Harlem’s longtime former congressman Charlie Rangel has died at age 94. A founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus and the first Black chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, Rangel served in Congress for 46 years after being elected to the House of Representatives in 1971. Throughout his tenure he sponsored 40 bills and resolutions that became law, including former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. His other legislative achievements included the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and the “Rangel Amendment,” which helped usher in the end of apartheid in South Africa. Even after he left Congress in 2017, Rangel remained politically active. He was the last surviving member of the “Gang of Four,” a group of Black elder statesmen from Harlem who ascended to top political posts. He is survived by two children and several grandchildren. His wife Alma, whom he met in the 1950s on the dance floor of Harlem’s legendary Savoy Ballroom, died in October, also at age 94.
