American Historical Ephemera and Photography, Featuring African Americana

Typed "Statement by Percy E. Sutton / President, Borough of Manhattan / at Gary, Indiana, Sunday, March 11th." 13pp, 8 1/2 x 14 in. (toning, light wear).

Suttons writes at length regarding Black political history and power, urging a new course for the Black community: "I suggest that it is possible for Black people to develop a strategy, to develop unity and power, at the 1972 national convention. We can force, at least, the Democratic Party to react to a strategy developed and executed by Black Americans. / We gather here at Gary, Indiana to, among other things, talk of a national strategy. We gather to put a halt to our being used in strategy of others. We gather to gain power; not to give up power." Sutton later outlines the purpose of the convention as he sees it: "first to set forth a program for the achievement of Black political and economic power and secondly to unite behind a Black presidential candidacy which will serve as the symbol and the focus of a new national Black political movement." He ultimately concludes by advocating the candidacy of Congresswoman Shirley Chisolm.

The National Black Political Convention, or the "Gary Convention," was held March 10-12, 1972, in Gary, Indiana. Approximately ten thousand African Americans gathered to strategize ways in which the community could increase the number of Black politicians in office and advocate for fundamental economic, societal, and political change to benefit Black communities. Though the convention was headlined by notables including Richard Hatcher, Jesse Jackson, and Charles C. Diggs, Jr., Percy E. Sutton would have been a highly-respected and widely recognized voice on behalf of the African American community. Sutton was a longtime activist in the Civil Rights Movement. He served as an intelligence officer with the Tuskegee Airmen, a Freedom Rider, served as legal counsel to Malcolm X, and was an influential leader in Harlem politics. In September 1966 he was elected Borough President of Manhattan, remaining in the post until 1977. It was while serving in this capacity that Sutton authored this powerful statement for the National Black Convention.