C. Delores Tucker

C. DeLores Tucker (née Cynthia DeLores Nottage) (October 4, 1927-October 12, 2005) was a U.S. politician and civil rights activist best known for her participation in the Civil Rights Movement and stance against gangsta rap music.

Early life

Born in Philadelphia to a minister and a "Christian feminist mother" on October 4, 1927, she was the tenth of thirteen children. Ms. Tucker attended Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania-Wharton School. (Later in life she was the recipient of two honorary doctoral degrees from Morris College in Sumter, South Carolina and Villa Maria College in Pennsylvania, for this reason, she is sometimes referred to as "Dr. Tucker").

In 1951, she married William "Bill" Tucker, a successful Philadelphia real estate agent and she herself worked in real estate and insurance sales early in her career.

Civil rights activities

Tucker had a long history in the Civil Rights Movement. Early on, her civil activities included participating in the 1965 march in Selma, Alabama alongside the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and raising funds for the NAACP.

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.

Tucker also was responsible for the Governor’s appointment of more women judges and more women and African Americans to boards and commissions than ever before. She also led the effort to make Pennsylvania one of the first states to pass the Equal 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.

Political career

In 1971, Tucker became the first female African-American Secretary of State in the U.S., serving for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania until 1977. During this time she instituted the first Commission on the Status of Women.

She was founder and president of the Bethune-DuBois Institute, Inc., which she established in 1991 to promote the cultural development of African American youth through scholarships and educational programs. Ms. Tucker also launched, and serves as publisher of the renowned publication, Vital Issues: The Journal of African American Speeches; an acknowledgement of its launching was by William H. Gray.

Stance on hip hop music

Ms. Tucker dedicated much of the last few years of her life to removing sexually explicit lyrics from rap and hip-hop tracks, citing a concern that the lyrics were misogynistic and threatened the moral foundation of the African American community.

Called "narrow-minded" by some rappers who often called her out in their lyrics, Ms. Tucker picketed stores that sold rap music and bought stock in labels like Sony, Time Warner, and others in order to protest hip-hop at their shareholders' meetings. She also fought against the NAACP's decision to nominate late rapper Tupac Shakur for one of its Image Awards and filed a $10 million lawsuit against his estate for comments that the rapper made in his song "How Do U Want It?" on the album All Eyez on Me, in which Shakur rapped "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 Bitch" from the same album, damaged her sex life with her husband. This case was eventually dismissed.

Rappers like Eminem rap criticized Tucker. In the song "Rap Game" by his group D12, Eminem raps "I'm all for America, fuck the government / Tell that C. Delores Tucker slut to suck a dick / Motherfucker ducked, what the fuck? Son of a bitch / Take away my gun, I'm gonna tuck some other shit". 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," from The Black Album's "Threat."

Tucker later went on to serve in the Advisory Board of the Parents Television Council until her death in 2005.

Accolades

Selected as one of 25 of the World’s Most Intriguing People by People magazine, Tucker was also selected as a People Magazine 1996 Yearbook Honoree, and was featured in the inaugural issue of John F. Kennedy, Jr.'s George magazine for her crusade against gangsta rap. In addition, she has been acknowledged for her deep concern for children by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in the book It Takes A Village. The National Women's Political Caucus and Redbook also named her as the woman best qualified to be Ambassador to the United Nations. For five consecutive years, from 1972 through 1977, she was listed as among Ebony magazine's 100 Most Influential Black Americans. During that period, she was listed as Ladies Home Journal Nominee for Woman of the Year in both 1975 and 1976. She was recognized by Ebony as one of the '100 Most Influential Black Organization Leaders' in the country in 2001 and 2002. Dr. Tucker was also a prominent member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

On Tuesday, April 25, 2006, a state historical marker honoring Tucker was unveiled in a ceremony at the State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, in her honor by Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, and William Tucker, her husband.

In addition, it was announced that the North Building which is adjacent to the State Capitol Building, will be renamed the Secretary C. Delores Tucker Building. The state marker is to be installed outside the entrance to the newly named 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.

Death

Dr. Tucker died on Wednesday, October 12, 2005 at Suburban Woods Health Center in Norristown, Pennsylvania at the age of 78.

External links

• Official Website of the Philadelphia Congress of the National Congress of Black Women