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Articles by Melina Abdullah
Congressional Black Caucus: When Black Excellence Is Not Black Power
At CBC Weekend, corporate influence, political prestige, and radical organizing collide over the question of what Black power actually requires. I am still unpacking from the Congressional Black Caucus’ Annual Legislative Conference, literally and figuratively… I went to “CBC Weekend” for the first time when I was 26 or 27. I didn’t even know that they had panels during the day. I rolled to DC, hair done and dressed to the nines to party hop and see who I could meet.
No More Dollars For Walmart After Kohen Wiley’s Death
A national boycott campaign seeks to hold the retail giant accountable for its role in a police encounter that ended with a Black baby dead. I spoke with Davion Williams the day before the 21-year-old Black father had to bury his 1-year-old baby, murdered by police in Senatobia, Mississippi. “Justice for Kohen Wiley!” he chanted, fist raised, and also dazed, trying to find his footing in the midst of the unimaginable theft of his beautiful baby boy’s life.
No More Dollars for Walmart After Kohen Wiley’s Death
I spoke with Davion Williams the day before the 21-year-old Black father had to bury his 1-year-old baby, murdered by police in Senatobia, Mississippi. “Justice for Kohen Wiley!” he chanted, fist raised, and also dazed, trying to find his footing in the midst of the unimaginable theft of his beautiful baby boy’s life.
Black Fathers Love Their Sons—Why Does America Keep Taking Them Away?
Father’s Day has always been complicated for me. I am deeply blessed to have a Baba and dads-in-spirit who more than make up for the strained relationship with my biological father, just as “grandpas” and “uncles” nurtured my three, whose father is less than present. A dear one has been teaching me that the best way to shake off my own lows is to remind myself what is not about me. Father’s Day is not about me. Sunday’s first conversation was with a fellow Bison.
From Juneteenth to Karmelo Anthony: Has Texas Really Changed?
Supporters of Karmelo Anthony see his conviction not as an isolated tragedy but as the latest chapter in a centuries-long struggle against racial injustice in the state that was last to free enslaved Black people. Andrew and Kala Anthony fell in love, married, and raised four, near-perfect children. They moved to Frisco, Texas from Baton Rouge in 2021 in search of better opportunities. Andrew was a hard worker with a good job, Kala a stay-at-home mom.
The Next 'Bye' Campaign: Why Jim McDonnell and Nathan Hochman Must Go
Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles has won every single “Bye” campaign, the first being #FireCharlieBeck for making LAPD the most murderous police force in the country. Michel Moore got the boot a few years later for the same offense. There was #ByeJackie (Lacey) for refusing to prosecute any of the police who killed more than 800 people during her tenure as District Attorney. We got rid of Alex Villanueva for the gangs that plague the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.
You Don't Get to Leave the Movement: Lessons From Assata Shakur's Memorial
As elders and young organizers gathered to honor Assata Shakur, they affirmed a powerful truth: freedom struggles do not end with one generation—they become our lifelong responsibility. “Who are we if we are not the blooms of our martyrs?” I am sure that Kakuya can sing because every word that she offers dances through the air that hangs heavy with Ancestors. On Saturday, May 23, a capacity crowd paid tribute to Mama Assata Shakur inside New York’s Riverside Church.
Chris Rabb’s Victory Proves Progressives Don’t Have to Sell Their Souls to Win
“Did you hear about that Black socialist who just won in Philadelphia?” my oldest child, Thandiwe, darted into the family room to ask. We hopped on the most trusted source in news – Instagram – and there he was. Chris Rabb. “I believe that we just won! I believe that we just won!” A variation of the protest line chant bellowed from the mouth of the bald, goateed, well-dressed Brother at the center of a circle that felt more like a cipher than an election night event.
Don't Vote Your Fear
In 2024, I ran for Vice President of the United States with Dr. Cornel West. I had often said that I would never (ever, ever…not never!) run for office. But this was Dr. West…the smartest and one of the most visionary people on the planet, whose brilliance is only outdone by his kindness and humility. We were an unapologetically all-Black ticket, steeped in movement, staunchly anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist, pro-Black, and pro-working class.
