to the major urban areas of the North. His position as a vociferous champion of civil rights (more than his indiscretions) led his colleagues in the House to try to oust him. When his constituents rejected this initiative and overwhelmingly returned him to Congress, he had to go the the Supreme Court for his right to continue service (even after being stripped of his seniority. Great history, and great reading. A thoroughly engaging subject. Even as an out-of-print book it is well worth waiting for.
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