2020-08-20 11:25:04

Before Kamala Harris, There Was Charlotta Bass: Remembering First Black Woman to Run for VP in 1952

Senator Kamala Harris is the first Indian American and first Black woman to be nominated for vice president on a major party ticket, but, as many historians have noted, Harris is not the first Black woman to run for vice president.

That distinction belongs to the journalist and political activist Charlotta Bass, who was the editor of The California Eagle for nearly 30 years, one of the country's oldest Black newspapers, which covered women's suffrage, police brutality, the Klu Klux Klan, and discriminatory hiring and housing practices.

Bass joined the Progressive Party ticket in 1952 on an antiracist platform that called for fair housing and equal access to healthcare.

Bass's exclusion from the public narrative signals a tendency to "sideline Black radical politics," says author and historian Keisha Blain.

Rising Up with Sonali is a radio and television show that brings progressive news coverage rooted in gender and racial justice to a wide audience. Rising Up With Sonali was built on the foundation of Sonali Kolhatkar's earlier show, Uprising, which became the longest-running drive-time radio show on KPFK in Los Angeles hosted by a woman. RUS airs on Free Speech TV every weekday.

Missed an episode?  Check out Rising Up on FSTV VOD anytime or visit the show page for the latest clips.

#FreeSpeechTV is one of the last standing national, independent news networks committed to advancing progressive social change. 

#FSTV is available on Dish, DirectTV, AppleTV, Roku, Sling and online at freespeech.org.

2020 Election Amy Goodman Black women Charlotta Bass Democracy Now! Free Speech TV Joe Biden Kamala Harris The California Eagle

Politics

The Stephanie Miller Show

The Stephanie Miller Show | Glenn Kirschner on Trump’s Callous Response to Air Crash

The Stephanie Miller Show | Glenn Kirschner on Trump’s Callous Response to Air Crash

Democracy Now!

Democracy Now! | USAID Shutdown? Elon Musk Claims Trump Agreed to Dismantle Agency

Democracy Now! | USAID Shutdown? Elon Musk Claims Trump Agreed to Dismantle Agency

The Stephanie Miller Show

The Stephanie Miller Show | Malcolm Nance on Trump’s Gaza Claim & Rising Authoritarianism

The Stephanie Miller Show | Malcolm Nance on Trump’s Gaza Claim & Rising Authoritarianism

The Rick Smith Show

The Rick Smith Show | Insurance Companies Believe in Climate Change

The Rick Smith Show | Insurance Companies Believe in Climate Change

Related

Democracy Now!

Democracy Now! | USAID Shutdown? Elon Musk Claims Trump Agreed to Dismantle Agency

Democracy Now! | USAID Shutdown? Elon Musk Claims Trump Agreed to Dismantle Agency

The Thom Hartmann Program

The Thom Hartmann Program | Does the Left Needs its own Media Ecosystem?

The Thom Hartmann Program | Does the Left Needs its own Media Ecosystem?

This Week In White Supremacy- Presented by 1HoodMedia

This Week In White Supremacy | The Fourth Wall

This Week In White Supremacy | The Fourth Wall

The Thom Hartmann Program

The Thom Hartmann Program | American Society Used to Benefit from the Wealthy

The Thom Hartmann Program | American Society Used to Benefit from the Wealthy

Proud Partners