Can Anyone Tom Better Than Clarence?
The Supreme Court’s resident House Negro went even further than his white Republican counterparts last week in Louisiana v. Callais, which makes it near-impossible to challenge racism in voting. If you felt the earth rumbling beneath your feet last week, that was Clarence Thomas’ ancestors spinning in their graves.
I’d Be a Birder If I Could
Maybe I’d grow tomatoes, have an avocado tree, read novels, close out days of long hikes, with homemade meals, and movie nights. Most mornings the birds wake me. The caws of parrots and crows combine with melodies of songbirds, punctuated by the aggressive window tapping of a brown feathered friend who made a home in the tree that brushes against my southern wall.
Prince…and Revolution
Through Prince, I have also come to know that God, art, revolution, and freedom are all bound up one with another. Prince shed his body on April 21, 2016. My phone rang incessantly that morning. Everyone who knew me even a little bit knew I would be devastated. Walter Brown, a high school boyfriend, jumped in his car, picked up a funeral spray and drove the six hours from Oakland to L.A. My children stroked my head, helpless as I buried my face in pillows and wept for days.
‘Unity Uprising’ and Beautiful Struggle
Fifty-eight years later, more than 200 people gathered to honor this legacy. “Unity Uprising” was the vision of UC Santa Barbara professor Dr. Butch Ware. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel. He was in Memphis to organize with Black sanitation workers.
Doing the Work Beyond the March: #NoKingsIII
As we fight back, we must also fight forward. Even in the midst of war, solely fighting back means that we have allowed them to set the agenda. On Saturday, March 28, BLM Grassroots chapters in Los Angeles and across the country took part in the #NoKings demonstrations for the third time. The sounding of the alarm on the Trump regime is absolutely necessary in this moment of unfettered fascism and with the fate of the world hanging in the balance.
What Can Dolores Huerta Teach Us About Movement-Building Now?
One of the most encouraging proposals has been moving away from exalting individuals towards embracing movements and the collectives that birth, build, and fuel them. Like everyone else in the world, and women of color organizers especially, I cried for Dolores Huerta. I have been blessed to be in space with her many times over the years. Each time we share the same air, I feel deeply humbled and small.
Dreaming the World We Deserve: Black Women Freedom
We called Breonna’s name three more times. A soft breeze and her mama’s contentment affirmed that she was pleased. Black Women Are Divine is a reclamation in honor of #BreonnaTaylor. The theft of Breonna’s life by Louisville police in March 2020, would normally be thought to bring rage and grief.
On Zora Neale Hurston and Breonna Taylor: Black Women Are Divine
This year, Black Women Are Divine celebrations are being hosted by more than a dozen Black Lives Matter Grassroots chapters around the world. “Black women are the mules of the earth,” Zora Neale Hurston said in “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” Janie Crawford had been made into a beast-of-burden, abused, and exploited. And also confined to front porches, relegated, and owned.
The Police Are Evil
As I scan my body and soul I arrive at the knowingness that police are evil. There is no amount of training or reform that can fix them. It only makes it worse. As I scan my body and soul I arrive at the knowingness that police are evil. There is no amount of training or reform that can fix them. It only makes it worse. I don’t use that word lightly. It doesn’t feel good coming out my mouth. But from the core of my being, I hate them. It’s visceral. I feel it in my body. I hate them for my Ancestors.
Stolen: Lives, Money, Movement
“Whose house? Our house. Whose house? Our house.” Hundreds of voices followed the lead of justice father Andrew Joseph Jr., as the lights came up inside the Culver Theater. A standing-room-only crowd filled the theater at the Pan African Film Festival. Promotion for the showing was necessarily cryptic, denoting only that it was a “Black Lives Matter Grassroots World Premiere,” in order to stave off any attempts by the ops to block the show.
