Congressman Donald Payne dies

[FAH1223]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46639967

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - U.S. Rep. Donald Payne, the first black elected to represent New Jersey in Congress, died Tuesday. He was 77.

Payne's brother, William, said he died at St. Barnabas Hospital.

The 12-term member of the House had announced in February that he was undergoing treatment for colon cancer and would continue to represent his district.

He had held his congressional seat since 1988 and was elected to a 12th term in 2010. He represented the 10th District, which includes the city of Newark and parts of Essex, Hudson and Union counties.

Payne was a member of House committees on education and foreign affairs. He also had served as chairman of the House subcommittee on Africa, and had traveled many times to the continent on foreign affairs matters.

During an April 2009, mortar shells were fired toward Mogadishu airport as a plane carrying Payne took off safely from the Somali capital. Officials at the time said 19 civilians were injured in residential areas. Payne had met with Somalia's president and prime minister during his one-day visit to Mogadishu to discuss piracy, security and cooperation between Somalia and the United States.

.Payne had been chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus and a congressional delegate to the United Nations. He also was a member of the Newark City Council from 1982 until 1988 and was a teacher in Newark for 15 years. He also served as president of the national YMCA. He earned a bachelor's degree from Seton Hall University in 1957.

Payne was a widower with three children and four grandchildren. His son, Donald Payne Jr., is a Newark city councilman.

[IRONm@N]

Donald Payne in Mogadishu. he cared about Somaia a lot raised Somali issues in Congress.

(Reuters) - Representative Donald Payne, 77, New Jersey's first and only African-American congressman, died on Tuesday after battling colon cancer, his brother said.

Payne, a Democrat elected in 1988 to represent northeastern New Jersey, died of complications of colon cancer early Tuesday morning at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, New Jersey, said William Payne, his brother and a former New Jersey Assemblyman.

"His legacy in Congress will be that he served the small man," William Payne said. "Although he walked among kings, he never lost the common touch. He was concerned about people who needed food stamps."

Payne, a former president of the national YMCA, served as chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.

He was the ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Human Rights, once coming under gunfire from rebels as his plane departed Somalia's capital Mogadishu after a meeting with the African nation's leaders.

Born in Newark, New Jersey, Payne was a widower with three adult children, including his son Donald Payne Jr., president of the Newark Municipal Council

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/ ... XN20120306

[waryaa]

ooh - black community has lost a great man, first black congressman

[FAH1223]

ooh - black community has lost a great man, first black congressman

first black congressman fron New Jersey

[MenaceToSociety]

FAH..let me know GPK's location once I get to toronto just like how u revealed my location last Time

[IRONm@N]

I can't believe you steal my thread

[union]

Save the crocodile tears fah. waa kafir bakhtiyay

[waryaa]

ooh - black community has lost a great man, first black congressman

first black congressman fron New Jersey

lol - was he part of black movement in early sixties? If he is the one I think he is, he was 1st black on something

[Jaidi]

I remember this guy was the only American politician who opposed Ethiopian invasion in 2007. He had some big comments against Zenawi then. The man knew his stuff and was a good politician.


Here he is criticizing Ethiopia on Ogaden region. Zenawi hated this guy, called him biased and an enemy. He even visited Afwerki which went against US policy on Eriteria as well.

[Advo]

He will be missed!