George Edwin Taylor was a lifelong labor activist. He was a Republican at some times and a Democrat at others. However, in 1904, he ran against Theodore Roosevelt under the National Negro Liberty Party. His platform included getting pensions for former enslaved people and voting rights for residents of Washington, DC.
Prison abolitionist, feminist, and political philosopher Angela Davis came to national attention in the 1970s because of her role in the campaign to free the Soledad brothers. She was the Communist Party’s presidential candidate in 1980 and 1984. She is an expert on prison abolition, women’s rights and racial equality.
His comedy broke down barriers wherever he went, but Dick Gregory was more than a funny man. He used comedy to mock segregation, racism, and racial injustice, but Gregory’s activism was real. He spoke in Selma, protested the Vietnam War, and when he decided that enough wasn’t being done, he ran for president in 1968 under the banner of the Peace and Freedom Party.
Lenora Fulani has championed minority youth programs on the ground but also through politics. Under the New Alliance Party which aspired to unite politically marginalized groups, Fulani ran for president in 1988, becoming the first woman and the first Black presidential candidate to appear on the ballot in all 50 states. She ran for president again in 1992.
These Black third-party candidates are part of U.S. political history, and all had visions of reimagining the functions of America’s political system. How does our history inspire you to radically reimagine Black futures?