Confessions of a Valentine’s Scrooge: What It Means to Be Married to the Movement
The only thing I miss about my ex-husband is See’s Candies. He was great at holidays; brought me nuts and chews every year. This Valentine’s Eve was the first time I set foot into the candy store myself. After 14 years divorced, I’ve come to terms with having to negotiate with repairmen, jump my own car, take out the trash, assume responsibility for my family’s safety, and take my son to the barbershop; I feel like buying Valentine’s candy was the last of the honey-do hurdles to jump.
Mayor Bass Should Fire LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell
Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles has been regularly offering public comment at Los Angeles Police Commission meetings since 2014. The Mayor-appointed Commission is supposed to serve as the civilian oversight body to the police department, but most often, they are a rubber stamp, made up of egotistical jerks.
From #ICEOut to Abolition: Finding Solidarity in Struggle
Black Lives Matter Grassroots was part of the “#ICEOut of Everywhere” demonstrations that brought out hundreds of thousands of protestors last week. Chapters in Atlanta, Birmingham, Boston, Detroit, Kalamazoo, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Pasadena, Santa Clarita, and Twin Cities joined the day of mass demonstration called for by Black Student Unions in Minnesota.
Trump Damning New Generation of Political Prisoners?
The regime has been ratcheting up the condemnation of activists under charges of domestic terrorism since 2016 when the first Trump administration invented the “Black-identity extremist” designation.
ABDULLAH: An Open Letter to Mayor Karen Bass and the Black Political Class
**FILE** Karen Bass (WI photo) Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass broke my heart. Like my divorce, I knew it was coming but clung to the notion that no one would actually do that to someone who loved them. And I mean love them. Karen Bass used to be progressive. I’ve known her since 1996, when the Community Coalition that she founded was the cutting edge and she was unabashed about the resources that were needed for South Los Angeles.
Demand Justice in the Name of #KeithPorter…#BeGood
Not a single red-carpet celebrity or liberal politician ever heard of Keith Porter. His Gofundme has raised less than $40,000. News coverage is scarce and what is there is mostly denigrating. On New Year’s Eve, Black father, son, neighbor, and community member #KeithPorter stepped outside the front door of his apartment. Like many around the nation, he fired his gun in the air to celebrate the coming of 2026.
OP-ED: I Use to Love Her: An Open Letter to Mayor Karen Bass and the Black Political Class
NNPA NEWSWIRE – Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass broke my heart. I’ve known and loved her since the 1990s, when she stood unapologetically for South Los Angeles and helped me understand what real community investment looks like. But over time, she drifted from those progressive values — backing police funding, distancing herself from reform, and even standing by as I was forcibly removed from a campus event where I’ve taught for more than twenty years.
Pro-Cop Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman Refuses to Protect Black Life
On Monday, January 5, 2026, Black Lives Matter- Los Angeles (BLMLA) held a community meeting with Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman. In a remarkable show of community strength and solidarity, more than 40 BLMLA members, clergy, community organizers, student leaders, allies, independent journalists, and the justice families of #JamesMincey, #ChristopherDeAndreMitchell, and #KeithPorter packed a room at the Los Angeles Sentinel headquarters.
The Battlefront Is Everywhere: Black Resistance, Fascism, and the Radical Work of Building What Comes Next
In a year of fire, state violence, and liberal collapse, the work is not only to fight back—but to reclaim our right to dream and build a just world. 2025 has been a year of intense struggle. It seems that we have been fighting on every front…everyone, but especially Black people.
I Used to Love H.E.R.
Last week Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass broke my heart. Like my divorce, I knew it was coming, but clung to the notion that no one would actually do that to someone who loved them. And I mean love them. Karen Bass used to be progressive. I’ve known her since 1996, when the Community Coalition that she founded was the cutting edge and she was unabashed about the resources that were needed for South Los Angeles.
Justice in the Name of #FrankTyson: The Whole Damn System Is Guilty as Hell!
