Charles Rangel, trailblazing Black congressional voice, dead at 94

WASHINGTON — Former Rep. Charles Rangel, a New York politician who served 23 terms representing Harlem in the U.S. House of Representatives, has died at age 94. No cause of death was released for the trailblazing lawmaker, who helped found the Congressional Black Caucus and was one of the longest-serving House members in history.

"Congressman Rangel was the very definition of a life devoted to public service,” the CBC said in a statement following his death on May 26. “Known affectionately as the ‘Lion of Lenox Avenue,’ his legacy is one of tireless advocacy, historic firsts, and unwavering dedication to justice and equality."

Born in Harlem to Puerto Rican and African-American parents in 1930, Rangel was raised by a single mother and raised Catholic. He attended the Jesuits’ St. Aloysius Catholic Church as a child, serving as an altar boy. He enlisted in the Army after dropping out of high school and served in a segregated unit during the Korean War. He received a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star with Valor for his actions during the Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River in 1950, wherein he was nearly killed but led a battalion to safety despite his status as a private.

Rangel later finished high school and graduated from New York University in 1957, later receiving a law degree from St. John’s University and being hired at a Black law firm. He was appointed assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York in 1961 and entered politics in 1963, forming alliances with Harlem Democrats and civil rights leaders.

He marched in Selma with Dr. Martin Luther King in 1965, launching a successful campaign for the New York State Assembly soon after. He served in the state legislature for four years before challenging the first Black congressman from the Northeast, Adam Clayton Powell Jr., for the 18th district congressional seat amid the latter’s corruption scandal.

Rangel won the hotly contested Democratic primary in 1970 by a razor-thin margin, ascending to the House in a landslide that fall. He was reelected throughout the next four decades, often with the endorsement of both major parties. His policies on the drug trade and social welfare were of particular note, and he also supported anti-war causes and investigations of political corruption.

He was a member of the so-called “Gang of Four,” a group of Black Harlem Democrats who achieved high public office in the late 20th century. Rangel became a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus in 1971 and three years later was appointed to the House Ways and Means Committee, cementing his role as a major power broker in Washington.

During the 1980s and 1990s, Rangel’s legislation helped establish tax credits for low-income housing and businesses in struggling inner-city areas nationwide, and helped pass the Tax Reform Act of 1986, which was also beneficial for the poor. He was arrested in the U.S. on several occasions for protests against racial and economic injustice taking place in New York and around the world.

Rangel continued his rise in the House ranks during the 21st century, helping to spearhead efforts opposing the Iraq War amid a Democratic minority and moving to reintroduce the draft—so as to reduce the disproportionate number of poor minorities on the frontlines.

After Democrats retook the House in 2007, Rangel became the first Black chair of the Ways and Means Committee and led the passage of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. He served as chair for three years before a series of financial allegations portended his exit from Congress, much like his predecessor Powell.

Rangel took leave as Ways and Means chair in 2010, shortly before formal House ethics charges were brought against him. He was found guilty on 11 of 12 charges and censured, though he continued a bid for reelection, defeating a new crop of empowered challengers. With a rapidly shifting demographic base in his frequently redrawn jurisdiction (the 13th district in his later years in Congress), Rangel faced an upstart in Adriano Espaillat in the 2012 Democratic primary, narrowly winning and returning to the House in his 80s.

“Congressman Rangel was an iconic figure and a devoted patriot,” said Espaillat on May 28, the same day he introduced legislation to posthumously award him the Congressional Gold Medal.

“Charlie was an inspiration and embodied the truest form of leadership in public service, steadied in his faith and faithfulness in the American people, and a giant unmatched in his leadership, compassion, and commitment to upholding the values of our nation.”

Rangel won a final term in Congress in 2014, again edging Espaillat in the primary before cruising in the general election as he had done throughout his career. Following his retirement in 2017, Rangel served as a statesman-in-residence at the City College of New York, the home of the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service that had been at the center of his ethics violations in years prior. 

A Catholic throughout his life, Rangel was close to various Church institutions in Harlem, including the Franciscan Handmaids of the Most Pure Heart of Mary, one of the nation’s three Black Catholic women’s orders. He was also present during Pope John Paul II’s visit to Cuba in 1998. Even so, Rangel noted in his 2008 memoir, “And I Haven't Had a Bad Day Since,” his break from the Church on various points of doctrine and on the hierarchy’s perceived silence concerning some social issues.

During his final term, Rangel expressed high admiration for Pope Francis during the pontiff’s visit to the U.S. in 2015, where he gave an address to Congress that Rangel called “magnificently rendered.”

“No one in my life has been more inspiring,” he added.

Rangel was a resident of Lenox Terrace in Harlem in his final years, and was predeceased by his wife of 60 years, Alma, who died in 2024. He is survived by a son, Steven Rangel, daughter Alicia Haughton, and three grandsons.

Flags flew at half-staff in New York after news of Range’s death was announced. They will again be lowered on the day of his funeral Mass in New York, to be held publicly at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Friday, June 13 at 9:45am ET. He will lie in repose at his childhood parish of St. Aloysius from June 9-10, and at New York City Hall from July 11-12.

Nate Tinner-Williams is co-founder and editor of Black Catholic Messenger.

Want to donate to BCM? You have options.

b.) click to give (fee-free) on Zeffy

b.) click to give on Facebook