The former secretary of state speaking in New York in 2011. (Eric Reichbaum/AP) Dylan Stableford · Senior Writer Mon, October 18, 2021, 3:03 PM Gen. Colin Powell, the first Black U.S. secretary of state and a trailblazing figure in Washington, died of complications from COVID-19 on Monday, according to his family. He was 84. According to a statement from his family posted to Facebook , Powell had been fully vaccinated and was being treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Per CNN, Powell had multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that suppresses immunity. “We want to thank the medical staff at Walter Reed National Medical Center for their caring treatment,” the statement read. “We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather and a great American.” Powell, who was wounded in Vietnam, served as national security adviser under President Ronald Reagan, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President George H.W. Bush and secretary of stat