Or was the brash and pugnacious Harlem congressman simply too humiliated to show his face?

Mr. Powell, the Harlem congressman, gave breadth to the word "flamboyant."

Mr. Powell, the son of the legendary, late Harlem Congressman, said he was "seriously in this race."

Running against him is Adam Clayton Powell 4th, son of the legendary Harlem Congressman of the same name.

The other is Adam Clayton Powell 4th, a former assistant district attorney in the Bronx and the son of the late Harlem Congressman.

Charles B. Rangel, the Harlem Congressman and an early critic of Mr. Muhammad, declined to respond to the last question.

Mr. Powell's father, Adam Clayton Powell Jr., was an influential Harlem congressman and civil rights leader.

Yet being a bit worshipful, as this treatment of the Harlem congressman is, doesn't preclude its being interesting or even valuable, and "Keep the Faith, Baby" is often both.

Mr. Morgenthau, too, has been collecting endorsements, from politicians including Betsy Gotbaum, the public advocate, and Charles B. Rangel, the Harlem congressman.

"I know courage when I see it," said Mr. Rangel, the Harlem Congressman, before turning the bulk of his remarks to criticizing the Republican agenda in Congress.