Colia clark
Encyclopedia
Colia L. Liddell LaFayette Clark is an African American
activist and politician. Clark was the Green Party's
candidate for the United States Senate
in 2010
. She is a veteran of the civil rights movement and a Pan-Africanist. Her work has included activism in the fields of women's rights
and workers' rights
, as well as activism and advocacy for homeless people and youth. She worked with the Cynthia McKinney
for President campaign with "Power to the People". Clark is a member of the Reconstruction Party (USA), and is a chair of Grandmothers for the Release of Mumia Abu-Jamal
.
During the Civil Rights era, Clark was a special assistant to Medgar Evers
, field secretary for the NAACP. Clark was the founder and first president of the North Jackson NAACP Youth Council, under the guidance of Medgar Evers and John Salter. In 1962 Clark resigned from the NAACP and joined the Mississippi Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
to do voter registration work. In the 1990s Clark was a professor at the University of Albany. She was co-chair of the New York delegation to the Green Party of the United States presidential nominating convention, where Cynthia McKinney was nominated as the Green Party Presidential candidate. Clark is currently working on writing, activism and advocacy about Haiti.
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
activist and politician. Clark was the Green Party's
Green Party of New York
The Green Party of New York is a ballot-qualified political party in New York, which was founded in 1992. It is a part of the national Green Party movement...
candidate for the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
in 2010
United States Senate election in New York, 2010
The 2010 United States Senate election in New York took place as scheduled on November 2, 2010 along with elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator...
. She is a veteran of the civil rights movement and a Pan-Africanist. Her work has included activism in the fields of women's rights
Women's rights
Women's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed...
and workers' rights
Labor rights
Labor rights or workers' rights are a group of legal rights and claimed human rights having to do with labor relations between workers and their employers, usually obtained under labor and employment law. In general, these rights' debates have to do with negotiating workers' pay, benefits, and safe...
, as well as activism and advocacy for homeless people and youth. She worked with the Cynthia McKinney
Cynthia McKinney
Cynthia Ann McKinney is a former US Congresswoman and a member of the Green Party since 2007. As a member of the Democratic Party, she served six terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives. In 2008, the Green Party nominated McKinney for President of the United States...
for President campaign with "Power to the People". Clark is a member of the Reconstruction Party (USA), and is a chair of Grandmothers for the Release of Mumia Abu-Jamal
Mumia Abu-Jamal
Mumia Abu-Jamal was convicted of the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner and sentenced to death. He has been described as "perhaps the world's best known death-row inmate", and his sentence is one of the most debated today...
.
During the Civil Rights era, Clark was a special assistant to Medgar Evers
Medgar Evers
Medgar Wiley Evers was an African American civil rights activist from Mississippi involved in efforts to overturn segregation at the University of Mississippi...
, field secretary for the NAACP. Clark was the founder and first president of the North Jackson NAACP Youth Council, under the guidance of Medgar Evers and John Salter. In 1962 Clark resigned from the NAACP and joined the Mississippi Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee ' was one of the principal organizations of the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. It emerged from a series of student meetings led by Ella Baker held at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina in April 1960...
to do voter registration work. In the 1990s Clark was a professor at the University of Albany. She was co-chair of the New York delegation to the Green Party of the United States presidential nominating convention, where Cynthia McKinney was nominated as the Green Party Presidential candidate. Clark is currently working on writing, activism and advocacy about Haiti.