Caribbean pols pay tribute to Gen. Colin Powell
By Nelson A. King
Caribbean American legislators
in New York on Monday
paid tribute to Caribbean American
four-star General Colin L.
Powell, who died on Monday
at Walter Reed National Military
Medical Center, in Bethesda,
MD, from complications of
COVID-19, his family said. He
was 84.
“On behalf of the people of
the 9th District of New York,
the Clarke Family and myself, I
extend my deepest condolences
to the Powell Family and his
loved ones and friends,” Caribbean
American Democratic Congresswoman
Yvette D. Clarke,
the daughter of Jamaican immigrants,
whose 9th District in
Brooklyn, encompasses an overwhelming
number of Caribbean
nationals, told Caribbean Life.
The congresswoman noted
that General Powell, also the son
of Jamaican immigrants, was “a
trailblazer in the US military
establishment.
“He rose through the ranks
to become a four-star general
and the Joint Chief of Staff in
the Bush administration, and
he would go on to be appointed
the first Black US Secretary of
State,” said Clarke, chair of the
US Congressional Black Caucus
Taskforce on Immigration, a
senior member of the US House
of Representatives’ Energy and
Commerce Committee, and a
senior member of the House
Committee on Homeland Security.
“He was a hero to many.
“Like me, he was born and
raised in New York to Jamaican
immigrant parents and was a
proud Jamaican American,” she
added. “Though my tenure in
Congress began after Gen. Powell’s
retirement, I was honored
to have been sent alongside him
by President (Barack) Obama to
represent the United States to
Jamaica for the celebration of
their 50th Independence Anniversary.
“While we both represent two
different political parties — and
I’ve questioned his role with
regard to the Iraq War, as also
he ultimately did — he was a
principled statesman who loved
his country,” Clarke continued.
“We are all beneficiaries of his
decades of service, and his life
and legacy are a testament to
the greatness of this man.”
Powell, also a former US
national security adviser, delivered
a speech before the United
Nations General Assembly in
Caribbean L 20 ife, OCTOBER 22-28, 2021
2003 that pundits say helped
pave the way for America to go
to war in Iraq.
Powell’s family said that his
immune system was compromised
by multiple myeloma, a
rare cancer that forms in the
blood.
According to the Mayo Clinic,
multiple myeloma forms in a
type of white blood cell called a
plasma cell.
“Healthy plasma cells help
you fight infections by making
antibodies that recognize and
attack germs,” said the nonprofit
hospital system that has campuses
in Rochester, Minnesota;
Scottsdale and Phoenix in Arizona;
and Jacksonville, Florida.
In multiple myeloma, cancerous
plasma cells accumulate in
the bone marrow and “crowd
out healthy blood cells,” the
Mayo Clinic said.
“Rather than produce helpful
antibodies, the cancer cells produce
abnormal proteins that can
cause complications,” it said.
Gen. Powell’s family said he
was vaccinated for COVID-19
and was being treated for multiple
myeloma at Walter Reed
National Military Medical Center.
He was also treated for the
In this Oct. 10, 2008 fi le photo, former Secretary of State
Colin Powell is seen in Washington. Powell died on Monday
at age 84. Associated Press/Susan Walsh, File
early stages of Parkinson’s disease,
his family said.
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive
nervous system disorder
that affects movement, the
Mayo Clinic said.
“General Powell’s distinguished
life was one that immigrants,
children of immigrants
and all Americans could look to
and emulate,” Veteran New York
State Assemblyman Jamaicanborn
N. Nick Perry told Caribbean
Life on Monday.
“His trailblazing efforts,
include being the first Black
US Secretary of State, changed
the course of history for this
nation,” added Perry, who represents
the 58th Assembly District
in Brooklyn, also a US Army veteran.
“General Powell’s accomplishments
were celebrated not
only by African-Americans but
lauded and greatly appreciated
by the Caribbean-American
community, especially Jamaican
Americans, who took great
pride in also claiming him as a
son of Jamaica.
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