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Now that Zohran Mamdani has taken the reigns as mayor of New York City, black conservatives with the Project 21 black leadership network are voicing their concerns about the rise of socialism in a city that has — until now — been known as a global epicenter of finance and culture.
Jovani Patterson
Jovani Patterson, Project 21 Ambassador:
Black New Yorkers are right to be concerned as Zohran Mamdani and his team openly identify as socialists. This concern is rooted not in fear, but in familiarity. While real challenges exist regarding education, affordability, entrepreneurship and homeownership, the solutions do not lie in socialist policies that expand government control at the expense of individual freedom.
Historically, collectivist systems have been used to justify dependency and control. In his 1854 defense of slavery, “Sociology for the South, or the Failure of Free Society,” George Fitzhugh openly declared slavery “the very best form of socialism” and called the Southern plantation the “beau ideal of communism.” Booker T. Washington understood then what remains true today: “At the bottom of education, at the bottom of politics, even at the bottom of religion, there must be for our race economic independence.”
The path forward is clear: Economic independence, not expanded government dependence, is the foundation of real freedom and lasting progress for black Americans. While we may not have lived under slavery ourselves, we still live with the consequences of systems that prioritized control over liberty. We should know better.
Ronald D. Gates, Sr.
Supt. Dr. Ronald Gates, Sr., Project 21 Ambassador:
Many black Americans are deeply concerned that expansive socialist policies risk repeating historical patterns in which centralized government control stifled entrepreneurship, weakened local ownership and reduced economic mobility in black communities.
When decision making is concentrated at City Hall rather than within neighborhoods, small businesses and working families often bear the cost through higher taxes, reduced investment and fewer opportunities.
True progress requires policies that empower families, protect property ownership and expand access to private-sector growth, not dependency on government systems that have failed us before.
Steven Perry
Steven Perry, Project 21 Ambassador:
America is currently embroiled in an ideological war in which many people are unsure of how to process the conflicting messages they receive. Terms like “love” and “freedom” have become subjective, defined primarily by one’s political affiliation. Now that Mayor Mamdani is leading New York City, these concepts are being redefined through a socialist lens.
History shows us that while a socialist government promises these ideals, it is an entity that ultimately cannot deliver on them in reality.
For generations, socialists and Marxists have been using the African-American community to test and Trojan Horse this idea into the American economic system. Unfortunately, it has not worked, even though we have had many socialist mayors in the past. Mayor Mamdani is simply the first to be bold enough to say it.
Curtis T. Hill, Jr.
Curtis Hill, Project 21 Ambassador and former Indiana Attorney General:
As New York’s new socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani assembles his radical “dream team,” black Americans are rightfully asking: Are we truly part of his vision, or just props in an ideological experiment that ignores our real struggles?
For too long, leftist leaders have pandered with empty promises while crime, failing schools and economic stagnation disproportionately harm our communities. Now a far-left agenda risks making it worse by defunding police and stifling opportunity.
Black New Yorkers deserve real solutions rooted in safety, accountability and economic freedom—not more government dependency and excuses for chaos. It’s time to demand better, before another generation pays the price.
Priscilla Rahn
Priscilla Rahn, Project 21 Ambassador:
God and family are central to many black Americans, yet Mayor Mamdani’s vision does not seem rooted in these values.
While everyone’s welcome in civic life, the absence of focus on the institutions that support black communities—like churches, safe schools and local businesses—raises real concerns about whether his agenda will truly help black New Yorkers thrive.
Black communities cannot afford to be sidelined by a socialist mayor whose administration expands costly government programs.
Bishop John T. Coats II
Bishop John T. Coats, Project 21 Ambassador:
Mayor Mamdani’s socialist approach risks slowing New York City’s economic engine by expanding government control and burdening small businesses. For black entrepreneurs, churches and community organizations, that means fewer opportunities and fewer paths to build wealth.
Higher taxes and reduced private support hit our communities first and hardest. And if this model spreads nationwide, it could stall economic mobility for black families across America.
Brandon Brice
Brandon Brice, Project 21 Ambassador:
Mayor Mamdani’s first 100 days will determine his impact on the African-American community in New York City.
Since the days of Paul Robeson, communists have always extended the olive branch to black Americans to help push their agendas, but oftentimes those same people of color have found themselves getting nothing in return.
Capitalism, although not perfect, has always been the silent friend to black families seeking to obtain the American Dream.
Terris Todd
Terris Todd, Project 21’s Director of Coalitions and Outreach:
The sad reality that many urban black Americans have not yet come to realize is that the left has used their communities for decades as ground zero for socialism.
Mayor Mamdani has promised to govern as a socialist, which means government will own and control New Yorkers’ way of life, and the American Dream will be replaced by a nightmare.
Unfortunately, for black Americans and many others, this realization regarding their blind support for certain leaders will come too late and with irreversible consequences.
Pastor Daimon King
Pastor Daimon King, Project 21 Ambassador:
Under Zohan Mamdani, black citizens may suffer greatly due to failed socialist policies that have never succeeded for the good of citizens in any society.
His policies, in fact, will create a more unsafe environment for black citizens in crime-ridden neighborhoods by defunding the NYPD and downsizing an already overloaded police force.
His policies are reckless, indeed.
Horace Cooper
Horace Cooper, Project 21 Chairman:
The new socialist mayor of New York is letting the world know which is his higher priority: pursuing his socialist fever dreams, or ensuring that black Americans and the rest of New Yorkers can live in communities where they prosper and thrive.
The mayor’s promise that “we will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism” is not reassuring.
In addition to the above comments, Project 21 Ambassadors Evie Harris and LaToya Nkongolo both discussed Mayor Mamdani on Newsmax TV, and Project 21 Chairman Horace Cooper discussed the spread of socialism on Fox News’s “Hannity.” Those appearances are below.
Author: The National Center