Frank Tyson was one of seven boys born to Thad and Mamie Lou Tyson. He was an avid reader, who learned the value of hard work from his father. When he was 28-years-old, he was framed for a crime he did not commit. The white prosecutor tried to ram a plea deal down his throat…8 years for a non-murder, no one injured; witnesses say they were pressured into making false statements about Frank. Frank knew he was innocent and refused the deal. The system retaliated.
Beyond Boycotts: How Should We #BuildBlack?
Retailers should absolutely demonstrate respect for the communities that patronize them or we should stop giving them our dollars. My inbox is teeming with social media posts: in separate reels, actress Jenifer Lewis and attorney Ben Crump are speaking direct to camera, “justice carolers” slow sales inside Home Depot to a snail’s pace, crowds chant, drum, and stream in front of Target.
What Our Fascist Moment Demands of Labor Unions
Thousands poured out of the auditorium at the center of Los Angeles Trade Technical College on Saturday to pay tribute to international labor leader, immigrant rights organizer, nonviolence practitioner, professor, and longtime Director of the UCLA Labor Center, Kent Wong. Virtually every current, former, and aspiring elected official, union head, and community organizer made a showing. Attendees were young, old, and everything in between. People spoke in Spanish, Tagalog, and Ebonics.
How Does Mamdani’s Win Help the People Save Ourselves?
Zohran’s election is not primarily about him. It is about what is possible and what the people are doing and must do for ourselves. What we witnessed last Tuesday was not a “blue wave,” it was a rising resistance to counter Trump’s fascism and the corporate taking of this country. The people’s intent underlying their vote is democracy, the guarantee of basic needs, and a disruption of oligarchy.
My Mama's Wisdoms
My mama is the best human being that anyone who has ever known her has ever known. We celebrated her 80th birthday this weekend. It is in deep gratitude that I share a few of the wisdoms from her…some explicitly taught, others through witness.
Courage, Not Cowardice: Facing Trump’s War on Black Lives Matter
There is no federal statute that grants the President the power to designate domestic groups as “terrorist organizations.” This label is a politically motivated weapon, not a valid legal tool. On Sept. 25th, Donald Trump signed National Security Presidential Memorandum-7 (NSPM-7), essentially declaring war on political resistance.
Reflections on #NoKings: Of Parades and Protests
Parades don’t have to be the enemy of protest, just as reform doesn’t have to be the enemy of revolution. My mama is one of my best friends; I talk to her most everyday about everything.
HBCUs as Sanctuaries Guarding Against White Violence: In the Name of #TreyReed
“You can go to any college you want, but Mama will pay for an HBCU.” My children are fourth-generation Black college students. My mother went to Spelman, my grandparents to Prairie View, and I’m a Bison all day. It was at Howard that I grew into a scholar-activist from a girl with all the complexities that come from being raised in East Oakland at the height of the crack cocaine epidemic.
At Skylight: Sonali Kolhatkar presents RISING UP w/ Jody Armour
Join us for a conversation about Rising Up, a timely exploration of how truthful narratives by and about people of color can be used to advance social justice in the United States. While people of color are fast becoming the majority population in the United States, the perspectives of white America still dominate the vast majority of the media created and consumed every day.
Mayor Bass: It’s Time to End LAPD Chief Moore’s Tenure - Los Angeles Sentinel
As we welcome 2023, we are relieved to have staved off a white-supremacist-patriarchal-predatory-capitalist mayoralty and welcome the kind of substantive change promised by Mayor Bass. Already, she has already changed the language and expectations around housing and support for houseless people. Another critical issue that she must address is public safety and LAPD. And, more specifically, who will be the Chief? We say loudly and resoundingly that it is time for Chief Moore to go.
Black Lives Matter Grassroots Responds
What came in and what came out. Last week, the Black Lives Matter Global Foundation tax filing was widely reported. It tells one story. Dr. Melina Abdullah Director of Black Lives Matter Grassroots (BLMGR) revealed a similar, but painfully different reality–steeped in facts and uncomfortable truths. Then, there’s BLM Political Action Committee– let's look at how the third spinoff differs from the other two namesakes.
