Kwame Montsho Ajamu Somburu (born Paul Benjamin Boutelle; October 13, 1934 – May 3, 2016) was an activist, politician, black nationalist, and member of the Socialist Workers Party. In 1979, he changed his name to Kwame Montsho Ajamu Somburu.

Activism

Boutelle campaigned as a socialist candidate for

Mayor of New York City The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...

, Mayor of

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

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three times,

New York State Attorney General The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the Department of Law of the state government. The office has been in existence in some form since 1626, under the Dutch colonial government of ...

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

, and Borough President of Manhattan. Boutelle was also active in the

Freedom Now Party The Freedom Now Party was a short-lived political party in the United States founded in August 1963 during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. It had a Black membership. It was indirectly linked to the Socialist Workers Party. It existed ...

(an all-

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

party that existed from 1963 to 1965) and was its candidate for the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

, New York City in 1964. In December 1965, Boutelle organized the Afro-Americans Against the War in Vietnam (AAAWV) group. Boutelle was the first chairman of the AAAWV and a secretary of the Black United Action Front, both instrumental in organizing the Harlem portions of the April 15, 1967

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

march staged by the

Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam The Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, which became the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, was a coalition of American antiwar activists formed in November 1966 to organize large demonstrations in o ...

. Boutelle appears in the 1968 film, ''No Vietnamese Ever Called Me Nigger'', photographed by

Michael Wadleigh Michael Wadleigh, (born September 24, 1942, in Akron, Ohio), is an American film director and cinematographer renowned for his groundbreaking documentary of the 1969 Woodstock Festival, ''Woodstock''. Biography A native of Akron, Ohio, Wadleig ...

and directed by fellow Socialist Workers Party member

David Loeb Weiss David Loeb Weiss (c. 1911 - August 11, 2005) was a Polish-born American socialist activist, filmmaker, and co-founder of the Socialist Workers Party (United States), Socialist Workers Party in 1938. Early life David Loeb Weiss was born in Warsa ...

Vice-Presidential Candidate (1968)

Boutelle was the Socialist Workers Party candidate for U.S. Vice President in

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

. He and presidential candidate

Fred Halstead Fred W. Halstead (April 21, 1927 – June 2, 1988) was the Socialist Workers Party's candidate for President of the United States in 1968. His running mate was Paul Boutelle. Halstead played a significant role in the movement against the ...

were on the ballot in 19 states. Boutelle toured throughout the United States during that campaign and appeared on numerous radio and television shows, including

William F. Buckley, Jr. William Frank Buckley Jr. (born William Francis Buckley; November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008) was an American public intellectual, conservative author and political commentator. In 1955, he founded ''National Review'', the magazine that stim ...

's ''Firing Line'' (episode 111, taped on July 10, 1968), and in interviews with

Joey Bishop Joseph Abraham Gottlieb (February 3, 1918 – October 17, 2007), known professionally as Joey Bishop, was an American entertainer who appeared on television as early as 1948 and eventually starred in his own weekly comedy series playing a talk/ ...

and

Dick Cavett Richard Alva Cavett (; born November 19, 1936) is an American television personality and former talk show host. He appeared regularly on nationally broadcast television in the United States for five decades, from the 1960s through the 2000s. In ...

. He spoke at numerous community meetings, universities, forums, conferences, and other venues. Boutelle also toured internationally during the 1968 campaign to Canada, England, Scotland, and France. His national tour of France was cancelled because of the nationwide worker and student strikes and protests during the spring of 1968. His sponsoring organization was one of 22 banned by the French government.

References

External links

*
The Black Uprisings: Newark 1967 Detroit
Socialist Workers Party pamphlet with introduction by Paul Boutelle. - via Marxists.org * Paul Boutelle and Fred Halstead on William Buckley's ''Firing Line'' television program, July 10, 1968 (episode 111): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpV5xr3tQoE - via

Hoover Institution Library and Archives The Hoover Institution Library and Archives is a research center and archival repository located at Stanford University, near Palo Alto, California in the United States. Built around a collection amassed by Stanford graduate Herbert Hoover prio ...

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

Bibliography

*(1969). "2 Socialist Parties File For Mayoralty." ''The New York Times''. September 5. *Alexander, Robert (1991). ''International Trotskyism, 1929-1985: A Documented Analysis of the Movement''. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. *Jones, Charles E., ed (1998). ''The Black Panther Party (Reconsidered)''. Baltimore: Black Classics Press. *(1967). "Socialist Workers Party Names Antiwar Slate for '68 Election." ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. August 31. 1934 births 2016 deaths African-American candidates for Vice President of the United States Members of Socialist Action (United States) People from Harlem Politicians from New York City Socialist Workers Party (United States) politicians from California Socialist Workers Party (United States) politicians from New York (state) Socialist Workers Party (United States) vice presidential nominees 1968 United States vice-presidential candidates {{NewYork-politician-stub