Black leftism
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The African American left tends to support leftist positions on social issues, and an expansive state that aims at bringing about equality of outcome between African American community and white Americans and other minority groups. As such, Black politicians, for the most part, are against liberal economic policies (i.e., globalization, free-trade agreements, tax cuts).[citation needed]
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[edit] Opposition to the war in Iraq
Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney was the first to question what exactly the Bush Administration had knowledge of in regard to 9/11, she is also thoroughly against the War in Iraq and the Global War on Terror:[1]
We know there were numerous warnings of the events to come on September 11... Those engaged in unusual stock trades immediately before September 11 knew enough to make millions of dollars from United and American airlines, certain insurance and brokerage firms' stocks. What did the Administration know, and when did it know it about the events of September 11? Who else knew and why did they not warn the innocent people of New York who were needlessly murdered?
– "Flashpoints" with Dennis Bernstein, KFPA Pacifica Radio, March 25, 2002
However, on the other side of the scale, some on the African American left do support the current state of world affairs and play both sides of the political fence, appealing to the political majority while also appealing to the African American communities interests, to a degree. Polls taken in the Black community as to “in favor of” or “against” the last 3 armed conflicts (Iraq, War on Terror, and Kosovo), a majority are against. [1]
[edit] Notable African American leftists
Not all African American "leftist" are necessarily political but have leftist ideals. It should be also be noted that not all African American policitians are "pure" leftists, as some have various right-wing opinions.
[edit] Politicians
- Andrew Young - former mayor of Atlanta, congressman and first black person to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
- Mary McLeod Bethune - first black woman to serve as head of a federal agency.
- Corrine Brown - Congresswoman from Florida
- Elaine Brown - activist, former chairman of the Black Panther Party.
- Shirley Chisholm - first African American woman elected to Congress.
- John Conyers - Congressman from Michigan.
- Chaka Fattah - United States House of Representatives from Philadelphia.
- Barbara Jordan - former Democratic congresswoman from Texas
- Barbara Lee - Congresswoman representing California's 9th congressional district
- Cynthia McKinney - Former Congresswoman from Georgia, 1993 to 2003 and 2005 to 2007, one of the first (if not the only) politicians to question the Bush administration's foreknowledge of 9-11. Has been a target of smear campaigns since then.
- Thurgood Marshall - first African American to serve on the United States Supreme Court.
- Ray Nagin - Mayor of New Orleans.
- Al Sharpton - political activist and Reverend.
- John F. Street - Mayor of Philadelphia
- Sundiata Xian Tellem - political leader of Green Party National Black Caucus and author.
- Maxine Waters - Congresswoman from California's 35th congressional district
- Coleman Young - former mayor of Detroit.
- Sheila Jackson-Lee - Congresswoman from Houston, Texas.
- Jesse Jackson, Jr.-Congressman from Chicago.
[edit] Civil Rights activists
- Angela Davis - Black Panther, ran for Vice President on the Communist Party USA nomination several times.
- George Jackson - Panther prison activist
- Frederick Douglass - abolitionist
- Amiri Baraka - poet and communist
- W.E.B. DuBois - civil rights activist, sociologist, historian, writer, editor, poet, freemason, and scholar.
- Harry Haywood - Communist Party leader and Marxist theorist.
- Paul Robeson - actor, singer, athlete, and communist
- Langston Hughes - poet and communist
- Mumia Abu-Jamal - former Black Panther member, and convicted for allegedly murdering a Philadelphia police officer.
- Jesse Jackson - civil rights activist, head of the Rainbow Coalition.
- Martin Luther King - Famous Nobel Prize winning civil-rights activist.
- Malcolm X - former spokesman for the Nation of Islam.
- Kweisi Mfume - former President/CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP),
- Huey P. Newton - co-founder of the Black Panthers.
- Elaine Brown - Black Panther Party chair while Newton was in exile.
- Fred Hampton - Panther leader in Chicago
- Fred Hampton, Jr. - founer of the National People's Democratic Uhuru Movement
- Rosa Parks - activist well known for not surrendering her bus seat to a white male.
- A. Philip Randolph - was a Socialist who was active in the labor movement and the US civil rights movement.
- Bobby Seale - co-founder of the Black Panthers.
- Assata Shakur - former Black Panther, convicted for allegedly murdering a New Jersey state trooper. Currently under political asylum in Cuba.
- Cornel West - prominent scholar and public intellectual, Democratic Socialist
- Wendel Eckford - prominent scholar, and public intellectual, Historian
[edit] Media
- Gia'na Garell - Air America radio commentator.
- Tom Joyner - radio show host
- Margaret Kimberly - political writer.
[edit] Entertainers
Though some African American entertainers have not expressed affiliation with a political party , they have been known to be critical of U.S Government policies.
- Harry Belafonte - Musician
- Jim Brown - Former actor and football running back.
- Dave Chappelle - Comedian
- Chuck D - Rapper
- Dead Prez - Hip hop group
- Laurence Fishburne - Actor
- Marvin Gaye - Soul musician
- Danny Glover - Actor
- Eddie Griffin - Comedian
- Gil Scott-Heron - musician, poet
- Lauryn Hill - Hip hop/R&B musician
- Ice Cube - Hip hop artist, actor
- Ice T - Hip hop artist, actor
- Samuel L. Jackson - Actor
- Spike Lee - Movie producer
- Aaron McGruder - Creator of The Boondocks
- Paul Mooney - Comedian
- Nas - Hip hop artist
- Michael Jackson - Musician
- Prince - Musician
- Sidney Poitier - Actor
- Richard Pryor - Comedian
- Chris Rock - Comedian
- Tupac Shakur - Rap artist
- John Singleton - Movie producer
- Wesley Snipes - Actor
- Denzel Washington - Actor[citation needed]
- Kanye West - Rapper
- Stevie Wonder - Soul musician
- Magic Johnson - former NBA player
[edit] See also
[edit] African American left web sites and blogs
- Seeing Black
- Playa Hata “Think, now think again”
- Black Commentator
- Assata Shakur
- Women of Color Web
- Gender, Race, Power
- NetNoir.com
- Black Voices
- Black Radical Congress
- Joy James
- Slave Revolt
- Black Man With a Library
- Every Shut Eye Ain't Sleep
[edit] References
- ^ "Interview with Dennis Bernstein. Flashpoints", Pacifica Radio. KPFA, Berkeley, California., 25 March 2002.
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