Why I Cheered When Will Smith Slapped Chris Rock
Published on Thursday, 31 March 2022 16:07 Written by Melina Abdullah March 31, 2022 By Melina Abdullah I didn’t watch the Oscars. I was traveling, and working, and organizing. I admit to being slightly annoyed when my group chat started blowing up on Sunday night…Folks in my circle gasping, exclaiming “Oh my God!” Finally, one called out, “Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars!” I still didn’t care, thought it was a silly thing to expend energy on.
Op-Ed; Investing in Our Minds, Bodies, Spirits and Community in the New Year
Published on Thursday, 30 December 2021 19:20 Written by Melina Abdullah December 30, 2021 By Melina Abdullah As we move into 2022 many will make resolutions…beautiful mind, body, spirit resolutions, resolutions to eat healthy, to exercise more, to spend more time with family, to meditate, to read more. We will envision more fit bodies, more robust bank accounts, stronger romantic partnerships, and more lucrative and fulfilling careers.
#BlackXmas: Visioning Beyond the Weight of the Moment
Published on Thursday, 25 November 2021 15:44 Written by Melina Abdullah November 25, 2021 By Melina Abdullah Contributing Writer This last several days have been heavy and dispiriting. Last Thursday, we breathed a collective sigh of relief that was all too brief. Our days, weeks, months, and years of organizing was successful in having the life of Julius Jones be spared from the death penalty in Oklahoma only hours before his scheduled execution.
Melina Abdullah: 8 Years Of Black Lives Matter Is Just The Beginning Of Our Journey Toward Black Liberation - Blavity
Melina Abdullah, civic leader and co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Los Angeles chapter, poses during a portrait session, July 11, 2020, in Los Angeles, California. / Photo Credit: Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images If you’re interested in sharing your opinion on any cultural, political or personal topic, create an account here and check out our how-to post to learn more. Opinions are the writer’s own and not those of Blavity's.
The Dysgenic Duo - Taki's Magazine
photo credit: Gage Skidmore Melina Abdullah Can America survive blacks and Jews? Nope. Thanks for reading, folks! See you next time. Uh…I seem to have come in a little short this week. Okay, I’ll be more detailed. I never speak much about my family, mainly for privacy reasons. I talk a lot about my Elvis-killing biological father, Dr. Leon Cole, because I never knew him and he’s been dead since 1977. But generally I’m fairly cagey regarding the family I actually knew.
California must lead the way in abolishing school and university campus police Original
The first days of 2021 — which will surely be remembered for police officers in Washington, D.C. removing barricades in order for white supremacists to storm the United States Capitol, confederate flag in hand — ask us to continue learning from the unprecedented uprisings of 2020, in which hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to protest anti-Black police violence.
The Urgency of Black Lives Matter’s #BlackXmas in the Midst of Pandemic
Published on Thursday, 26 November 2020 01:06 Written by Melina Abdullah and Tyler Boudreaux November 26, 2020 By Melina Abdullah and Tyler Boudreaux Special to LAWT 2020 is a year that the world has cracked wide open. As the Spirits of #AhmaudArbery, #BreonnaTaylor, and #GeorgeFloyd resonated globally, they were met by the spiritual energy of #DijonKizzee, #FrederickWilliams, and dozens of others whose lives were stolen by police violence right here in Los Angeles.
The Urgency of Black Lives Matter’s #BlackXmas in the Midst of Pandemic - Los Angeles Sentinel
Dr. Melina Abdullah is Professor of Pan-African Studies at Cal State LA and co-founder of Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles. Tyler Boudreaux is a Los Angeles writer and creative and a member of Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles. 2020 is a year that the world has cracked wide open.
N*gga Theory: Race, Language, Unequal Justice, and the Law (e-book) - LARB Books
America’s criminal justice system is among the deadliest and most racist in the world and it disproportionately targets Black Americans, who are also disproportionately poor, hungry, houseless, jobless, sick, and poorly educated. By every metric of misery, this nation does not act like Black Lives Matter.
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