Schomburg Center Tuesday: In the Lion's Mouth - Black Populism in the New South, 1886-1900, with Dr. Omar Ali

In the Lion's Mouth: Black Populism in the New South, 1886-1900, with Dr. Omar Ali

Tuesday, June 21, 2011, 7 p.m.

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, American Negro Theatre (Map and directions)

In the Lions Mouth: Black Populism in the New South, 1886-1900, presents the fascinating history of the largest independent political movement in the South prior to the modern civil rights movement. The book tells the story of the rise and fall of this lesser-known movement of black farmers and sharecroppers in the late 19th century, locating their struggle within the broader history of independent black politics in the U.S. from the Abolitionists of the 1840s to the black and independent alliance that helped to elect President Barack Obama.  Dr. Ali will be introduced by Dr. Lenora Fulani, the first woman and first African American in U.S. history to appear on the ballot in all 50 states in her run for President in 1988.

Omar H. Ali is Associate Professor of African American and Diaspora Studies at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. A graduate of the London School of Economics, he received his Ph.D. in History from Columbia University under the supervision of Eric Foner.  Ali is the author of In the Balance of Power, named "a landmark work" by The National Political Science Review. He is a board member of IndependentVoting.org--a national association of independent voters--and has appeared on CNN and NPR discussing the rise of political independents in the United States.

Check out Dr. Ali's interview from this morning on WBAI's Wake Up June 20th -- the 15 minute interview comes about 9 minutes, 30 seconds into the program, just after the "this day in history" note about Muhammad Ali being stripped of his heavy weight title for refusing to serve in Vietnam. Ahh... the meeting of the Ali's!