View source for Lenora Fulani

{{Short description|American academic and activist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2016}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Lenora Fulani
| image              = Lenora Fulani.jpg
| image_size         = 
| birth_name         = Lenora Branch
| birth_date         = {{birth date and age|1950|4|25}}
| birth_place        = [[Chester, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| death_date         = 
| death_place        = 
| alma_mater         = [[Hofstra University]]
| occupation         = [[psychotherapy|Psychotherapist]], [[psychologist]], [[political activist]]
| party              = [[New Alliance Party]] (1988–1992), [[Independence Party of New York]]
}}

'''Lenora Branch Fulani''' (born April 25, 1950) is an American [[psychologist]], [[psychotherapy|psychotherapist]], and [[political activist]]. She is best known for her presidential campaigns<ref>[http://www.reddingnewsreview.com/transcripts/trans7.htm Interview by Rob Redding] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201174148/http://www.reddingnewsreview.com/transcripts/trans7.htm |date=February 1, 2020 }}, ''Redding News Review'', March 12, 2002. Transcript. Retrieved December 24, 2006.</ref> and development of youth programs serving minority communities in the New York City area.<ref>[http://www.allstars.org/eNewsletter/001/eNewsletter_v001.html eNewsletter Volume 1] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004182545/http://www.allstars.org/eNewsletter/001/eNewsletter_v001.html |date=October 4, 2006 }}, All Stars Project Inc., March 18, 2004. Retrieved December 24, 2006</ref><!-- weak citation--> In the [[1988 United States presidential election]] heading the [[New Alliance Party]] ticket, she became the [[List of female United States presidential and vice-presidential candidates|first woman]] and the first African American to achieve [[ballot access]] in all fifty states.<ref>[http://www.speaking.com/speakers/lenorafulani.html Lenora Fulani bio] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060207083017/http://www.speaking.com/speakers/lenorafulani.html |date=February 7, 2006 }}, Speakers Platform. Retrieved February 20, 2006</ref> Fulani's political concerns include [[racial equality]], [[gay rights]], and political reform, specifically to encourage third parties.

Fulani has worked closely since 1980 with [[Fred Newman (philosopher)|Fred Newman]], a New York–based psychotherapist and political activist who has often served as her campaign manager.<ref>Michael Slackman, [https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/28/nyregion/28party.html?ei=5090&en=8850f78890a45cbb&ex=1274932800&adxnnl=1&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1159282005-WZTpswyTWakYloAC5kzqdQ "In New York, Fringe Politics in Mainstream"], ''The New York Times'', May 28, 2005. Retrieved December 24, 2006.</ref> Newman developed the theory and practice of [[Social Therapy]] in the 1970s, founding the New York Institute for Social Therapy in 1977. Along with psychologist [[Lois Holzman]], Fulani has worked to incorporate the social therapeutic approach into youth-oriented programs, most notably the New York City–based All Stars Project, which she co-founded in 1981.<ref>[http://www.thirteen.org/nyvoices/highlights/all_stars.html The All Stars], New York Voices, Thirteen WNET, New York. Retrieved December 24, 2006.</ref><ref>Edmund W. Gordon, Carol Bonilla Bowman, Brenda X. Mejia, [http://www.allstars.org/content/06_03_iume_report.pdf "Changing the Script for Youth Development: An Evaluation of the All Stars Talent Show Network and the Joseph A. Forgione Development School for Youth"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061001185254/http://www.allstars.org/content/06_03_iume_report.pdf |date=October 1, 2006 }}, Institute for Urban and Minority Education (IUME), Teachers College, Columbia University, June 2003. Retrieved December 24, 2006</ref>

Fulani joined activists who supported [[Ross Perot]] for president in the [[1992 United States presidential election]] in a national effort to create a new pro-reform party. In 1994 she led the formation of the Committee for a Unified Independent Party (CUIP). For years Fulani was active with Newman's version of the [[International Workers Party]] (IWP). Since then, she has been active with the [[Independence Party of New York]].

