CHARLOTTE, NC — From the halls of the White House to the streets of Charlotte, Mel Watt’s impact can be felt — as a respected lawyer, civil rights champion, legislator and federal housing chief.

“We were doing civil rights work, employment discrimination and school cases all over the state. Then I kind of segued into politics and started to have some influence there,” Former congressman Mel Watt said.

A man who has accomplished so much came from small beginnings growing up in a home with no running water or electricity.

He went on to earn a law degree from Yale, becoming a civil rights attorney and the first black president of the Mecklenburg County Bar Association.

“I think the law firm had major impacts on the city that we experience now.”

He went on to serve North Carolina’s

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