A newly elected Athens-Clarke County Commissioner took her oath of office with one hand raised in a militant black power fist and the other resting on a copy of a Malcolm X biography, a report says.
Georgian Mariah Parker, 26, won election to the board by 13 votes, according to the Hill.
The tattooed Parker, who is also a rapper performing under the stage name “Linqua Franqa,” ran as an unapologetic left-wing progressive saying, “It’s time for bold, progressive leadership in Athens.”
“They asked if they would like the Bible and I said no. My mother asked if there was a copy of the Constitution around. No,” Parker told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I wanted Malcolm’s book. I think they saw it coming,” she said.
Parker added that Malcolm X is her role model.
Having seen the transformation of someone who came through a difficult background to become vocal and push conversations on race in a radical way is powerful. Then he shifted course and saw race in a different lens as he got older. And the fact that he was arguably killed for his politics. These are things that I want to embrace.
Malcolm’s willingness to uneditedly speak about black people at large, are qualities that I want to embody. To speak out when I see things going wrong
The UGA doctoral student also said her causes as a board member will be social and economic justice issues.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.