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Black leadership -- the soul of the resurgent Right

[Disclaimer: The author of this article is neither black nor white, and, for that matter, is not (yet) an American. He is an Indian citizen and is a legal tax-paying temporary resident in the US. He considers himself an ideological American patriot.]
[This article was first self-published here on Jun 04th, 2013]

“free at last, free at last....thank God Almighty.....we’re free at last”. --MLK



The collage above showcases some of the strongest leaders of the Tea Party movement and grass-roots conservatism. Stare at the picture for a while. Then, read on.

 The last few decades have witnessed the systematic neutering of patriotism, cultural pride & laissez faire thought in American civic and political life. This was made possible by the steadily increasing, and now dominant, influence of progressive ideology in the public school system, academia and mainstream media.
The American public forum has been degenerating into a caustic and suffocating environment, where any substantive point of view that carries moral, civic and/or political import, when expressed by white people, and esp. older white males, and esp. conservatives, is greeted with suspicion and a priori assumptions of racial motivation. Restorative movements that seek to return the nation to Constitutionally-limited government and freer markets have appeared over the last few years and are now generally clubbed under the umbrella term ‘The Tea Party’. While populist, they have struggled under the burden of caricature, vilification, willful misrepresentation and disproportionate disregard by the media and official oppression from the IRS and other federal government bureaucracies.


It is in this climate that women and minorities have courageously assumed the mantle of leadership within the movement. In a twist of history worthy of the grandest poetry, a movement grossly and wrongly caricatured as misogynistic, racist and xenophobic, now draws on the strength and leadership of women, minorities and first-generation Americans. In that sense it is a truly American movement.
African-American leaders have played a growing and critical role in sustaining this movement. There is a rising tide of African-American leaders within the Tea Party, fiscal conservativism, the libertarian movement and within the socially conservative movement -- sometimes, with overlap. They are leaders in government and politics, public life & activism and various professions. They are men and women with principled convictions, clear visions and depth of character. Some, most notably figures like Thomas Sowell, have been contributing to the restoration by laying rigorous academic foundations for the resurgence of libertarian and conservative thought in mainstream society, through decades of painstaking intellectual labor. Others, including activists such as Rev. C. L. Bryant, Star Parker and Deneen Borelli, have energized the movement recently through their convictions, charisma and courage to speak the truth to power.
Below is a (partial) list of links to influential African-American leaders and organizations and related books/media.



Organizations

Books/Media

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