[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 14] [Extensions of Remarks] [Pages 19403-19404] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]JOHN L. PROCOPE AND THE POWER OF THE BLACK PRESS ______ HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL of new york in the house of representatives Friday, July 29, 2005 Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to John L. Procope, who was my friend and an extraordinary African-American businessman, entrepreneur, and role model. His passing earlier this month is a source of great sadness to a community of colleagues and friends who will greatly miss him. I know that Riverside Church, where he is being memorialized this morning, is filled with many tears, but with many more memories. When the Black newspaper, the Amsterdam News, faced financial troubles and was threatened with closure, John L. Procope stepped forward to ensure that the African-American community in New York continued to have a voice and reliable source of information on the day's news. Knowing the important and significance of the Amsterdam News and other Black newspapers, John ensured that there would continually be a voice for a community that had so long been limited in its advocacy, expression, and information. For generations, the Black press had been the communication hub of the Black community. It had been the voice for the community to its leaders and to each other. It connected the individuals of the community to one another and told the news and events of the day from their perspectives. The Black press questioned and challenged the system of segregation, highlighted and pointed out the social, political and economic inequalities of the community, and disputed and countered the official positions on issues of race and class. The Black press has historically been the pipeline of the concerns and issues of the Harlem community and other Black communities throughout the nation. It remains the compelling, focused, and thoughtful voice of the community and its residents, and it works against financial challenges, to maintain that role. John recognized this important role of the black press as a voice to and of the community. He knew that for the community to flourish the press would have to remain strong. So, when John and his fellow investors saw the Amsterdam News faltering, they came to its rescue and the rescue of the community. John invested in and resurrected the paper. He ensured and maintained its role in Harlem and in Black communities throughout New York City. He continued the paper's important role as advocate, informer, and champion of the Black community. The newspaper nonetheless was not John's only legacy. He ventured his business and economic skills into other arenas to become a successful entrepreneur and a powerful role model. He showed generations of African-Americans that to be successful, you had to be committed and dedicated, and that being successful did not mean forgetting your roots and your community. I submit for the Record two articles from the July 26, 2005 edition of the CaribNews praising John's dedication and commitment to Harlem and the Black community. He will be missed in this community for all that he has done, but he may rest peacefully knowing that he has sowed the seeds for generations of progress. [From the CaribNews; July 26, 2005] Celebrating The Life of John Procope John L. Procope, an entrepreneur and former publisher of The New York Amsterdam News, died on Friday, July 15. He was 82 and lived in Queens. The cause was complications from pneumonia. Mr. Procope, a graduate of Morgan State University, was a marketing and advertising executive at several companies before he joined a consortium that bought The Amsterdam News in 1971. He was one of six co-owners of the newspaper when he succeeded Clarence B. Jones as publisher in 1974. Mr. Procope earned his bachelor's degree in business from Morgan State University, attended business school at New York University and began his career in advertising. A native New Yorker, he was a former president of the National Newspaper Publishers Association. He was also a president of the Harlem Business Alliance and served as a trustee of Howard University for 15 years. The Amsterdam News was founded by James Henry Anderson in 1909. W.E.B. Du Bois, Adam Clayton Powell and Malcolm X are among the famous black Americans who have written for the newspaper. Mr. Procope made waves in the Black community when he denounced the looting that took place after the 1977 blackout in New York by publishing a blistering editorial charging an apparent vacuum of leadership in the Black communities. Subsequently, he was appointed chairman of an Emergency Aid Commission which disbursed about $3 million to grants to businesses hurt by the looting. Mr. Procope left the newspaper in 1982 to focus on E. G. Bowman, an insurance company that had been founded by his wife, Ernesta G. Procope, that was one of the first major African-American-owned businesses on Wall Street. The company's client list started with underserved Brooklyn homeowners but grew to include Fortune 500 companies. [[Page 19404]] Mr. Procope and his wife were a driving force behind the creation of the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements plan in 1968 to help make insurance available to all residents of New York State. He and his wife were also highly visible in political and philanthropic circles. In addition to his wife, he is survived by two sisters, Dr. Jean Martin of Bloomfield, Conn. and Jonelle Terrell of Manhattan. ____ John L. Procope--The Passing of a Leader in Newspaper Publishing and the Consummate Business Leader When John L. Procope died last week in New York City at the age of 82, he left behind a number of things. The first is a rich legacy as an entrepreneur who along with his wife made a success of a business in an area where few Blacks had dared to walk as owners: Wall Street, perhaps the worlds most famous financial district. Secondly, he also left behind a history of having stood on the shoulders of many 19th and 20th century Black newspaper publishers whose organs of information articulated the cause of Black people with verve and determination, during some of the most perilous of times, dating back to era of slavery, through reconstruction, the days of Jim Crow and into the civil rights struggle and right up to these days of immense challenges, successes and failures. People like John Russwurm, who in 1827 was a recent graduate of Bowdoin College, and a young militant minister, the Rev. Samuel Cornish, who created and launched ``Freedom's Journal,'' the first Black newspaper in the United States were the models for later Black publishers. The Freedom's Journal was the expression of a force and energy that paved the way for thousands of other Black newspapers which stood at the forefront of the battle for freedom, decency, human rights, civil liberties and respect for people of color. The Pittsburgh Courier, the Chicago Defender, the New York Amsterdam News and more recent additions to the list of outstanding voices of Black people, including the CaribNews, have and are making names for themselves with their clarion calls for social and economic justice and racial equality in government, business, the church and other areas of life. That Procope was able to lead the Amsterdam News with distinction in the 1970s and early 1980s before he left to devote his full energies to the family business is a measure of the man who like Russwurm traced the roots of his family tree to the Caribbean. His steady hand as the publisher of the Amsterdam News, one of the country's most important Black newspapers, contributed to its viability and while he may not have always pleased all sections of the Black community he certainly made his mark as a voice of reason and frankness, two highly cherished commodities which are often missing in our everyday lives. As a co-owner and the publisher of the paper, Procope established a powerful presence and became a major asset as an advocate for Blacks. He routinely assumed that role with both dignity and clarity, never shrinking from the task at hand, even if it meant stating a fact of life that some Blacks found unpleasant to mention. This sophisticated, business-like an elegant 20th century man recognized that the power of Black business, whether in newspaper publishing, insurance or in other ventures could be magnified through firm but behind the scenes action or public steps grounded in principle but devoid of fear. In his later years, after leaving the Amsterdam News in 1982, a decade after he had joined with a group of Blacks who acquired the paper, Procope, joined E. Bowman, an insurance company founded by his wife, Ernesta G. Procope. He served as Chairman of the Board of the company, which served not only poor Black homeowners of Brooklyn but Fortune 500 companies whose shares. were traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Both Mr. Procope and his wife were noted for their business acumen and their philanthropic impulses. His passing due to complication from pneumonia leaves the City, the business community and the Caribbean much poorer. His wife, two sisters, Dr. Jean Martin of Connecticut and Junelle Terrell of Manhattan and other relatives survive him. ____________________