Eugene Puryear | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) | |
| Born | (1986-02-28)February 28, 1986 (age 39) |
| Alma mater | Howard University |
| Occupation(s) | Journalist, activist |
| Political party | D.C. Statehood Green Party Party for Socialism and Liberation |
Eugene Puryear (born February 28, 1986) is a far-left[1] American journalist, writer, activist, politician, and host on BreakThrough News. In 2014, he was a candidate for the at-large seat in theDC Council with theD.C. Statehood Green Party. In the2008 and2016 United States presidential elections, Puryear was thevice presidential nominee of theParty for Socialism and Liberation (PSL),[2] despite being ineligible to become vice president due to his age.
In 2014, Puryear ran as aD.C. Statehood Green Party candidate for the At-Large City Council seat held at the time byAnita Bonds.[3] His campaign put forward a 10-point program, which describes some of the policy positions taken by Puryear. On April 1, 2014, Puryear won the party's nomination, defeating G. Lee Aikin 67.3%–25.1%.[4] On November 4, 2014, Puryear placed sixth out of 14 candidates in the general election.[5]
Puryear wrote the bookShackled and Chained: Mass Incarceration in Capitalist America, published by PSL Publications.[6] Among the book's perspectives is a critique ofMichelle Alexander'sThe New Jim Crow, which Puryear writes does not attend to the historical transformations ofwhite supremacy andcapitalism. He stated that mass incarceration "is a political and state response to the masses of Black people being thrown out of the productive process altogether," whereas "slavery and Jim Crow were designed around Black people actually laboring."[7]
Puryear writes regularly forLiberation News, the newspaper of the Party for Socialism and Liberation.[8] He has co-edited some of the PSL's books, such asImperialism in the 21st Century: Updating Lenin's Theory a Century Later.[9] He was the host of the daily political talk showBy Any Means Necessary, onRussian government-ownedRadio Sputnik. Puryear is currently the host of the showsThe Freedom Side LIVE and thePunch Out on BreakThrough News.[10] Additionally, he taught a 4-part digital course forLiberation School titled, "Black Struggle is Class Struggle," which analyzes Black revolutionary history in the United States and its central role in the development of U.S. society.[11]
Puryear studied atHoward University, where he became a lead organizer with theanti-warANSWER coalition[12] and has helped organize large protests against theIsraeliblockade of Gaza.[13] Puryear and the ANSWER coalition were involved in the campaign to free theJena 6.[14] As a freshman at Howard in 2005, Puryear was interviewed byThe Washington Post as an "activist-in-training" and cited his engagement with activism againstgentrification,racism, theUS occupation of Iraq and other issues.[15]
Puryear has been deeply involved in theBlack Lives Matter movement.[16]
On October 8, 2023, the day after the2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, Puryear helped organize a rally in support ofPalestine inTimes Square.[17][18][19] He was recorded giving a speech in which he defended theRe’im music festival massacre, saying, "And as you might have seen, there was some sort of rave or desert party where they were having a great time, untilthe resistance came in electrifiedhang gliders and took at least several dozenhipsters, and I'm sure they're doing very fine despite what theNew York Post says".[20][21][22][23][24] When questioned about his words five days later, he re-affirmed them and stated that "Palestinians are right to resist".[25]
In2008, Puryear ran on the Party for Socialism and Liberation's ticket alongside presidential nomineeGloria La Riva. The La Riva/Puryear slate was on the ballot in six states and received 6,818 total votes.[26]
In July 2015, Puryear was again announced as therunning mate of La Riva, the Party for Socialism and Liberation's2016 presidential nominee. However, he was not eligible to hold the office, as he would not have been at least 35 years old byInauguration Day.[27] Puryear was critical of theDemocratic presidential candidatesHillary Clinton andBernie Sanders.[28]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Eugene Puryear, who helped organize the event in behalf of the A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition, said the absence of the NY-DSA politicians at the event was telling.
Eugene Puryear: "The whole reason I'm yelling is because the powers that be in New York City and New York state don't want this rally to happen.
One of the protesters, named Eugene Puryear, said that city authorities "don't want us to have any sound amplifiers because they don't want the people of New York to hear us because they don't want people to know that the Palestinians are right to oppose to the occupation. Resistance to apartheid is not terrorism," he said.
"As you might have seen, there was some sort of rave or desert party where they were having a great time, until the resistance came in electrified hang gliders and took at least several dozen hipsters," a speaker said. "But I'm sure they're doing very fine despite what The New York Post says." He was met with cheers.
"And as you might have seen, there was some sort of rave or desert party where they were having a great time, until the resistance came in electrified hang gliders and took at least several dozen hipsters," one speaker joked about the Hamas assault on a desert rave, where horrific scenes of murder and rape took place.
listeners cheered a speaker who boasted … took out at least several dozen hipsters … That speaker, it turned out, was activist journalist Eugene Puryear
Asked if he'd say the same thing again today, Puryear said he would.
