US civil rights attorney Percy Sutton dies

President Barack Obama on Sunday marked the death of legendary civil rights lawyer and politician Percy Sutton as that of “a true hero to African Americans.”

“His life-long dedication to the fight for civil rights and his career as an entrepreneur and public servant made the rise of countless young African Americans possible,” Obama said in a statement.

Sutton died Saturday in a Manhattan nursery home, his family told The New York Times. He was 89.

“Percy Sutton was a true hero to African Americans in New York City and around the country,” said Obama.

“We will remember him for his service to the country as a Tuskegee airman, to New York State as a state assemblyman, to New York City as Manhattan borough president, and to the community of Harlem in leading the effort to revitalize the world renowned Apollo Theater,” he added.

The Tuskegee Airmen overcame institutional racism during World War II to flourish as the US military’s first ever African-American fighter pilots and were nicknamed “the Red Tails.”

Civil rights leader Reverend Al Sharpton called Sutton “a pioneer” and “the quintessential 20th century African-American.

“No African-American spanned the breadth of disciplines and areas of life like Percy Sutton,” Sharpton told reporters on Sunday.

“We’ve had many that led greatly in one area. We’ve never had one that led greatly in so many different areas in one lifetime,” he said.

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Tags: African Americans, attorney, barack obama, Civil, death, hero, malcom x, percy, rights, sutton