Black History

George Edwin Taylor: Black Politician an Early Candidate for U.S. Presidency

Throughout America’s history, the majority of its political force has been white. But African Americans had often been involved in supporting roles such as advisors, legislators, commentators, and voters.

Published

3 years ago

August 14, 2021

Christy Price

George Edwin Taylor/ Wikipedia.

It was early politicians such as George Edwin Taylor (1857–1925) who helped pave the long road to Barack Obama’s historic White House run. Born in the pre-Civil War South, Taylor would become the first African American selected by a political party to be its candidate for the presidency of the United States.
Taylor was born in Little Rock, Ark. He lost his mother at a young age and subsequently had to fend for himself. In 1865, he arrived in Wisconsin, where he was taken in by a Black family who lived near the town of La Crosse. They were politically active and supported Taylor’s education. He attended Wayland University in Beaver Dam (1877–1879).
After college, Taylor took a job at the La Crosse Free Press and later at the La Crosse Evening Star. He also produced newspaper columns for local papers and wrote articles for the Chicago Inter Ocean. These experiences led him into politics.
Taylor was specifically drawn to issues surrounding labor. He helped with the campaign to re-elect La Crosse’s pro-labor mayor and became a leader and office holder in Wisconsin’s statewide Union Labor Party. By then he’d started his own paper, the Wisconsin Labor Advocate, which became one of the newspapers of the party.
By 1887, Taylor had become a member of the Wisconsin delegation to the first national convention of the Union Labor Party. He then made national political issues the focus of his newspaper. As he became well known, race became an issue. His paper ceased publication around 1887 or 1888.
Three years later he relocated to Iowa where his political interests increased. He was first drawn to the Republican Party, then to the Democrats. Taylor started the newspaper Negro Solicitor and became president of the National Colored Men’s Protective Association and the National Negro Democratic League. He aligned himself with the Populist faction that attempted to reform the Democratic Party.
In 1904, he joined the first national political party created exclusively for and by Blacks: the National Liberty Party. That year, during the party’s national convention, its executive committee asked Taylor to be the party’s candidate for U.S. president.
Little attention was given to Taylor’s campaign despite the party’s platform having a national agenda. The Sun (1904) reported that Taylor “knew whites thought his candidacy was a joke,” but he believed that an independent political party that could mobilize the African-American vote was the “only practical way Blacks could exercise political influence.”
The 1904 campaign was Taylor’s last attempt to run for political office.
Taylor remained in Iowa until 1910. He then relocated to Jacksonville, Fla., where he edited several newspapers and served as director of the African American branch of the local YMCA.
He died in Jacksonville in 1925 at the age of 68.

Christy Price

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Oakland Post: Week of June 12-18, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 12-18, 2024

Published

2 days ago

June 14, 2024

Oakland Post

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Barbara Lee

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Statement on 80th Anniversary of D-Day

Representative Barbara Lee (CA-12) released the following statement on the 80th anniversary of D-Day. “80 years ago, one of the largest invasions in historical warfare—and the start to the end of World War II—took place. Today, we look back to the over 2,400 American lives lost on the beaches of Normandy, remember their stories, and honor their immense bravery.

Published

3 days ago

June 13, 2024

Oakland Post

“D-Day will forever live on in history. May we honor their lives and all who have served by investing in veterans’ health care, economic security, and opportunity when they return home.”

Washington, D.C. – Representative Barbara Lee (CA-12) released the following statement on the 80^th anniversary of D-Day.

“80 years ago, one of the largest invasions in historical warfare—and the start to the end of World War II—took place. Today, we look back to the over 2,400 American lives lost on the beaches of Normandy, remember their stories, and honor their immense bravery.

“My father, Lt. Col. Garvin A. Tutt, was a Buffalo soldier in the 92^nd infantry, a racially segregated and Black-only division that was instrumental in the success of Normandy and the Allied advance. Today and every day, I think of him and all of the brave servicemembers who sacrificed for our country, even when our country didn’t love them back.

“D-Day will forever live on in history. May we honor their lives and all who have served by investing in veterans’ health care, economic security, and opportunity when they return home.”

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U.S. Rep. Kamlager-Dove Leads Discussion on Improving Black Student Learning, Test Scores

Kamlager-Dove, who represents a district that covers parts of Los Angeles County, hopes that ideas shared at the event can be incorporated into models that can impact other regions across California, where Black students continue to fall behind their peers of other races and ethnicities.

Published

6 days ago

June 10, 2024

Oakland Post

Congresswoman Kamlager-Dove (CA-37) moderates a panel including Dr. Kortne Edogun-Ticey, Senior Advisor, U.S. Department of Education during Roundtable on Equity in Education for Los Angeles Unified School District (R to L) beside Kamlager-Dove Dr. Robert Whitman, Educational Transformation Officer, Los Angeles USD; Dr. Kortne Edogun-Ticey, Senior Advisor, U.S. Department of Education; Keith Linton, Founder, Boys to Gentlemen, Dr. Pedro Noguera, Distinguished Professor and Dean, University of Southern California Rossier School of Education and LAUSD student Jonathan McGee. Photo by Lila Brown (CBM).

By Lila Brown, California Black Media

On April 8, U.S. Congressmember Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA-37) moderated a roundtable focused on Los Angeles Unified School District’s (LAUSD) strategies to improve Black student performance in classrooms.

Kamlager-Dove, who represents a district that covers parts of Los Angeles County, hopes that ideas shared at the event can be incorporated into models that can impact other regions across California, where Black students continue to fall behind their peers of other races and ethnicities.

Discussions at the event centered on LAUSD’s Black Student Achievement Plan (BSAP) and other educational initiatives aimed at enhancing learning and boosting test scores.

“The Black Student Achievement Plan is unique in that it takes a community-centered approach to uplifting Black students,” said Kamlager-Dove during the event held at John Muir Middle School in Los Angeles.

“We must implement culturally responsive education in the classroom to challenge our students academically while giving them a sense of purpose,” she continued.

In 2023, nearly 70% of Black children in California fell below a passing mark on the state standardized English Language Arts exam, and only about 20% of those students were performing at grade level based on their scores on the math assessment test.

A variety of public education experts joined Kamlager on the panel, including Dr. Kortne Edogun-Ticey, Senior Advisor, U.S. Department of Education; Dr. Robert Whitman, Educational Transformation Officer at LAUSD; Dr. Pedro Noguera, Professor and Dean at the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education; and Keith Linton, founder of the non-profit Boys to Gentlemen.

Jonathan McGee, a student who sits on the BSAP Student Advisory Council, also spoke during the panel.

The BSAP was approved by the LAUSD Board of Education in February of the 2020-21 school year. Funds have been earmarked to address the longstanding disparities in educational outcomes between Black students and their non-Black peers. Dating back to the landmark case, Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kan., in which the U.S. Supreme Court declared that segregated schools were unconstitutional, positive outcomes for Black students continue to lag behind district and national averages for their non-Black counterparts.

Edogun-Ticey spoke about broader investments the federal government is making in education that directly impact Black students through The White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Black Americans.

‘This administration did not shy away from the idea that we need resources for support which means billions of dollars in investment for HBCUs,” she explained.

BSAP strategies include partnering with Black families and local community; supporting the implementation of culturally and linguistically responsive and anti-racist practices; offering wrap-around support structures; and highlighting experiences that uplift the contributions of the Black community as motivation and models to develop positive Black student identity. Additionally, the BSAP provides increased staffing to support Black students’ academic and social-emotional needs.

“School districts across the country must push back against attacks on marginalized students by implementing programs like the BSAP, which should serve as a model for future initiatives,” Kamlager said.