==Early life==
Fulani was born Lenora Branch in 1950 in [[Chester, Pennsylvania]], the youngest daughter of Pearl, a registered nurse, and of Charles Branch, a railway baggage handler. Her father died of [[pneumonia]] when she was 12.<ref>James McKinley, Jr., "Tilting at the Same Windmill, but on a Faster Steed", ''The New York Times'', September 11, 1994, p. 56. [https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70E1FF63D5F0C728DDDA00894DC494D81&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fSubjects%2fP%2fPrimaries Abstract available online]; full article online by subscription only.</ref> As a teenager in Chester in the 1960s, Fulani was active in her local Baptist church, where she played piano for the choir. She graduated from [[Chester High School (Chester, Pennsylvania)|Chester High School]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/fulani-lenora-1950|title=Fulani, Lenora 1950— {{!}} Encyclopedia.com|website=www.encyclopedia.com|language=en|access-date=2018-10-25}}</ref>

In 1967, Fulani was awarded a scholarship to study at [[Hofstra University]] in New York. She graduated in 1971, and went on to earn a [[master's degree]] from [[Columbia University]]'s [[Teachers College, Columbia University|Teachers College]]. In the late 1970s, she earned a [[PhD]] in [[developmental psychology]] from the [[City University of New York]] (CUNY). Fulani was a guest researcher at Rockefeller University from 1973 to 1977, with a focus on how learning and social environment interact for African-American youth.

In college, she became involved in [[black nationalism|black nationalist]] politics, along with her then-husband, Richard. Both had adopted the name of the West African people [[Fulani]] as a surname when they married in a traditional West African ceremony. During her studies at City University, Fulani became interested in the work of [[Fred Newman (philosopher)|Fred Newman]] and [[Lois Holzman]], who had recently formed the New York Institute for Social Therapy and Research. Fulani studied at the Institute in the early 1980s.

==Electoral politics==
Fulani became active in the Newman-founded independent [[New Alliance Party]] (NAP) and emerged as a spokesperson who often provoked controversy. In 1982, Fulani ran for [[New York Lieutenant Governor]] on the NAP ticket. She has also been involved in the affiliated (or, some{{Who|date=November 2024}} say, secret) Independent Workers Party, the Rainbow Alliance, and other shifting groups that were led by Newman.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lenora B Fulani - |url=https://awpc.cattcenter.iastate.edu/directory/lenora-b-fulani/ |access-date=2022-05-23 |website=Archives of Women's Political Communication |language=en}}</ref>

She helped to recruit the NAP's 1984 presidential candidate [[Dennis L. Serrette]], an African-American trade union activist. Although he was quite involved with the party for years, Serrette left and published critical accounts of what he described as its cultic operation.<ref name="publiceye.org">Dennis L. Serrette, [http://www.publiceye.org/newman/critics/Serrette.html "Inside the New Alliance Party"], first published in ''Radical America'', Vol. 21, No. 5.  Retrieved May 14, 2008.</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=November 2024}}

Fulani ran for [[1988 United States presidential election|president in 1988]] as the candidate of the New Alliance Party. She received almost a quarter of a million votes or 0.2% of the vote. She was, at the same, the first African-American, independent, and female presidential candidate on the ballot in all 50 states. In the [[1990 New York gubernatorial election]], Fulani ran as a New Alliance candidate. She was endorsed that year by [[Nation of Islam]] leader [[Louis Farrakhan]]. She received 31,089 votes for 0.77% of the total vote.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?fips=36&year=1990&off=5&elect=0|title=1990 Gubernatorial General Election Results - New York|last=Leip|first=David|date=1994|website=Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|access-date=January 31, 2017}}</ref>

Although in 1987, Fulani and Newman began an alliance with minister and activist [[Al Sharpton]], he ran for the [[United States Senate|US Senate]] from New York as a Democrat,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Al Sharpton {{!}} Biography |url=https://www.biography.com/.amp/activist/al-sharpton |access-date=2022-05-23 |website=www.biography.com}}</ref> rather than as an Independent. After that, Sharpton has kept his distance from both Fulani and Newman.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Slackman |first=Michael |date=2005-05-28 |title=In New York, Fringe Politics in Mainstream |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/28/nyregion/in-new-york-fringe-politics-in-mainstream.html |access-date=2022-05-23 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Fulani again ran as the New Alliance candidate in the [[1992 United States presidential election|1992 presidential election]], this time receiving 0.07% of the vote. She chose former [[Peace and Freedom Party]] activist Maria Elizabeth Muñoz as her vice-presidential [[running mate]]. Muñoz ran on the NAP ticket for the offices of US senator and [[California governor]]. In 1992 Fulani self-published her autobiography ''The Making of a Fringe Candidate, 1992''.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Making of a Fringe Candidate|last=Fulani|first=Lenora|publisher=Castillo International|year=1992|isbn=9780962862137|location=New York}}</ref>

In 1994, Fulani and Newman became founding members of the [[United Citizens Party|Patriot Party]], one of the many groups that later competed for control of the [[Reform Party of the United States of America|Reform Party]], which was founded by [[Ross Perot]]. She also joined with Jacqueline Salit to start the Committee for a Unified Independent Party (CUIP), which was formed to bring together independent groups to challenge the bipartisan hegemony in American politics.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History |url=https://independentvoting.org/about-us/our-history/ |access-date=2022-05-23 |website=Independent Voting}}</ref>

