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C. Delores Tucker | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania | |
| In office January 20, 1971 – September 21, 1977 | |
| Governor | Milton Shapp |
| Preceded by | Joseph Kelley |
| Succeeded by | Barton Fields |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Cynthia Delores Nottage (1927-10-04)October 4, 1927 |
| Died | October 12, 2005(2005-10-12) (aged 78)[1] Norristown, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | [1] |
| Alma mater | Temple University (attended)[1] The Wharton School |
| Profession |
|
Cynthia Delores Tucker (néeNottage; October 4, 1927 – October 12, 2005) was an American politician and civil rights activist. She had a long history of involvement in the AmericanCivil Rights Movement. She wasSecretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from 1971 to 1977. From the 1990s onward, she engaged in a campaign againstgangsta rap music.
Born inPhiladelphia to Whitfield and Captilda Nottage (née Gardiner), both of whom were originally from theBahamas. Tucker was the tenth of thirteen children.[1]
Tucker attendedTemple University and theUniversity of Pennsylvania'sWharton School of Business.
Tucker was later the recipient of twohonorary doctoral degrees fromMorris College inSumter, South Carolina,Baptist Training Union inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, andCalifornia State University Northridge inCalifornia, and for this reason, she is sometimes referred to as "Dr. C. Delores Tucker".
Tucker had a long history in theCivil Rights Movement. Early on, her civil activities included participating in the 1965Selma to Montgomery marches alongside the Rev. Dr.Martin Luther King Jr. and raising funds for theNAACP.[2] In 1990, Tucker, along with 15 other African American women and men, formed theAfrican-American Women for Reproductive Freedom.[3] She was the convening founder and national chair of the National Congress of Black Women, Inc. (NCBW), having succeeded the Hon.Shirley Chisholm in 1992.[4]
Tucker also was responsible for the Governor's appointment of more women judges and more women andAfrican Americans to boards and commissions than ever before. She also led the effort to makePennsylvania one of the firststates to pass theEqual Rights Amendment. As Chief of Elections of Pennsylvania, she was a leader in instituting a voter registration by mail and reducing the voting age from 21 to 18 years of age.
In 1971, Tucker became the first black femaleSecretary of State whenPennsylvania GovernorMilton Shapp appointed herSecretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. During her tenure, she instituted the firstCommission on the Status of Women.[5] Shapp fired Tucker in September 1977 for allegedly using state employees to write speeches for which she received honorariums.[6] Two years later, one of Tucker's successors as Secretary of the Commonwealth,Ethel D. Allen, was also fired for using public employees to write speeches.[7]
She was the founder and president of the Bethune-DuBois Institute, Inc., which she established in 1991 to promote the cultural development ofAfrican American youth through scholarships and educational programs.[5] Tucker also launched, and served as publisher of the publication,Vital Issues: The Journal of African American Speeches.
