Marion Barry
history
|birth_place= Itta Bena, Mississippi
|death_date=
|death_place=
|spouse= Blantie Evans (married 1962, divorced 1964)
Mary M. Treadwell (married 1972, divorced 1977)
Effi Slaughter (married 1978, divorced 1993)
Cora Masters (married 1994)
|children= Christopher Barry
Tamara Masters Wilds (stepdaughter)
Lalanya Masters Abner (stepdaughter)
|alma_mater=Fisk University
|profession= Investment banking consultant; Ward 8 representative, Council of the District of Columbia
|party= Democratic
|religion= Baptist
|footnotes=
|website = »dccouncil.us/barry/
}}
Marion Shepilov Barry, Jr. (born March 6, 1936) is an American Democratic politician who served as the second elected mayor of Washington, D.C. from 1979 to 1991, and again as the fourth mayor from 1995 to 1999. In the 1960's he was involved in the Civil Rights Movement and served as the first president of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
As Mayor of Washington D.C., Barry was the target of a high-profile 1990 arrest on drug charges, which precluded him from seeking reelection that year. After he was convicted of the charges, Barry served six months in a federal prison, but was elected to the D.C. city council in 1992 and ultimately returned to the mayoralty in 1994, serving from 1995 to 1999. Today, Barry again serves on the city council, representing Ward 8, which comprises Anacostia, Congress Heights, Washington Highlands, and other neighborhoods.
Barry attended LeMoyne College (now LeMoyne-Owen College), graduating in 1958. While at LeMoyne, his ardent support of the civil rights movement earned him the nickname "Shep", in reference to Soviet propagandist Dmitri Shepilov. Barry began using Shepilov as his middle name. In 1958 at LeMoyne, he criticized a college trustee for remarks he felt were demeaning to African Americans, which nearly caused his expulsion.
Barry also earned a Masters of Science in organic chemistry from Fisk University in 1960. Barry is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity founded by African Americans.
After graduating from Fisk, Barry joined the American civil rights movement, focusing on the elimination of the racial segregation of bus passengers. He was elected the first chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Barry began a doctoral program at the University of Kansas, but he quit the program when white parents opposed him tutoring their children. He began doctoral chemistry studies at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, the only African American in the class. There too he was prohibited from tutoring white children, and his wife was not allowed to work at the school. He quit the program in favor of his new duties at SNCC. During his time leading SNCC, Barry led protests against racial segregation and discrimination.
In 1965, Barry moved to Washington, D.C. to open a local chapter of SNCC, where he was heavily involved in coordinating peaceful street demonstrations as well as a boycott to protest bus fare increases. He also served as the leader of the Free D.C. Movement, strongly supporting increased home rule for the District. Barry quit SNCC in 1967, when H. Rap Brown became chairman of the group. Two years later, Barry and Mary Treadwell cofounded Pride, Inc., a federally funded program to provide job training to unemployed black men. Barry and Treadwell married in 1972, and separated five years later.
Marion Barry married Effi Slaughter, his third wife, just before his first mayoral victory in 1978. The couple had one son, Christopher Barry. The Barrys divorced in 1993, but she returned to Washington and supported him in his successful bid for a city council seat in 2004. Effi died on September 6, 2007, after an 18-month battle with acute myeloid leukemia.
Barry's mother, Mattie Cummings, died at age 92 in Memphis on November 8, 2009.
While serving on the D.C. city council, Barry was shot on March 9, 1977, by radical Hanafi Muslim terrorists (from a breakaway sect of the Nation of Islam) when they overran the District Building. Barry was shot near his heart during the two-day 1977 Hanafi Muslim Siege in which hostages were held by the terrorists and which was finally defused by the FBI and Muslim ambassadors.
Having credentials as an activist, legislator, "hero" in a hostage crisis, and with an early endorsement from the Washington Post, Barry followed in Washington's mayoralty when its first elected mayor, Walter Washington, fell out of political favor in the 1978 election. Barry won the Democratic primary election against his main rivals Mayor Washington and council chairman Sterling Tucker in a vote so close that final tally was in doubt for over two weeks. He went on to defeat his Republican opponent Arthur Fletcher and two other minor candidates in a landslide general election in November. He was only the second person elected to the position. Democrat Barry was elected to three consecutive terms as mayor, holding the position for over a decade until his arrest on drug charges in 1990.
After his arrest and through his trial, Barry continued as mayor and even ran as an independent for an at-large seat on the council against 13-year incumbent Hilda Mason. Mason, a former ally who had helped Barry recuperate after the 1977 shooting, took the challenge personally, saying, "I do feel very disappointed in my grandson Marion Barry." Mason was endorsed by a majority of the council members and by Jesse Jackson, who was running for shadow senator. Barry was sentenced to six months in prison shortly before the November election, which he lost, despite doing well among the voters of Ward 8. His wife and son moved out of the house later that month.
After being released from prison, Barry was successful in his 1992 bid for the Ward 8 city council seat, running under the slogan "He May Not Be Perfect, But He's Perfect for D.C." He defeated the four-term incumbent, Wilhelmina Rolark, in the Democratic primary, winning 70 percent of the vote, saying he was "not interested in being mayor", and went on to win the general election easily.
