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In 1976,
I became involved in the National Black Political Assembly,
an African-American political group that attempted to build
an independent movement outside of thetwo-party electoral
system. We attempted to draft Julian Bond as our presidential
candidate in 1976. Thekey intellectual who helped to frame
our deliberation was a young Howard
University political scientist,
Ronald Walters. I had only just completed my Ph.D. at the
University of Maryland, and I looked to Ron as an intellectual older brother. I frequently
sought his advice and his ideas about his own work, as well
as my own. As I began to publish articles and then books
on black politics and African-American history, Ron provided
important insight and reflections, which greatly shaped
my writings.
After coming to Columbia
University nearly twenty years
ago, I established various programs as well as a journal,
Souls, that addressed key issues in the political
life of Black America. One of our strongest and most consistent
friends was Ron Walters, who by this time, was a distinguished
scholar and professor at the University of Maryland at College
Park. Ron was a contributor to Souls and we welcomed
his analysis and review of articles submitted to the journal
for publication.
What I admired most
about Ron was that he was not an armchair theorist, detached
from the struggle and concerns of the masses of black people.
He had a remarkable skill in effectively presenting arguments
that everyday people could easily understand. He was an
effective critic in the media and especially on television.
The aspect of Ron’s political analysis that I found very
attractive was that he placed at the very center of his
work a sharp critique of white supremacy, and forms of institutional
racism. In this era of colorblind racism, or race-neutrality,
Ron did not flinch from calling racism its ugly name, racism.
Ron’s heart and spirit were dedicated to black liberation,
and he did not care if everyone knew that. To me, he will
always be an intellectual hero in the cause for justice
for black people.
Click here to send a condolence message to the family
of Ron Walters.
BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board member, Manning Marable, PhD is one
of America’s
most influential and widely read scholars. Since 1993, Dr.
Marable has been Professor of Public Affairs, Political
Science, History and African-American Studies at Columbia University in New York City. For ten years, Dr. Marable was founding director of
the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at
Columbia University, from 1993 to 2003. Dr. Marable
is an author or editor of over 20 books, including Living Black History: How Reimagining
the African-American Past Can Remake America's Racial Future 
(2006); The Autobiography of Medgar Evers:
A Hero's Life And Legacy Revealed Through His Writings,
Letters, And Speeches
(2005); Freedom: A Photographic History
of the African American Struggle
(2002); Black Leadership: Four Great American
Leaders and the Struggle for Civil Rights (1998); Beyond Black and White: Transforming
African-American Politics
(1995); and How Capitalism Underdeveloped Black
America: Problems in Race, Political Economy, and Society
(South End Press Classics Series)
(1983). His current project
is a major biography of Malcolm X, entitled Malcolm X: A
Life of Reinvention, to be published by Viking Press in
2009. Click here to contact Dr. Marable or visit
his Website manningmarable.net.
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Sep 16, 2010 - Issue 393
is
published every Thursday
