~* Spooky Sarah, PhD (@stellarsarah.mastodon.world.ap.brid.gy)

Fifty years ago a Black woman socialist almost became leader of the NDP. Today the party brass would likely block such a candidate from even participating in the race. This NDP leadership election is about legacies. Some of the campaigns are leaning on family legacies while others are referencing the NDP’s tradition of reform. Our campaign is calling to an older, bolder time when the party promoted socialism and even called to “eradicate capitalism”. In the early 1970s, the “Waffle” advocated fundamentally restructuring the economy, expanding public programs to eliminate inequality and to seriously examine the threat from the US. The rise of the “Waffle” movement came to a head during the 1971 and 1975 conventions. One candidate progressives rallied around in the 1975 leadership race was Rosemary Brown. First elected as a member of the BC legislature, Brown was a socialist who campaigned for women’s and immigrant rights. Promoting the slogan “Black is beautiful”, she told the 1975 Convention, “if elected leader I will be unbending in my stand against any form of oppression that crushes people and prevents them from realizing the fulfillment of their life. And that as leader of this New Democratic Party I will be answerable to the members of this party.” Ed Broadbent only narrowly beat Brown in the 1975 election. Brown was known to say, “until all of us have made it, none of us have made it”. I worry this is a value New Democrats have forgotten in their focus on trying to win elections. The NDP was founded on the belief that we must improve the lives of Canadians through government and winning elections shouldn’t come before doing what’s right. Being the party of social movements means being a facilitator, an organizer, and supporter of these movements, not just showing up to speak at a protest or strike periodically. Instead of promoting grassroots activism, the party brass all too often seeks to restrict political imagination. Ideas such as being critical of NDP policy on Palestine or US and Canadian wars are pushed aside by the leadership as “wrong”, rather than allowing members the right to vote on these policies. So much so that I fear that a trailblazer like Brown may not even been allowed to run to lead the party today. It is even more ironic, that despite her success as an activist the Canadian Press still perpetuated the sexist stereotype when she died in 2003 that “despite having children to look after, she ran for leadership of the federal NDP in 1975.” When I launched my campaign to lead the party three weeks headlines said “Yves Engler’s wife” despite my decades of experience as an activist. It shows that the fight Rosemary demanded of us is still necessary. It’s the legacy of people like Rosemary and other activists that animates my campaign. This campaign is for those who want a leader unafraid to say fundamental change is necessary and we must challenge wealth concentrating, ecocidal, capitalism. Concretely, we are calling for a housing revolution because over a quarter million Canadians are sleeping on the street at some point in the year. We are calling on the government to build massive amounts of public housing, freeze rents and convert Real Estate Investment Trusts apartments into cooperatively owned housing. It is a moral crime that thousands are starving in the streets while our government intends to triple our military budget. The NDP should be a place for activists like Rosemary Brown who fight for the cause of justice. My campaign is committed to the spirit of defending the dignity of everyone, at home and abroad, even if we must fight for it every step of the way. ## Support rabble today! We’re so glad you stopped by! Thanks for consuming rabble content this year. rabble.ca is 100% reader and donor funded, so as an avid reader of our content, we hope you will consider gifting rabble with a donation during our summer fundraiser today. Nick Seebruch, editor Whether it be a one-time donation or a small monthly contribution, your support is critical to keep rabble writers producing the work you’ve come to rely on as a part of a healthy media diet. **Become a rabble rouser — donate to _rabble.ca_ today. ** Nick Seebruch, editor Support rabble.ca https://rabble.ca/politics/canadian-politics/would-the-ndp-leadership-block-rosemary-brown-if-she-ran-today/