Cornel West announces running mate for independent US presidential bid

Melina Abdullah joins former Harvard professor's long-shot bid in US presidential race

The independent presidential candidate Cornel West announced on Wednesday that Melina Abdullah would serve as his running mate, joining the former Harvard professor's long-shot bid in the US presidential race.

Abdullah, a professor of Pan-African Studies at California State University, Los Angeles, helped to form the LA chapter of the group Black Lives Matter, and West praised her as one of the great freedom fighters of her generation".