On May 4, Lenora Fulani issued this statement: “When Americans choose a president we are making a statement about the person we select. But at certain times in history, we are also making a statement about ourselves. In my opinion, 2008 is that kind of election. I think the American people – black, Latino, white, immigrant, poor, middle class and rich, are not only looking for a change in the White House. We want to change the way we relate to one another. When I ran for president – as an independent – in 1988 and became the first African American and first female to gain admission to the presidential ballot in all 50 states, I was not running a campaign to win. The chances of a radical black female activist and developmental psychologist being elected president were somewhere between zero and none. I was running to build and to lay a foundation for an independent movement. In that campaign, I saw that Americans from all walks of life and from all communities were beginning to question the old categories, the old paradigms and the old-style of partisan politics. I think Barack Obama’s achievements are historic, not simply because he is about to become a major party nominee, but because he tapped into that deep desire that people have to create something new in American politics. The black community has been – and will continue to be – a major force in that creative process.”
A minor quibble with Lenora Fulani’s statement…in 1988 she was the presidential nominee of the New Alliance Party (and also she was the presidential nominee of the Illinois Solidarity Party and the presidential nominee of the United Citizens Party). She had a party label next to her name in 39 states. She was only on as an independent in Alabama, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee and Virginia.
The New Alliance Party had many candidates for Congress and state office in 1988, and even elected one member to the Nebraska legislature. Its ballot logo were two hands shaking (one hand was black and one was white), underneath a factory. Fulani received over $900,000 in federal matching funds, which she could not have received if she had not been seeking the nomination of a party. The New Alliance Party had a notable history in 1988. When Fulani says she was an independent candidate for president in 1988, she is obscuring the existence and history of the New Alliance Party.
A shame Dr.Fulani has become so entranced by Obama when IMO he brings more of the same policies and old politics. Sad, Dr.Fulani used to stand for an independent movement but now it seems as though she has fallen back into line.
Agreed. I do not understand how anyone thinks Obama is independent or represents anything ut business as usual.
Does anyone think the Dr. Fulani would be supporting Obama with his resume, if he was white and had a name like Joe Smith?
I know that Dr. Fulani is supposed to be an important figure within the independent movement, but I have seen absolutely nothing appealing about her. In fact, it has been the exact opposite.
I don’t see Dr. Fulani wavering at all. It appears to me she is commenting on the historical significance that a black man has become a nominee for President, and that the independence movement is playing a part in that process, namely by rejecting Clintonism. Fulani has taken a lot of crap over the past 30 years for being a black woman who insists on being radically independent from the Democrats. Contrary to Laine’s comments, I don’t believe she is selling out now. Fulani’s mentor, Fred Newman, warns independents in the May 18th edition of the Talk Talk blog (link below), that the Democratic Party’s modus operandi is to “capture as many independents as you can into the Democratic Party and then destroy the rest.” So here’s a perplexing question: Which candidate, Obama or McCain, is the better choice for the independence movement over the long term? I don’t know. Apparently Dr. Fulani has decided to be supportive of the newcomer Obama, probably hoping that he has the character and resolve to reject the kind of politics that made the Democratic Party/Clintons infamous. I suppose one could argue that one of Obama’s strengths is that he has not been around long enough to binge on the the democratic party Kool-aid. Obama needs independents to win the Presidency. It will be sadly ironic though if “President Obama” and his Democratic Party choose to target and destroy the independence movement.
http://www.independentvoting.org/news/ADirtyFight.html
Aside from stating the obvious (an African-American nominee of a major party is historic), I can’t see what purpose this self-serving statement serves other than to try to get Lenora Fulani’s name back in the limelight somehow. Is she merely congratulating Obama? Wow. Film at 11. Lenora Fulani is congratulating Barack Obama. Is she trying to imply that she helped lay the groundwork for Barack Obama to get the Democratic nomination this year? That is borderline laughable. I doubt more than a handful of people who voted for Obama in the primaries have ever even heard of her or the New Alliance Party. And how much of a leap do you have to make to connect an obscure third party presidential campaign from twenty years ago with the current Democratic Party presidential nominee?
Barrack Obama first won election by suing to remove his opponent from the ballot.
Also, by the way, did anyone catch Fulani’s statement when Nader announced in 2008? Read it here: http://thedailyvoice.com/voice/2008/03/nader-steps-out-but-hes-out-of-000273.php
I don’t draw any conclusions, but the juxtaposition between her praise for Obama and her apparent disdain for Nader is interesting.
Lenora Fulani is not relevant to anything that is going on anywhere, her reluctance to give up the title of the ‘first black woman to run for President’ is ridiculous and delusional. Please…