During the [[2000 United States presidential election|2000 presidential election]], Fulani surprisingly endorsed [[Pat Buchanan]], who was then running on the Reform Party ticket.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/20/us/unlikely-ally-ends-her-ties-to-buchanan.html|title=Unlikely Ally Ends Her Ties To Buchanan|last=Janofsky|first=Michael|work=The New York Times |date=June 20, 2000 |access-date=October 25, 2018|language=en}}</ref> She even served as co-chair of the campaign. Later, Fulani unsuccessfully sought the vice-presidential nomination at the national convention organized by a faction of the Reform Party.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}}

In the [[2001 New York City mayoral election]], Fulani endorsed the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] candidate [[Michael Bloomberg]] and organized city members of the IP to work for his campaign. Bloomberg, once elected, approved an $8.7 million [[municipal bond]] to provide financing for Fulani and Newman to build a new headquarters for their youth program, theater, and telemarketing center.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}}

In the municipal election of 2003, Fulani was among those who endorsed Bloomberg's proposed amendment to the New York City Charter to establish nonpartisan elections. Although Bloomberg spent $7 million of his own money to promote the amendment, voters rejected it.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Muzzio |first=Douglas |title=Bloomberg Moves to Change the City Charter, But How? |url=https://www.gothamgazette.com/open-government/467-bloomberg-moves-to-change-the-city-charter-but-how |access-date=2022-05-23 |website=Gotham Gazette |language=en-gb}}</ref>

In September 2005, the State Executive Committee of the Independence Party of New York dropped Fulani and other members from the New York City chapter. That was part of a fierce power struggle that brewed between members from [[Upstate New York]] and [[Long Island]], and Newman, Fulani, and the other members based in New York City. Most party members were disaffected by the ideology of Newman and Fulani. The party's state chairman, Frank MacKay, a former ally of Fulani, claimed the action to have followed Fulani's refusal to repudiate an earlier statement that many considered to be [[anti-Semitic]].<ref>Marc Humbert, [http://ex-iwp.org/docs/2005/ip47.htm "I.P. Moves Against Fulani"] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20060527034842/http://ex-iwp.org/docs/2005/ip47.htm |date=May 27, 2006}}, Associated Press, September 18, 2005. Retrieved December 27, 2006</ref><!--link does not work--> According to ''[[The New York Times]]'', "In 1989, Dr. Fulani wrote that the Jews 'had to sell their souls to acquire [[Israel]]' and had to 'function as [[mass murderer]]s of people of color' to stay there." She refused to disavow these comments in 2005.<ref>{{cite news|last=Chan|first=Sewall|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/12/nyregion/12fulani.html|title=City Plan to Aid Arts Group Draws Fire From 4 Officials|work=The New York Times|date=September 12, 2006|access-date=April 28, 2020}}</ref> Fulani said that she did not intend the statement as anti-Semitic but wanted to raise issues that she believed needed to be explored. She has, however, since repudiated the remarks, which she characterized as "excessive" and publicly apologized to "any people who had been hurt by them."<ref>Lenora Fulani Announces Possible Mayoral Run. [http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?&aid=72508&search_result=1&stid=3 ''NY1 News'', August 9, 2007] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080112003009/http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp |date=January 12, 2008}}</ref>

Citing the "anti-Semitism" allegations, Independence Party State chairman Frank MacKay initiated proceedings to have nearly 200 Independence Party members in New York City expelled from the party. Each case that MacKay brought to the [[New York State Supreme Court]] was dismissed. In one instance, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Emily Jane Goodman wrote that the charges were "more political than philosophical."<ref>Barbara Ross, [http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/story/443520p-373553c.html "Fulani ban nixed", ''New York Daily News'', August 15, 2006] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061209091330/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/story/443520p-373553c.html |date=December 9, 2006 }}. Retrieved December 27, 2006</ref>

