I love this book. I love the author, I love the contributors, I love its timeliness, it’s exposures and its historical significance. This book should be part of every political science’s curriculums. But it won’t, because of who wrote it and the issue that it’s raising, using independent politics as a vehicle for black empowerment. It took someone like Omar Ali who knows something about that as a long time supporter and builder of the independent political movement, to do it. I feel personally connected to this book, as someone who spent over 30 years of my life as a grassroots leader in building and supporting the independent political movement.
This way of looking at history through independent lens makes me feel connected to history like I’ve never felt before. The tactics we use today to change the culture of politics so it really reflects the will of the people, particularly black people has been done before, like the inside outside tactic, fusion, petitioning etc., as far back as the revolutionary era, and that makes me feel proud to be a part of that legacy. I really like the way this book has given me a different perspective on who some of the well-known historical figures were and what really motivated them to support black peoples struggle or be against black people‘s fight for freedom and equality. Hopefully this book gets in the hands of those who want to make change for black people, to start the conversation about using the independent political option.
Allen Cox is a high school basketball referee and an outreach worker for various healthcare organizations in the Harlem community. He is a grassroots leader of the independent political movement with Independent Voting. Allen is also a member of The Committee for Independent Community Action, an organization created to challenge the privatization of New York City public housing.
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Politics for the People Zoom Event
With Author Omar H. Ali
Sunday, February 21st
7pm ET
Click here to RSVP!
Thanks, Allen. You expressed exactly what I was thinking – that Prof. Ali has told an important story no one else (to my knowledge) has told. I’m particularly interested in the third party aspect, but honestly, I was not even aware that black people have been fighting for themselves in whatever way they could for over two centuries. All most of us know is about the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil Rights Act, because that’s all we’re taught in school.