Leland, Mickey, 1944-1989

<p>George Thomas "Mickey" Leland (November 27, 1944 – August 7, 1989) was an anti-poverty activist who later became a congressman from the Texas 18th District and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. He was a Democrat.</p>

<p>Leland was born in Lubbock, Texas to Alice and George Thomas Leland, II. At a very early age, the Lelands moved to Houston's Fifth Ward neighborhood.</p>

<p>Growing up in a predominantly African American and Hispanic neighborhood, Leland attended Wheatley High School in Houston, Texas, where he ranked in the top ten percent of his class when he graduated from Wheatley in 1964. While attending Texas Southern University in the late 1960s, he emerged as a vocal leader of the Houston-area civil rights movement and had brought national leaders of the movement to Houston. Leland graduated from Texas Southern in 1970 with a Bachelor's degree in Pharmacy. He served as an Instructor of Clinical Pharmacy at his alma mater in 1970–71, where he set up "door-to-door" outreach campaigns in low-income neighborhoods to inform people about their medical care options and performing preliminary screenings.</p>

<p>In 1972, Texas for the first time allowed its State House of Representatives and Senate seats to be elected as single-member districts. Soon after the decision, five minority candidates (dubbed the "People's Five"), including eventual winners Leland, Craig Washington and Benny Reyes ran for district seats in the Texas House of Representatives, a first for a state that, although Barbara Jordan had been a state senator, had not seen any African-American state representatives since Reconstruction.</p>

<p>Inspired by an extended stay on the continent as a young legislator, Representative Leland poured his energy into focusing attention on a disastrous East African famine and raising funds for relief efforts. Leland worked tirelessly as chairman of the House Select Committee on Hunger, which he had lobbied Congress to create. Responding to critics who felt he should focus on domestic poverty first, Leland retorted, "I am as much of a citizen of this world as I am of this country. To hell with those people who are critical of what I am able to do to help save people's lives. I don't mean to sound hokey, but I grew up on the Christian ethic which says we are supposed to help the least of our brothers."1 This statement encapsulated Leland's career and life goals. He became a martyr for the cause of eradicating world hunger, perishing in a plane crash on a humanitarian mission to transport supplies to an Ethiopian refugee camp.</p>

<p>George Thomas (Mickey) Leland was born in Lubbock, Texas, on November 27, 1944, to Alice Rains. It was Leland's maternal grandfather who nicknamed him "Mickey." Shortly after Leland's birth, his parents separated. Alice Rains moved with her two sons, Mickey and Gaston, to a poor section of Houston, where she worked as a short–order cook. Rains put herself through school and became a teacher. Mickey Leland graduated from Phyllis Wheatley High School in Houston in 1963 and attended Houston's Texas Southern University. Earning his degree in pharmacy in 1970, Leland worked as an instructor of clinical pharmacy at Texas Southern before taking a job as a pharmacist. He also served with several university organizations, setting up free clinics and other aid for the Houston–area poor.</p>

<p>Influenced by diverse doctrines—the writings of black activists and the emphasis of his Roman Catholic faith on helping the disadvantaged—Leland was active in the civil rights movement as a student in the late 1960s, often participating in unruly protests, and describing himself as a "Marxist" and a "revolutionary." His arrest while demonstrating against police brutality in Houston proved to be a pivotal moment in his life, persuading Leland to work within the political system rather than against it. Leland was first elected to the Texas state house of representatives in 1972 and served his polyglot Houston neighborhood from 1973 to 1979. He quickly earned a reputation as a militant, firebrand politician in the state legislature, appearing on the first day in a tie–dyed dashiki shirt, an Afro haircut, and platform shoes. While in the state legislature, Leland made his first trip to Africa. The young politician developed a deep affection for the continent, staying in Tanzania for three months rather than his scheduled three weeks. "Nobody knew where I was," Leland recalled, "My mother thought I was dead. But the fact is that I got totally absorbed in Africa." Leland stepped onto the national political scene by serving as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1972. He also served as a delegate to the Texas state constitutional convention in 1974, where he helped rewrite Texas's 97–year–old Jim Crow–Era constitution, focusing on reforming the judicial and executive branches of the state government.</p>

