Melina Abdullah
Melina Abdullah | |
|---|---|
| Born | Melina Rachel Reimann Template:Birth year and age East Oakland, California, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Scholar, community leader, activist, professor |
| Known for | Co-founder of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles; Chair of Pan-African Studies at California State University, Los Angeles; 2024 vice-presidential candidate |
| Notable work | Appeared in documentary "13th"; hosted radio programs "Move the Crowd," "Beautiful Struggle," and "This Is Not a Drill" |
Melina Reimann Abdullah (born 1972) is an American scholar and community leader. She previously chaired the Pan-African Studies department at California State University, Los Angeles and is a co-founder and co-director of both the Los Angeles branch of the Black Lives Matter and Black Lives Matter Grassroots.
As one of the original founders of Black Lives Matter, Abdullah plays a central role in the Los Angeles movement. In addition to her organizing efforts, she has hosted three local radio programs: "Move the Crowd" and "Beautiful Struggle" on KPFK, as well as "This Is Not a Drill" on KBLA.
On April 10, 2024, independent presidential candidate Cornel West announced Abdullah as his vice-presidential pick for the 2024 election.
Early life and education
Melina Rachel Reimann was born in East Oakland, California. Her father, John Reimann, was a union activist and identified as a Trotskyist. Her paternal grandfather, Günter Reimann, was a German-Jewish Marxist economist and member of the Communist Party who opposed Hitler’s regime. Her mother is Linda Fowler Blackston, and her stepfather is Oji "Baba" Blackston.
Abdullah completed her Bachelor of Arts in African American Studies at Howard University. She earned both her Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in political science from the University of Southern California. The surname Abdullah comes from her marriage to filmmaker Phaylen Abdullah, which she retained after their divorce.
Career
Abdullah holds tenure as a professor and formerly led the Pan-African Studies department at California State University, Los Angeles. She appeared in the 2016 documentary 13th, which explores mass incarceration in the United States.
Since 2014, she has been a member of the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission. Abdullah also co-founded the Los Angeles chapter of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation and frequently writes for the LA Progressive.
She is affiliated with the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
Activism
Describing herself as a "womanist scholar-activist," Abdullah integrates her academic pursuits with activism aimed at freeing marginalized communities. She serves on several boards, including Black Community, Clergy and Labor Alliance (BCCLA), Los Angeles Community Action Network (LA-CAN), and Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education (SCOPE). Abdullah has worked alongside Rabbi Brous on panel discussions about white supremacy and allyship through the Black/Jewish Justice Alliance (BJJA), and appeared on Rabbi Heather Miller's podcast "Keeping It Sacred."
Her activism has resulted in multiple arrests, which she attributes to attempts by Los Angeles officials to stifle her advocacy, particularly during Police Commission meetings.
Abdullah was detained on suspicion of battery against a police officer during an LAPD police commission hearing involving protester Sheila Hines-Brim, who threw ashes of her niece—who died while in LAPD custody—at Police Chief Charlie Beck. In 2017, Abdullah faced misdemeanor battery charges along with seven counts related to obstructing public business from separate incidents; all charges were ultimately dropped. The city later reached a settlement with Wilson’s family for nearly $300,000 concerning her death.
During a debate at Cal State LA hosted by ABC7 for the 2022 Los Angeles mayoral election, Abdullah and other protesters were removed by law enforcement for not having tickets.
Controversies
In February 2024, Abdullah attracted backlash after posting a tweet that described the result of Super Bowl LVIII as part of a "right-wing, white-supremacist conspiracy".
Personal life
She is a mother to three children.
Publications
- Abdullah, Melina. "The emergence of a black feminist leadership model: African-American women and political activism in the nineteenth century." In Black women's intellectual traditions: Speaking their minds (2007): 328–345.
- Abdullah, Melina, and Regina Freer. "Bass to bass: Relative freedom and womanist leadership in Black Los Angeles." Featured in Black Los Angeles (2010).
- Abdullah, Melina, and Regina Freer. 2008. "Towards a Womanist Leadership Praxis: The History and Promise of Black Grassroots/Electoral Partnerships in California." Included in Racial and Ethnic Politics in California: Continuity and Change, edited by Bruce Cain and Sandra Bass, pages 95–118.
- Abdullah, Melina. "What the Black Lives Matter Movement Demands of Ethnic Studies Scholars." Ethnic Studies Review 37.1 (2014): 5–9.
Awards and nominations
Melina was honored with the Chatham House Centenary Diversity Champion Award in October 2021.
Credits
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Tavis Smiley | guest appearance |
| 2016 | Democracy Now! | as herself |
| 2016 | 13th | as herself |
| 2017 | Waking the Sleeping Giant: The Making of a Political Revolution | as herself |
| 2019 | Touré Show | guest appearance |
| 2019 | THE CALL with Melina Abdullah | host |
| 2019 | Hello, Privilege. It's Me, Chelsea | as herself |
| 2019-2021 | Good Trouble | as herself |
| 2020 | CNN Newsroom | as herself |
| 2021 | Invisible Blackness with Adrian Younge | guest appearance |
| 2021 | Rising Up | as herself |
| 2022 | Liberal Hivemind | as herself |
External links
- 1972 births
- Living people
- 20th-century African-American academics
- 20th-century American academics
- 20th-century American women academics
- 21st-century African-American academics
- 21st-century American academics
- 21st-century American women academics
- 2024 United States vice-presidential candidates
- Activists from Los Angeles
- Activists from Oakland, California
- African-American candidates for Vice President of the United States
- African-American women academics
- American people of German-Jewish descent
- Black Lives Matter people
- California independents
- California State University, Los Angeles faculty
- Female candidates for Vice President of the United States
- Howard University alumni
- People from Crenshaw, Los Angeles
- University of Southern California alumni