Independent candidate Cornel West selects L.A. professor and activist Melina Abdullah as presidential running mate
LOS ANGELES — Independent presidential candidate Cornel West named Cal State Los Angeles professor Melina Abdullah as his running mate on Wednesday, saying that her commitment to social justice and to prioritizing the needs of poor Americans embodied the values of his candidacy.
“I wanted to to run with someone who would put a smile on the face of (civil rights activist) Fannie Lou Hamer and Martin Luther King Jr. from the grave,” West said on Tavis Smiley’s Los Angeles radio program.
Abdullah is well-known figure in local political circles: She cofounded the Los Angeles
