Jesse Gray (May 14, 1923 – January 2, 1988) was an American civil rights leader and politician from New York.

Biography

Jesse Gray was born on May 14, 1923, near

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties ...

. He came to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and was a tailor and a member of the National Maritime Union in the 1940s. He organized protests of tenants against conditions in Harlem's slum areas in the 1950s. In November 1963, he led a widespread

rent strike A rent strike is a method of protest commonly employed against large landlords. In a rent strike, a group of tenants come together and agree to refuse to pay their rent ''en masse'' until a specific list of demands is met by the landlord. This ca ...

. To emphasize bad conditions and infestation with vermin, the tenants caught rats in their tenements and showed them to the judge of the

New York City Civil Court The Civil Court of the City of New York is a civil court of the New York State Unified Court System in New York City that decides lawsuits involving claims for damages up to $25,000 and includes a small claims part (small claims court) for cases i ...

. No measures were taken to better the conditions, and the protesters rioted the next year. He became head of the Community Council for Housing, and organized the National Tenants Organization. He also entered politics as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. In 1969, he ran unsuccessfully for the New York City Council. In 1970, he challenged Congressman

Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (November 29, 1908 – April 4, 1972) was an American Baptist pastor and politician who represented the Harlem neighborhood of New York City in the United States House of Representatives from 1945 until 1971. He was t ...

, but was defeated. Gray was elected to the New York State Assembly (70th D.) in November 1972, and was a member in 1973 and 1974. In 1974, he ran for re-nomination, but was defeated in the Democratic primary. He died on January 2, 1988, at the Beth Abraham Home in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, after lying in a coma for several years.''Jesse Gray, 64, Leader Of Harlem Rent Strikes''
in the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' on April 5, 1988

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Jesse 1923 births 1988 deaths People from Harlem African-American state legislators in New York (state) Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly People from Baton Rouge, Louisiana 20th-century American politicians Politicians from New York City 20th-century African-American politicians