The Growing Community Of Black Conservative Voices
When Barack Obama was elected president in 2008, I started posting political essays on Facebook. In 2021 I jumped into podcasting and recently I added my voice to Substack. I am interested in who our elected officials are and why we vote for them. I am also curious about black Americans and why they vote the way they do. Black Americans are portrayed as liberals, but I believe we are conservative in our core.
I have always had a conservative perspective on matters, but it seemed to me, that there weren’t many black conservative voices in the world.
I was familiar with Herman Cain, Justice Clarence Thomas, and Dr. Ben Carson, but as I stepped into the arena of conservative ideas and shared my thoughts on a variety of topics, I slowly discovered numerous black conservatives.
Some are familiar like Alan B. West, Thomas Sowell, and Larry Elder. Other voices are new and fresh like Adam B. Coleman, David Harris Jr, and Shermichael Singleton.
My journey has taught me that no one can wait for someone else to provide you with the knowledge you desire. If you want to learn about anything, you must be your primary educator. As I continued to share my perspective on current and past events, I discovered more and more conservative black voices.
I discovered authors like Shelby Steele, Wayne Perryman, Kendall Qualls, Vincent Everett Ellison, and Coleman Hughes whose new book The End of Race Politics: Argument for a Colorblind America was released this month. Articles and books from other conservative black thinkers were sent my way. I found a podcast by Kathy Barnette, who ran for senator in Pennsylvania in 2022. I enjoyed her message cautioning us not to become “click-bait conservatives”.
I found people like Glenn Lowery and John McWhorter who present topics in an extremely intellectual manner. I also found what I consider “common folks” who present ideas and concepts in such a way that you wonder why you never said that. I found that sort of writing from a newcomer to Substack, Khadijah La Musa. Substack has connected me to podcasters and writers in the Journal of Free Black Thought and Wrong Speak Publishing.
I’ve left out so many people I want to share with you, but that goes back to my earlier point. You have to educate yourself. Every book or article you read, or podcast you listen to, will lead you to another conservative black voice. Trust me when I say the rabbit hole is deep.
This is what social media is supposed to be like. Substack allows the sharing of ideas in a variety of formats and, in my opinion, has created a space where small unknown voices like mine, can be heard by people who are great communicators and thinkers. A space has been created where no matter how many people you reach with your message, your voice and your beliefs will be heard, shared, and debated. Conversations are intellectually stimulating, and the cancel culture mantra is not welcomed.
There are old voices, new voices and up and coming voices, but my point is we all have a voice, and we all need to speak up and speak out, so the mainstream media and the idiotic rhetoric called truth that comes from shows like “The View” are drowned out or at least balanced against what conservative black Americans believe.
The voices of the past remain strong and help to guide us on our journey of educating ourselves. Our voices today, are so important because we know there are forces attempting to suppress our dialogue and our message. As a group, that doesn’t always agree on everything, we must continue to demonstrate that the art of civil discourse has not died. This is important because we need to let future voices see that their views are sound, will be respected and their ideas and perspectives will not be silenced.
I have enjoyed learning from and meeting new people and engaging in great conversations. I’m excited to know that more conservatives, of all ethnicities are “coming out of the closet” and saying it out loud and with pride that they believe in the values that make this country great and are willing to speak out against the nonsense that is dividing our nation.
I am not here to say that we, as a nation, are not flawed but we can only address our problems and provide common sense solutions to our problems if we stay united.
As Jesus said, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.”
If what you’re reading inspires you to share your message, do it. Our greatest gift is our ability to communicate. What I see being lost is the desire and ability to read, write, and then communicate important thoughts and ideas effectively.
Every voice in America should be heard. The door of information and opportunity is in front of us. When we open it, we will find a world filled with voices, who at their core, believe America is a land of opportunity. With our voices, we must become the change agents this nation needs. I am proud to add my voice to the voices on this platform and I look forward to being educated by more conservative black voices.
Wrong Speak is a free-expression platform that allows varying viewpoints. All views expressed in this article are the author's own.
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Cecil, I too, have long realized that not only am I a conservative, but so are most black people. If you listened to and believe what your elders taught you, you can't help but be conservative. And no, not a "clickbait conservative"--love that term.
Every elder in my life taught me by word and deed that improving my self, and my situation was up to me, and could be attained by hard work, steadfastness, and being morally upstanding. Is that not the core of conservatism?
I'm encouraged that we are hearing more and more voices like yours that gently but firmly point us back to a balanced and reasonable world. Like you said, we need to hear the negative and divisive voices "drowned out or at least balanced" by thoughtful people we can respect. Thank you.