Barry ran again for mayor in 1994 and won, returning to the office for his fourth term. In 1995, soon after his election, Barry was successfully treated for prostate cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
From 1995 to 2001, the federal government instituted a financial control board that deprived Barry and his successor as mayor of power to allocate and manage funds for city projects. Barry did not run for a fifth term in office. He was succeeded by Anthony A. Williams, the city's former Chief Financial Officer. After leaving office, Barry performed consulting work for an investment banking firm.
On March 6, 2002, Barry declared his intention to challenge at-large council member Phil Mendelson in the Democratic primary. Within a month, he decided against running, after an incident in which U.S. Park Police found traces of marijuana and cocaine in his car.
On June 12, 2004, Barry announced that he was running in the Democratic primary for the Ward 8 council seat, a position he held before becoming mayor. Barry received 58% of the vote, defeating the incumbent council member, Sandy Allen, on September 14, 2004. Barry received 95% of the vote in the general election, giving him a victory in the race to represent Ward 8 in the Council.
During the 2006 mayoral election, Barry endorsed Adrian Fenty despite Linda Cropp hiring many members of Barry's former political machine. Recently, however, Barry has publicly clashed with Fenty over DC United's proposed soccer stadium in Barry's Ward 8. Barry is the stadium's most outspoken supporter on the council, whereas Fenty has attempted to distance himself from his initial support for the project.
In July 2007, Marion Barry was chosen as one of fifty wax statues to debut in the Washington D.C. franchise of Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. Barry was chosen by a majority of Washington residents and tourists from Tussauds' "Top 10 Wish List," in a contest that pitted him against Cal Ripken, Al Gore, Denzel Washington, Carl Bernstein, Halle Berry, Martin Sheen, Marilyn Monroe, Nancy Reagan and Oprah Winfrey. in Wax |work=The Washington Post |date=July 18, 2007 |page=B01 }}
Barry ran for reelection in 2008 and easily held off all five challengers in the Democratic primary: Ahmad Braxton-Jones, Howard Brown, Chanda McMahan, Sandra Seegars and Charles Wilson. No Republican or Statehood Green candidates filed to run in the Ward 8 council race.
and D.C. Police.]]
On January 18, 1990, Barry was arrested with a former girlfriend, Hazel "Rasheeda" Moore, in a sting operation at the Vista Hotel by the FBI and D.C. Police for crack cocaine use and possession. The incident was widely broadcast on television, showing an enraged Barry excoriating Moore, who had become an FBI informant. The outburst, in which Barry muttered, in part, "Bitch set me up," became a popular quote associated with Barry.»Jurors View Videotape of Barry Drug Arrest
Barry was charged with three felony counts of perjury, 10 counts of misdemeanor drug possession, and one misdemeanor count of conspiracy to possess cocaine. The criminal trial ended in October 1990 with a conviction for only one possession incident, which had occurred in November 1989, and an acquittal on another. The jury hung on the remaining charges. Six or seven jurors (of whom two were white and the rest black) believed that the evidence against Barry was overwhelming and that he had displayed "arrogance" during the trial. Against these, five black jurors were convinced that the prosecution had falsified evidence and testimony as part of a racist conspiracy against Barry, and even disputed factual findings that had not been contested in court. After scolding the jurors for not following his instructions, the judge declared a mistrial on the remaining charges.
As a result of his arrest and the ensuing trial, Barry decided not to seek reelection as mayor. In the midst of his campaign for a city council seat, Barry was sentenced to a six-month federal prison term in October 1991.
In 2007, federal prosecutors sought to have his probation revoked for failure to file his 2005 tax return. U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson refused, saying that prosecutors had not proved that the failure was willful, even if Barry was aware he had missed the deadline. According to Judge Robinson, sentencing Barry to jail without proving that he willfully failed to file his taxes would contradict precedent set by the United States Supreme Court.
On February 9, 2009, prosecutors filed a motion in federal court to revoke Barry's probation for not filing his 2007 tax return, which violated his probation. According to one prosecutor, Barry has not filed his taxes eight of the last nine years.&dist=msr_1 }} In an interview with Bruce Johnson of Channel 9 News, Barry said he has been undergoing four-hour dialyses three times a week as treatment for a problem with his kidney. At that point, a kidney donor had been identified, but the operation had yet to be scheduled. Barry said the reason he did not file his taxes is because of distractions from his medical problem, although he noted that there is "no excuse" for not filing. If the presiding judge approves the prosecutors' motion, Barry's probation could be extended by two years or he could be sentenced to several months in jail. On February 17, WTOP-FM reported that, according to Barry's attorney, Barry had filed his federal and District tax returns for 2007. The same day, Barry was admitted to Howard University Hospital to prepare for a kidney transplant the next day. On February 23, prosecutors filed a motion to order Barry to appear in court on April 2, which the judge approved. Barry was released from the hospital on February 27, but he was readmitted on March 2 due to large amounts of air in his abdominal cavity and also due to Barry's complaints of serious pains, both of which were caused by the combination of medications Barry was taking after the operation. Barry was released from the hospital on March 6.
