Kweisi Mfume

Kweisi Mfume ( born October 24, 1948 as Frizzell Gerard Gray in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American civil rights activist and politician. Between 1987 and 1996 he represented the state of Maryland in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Career

Frizzell Gray attended the common schools and then studied until 1976 at the Morgan State University, also in Baltimore. During this time he changed his name officially in Kweisi Mfume ( " victorious son of kings " ) to emphasize his African roots. In 1984, he completed his training after a study at Johns Hopkins University. In the following years, he served as Assistant Professor at Morgan State University. He was also program director of a radio station. At the same time he proposed as a member of the Democratic Party launched a political career. Between 1979 and 1986, Mfume sat on the city council of Baltimore.

In the congressional elections of 1986 he was in the seventh election district of Maryland in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington DC chosen, where he became the successor of Parren Mitchell on January 3, 1987. After four elections he could remain until his resignation on 15 February 1996 in the Congress. Mfumes resignation was after his appointment as successor of Earl Shinhoster as CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP ), the nationwide association to improve the situation of the African American population. He continued in this position until 2004. During the same year he was a candidate in the primaries of his party for election to the U.S. Senate, but he was defeated Ben Cardin.