{"id":3751,"date":"2020-12-03T12:39:19","date_gmt":"2020-12-03T17:39:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/archives\/?p=3751"},"modified":"2020-12-03T12:43:07","modified_gmt":"2020-12-03T17:43:07","slug":"object-of-the-week-congressman-donald-payne-greeting-congressman-john-lewis-and-bono","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/archives\/2020\/12\/object-of-the-week-congressman-donald-payne-greeting-congressman-john-lewis-and-bono\/","title":{"rendered":"Object of the Week: Congressman Donald Payne greets Congressman John Lewis and Bono"},"content":{"rendered":"

DECEMBER IS UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHTS MONTH<\/strong><\/p>\n

Donald M. Payne served as a U.S. Representative for New Jersey\u2019s 10th Congressional District from 1989 through 2012 and was the state\u2019s first African American congressional representative.\u00a0 Born and raised in Newark, he is an alumnus of Seton Hall University where he earned his bachelor\u2019s degree in 1957 before continuing his studies at the graduate level at Springfield College in Massachusetts.[1]<\/a> Before his life in politics, Donald M. Payne was an executive at Prudential Financial, served as vice president at Urban Data Systems and taught in Newark\u2019s Public Schools.\u00a0 In 1970, he became the first black president of the National Council of\u00a0Y.M.C.A.s before becoming Chairman of the World Y.M.C.A. Refugee and Rehabilitation Committee.\u00a0 In 1972, Payne ran for a seat on the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders and was elected \u2013 serving three terms in total. He also served three terms on the Newark Municipal council from 1982 to 1988.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

During his time in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Payne served on many important committees and was a leading advocate for education, democracy, and human rights.\u00a0 In his first term as congressional representative, Donald Payne was appointed to the House Committee on Education and Labor and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. During his subsequent eleven terms in Congress, he also served on the following;\u00a0 Subcommittee on Workforce Protections; the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education; the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, of which he was also the chairman; the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere; and the Subcommittee on Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight. He was also a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, serving as chair from 1995-1997.\u00a0 He belonged to several other congressional caucuses, including the Progressive Caucus and the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, and co-founded the Sudan Caucus in 2005. [3]<\/a><\/p>\n

\"from<\/a>
from the left: U.S. Representative Gregory Meeks – NY (L) with Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangar\u0129 Muta Maathai, Representative Donald Payne and Ambassador Leonard Ngaithe – Courtesy of Archives and Special Collections, MSS 0078<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1994, Representative Payne led an official delegation to Rwanda, seeking to end the ethnic violence that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. He was also among the first to publicly denounce the Sudanese genocide in the country\u2019s Darfur region in 2003.\u00a0 Later, Payne called for an international tribunal which brought Sudanese militia members responsible for the massacres to justice.[4]<\/a>\u00a0 Representative Payne championed the Africa Growth and Opportunities Act (2000) to promote African economic development and trade with the US. He sponsored or co-sponsored dozens of bills to help African countries economically, support peace, expand agricultural programs, provide safe drinking water and promote educational opportunities for millions of children. In 2008 he had a key role in the authorization of up to $48 billion over 5 years to fight HIV\/AIDS, a substantial portion of it going to Africa.[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

Upon his death in 2012, Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam, professor of political science at California State University, San Bernardino and expert in human rights law, eulogized Representative Payne in Ethiopian<\/em> News and Views<\/em>: \u201cHis passing marks a major setback to the cause of freedom, democracy and human rights in Ethiopia and Africa. But Don Payne has left us a rich legacy of human rights advocacy and legislative action spanning over two decades. It is now our burden \u2014 indeed our moral duty \u2014 to build, to expand and to deliver on that legacy.\u201d[6]<\/a>\u00a0 The son of a chauffeur and lumber handler, Representative Payne worked his way through college while attending Seton Hall University.\u00a0 He said, \u201cWe have to understand there are no more impossible dreams for black youngsters. They can do basically anything they want to do, and if I\u2019m a prime example of that, all the better.\u201d[7]<\/a>\u00a0 Whether serving on a global scale as a human rights activist, or motivating black youth locally, both messages are inspiring and demonstrate Payne\u2019s unwavering commitment to service.\u00a0 The Donald M. Payne Sr. Global Foundation continues Representative Payne\u2019s work as a global human rights advocate and community activist.\u00a0 You can watch this documentary video, The Life of Congressman Donald M. Payne<\/em>, Sr<\/em>.<\/a> to learn more about his life\u2019s work.<\/p>\n\n\n