Civil rights lawyer, media mogul and political adviser, dies

Percy Sutton, 89, the pioneering civil rights lawyer who represented Malcolm X before launching successful careers as a political power broker and media mogul, died Dec. 26 in New York. Marissa Shorenstein, a spokeswoman for New York Gov. David Paterson, confirmed Mr. Sutton's death but did not know the cause.

His daughter, Cheryl Sutton, declined to comment Saturday when reached by phone at her New York home.

Mr. Sutton, the son of a former slave, became a fixture on 125th Street in Harlem after moving to New York following his service with the famed Tuskegee Airmen in World War II. His Harlem law office, founded in 1953, represented Malcolm X and the slain activist's family for decades.

A consummate politician, Mr. Sutton served in the New York State Assembly before taking over as Manhattan borough president in 1966, becoming the state's highest-ranking black elected official. He also mounted unsuccessful campaigns for the U.S. Senate and mayor of New York and was a political mentor for the Rev. Jesse Jackson's two presidential races.

Jackson recalled Mr. Sutton talking about electing a black president as early as 1972, and Mr. Sutton was influential in getting Jackson's 1984 campaign going, he said.

"He never stopped building bridges and laying the groundwork," Jackson said Sunday. "We are very glad to be the beneficiaries of his work."

President Obama called Mr. Sutton "a true hero" to African Americans across the country. "His life-long dedication to the fight for civil rights and his career as an entrepreneur and public servant made the rise of countless young African-Americans possible," Obama said in a statement.

In 1981, Mr. Sutton bought the famed and shuttered Apollo Theater for $250,000 when the Harlem landmark's demise appeared imminent. The Apollo turned 70 in 2004, a milestone that was unthinkable until Mr. Sutton stepped in to save the landmark.

A decade earlier, with his brother Oliver, Mr. Sutton purchased WLIB-AM, making it the first black-owned radio station in New York. Inner City Broadcasting Corp. eventually picked up WBLS-FM, which reigned for years as New York's top-rated radio station, before Mr. Sutton bought stations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Detroit and San Antonio.

The Texas purchase marked a homecoming for the San Antonio native, who was born Nov. 24, 1920, the youngest of 15 children.

When he was 13, Percy Sutton endured a traumatic experience that drove him inexorably into the fight for racial equality. A police officer approached him as the teen handed out NAACP pamphlets. The officer used a racial slur and asked, "What are you doing out of your neighborhood?" before beating the youth.

Mr. Sutton's enlistment attempts during World War II were rebuffed by Southern white recruiters. The young man went to New York, where he was accepted and joined the Tuskegee Airmen.