Melina Abdullah

Melina Abdullah (born Melina Rachel Reimann on September 18, 1972) is an American academic and civic leader. She is chair of the department of Pan-African Studies at California State University, Los Angeles, and a co-founder of the Los Angeles chapter of Black Lives Matter.

Melina Abdullah
Melina Abdullah on a panel at the 2016 Politicon at the Pasadena Convention Center in Pasadena, California.
Born
Melina Rachel Reimann[1]

East Oakland, Oakland, California, U.S.
EducationHoward University (B.A.)
University of Southern California (M.A., PhD.)
OccupationAcademic
EmployerCalifornia State University, Los Angeles
Parent(s)John Reimann (father)[2] Linda Fowler Blackston (mother)
RelativesGünter Reimann (grandfather) Oji "Baba" Blackston (raised by)

Early life and education

Melina Rachel Reimann was born on September 18, 1972 at East Oakland, Oakland, California, U.S.[3][4] Her father, John Reimann, was "a union organizer and self-proclaimed Trotskyist."[3] Her mother is Linda Fowler Blackston and she was raised by Oji "Baba" Blackston. Her paternal grandfather was Günter Reimann (born Hans Steinicke), a German-Jewish Marxist economist and member of the Communist Party of Germany who opposed Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich.[5][6][7]

She graduated from Howard University, where she earned a bachelor's of arts (B.A.) degree in African American Studies.[8] She subsequently earned a master's degree (M.A.) and doctoral degree (PhD.) in political science from the University of Southern California.[8][9] Reimann changed her surname to Abdullah due to her marriage to filmmaker Phaylen Abdullah and kept the name after their divorce.

Activism

Abdullah is a self-described "womanist scholar-activist". She has said that her academic roles are connected with her activist role in fighting for liberating those who have been exploited many times. She serves on several boards, including Black Community, Clergy and Labor Alliance (BCCLA), Los Angeles Community Action Network (LA-CAN), and Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education (SCOPE).[8]

Career

Abdullah is a tenured professor and the chair of the department of Pan-African Studies at California State University, Los Angeles.[8] She was interviewed in 13th, a 2016 documentary about mass incarceration in the United States.

Abdullah has served on the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission since 2014.[8] She is a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter chapter in Los Angeles, California.[3] She was arrested and released after paying a $20,000 bail in May 2018.[10] Abdullah regularly writes articles for the LA Progressive.[11]

Personal life

Abdullah resides in Crenshaw, a neighborhood of Los Angeles.[3] She has three children.[3]

References
  1. "Veromi.net | People Summary". veromi.net. Archived from the original on 1 October 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  2. Cawood, Jeffrey (12 May 2017). "EXCLUSIVE: California State Professor Brings Her 7-Year-Old To Lecture The Los Angeles Police Department". Daily Wire. Archived from the original on 2 October 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  3. Aron, Hillel (November 9, 2015). "These Savvy Women Have Made Black Lives Matter the Most Crucial Left-Wing Movement Today". LA Weekly. Archived from the original on July 8, 2018. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  4. Sue (August 30, 2020). "Viewpoint: Who is Dr. Melina Reimann Abdullah? The Controversial Co-founder of Black Lives Matter LA". Circling the News.
  5. McGahan, Jason. "The People v. Melina Abdullah". theLAnd. 1 (1).
  6. "Profiles: Günter Reimann", Mises Institute.
  7. Saxon, Wolfgang (April 4, 2005). "Guenter Reimann, Economic Publisher, Is Dead at 100". The New York Times.
  8. "Melina Abdullah". Department of Pan-African Studies. California State University, Los Angeles. Archived from the original on July 8, 2018. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  9. "Pan-African Studies | Melina Abdullah". Cal State LA. November 23, 2013. Archived from the original on June 6, 2020. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  10. "Melina Abdullah, professor and co-founder of BLM Los Angeles, on police commission hearing arrest". Fox 11. May 9, 2018. Archived from the original on July 8, 2018. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  11. Abdullah, Melina (April 16, 2020). "Black Los Angeles Demands in Light of COVID-19 and Rates of Black Death". LA Progressive. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
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