Quote:The Abyssinian Baptist Church is a Baptist megachurch located at 132 West 138th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and Lenox Avenue in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City; it is affiliated with the National Baptist Convention, USA and American Baptist Churches USA.

The Abyssinian Baptist Church congregation traces its history to 1809, when seamen from the Ethiopian Empire (then known as Abyssinia) helped lead a protest against racially segregated church seating. Thomas Paul was an early minister. During the 20th century, prominent ministers of the church included Adam Clayton Powell Sr., Adam Clayton Powell Jr., and Samuel DeWitt Proctor. The church has served as an influential place for African-American spirituality, politics and community.

The congregation began after an incident in 1808, when visiting Ethiopian seamen and allied free African-American parishioners left the First Baptist Church in protest over being restricted to racially segregated seating. They named their new congregation the Abyssinian Baptist Church after the historic name of Ethiopia.

By 1930, the church had 13,000 members, making it the largest African-American church in New York City, and the largest Baptist congregation in the world. Powell handed the reins of the church to his son Adam Clayton Powell Jr. in 1937. Powell became the first black Congressman from New York City, and served 14 terms in the United States House of Representatives. Powell's "charisma, power, and notoriety", as well as his "spellbinding" preaching were the driving force behind the church's significant influence in the African American community at the time.

Quote:Democrat Senate Candidate Raphael Warnock Refuses To Answer Questions About Past Child Abuse Investigation (Nov 2020)

“I’m reminded of Senator Loeffler’s opponent, true story, 25 years ago he was a pastor at a church in New York that invited Fidel Castro to speak … they cheered him wildly … think about that, now 25 years later one of the pastors from that church wants to be the U.S. Senator from Georgia,” Rubio said.

“We do have a choice between socialism and the American dream … Marco is exactly right: Raphael Warnock celebrated Fidel Castro in his church. He has a Marxist ideology,” Loeffler continued.

In addition to praising a communist dictator, Warnock also repeatedly criticized and called police officers “gangsters and thugs” during sermons in 2015.

Quote:The (Very) Earthly Pursuits of Rev. Calvin O. Butts III - The Abyssinian Baptist Church, spiritual home of Rev. Calvin O. Butts III. Butts is the founder of Abyssinian Development Corporation (ADC), in 1989, the church’s nonprofit development arm.

The ballroom was closed in 1979. It was boarded up and lay fallow until the Abyssinian Development Corporation took over the property in 1991. Founded by the politically powerful Reverend Calvin O. Butts III, the longtime lead pastor of the 205-year-old Abyssinian Baptist Church on West 138th Street, ADC is Abyssinian’s nonprofit community-redevelopment arm. In the early days after ADC took over the Renaissance’s mortgage, Butts talked about restoring the ballroom and bringing back a gleaming entertainment venue to the very heart of Harlem.

Quote:The nonprofit development corporation, formed in 1989 with a single employee and a $50,000 grant, has grown into an organization that owns or has developed some $500 million worth of property in Harlem, expanded to 125 employees and played a critical behind-the-scenes role in the transformation of the neighborhood.
Powerful Harlem Church Is Also a Powerful Harlem Developer (NY Times, Aug. 17, 2008)

Quote:Resurrected Harlem, Rev. Calvin Butts Seeks Salvation

“We are responsible for big change,” Butts said from his office, a shrine to Harlem history, at Abyssinian Baptist Church on West 138th Street. In the center, a painting by Louis Delsarte depicts Butts in his roles as church leader, community advocate and president of Long Island’s SUNY Old Westbury. The painting was presented to Butts by Bill and Hillary Clinton, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, actress Cicely Tyson and American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault at a white-tie gala in November 2008 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Abyssinian church.

Quote:Louis Delsarte, a Muralist of the Black Experience, Dies at 75 (May 15, 2020)

Mr. Delsarte first found fame in the 1960s as a muralist on the bohemian downtown New York art scene. He painted the walls psychedelic inside the Electric Circus, the East Village nightclub frequented by Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground. Mr. Delsarte’s circle of artists included Robert Mapplethorpe, with whom he studied at Pratt Institute, and Mr. Mapplethorpe’s roommate and lover, Patti Smith, who mentioned Mr. Delsarte in her 2010 memoir, “Just Kids.”

Quote:The new revelations come only weeks after Butts issued a stinging public rebuke of de Blasio. "I'm not going to call him a racist just yet," Butts told Vanity Fair magazine. "I just think that his posture shows great disrespect for the black and brown communities. Great disrespect."
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS (Sep 30, 2015)

Quote:Deacon at Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church accused of defrauding over $200K from church members (Feb 2020)

A lawsuit has been filed against Deacon Jerome Yeiser, who allegedly absconded with more than $200,000 dollars from several active church members in multiple alleged acts of fraud dating back at least six years. Yeiser allegedly used these funds to pay for a personal trip, his daughter’s law school tuition, and an IRS tax lien.

In the Graves’ case, Yeiser allegedly told them that he used the money to pay for a church trip, and for his daughter’s school tuition, while in the Porters’ case, he allegedly said that he used their money to pay a tax lien to the IRS. When the Graves couple originally reported alleged malfeasance to Rev. Calvin Butts in 2014, they were shocked to learn they were not the first family to come forward. In 2019, when the Porters went to Rev. Butts, he initially informed them that they were the third family to come forward, but later admitted they were actually the fifth to come forward.

Quote:Coaching Corps is thrilled to welcome our new Chief Operating Officer, Harris Bostic II. Harris will lead our efforts to continue the national expansion of our proven model and impact throughout the country. He brings to this position his vast experience with working with high impact and well branded organizations such as the American Red Cross, the Peace Corps, the Olympic Games, and the Clinton Foundation where he has successfully taken key strategies and programs to scale, often from scratch.

Prior to joining Coaching Corps, Harris served as the Vice President of External Affairs at the Abyssinian Development Corporation (ADC) where he advised the CEO on developing strategies to implement ADC’s stated priorities to strengthen the infrastructure, diversify fundraising and revenue generation opportunities and streamline expenses.

Quote:Reggie Van Lee, the high-powered executive from Washington, D.C.-area consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, has donated more than a million dollars to Harlem businesses and community institutions in a span of 30 years.

He made his foray into local politics at a party for Williams at Red Rooster Harlem. Williams had recently moved back to New York from Washington, where his wife, Mona Sutphen, served as deputy chief of staff to President Obama.

Williams, who worked with Van Lee on the Clinton Foundation's Harlem Small Business Initiative...

Recently, he donated $1 million to the Abyssinian Development Corp.

Quote:Reggie Van Lee Partner and Chief Transformation Officer, The Carlyle Group

Reginald (Reggie) Van Lee is a philanthropist, an arts advocate, and retired Executive Vice President of the global management and technology consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton. He was appointed by President Obama to the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and was formerly appointed by President Obama to the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. He is the co-author of the book, “Mega communities – How Leaders of Government, Business and Non-Profits Can Tackle Today’s Global Challenges Together.”

Born in the late 1950’s in Houston, Texas, Mr. Van Lee was raised in the segregated south as a little black boy, who happened to be gay, and didn’t dwell on the negative aspects of being different – he used his “differentness” to thrive. He had a dream to be somebody and through his drive, and support from his family, and his community, he was able to make those dreams come true. Mr. Van Lee fulfilled a childhood dream from watching “Star Trek” to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he received his Bachelors and Masters of Science degrees. After a brief stint working for Exxon, in Houston, he went back to school to complete his MBA from the Harvard Business School. He then joined Booz Allen Hamilton.