21st Century Black Conservatives are Finally "Black."

In no way, shape or form am I implying preceding generations of Black conservatives were insufficiently "Black." I am stating conditions have significantly changed for which community concerns can be addressed from the Right.

I became active in the 1980s, on a politically liberal Black college campus that still had that gloriously organic conservatism which made our community great even while demeaned by society at large.

Weaned on William F Buckleys show, Firing Line and watching Pat Buchanan and Tom Braden debates on Crossfire, my Right appetite was always seeking new content.

By the 1990s I'd been steadily reading Intercollegiate Studies Institute publications, National Review and Black conservative publications like the Lincoln Review, Issues and Views, and writing for National Minority Politics (renamed Headway), Destiny magazine and Thyself: Newsletter of Black Individualism.

The contentious US Senate confirmation hearing of now Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and the CSPAN aired debut of Project 21 showed I wasn't alone in the body politic.

As intellectually exhilarating as those days were, there were third rails one dare not touch. My hometown civil rights activism was frowned upon by local conservatives who nonetheless applauded anti crime organizing and denounciations of elite liberalism.

Admittedly, I was an oddity, non English name, often culturally attired, rooted in a moderate Christian upbringing and personally selected Black nationalism that didn't indict White people but prioritized private public safety solutions and institution building in lieu of "fitting in."

I was a self described "individualist and fellow traveler" of that era's conservative movement. I called myself an individualist to reserve the right to oppose racism, private sector and law enforcement, largely untouched by the mainstream Right.

The post September 11th 2001 conservative world introduced me to first wave Millennial Black conservatives through a website called, Hip Hop Republican.

They were younger versions of those I saw on cable TV in the 1990s, right down to talking points and aversion to making waves about racism, which many said didn't exist. One notable exception was Sonnie Johnson.

Sonnie is a libertarian who uses inner city and hip hop parallels and unabashed love of the Black community to remind mainstream conservatives and libertarians of the universality of these philosophies.

She and others like her have expanded the Black conservative bandwidth to rip away the gag order muzzling speaking out against police brutality and Republican reenforcement of anti Black stereotypes.

In doing so, they've informed friend and foe that 21st Century Black conservatives are finally "Black," not in an insulting Joe Bidenesque way, but unapologetically addressing issues from our experience instead of muting it in order to fit in.

Healthy development, is what I type after tweeting about Sonnie and her trending wing of undeniably Black conservatism.

Cap Black.