LELAND, George Thomas (Mickey), a Representative from Texas; born in Lubbock, Lubbock County, Tex., November 27, 1944; attended the Harris County public schools; graduated from Phillis Wheatly Senior High School, Houston, 1963; B.S., Texas Southern University, Houston, 1970; senior vice president, King State Bank, 1977; director, special development projects, Hermann Hospital, 1977; Texas State representative, District 88, 1972-1979; delegate, Texas Constitutional convention, 1974; elected to Democratic National Committee, 1976; delegate, Democratic National Convention, 1972; elected as a Democrat to the Ninety-sixth and to the five succeeding Congresses and served from January 3, 1979, until his death August 7, 1989, in an aircraft crash near Gambela, Ethiopia while en route to a United Nations refugee camp near the Sudan-Ethiopia border; chairman, Select Committee on Hunger (Ninety-eighth through One Hundred First Congresses).

LELAND, GEORGE THOMAS [MICKEY] (1944–1989).George Thomas (Mickey) Leland, legislator, was born in Lubbock, Texas, on November 27, 1944. Soon after his birth, his father abandoned the family, and his mother moved to Houston where she worked in a drugstore and later became a teacher. After enjoying a successful career as a high school sports star in Houston, Leland entered Texas Southern University in 1965. He received a pharmacy degree and practiced the profession for several years. Leland soon entered the public realm by utilizing the tense political environment of the 1960s to help Houston's poor. He pressured Houston health officials to set up community clinics. During this time, as an active member of the black Community Action team, he worked towards other reform measures. In north Houston, he worked with an archetype health system for Casa del Amigos. In the Fifth Ward, Houston, Leland helped initiate a free community health clinic called the Jensen Medical Referral Service. In 1972, supported by philanthropist John de Menil, Leland was elected to the Texas House of Representatives. He was reelected twice for two-year terms in the House. During this time he worked as the director of special development projects for Herman Hospital and functioned as the vice president of King State Bank. Leland is especially remembered in the Texas House for promoting legislation that allowed for the prescription of generic drugs and fostered state employment opportunities for minorities. In 1978 Leland constructed the National Black-Hispanic Democratic Coalition that drew attention at the Democratic midterm convention in Memphis. Leland took the congressional seat vacated by Barbara Jordan of Houston later that same year. Leland served actively for over ten years in the United States House of Representatives. Many members considered his style flamboyant with his dashiki, Afro haircut, and eccentric hats. Eventually Leland abandoned these more unconventional characteristics and made attempts to establish bipartisan relationships. However, his commitment to hunger and hopelessness did not waver. During his dedicated years in Congress, Leland chaired the Congressional Black Caucus; he served as a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee; and in 1984 he helped in establishing the Select Committee on Hunger, which pushed Congress to approve $8 million annually for an incremental Vitamin A program in the Third World that is believed to have reduced child mortality. The committee has also fought for measures to improve hunger conditions for impoverished neighborhoods in the United States. However, Leland's trip to the Sudan in the spring of 1989 influenced him unlike any other previous experiences. That trip marked the beginning of tenacious efforts aimed primarily at aiding the Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia. On Leland's sixth visit to Africa on August 7, 1989, his plane crashed into a mountainside on the way to visit the Fugnido refugee camp. The camp held more than 300,000 Sundanese escaping famine and war in their adjacent country. The plane, carrying sixteen people, was found after a six day search in southwestern Ethiopia. Leland's dedication and service were honored at services throughout the state of Texas and in Washington, D.C., and he was buried in Houston's Golden Gate Cemetery. Leland's wife, Alison, survived him and was six weeks pregnant at his death. In January 1990 she gave birth to twin sons.