Fulani formed a coalition to organize Independence Party support for the re-election campaign of Bloomberg. The local press described the coalition as composed of "[[labor union|union]] officials, clergy, sanitation workers, police officers, firefighters, district leaders and others who work at the grassroots level."<ref>Sametta Thompson, [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928121650/http://www.ipnyc.org/text/20050907queens.htm "Democrats Can Reelect Mayor Without Voting Republican"], ''Queens Chronicle'', October 20, 2005. Retrieved December 27, 2006.</ref> Spirited defenses of Fulani have appeared in the city's black press; writing in the ''Amsterdam News'', columnist Richard Carter wrote "there is little doubt that the main reason for the negative press, which, by the way, is not unusual for this brilliant, outspoken political strategist, is because she is a strong, no-nonsense Black woman. So strong she makes the city's political establishment and lockstep white news media nervous."<ref>Richard Carter, [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928121659/http://www.ipnyc.org/text/20060306amsterdamnews.htm "Lenora Fulani is here to stay despite the white-bread naysayers"], ''Amsterdam News'', March 2–8, 2006. Retrieved December 27, 2006.</ref>

==Community work==

Fulani has worked on a number of community outreach and youth development projects. In 1984, she helped found the Castillo Cultural Center in New York City, which produces mostly plays written by Newman, in an unusual arrangement. In 1998, the Castillo Center merged with the All Stars Project youth charity and broadened the single base for Newman's work. Fulani has been active in the development of educational programs associated with the All Stars Project,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://allstars.org|title=All Stars Project, Inc.|website=allstars.org|language=en-US|access-date=2018-10-25}}</ref> including the Joseph A. Forgione Development School for Youth and the All Stars Talent Show Network, which create enriching experiences outside of schools for poor inner-city youth, using a performance model.<ref name="ReferenceA">Bell, Derrick ''Silent Covenants: Brown V. Board of Education and the Unfulfilled Hopes for Racial Reform'', Oxford University Press, 2004</ref> Fulani described her approach in [[Derrick Bell]]'s 2004 book ''Silent Covenants: Brown V. Board of Education and the Unfulfilled Hopes for Racial Reform'':

<blockquote>We teach young people to use performance skills to become more cosmopolitan and sophisticated—to interact with the worlds of Wall Street, with business and the arts. In becoming more cosmopolitan—in going beyond their narrow and parochial and largely nationalistic identities—they acquire a motivation to learn as a part of consistently creating and recreating their lives.<ref name="ReferenceA" /></blockquote>

In 2004, the [[Anti-Defamation League]] criticized the All Stars/Castillo theater troupe for its play ''Crown Heights'' and accused the playwright of blaming the riots on the Jewish community.<ref>[http://www.adl.org/PresRele/BkJew_21/4446_21.htm "ADL Says 'Crown Heights' Distorts History and Refuels Hatred"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061017075839/http://www.adl.org/PresRele/BkJew_21/4446_21.htm |date=October 17, 2006}}. Retrieved May 14, 2008</ref> The play dramatized events of the 1991 riots in [[Crown Heights, Brooklyn|Crown Heights]], [[Brooklyn]], after a motorcade of the [[Lubavitcher]] [[rabbi]] accidentally killed a seven-year-old black [[Caribbean-American]] child. The accident ignited long-standing tensions in the community; in street violence, a visiting Australian rabbinical student, Yankel Rosenbaum, was stabbed to death by [[Lemrick Nelson]], a 16-year-old Crown Heights youth.

A local Brooklyn paper described the play favorably.<ref>[http://www.allstars.org/programs/pdf/Crown%20Heights%20Daily%20Eagle.pdf Abby Ranger, "Youth Theatre, 'Crown Heights', Seeks to Soothe Racial Tensions", 26 Jan 2004] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004125938/http://www.allstars.org/programs/pdf/Crown%20Heights%20Daily%20Eagle.pdf |date=October 4, 2006 }}. Retrieved May 14, 2008, pdf on All Stars Website</ref>

==Criticism==
Newman and Fulani's leadership, as well as various manifestations of the political party, such as the International Workers Party (IWP), have been strongly criticized by former members through the years, including party candidate Dennis Serrette and five-year member Marina Ortiz.  In addition, [[Political Research Associates]] published a critical report on the NAP in 1987 that was updated in 2008 in which Ortiz accused Newman and Fulani of manipulating followers with "psychopolitical cultism."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Berlet |first1=Chip |title=Clouds Blur the Rainbow How Fred Newman & Lenora Fulani Use Totalitarian Deception to Manipulate Social and Political Activists |url=http://www.publiceye.org/newman/cloudsblur.html |website=Public Eye |access-date=29 February 2020}}</ref>

After working with Fulani for several years, Serrette, who also had a personal relationship with her, has questioned his experience and publicly criticized Newman and Fulani's leadership of the party and its members: "it was clearly a tactical... a [[racist]] scheme of using Black and Latino and [[Asian people]] to do the bidding of one man, namely Fred Newman, that's my opinion, and to use other whites as well, you know through the therapy practices."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110517170522/http://www.observer.com/node/42305 George Gurley, "Guru Fred Newman Enchants Loyal Followers and Pat Buchanan"]''The New York Observer'', December 6, 1999</ref>