On December 16, 2006, the Park Police pulled over Barry for driving too slowly, which Barry later said was because he was trying to figure out where to enter an elementary school's parking lot for a nonprofit foundation's event. After looking up Barry's record, the police officer told Barry that his license had been suspended and ticketed Barry for operating a vehicle on a suspended license, despite Barry's insistence to the contrary. Two days later, the D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles confirmed that Barry's license had not actually been suspended and said a computer glitch must have caused the error.
An investigative report by Special Counsel said that Barry had personally benefited from a contract that he had awarded to his then-girlfriend Donna Watts-Brighthaupt. The report stated that Barry had awarded a contract to Watts-Brighthaupt, who then repaid money owed to Barry with the proceeds of the contract. When interviewed by the Special Counsel, Watts-Brighthaupt admitted plagiarizing substantial portions of her study from a publicly available study by the United States Department of Education. The Special Counsel report also said that Barry had requested 41 earmarks in 2009 worth $8.4 million, some of which were paid to organizations "rife with waste and abuse." The report also said that Barry had impeded the investigation by refusing to respond to questions and by telling witnesses not to respond to questions and not give subpoenaed documents to the Special Counsel.
Barry responded to the Special Counsel report by saying that he had violated no written rules or procedures on such contracts and that there was no conflict of interest. Barry apologized for his "very, very poor judgment."
In response to the Special Counsel report, several councilmembers said they would like to hear a response from Barry before considering a censure, ending his chair of the Committee on Housing and Workforce Development, and removing him from the Committee on Finance and Revenue.
In May 2009, Barry voted against a bill committing Washington, D.C. to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere, the only dissenting vote in a 12-1 sweep. Barry said he could not vote for the bill because it "goes against my moral compass". During his 2008 reelection campaign, Barry had told members of the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, the city's largest LGBT political group, "I don’t think you should make »the bill a litmus test. But if a bill like that were to come up, I would vote for it." Following his May 2009 vote against recognizing gay marriages, Barry was criticized for what activists believed to be an apparent flip-flop. Councilman Phil Mendelson said he was surprised by the vote because Barry had signed on as a co-introducer of the marriage bill. Barry said his position had not changed and warned that the council needed to move slowly on this issue. Citing his belief that the local African American community is overwhelmingly opposed to gay marriage, "All hell is going to break loose", Barry said. "We may have a civil war. The black community is just adamant against this."
|years=1975 – 1979
}}
,| years = 1993 – 1995 | after = Eydie D. Whittington}}
|years=2005 – present
}}
Early life and activism
Marion Barry was born in Itta Bena, Mississippi, the third of ten children. His father died when he was four years old, and a year later his mother moved the family to Memphis, Tennessee. He had a number of jobs as a child, including picking cotton, delivering and selling newspapers, and bagging groceries. While in high school, Barry worked as a waiter at the American Legion post and at the Boy Scouts earned the rank of Eagle Scout.
Political career
Elected to the school board in 1972, Barry served on the first city school board to implement school board elections. He served as Board president during his tenure. Upon establishment of Washington's Home Rule in 1974, he was elected an at-large member of Washington's first elected city council, and while serving as a council member became chair of the District of Columbia Committee on Finance and Revenue.
Committees
On March 2, 2010, the Council of the District of Columbia voted 12-0 in favor of stripping Barry of all committee assignments.
Failures to file tax returns and pay taxes
On October 28, 2005, Barry pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charges stemming from an IRS investigation. The mandatory drug testing for the hearing, showed Barry as being positive for cocaine and marijuana. On March 9, 2006, he was sentenced to three years probation for misdemeanor charges of failing to pay federal and local taxes, and underwent drug counseling.
Alleged traffic violations
On September 10, 2006, Barry was stopped by Secret Service Uniformed Division police officers after stopping at a green light and running a red light. According to a Secret Service spokesman, the police officers pulled over his car, smelled alcohol, and administered a field sobriety test. Barry was then taken to the U.S. Capitol Police station for a breathalyzer test. The Secret Service said that the Breathalyzer test did not give an accurate reading, but Barry later said that it gave a successful reading of 0.02%, which is less than the legal limit of 0.08%. The police officers asked Barry to give a urine analysis, which Barry refused. The officers gave Barry a ticket for running a red light and failing to submit to a urine analysis. He was also charged with driving an unregistered vehicle and misuse of temporary tags. Barry pled not guilty to the charges. Prosecutors offered Barry a deal to drop the charge of driving under the influence in exchange for a guilty plea from Barry; he declined. A judge found him not guilty of the charges.
Alleged personal benefit from contract to girlfriend
On July 4, 2009, Barry was taken into custody by the Park Police after political consultant Donna Watts-Brighthaupt, his ex-girlfriend, claimed he was stalking her. Barry was arrested and charged with "misdemeanor stalking". Following an interview with authorities, he was released on citation and told he must appear before the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on July 9. However, all charges were dropped on July 8.