A founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus, Rangel – born in Harlem on June 11, 1930 – was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1971 to 2017.

He was the first African American to chair the influential Ways and Means Committee.

His death was announced by the City College of New York, where, after retiring from Congress in 2017, he served as statesman-in-residence and launched the Charles B. Rangel Infrastructure Workforce Initiative to foster jobs in the Manhattan and Bronx areas, which he considered his home.

For many, Rangel’s departure marks the end of an era, not only that of a long-lived, sharp and defiant congressman, but of a generation that blazed trails by dint of dignity, courage and the street.

A message sent to Prensa Latina stated that Rangel’s physical departure is “a great loss”, especially because “he was always a friend of Cuba and of our solidarity campaigns in the United States to end the blockade”.

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