New Alliance Party
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New Alliance Party | |
|---|---|
| File:New Alliance Party pinback button.jpg | |
| Founded | 1979 |
| Dissolved | mid-1990s |
| Succeeded by | Patriot Party |
| Ideology | Left-wing populism Left-wing nationalism Socialist feminism Revolutionary socialism Minority rights Anti-Zionism |
| Political position | Far-left |
| International affiliation | International Workers Party |
| Colors | Magenta |
The New Alliance Party (NAP) was an American political party formed in New York City in 1979. Its immediate precursor was an umbrella organization known as the Labor Community Alliance for Change, whose member groups included the Coalition of Grass Roots Women and the New York City Unemployed and Welfare Council. These groups were all associated with controversial psychologist and political activist Fred Newman, whose radical healthcare collectives, Centers for Change and Marxist International Workers Party, were active in grassroots politics in New York City. The NAP's first chairperson was then-South Bronx City Councilman Gilberto Gerena-Valentin, a veteran political activist from Puerto Rico.[1] The party is notable for getting African-American psychologist Lenora Fulani on the ballot in all 50 states during her first presidential campaign in 1988, making her both the first African-American and woman to do so.
History
Background and ideas
The party supported the PLO and was antagonistic to the state of Israel; it also worked with Nation of Islam.[2]
1981 Dump Koch campaign
1984 presidential election
During the 1984 presidential election, the NAP made its debut on the presidential campaign scene. Its candidate was Dennis L. Serrette, an African-American union activist who would later leave the NAP alleging questionable methods used by Newman and others. Serrette's running mate was Nancy Ross, a NAP leader who had served on a community school board on Manhattan's Upper West Side. In 1985, the NAP began an unusual political relationship with Jesse Jackson. While Newman was initially dismissive of Jackson, Fulani had praised the popular activist during his 1984 presidential run. After Jackson founded his Rainbow Coalition group, Newman and Fulani created the Rainbow Alliance, which lobbied for the benefit of small political parties. The Rainbow Alliance later changed its name to the Rainbow Lobby and expanded its scope to include opposing the US-backed dictatorships of Joseph Mobutu in Zaire and Prosper Avril in Haiti. When asked about his political relationship with Fulani in the press, Jackson claimed that there was no relationship at all. The Rainbow Lobby continued its lobbying activities into the early 1990s while Fulani repeatedly rebuked Jackson for his support of the Democratic Party.
1988 presidential election
In 1990, Fulani ran unsuccessfully for governor of New York. She was endorsed by Nation of Islam leader, minister Louis Farrakhan, who had been politically involved with Jesse Jackson's 1988 campaign only to be dropped at the recommendation of Jackson's campaign advisors. This was in the wake of Farrakhan being characterized in the press as antisemitic, as well as Jackson's gaffe wherein he called New York City "Hymietown". Fulani and Newman embraced Farrakhan, eliciting the anger of the Anti-Defamation League. In the wake of this criticism, Fulani moderated a historic conference on Black–Jewish relations, featuring the Jewish Marxist Newman conversing with African-American activist Reverend Al Sharpton.
1992 presidential election
During the 1992 presidential election, Fulani again ran for president on the NAP ticket. Maria Elizabeth Muñoz, a Chicano activist, was chosen as her running mate. Muñoz had previously run for Senate and governor in California on Peace and Freedom Party tickets. Fulani lost the party's nomination to Ron Daniels of Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition. Fulani also entered the New Hampshire primary for the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 1992, gaining some press coverage for her frequent heckling of Bill Clinton's campaign appearances after she was excluded from the New Hampshire Democratic debates. In 1992, the NAP also ran some candidates in other races, including US Senate candidates in Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, and New York. The best-performing NAP Senate presidential candidate was Mohammad T. Mehdi in New York, who came in fourth place with 0.8% of the vote.
Dissolution
By the mid-1990s, the NAP and its weekly newspaper The National Alliance had been disbanded. In 1994, Fulani and Newman joined the Patriot Party for a period, one of many groups which competed for control over Ross Perot's Reform Party in the years to come. The same year, Fulani and former The National Alliance editor Jacqueline Salit formed the Committee for a Unified Independent Party, an organization dedicated to bringing various independent groups together to challenge the bipartisan nature of American politics. The Fulani and Newman operatives later became associated with the Independence Party of New York.
Election results
Presidential tickets
| Year | Presidential candidate | Vice presidential candidate | Popular votes | % | Electoral votes | Result | Ballot access | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Lenora Fulani | Maria Elizabeth Muñoz | 73,622 | 0 | Lost | [3] | |||
| 1988 | Lenora Fulani | 6 running mates[lower-alpha 1] | 217,221 | 0 | Lost | [4] | |||
| 1984 | Dennis L. Serrette | Nancy Ross | 46,853 | 0 | Lost | [5] |
See also
- Newmanites
- Clouds Blur the Rainbow, 1988, by Chip Berlet
Notes
- ↑ In 1988, Fulani's running mates varied by state and included: Joyce Dattner, Wynonia Burke, and Harold F. Moore
References
- ↑ "Puerto Rican Imprint on the Voting Rights Act of 1965" (PDF). 10 November 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 November 2006. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
- ↑ Klehr, Harvey (1 January 1988). Far Left of Center: The American Radical Left Today. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4128-2343-2.
- ↑ "Federal Elections 92" (PDF). Federal Election Commission. June 1993. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 December 2019.
- ↑ "Federal Elections 88" (PDF). Federal Election Commission. May 1989. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 December 2019.
- ↑ "Federal Elections 84" (PDF). Federal Election Commission. May 1985. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 December 2019.