After he raised his concerns internally, Serrette said his treatment by other NAP leaders worsened dramatically. He also questioned the way in which therapy was used in the political work: "therapy was a way of getting people to not only operate in an organizational way but also a way of controlling every aspect of their lives.... you certainly couldn't straighten anybody out. But it was certainly effective in terms of controlling a lot of people to do the kinds of things that were asked of them.... they would do anything, just about, that he would ask them to do."<ref>Chip Berlet, ''Clouds Blur the Rainbow: The Other Side of the New Alliance Party'', Cambridge: Political Research Associates, 1987 [http://www.publiceye.org/newman/nap1.html]</ref>

In an article published after he left the NAP, Serrette stated:

{{blockquote|I knew when I joined NAP that it was not black-led, and I knew when I left it was not black-led. It took longer to understand that NAP was not even a [[progressivism in the United States|progressive]] organization as it also pretends.

Be that as it may, I probably still would not take the time to write about the organization. However, as a long-time activist who made the mistake of joining NAP, and who served on the organization's "Central Committee," I believe I have a responsibility to reveal the intense psychological control and millions of dollars Fred Newman employs to get well-meaning individuals in our communities (they target the black community), to viciously attack black leaders, black institutions, and progressive organizations for purposes of building Newman's power base.<ref name="publiceye.org"/>}}

Fulani dismissed his charges as related simply to the end of their personal relationship. In her self-published autobiography, ''The Making of a Fringe Candidate, 1992'' (1992), Fulani wrote that Serrette frequently fought with black women in the New Alliance Party and would "criticize and ridicule" them for their relationship to Newman.<ref>Lenora B. Fulani. ''The Making of a Fringe Candidate, 1992.'' New York: Castillo International, 1992. {{ISBN|978-0-9628621-3-7}}.</ref>

==Bibliography==
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=EyaPAwAAQBAJ&q=lenora+fulani The Psychopathology of Everyday Racism and Sexism], Taylor & Francis Group, 1988, {{ISBN|0-918393-51-5}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.independentvoting.org/ Committee for Unified Independent Party official home page]
*{{C-SPAN|710}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060829163516/http://www.socialtherapygroup.com/ The Social Therapy Group], official site
*[http://www.allstarsproject.org/ All Stars Project], official site
*[http://www.blackelectorate.com/articles.asp?ID=822 Fulani writes about her political history with Al Sharpton]
*[http://www.reddingnewsreview.com/transcripts/trans7.htm Interview with Fulani] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201174148/http://www.reddingnewsreview.com/transcripts/trans7.htm |date=February 1, 2020 }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081027134053/http://thedailyvoice.com/voice/2008/07/the-black-home-000823.php How Black Voters Took On The Clinton Machine Op-Ed by Fulani]

{{s-start}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{succession box|
 before=[[Dennis L. Serrette]]|
 title=[[New Alliance Party]] Presidential candidate|
 years=[[U.S. presidential election, 1988|1988]] (lost), [[U.S. presidential election, 1992|1992]] (lost)|
 after=None
}}
{{succession box|
 before=Nancy Ross|
 title=[[New Alliance Party]] [[Governor of New York|New York Gubernatorial]] candidate|
 years=[[Election results, New York governor|1986]] (lost), [[Election results, New York governor|1990]] (lost)|
 after=None
}}
{{succession box|
 before=First|
 title=[[New Alliance Party]] [[Lieutenant Governor of New York|New York Lieutenant Gubernatorial]] candidate|
 years=[[Election results, New York governor|1982]] (lost)|
 after=Rafael Mendez
}}
{{s-end}}

{{United States presidential election, 1988}}
{{United States presidential election, 1992}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fulani, Lenora}}
[[Category:1950 births]]
[[Category:20th-century American women politicians]]
[[Category:African-American candidates for President of the United States]]
[[Category:Candidates in the 1988 United States presidential election]]
[[Category:Candidates in the 1992 United States presidential election]]
[[Category:People from Chester, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:African-American people in New York (state) politics]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American women politicians]]
[[Category:Chester High School alumni]]
[[Category:Female candidates for President of the United States]]
[[Category:Hofstra University alumni]]
[[Category:Independence Party of New York politicians]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:New Alliance Party (United States) politicians]]
[[Category:Teachers College, Columbia University alumni]]
[[Category:African-American psychologists]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American politicians]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American people]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American women]]
[[Category:20th-century American psychologists]]