Business
In the 1970s, Tucker faced controversy regarding her connections to the United Bank of Mortgage Corporation (UBMC), a Philadelphia lending institution that was later accused of processing large numbers of defective inner-city mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration and the Veterans Administration. At the time, Tucker not only managed Pennsylvania’s state office that investigated real estate complaints, but she was also a licensed real estate broker and a stockholder in the UBMC. Reports noted that her husband, William Tucker, was a well-connected real estate speculator who sold numerous UBMC-financed properties. In one case, their real estate agency sold a North Philadelphia home that suffered a collapsed back wall within six months of sale, yet the property had still been insured under a federally backed mortgage. The Philadelphia Inquirer highlighted these issues when disclosing the UBMC’s practices, raising questions about Tucker’s dual role as both regulator and participant in the real estate market.[8]
In 1988 she made anextended appearance on a British television discussion programme,After Dark.[9]
Tucker dedicated much of the last decade of her life to condemning sexually explicit lyrics inrap and hip-hop tracks, citing a concern that the lyrics weremisogynistic and threatened the moral foundation of the African American community.[10][11]
Called "narrow-minded" by some rappers who often mentioned her in their lyrics, Tucker picketed stores that soldrap music and bought stock inSony,Time Warner, and other companies in order to protesthip-hop at their shareholders' meetings.[10][12] She also fought against theNAACP's decision to nominate late rapperTupac Shakur for one of itsImage Awards[10] and filed a $10 million lawsuit against his estate for comments that the rapper made in his song "How Do U Want It"[1] on the albumAll Eyez on Me, in which Shakur rapped"C. Delores Tucker you's a motherfucker / Instead of trying to help a nigga you destroy a brother". In her lawsuit, Tucker claimed that comments in this song, and on the track "Wonda Why They Call U Bytch" from the same album, inflicted emotional distress, were slanderous, and invaded her privacy.[13][14] This case was eventually dismissed.[15]
Other rappers have taken similar stances. In his song "Church for Thugs",The Game raps "I've got more hatred in my soul than Pac had for Delores Tucker."Jay-Z chimes in as well, with the lines "I don't care if you're C. Dolores Tucker or you're Bill O'Reilly, you only riling me up," fromThe Black Album's "Threat."Lil' Kim also referenced her in a leftover track, entitled "Rockin' It", from her second studio album. Kim raps "C. Delores T., Screw her, I never knew her", after Tucker dubbed her music as "gangsta porno rap" and "filth".[16][17]
Much ofKRS-One andChannel Live's "Free Mumia" is a direct criticism of what the MCs see as Tucker's misplaced energy.Lil Wayne also referenced her a couple times, once on his leftover song "Million Dollar Baby" rapping "Can't be banned I'm sorry Miss Delores" and more recently on hisCarter IV album song "Megaman" rapping "The heater ima Tucker, Tucker, like Delores."Eminem referenced her in the song "Rap Game" by D12 rapping "Tell that C. Delores Tucker slut to suck a dick".[18] Tucker later went on to serve on the advisory board of theParents Television Council until her death in 2005.[19]
Selected as one of25 of the World's Most Intriguing People byPeople magazine, Tucker was also selected as aPeople Magazine 1996 Yearbook Honoree, and was featured in the inaugural issue ofJohn F. Kennedy Jr.'sGeorge magazine for her crusade againstgangsta rap. In addition, she has been acknowledged for her deep concern for children byFirst LadyHillary Clinton in the bookIt Takes a Village. TheNational Women's Political Caucus andRedbook also named her as the woman best qualified to be Ambassador to theUnited Nations.[5]
For five consecutive years, from 1972 through 1977, she was listed as amongEbony magazine's100 Most Influential Black Americans. During that period, she was listed asLadies Home Journal Nominee for Woman of the Year in both 1975 and 1976. She was recognized byEbony as one of the '100 Most Influential Black Organization Leaders' in the country in 2001 and 2002. Tucker was also a prominent member ofAlpha Kappa Alpha sorority.[5]
On April 25, 2006, a state historical marker honoring Tucker was unveiled by Bill Tucker and GovernorEd Rendell in a ceremony at theState Museum of Pennsylvania, inHarrisburg. In addition, it was announced that the North Building, which is adjacent to theState Capitol Building, was to be renamed the Secretary C. Delores Tucker Building. The state marker, which was commissioned by thePennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, was installed outside the entrance to the building.The marker reads:
C. Delores Tucker
1927–2005
Civil rights leader and activist for
women, she was the first African American
Secretary of State in the nation.
Championed the PA Equal Rights Amendment
and policies on affirmative action, voter
registration by mail, and lowering the
voting age to 18. Spearheaded the creation
of the Commission on the Status of Women &
led a successful crusade critical of the
music industry and lyrics demeaning to
women, African Americans, and children.[20]
In 1951, Tucker married William Tucker,[1] a Philadelphiareal estate agent. Tucker herself had worked in real estate andinsurance sales early in her career. Tucker had no children.
She died on Wednesday, October 12, 2005, at Suburban Woods Health Center inNorristown, Pennsylvania, at the age of 78.[10] She is interred atWest Laurel Hill Cemetery inBala Cynwyd, PA.
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Joseph Kelley | Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 1971–1977 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
