Kamau Franklin is a left-of-center political activist and Democratic campaign operative who is the founder of Community Movement Builders (CMB) a left-of-center group aligned with the Black Lives Matter movement that supports other far-left and socialist-inspired ideologies such as defunding police departments, establishing “liberated zones, and the “Stop Cop City” campaign opposing the construction of a law enforcement training facility in Atlanta. Franklin is an attorney and former co-chair of the National Conference of Black Lawyers and has been an organizer and Democratic campaign operative in New York City and the southern United States. ^{1 2 3}

Early Life and Education

Kamau Franklin received a bachelor’s degree in education from Baruch College, a master’s from Brooklyn College and a law degree from Fordham Law School. He worked in private practice as a lawyer from 2000 to 2007 where he represented clients in the areas of entertainment, business, and activism. He also claims to have legal experience in the fields of criminal, federal civil rights, human rights, and contract law. ¹

He has written articles for left-wing and radical-left publications including the Atlanta Black Star, Black Agenda, Left Turn, the Real News, TeleSur, and Organizing Upgrade. He wrote an essay entitled “An Ivory Tower Assassination of Malcolm X” that appeared in the book, A Lie of Reinvention: Correcting Manning Marable’s Malcolm X. ¹

As a political operative, he was the first campaign manager for Chokwe Lumumba’s (D) campaign for Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, and was the campaign director for Tyrone Lewis who was the first African-American elected Sheriff in Hinds County, Mississippi. In his biography Franklin stated that “he regrets” working on Lewis’ campaign for Sheriff. ¹

Organizations

Kamau Franklin was previously co-chair of the National Conference of Black Lawyers and was a member of the New York Executive Committee of the National Lawyers Guild. He also worked as the Legal program director of New York City Police-Watch, a police “watchdog” group in New York City. He has also worked as the southern regional director of the American Friends Service Committee, the civic engagement director of the Mississippi NAACP, and a racial justice fellow at the Center for Constitutional Rights, where he worked on federal class action litigation against the New York Police Department regarding alleged racial profiling. ¹

Community Movement Builders

Kamau Franklin is the founder and executive director of Community Movement Builders, a Marxist, Black-focused organization that calls for defunding the police; ending cash bail; mass releases of prisoners and illegal immigrants from detention centers; decriminalizing minor offenses and drug laws; and removing police from protests, schools, and public housing. CMB is based in Atlanta, Georgia, and insists on unarmed responses to traffic stops, mental health calls, and interactions with homeless people. CMB opposes building a police training facility in south Atlanta, which it argues threatens to bring a negative economic impact to the city unless it is stopped. ^{4 5}

Franklin stated that if the “right-wing white supremacist governor of Georgia” did not stop building the police training facilities in Atlanta, then CMB and other groups would bring economic pain to the city and state. ⁶

1. “Interview with Kamau Franklin on Threat of Charter Schools in Georgia and Governor Nathan Deal’s Privatization Schemes.” Just Peace WRFG Atlanta. Accessed April 25, 2024. https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Interview-about–No-Charter-Schools–with-Kamau-Franklin.html?soid=1109359583686&aid=sdOLAb5q_RA
2. “Stop Cop City.” Community Movement Builders. Accessed March 23, 2024. https://communitymovementbuilders.org/stop-cop-city/
3. “Liberated Zones.” Community Movement Builders. Accessed March 23, 2024.  https://communitymovementbuilders.org/liberated-zones/
4. Return of a Nonprofit Corporation (Form 990). Community Movement Builders. 2022. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/474653915/202313459349300046/full
5. “Our Fights Against Police Violence.” Community Movement Builders. Accessed March 23, 2024. https://communitymovementbuilders.org/ending-police-violence/
6. “Opposition Grows to Atlanta ‘Cop City’ As More Forest Defenders Charged With Domestic Terrorism.” Democracy Now! March 9, 2023. Accessed March 25, 2024. https://www.democracynow.org/2023/3/9/cop_city_arrests_protests