Hazel Scott(photo below) was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on June 11, 1920. In 1924, her family moved to the United States and settled in Harlem, New York City.
She fought segregation in NYC!! NYC? In the North?
Along with Lena Horne, Scott was one of the first black women to gain respectable roles in major Hollywood pictures. She refused to take roles in Hollywood playing a "singing maid", and she turned down the first four roles she was offered for this reason. She was the first person of African descent to have her own television show in the U.S., The Hazel Scott Show, which premiered on the DuMont Television Network on July 3, 1950.
Scott had long been committed to civil rights. She refused to perform in segregated venues when she was on tour. She was once escorted from the city of Austin, Texas by Texas Rangers because she refused to perform when she discovered that black and white patrons were seated separately. "Why would anyone come to hear me, a Negro," she told Time magazine, "and refuse to sit beside someone just like me? In fact shortly after she was blacklisted because of her activism, she moved to Paris in 1957 for 10 yrs to evade political fallout in the United States, She came back to NYC until 1967. She was also accused of being a communist. However, she stated that she had supported communist party member Benjamin J. Davis Jr.'s campaign for the NYC Council.
Didn't know she married US Congressman Adam Clayton Powell. Their relationship provoked controversy, as Powell was married when their affair began. Anyway, her life and the hell she went thru is pretty interesting to know. On October 2, 1981, Hazel Scott died of cancer at Mount Sinai Hospital, Manhattan at age 61. (RIP)
Yep, I know of her, and especially Adam Clayton Powell who was a serial womanizer, and a bit corrupt. Yet he did more during his years in Congress than any other Black politician then or now. And he had an untamed mouth too--sometimes he was a bougie Malcolm X. I swear..lol
Her son was a brainiac- he took after his mom in terms of sharp intelligence. Still alive, I think.
It is an honor to hear about her son "Adam Clayton Powell III"(photo below), never knew him or saw him before. Thank you sir for mentioning him, and yes, he's still alive. He's a media executive, and a scholar.
OOpss there is one thing I forgot to say about his Mom, was that Hazel Scott visited Israel in 1962,..lawwwwwwwwwwddd!!! Actually she was accompanied by her former husband, U.S. Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr and during the trip, they were photographed strolling down Dizengoff Street and visiting with school children in Tel Aviv.
Also after her divorce Scott had heard about the Bahá'í Faith from her longtime friend Dizzy Gillespie(One of my favorite Jazz players), who joined the religion in early 1968. Following heartfelt conversations with him, she joined the faith in late 1968.
