Henry William "Chuck" Espy III (born April 24, 1975) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

politician. Espy is Mayor of

Clarksdale, Mississippi Clarksdale is a city in and the county seat of Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States. It is located along the Sunflower River. Clarksdale is named after John Clark, a settler who founded the city in the mid-19th century when he establishe ...

, elected June 2017. He also was a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives from 2000 to 2016.

Biography

Chuck Espy served with distinction in the

Mississippi House of Representatives The Mississippi House of Representatives is the lower house of the Mississippi Legislature, the lawmaking body of the U.S. state of Mississippi. According to the state constitution of 1890, it is to comprise no more than 122 members elected fo ...

for sixteen years. He was elected from District 26 in 1999 and created legislation that has impacted the lives of all people across the state. He has spoken on the House floor against Voter ID in the State of Mississippi. He also voted to protect retired teachers’ 13th check and to fully fund the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP). However, the legislation Espy is most proud of is the bill he co-authored in 2010 – the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) – which gave health insurance to thousands of Mississippi children. Espy received his Bachelors of Science in Business Management from Southern University in Baton Rouge, LA. and received his Master's in Business Administration from Bethel University in McKenzie, TN. Espy is president of Century Funeral Home and Burial Association, a family business that will celebrate 100 years of services this year. To address economic inequities for families in crisis in his legislative district, Espy founded The Chuck Espy Foundation. This endowment was supported by his legislative salary and matching donor contributions. Espy has a strong spiritual faith and was baptized into the United Methodist Church as an infant. He is a member of the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

Omega Psi Phi Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African-American fraternity. The fraternity was founded on November 17, 1911, by three Howard University juniors Edgar Amos Love, Oscar James Cooper and Frank Coleman, and their faculty advi ...

fraternity. and a Prince Hall Mason. As a member of the State Legislature, he served as Chairman of the Philanthropic Development Committee, Chairman of the Investigation of State Offices, and Chairman of the Foundation for Education and Economic Development (FEED), a charity organization founded by the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus. His father is former Clarksdale mayor

Henry Espy Henry Espy was the Mayor of Clarksdale, Mississippi until 2013. He is the brother of former United States Secretary of Agriculture, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy and father of Mississippi House of Representatives, Mississippi state Repres ...

and his uncle is former

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other governments. The department includes several organi ...

Mike Espy.

References

1975 births Living people African-American mayors in Mississippi Democratic Party members of the Mississippi House of Representatives 21st-century American politicians {{Mississippi-politician-stub