The belief that God is supreme to all creation, that our freedoms are given by God and protected by government, are just a few conservative values that I long have embraced and will continue to share with those I come in contact with throughout my lifetime.

Terris E. Todd is executive director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans.

17. Deana Bass Williams: 3 True North Principles

Three fundamental beliefs make me a conservative. I believe in the value of the individual over the state. I value freedom of expression. I believe life is a gift from God and should be protected and celebrated.

These foundational principles governed my way of thinking long before I had heard the term conservative, and even longer still before I knew anything about the “conservative movement.”

In my life, the best solutions on how to respond to challenges all have  come from my family, my church, and my immediate community, not from the government. My community, not the government, has done a better job of dismantling poverty, alleviating educational disparities, and improving health care outcomes.

In my life, solutions to depression and despair were found in the church and not by a government program.

While the left professes to promote tolerance, my experience bears out that their tolerance extends only to their ideas. As a professional communicator for almost three decades, I have grown to value a fundamental principle of conservatism, and that is the freedom of expression and the marketplace of ideas.

Of course, when conservatives say they value life, the immediate thought goes to the abortion debate. While protecting the unborn is critical, it is merely the foundation of the sanctity of life argument. Conservatism’s emphasis on life extends to supporting policies that empower and protect human life at every stage of development.

Yes, that means defunding killing machines such as Planned Parenthood, but it also means reforming a criminal justice system that shows bias against African Americans.

Deana Bass Williams is a partner at Bass Public Affairs in Washington, D.C.

18. Dee Dee Bass Wilbon: Founding Principles

I was in my early 20s working in a brand-new job after college when I was first asked, “Why are you a conservative?” The co-worker also felt the need to remind me that I was Black, which he believed made it even more egregious.

The first political campaign I worked on was in the mid-1980s for a Black woman running for city council in my hometown. She believed that human life began at conception. She believed in the free market giving everyone an opportunity to increase financially. She believed that you should be able to attend a school or get a job based on your ability and not because of the color of your skin.

I was 12 years old when I worked on that campaign. As a kid, conservative principles made perfect sense even if I had not yet heard the word conservative. They make perfect sense today as they align with what I have been taught as a Christian.

The answer to my colleague’s question was easy for me then as a young single woman, and remains easy for me almost 30 years later as a wife and mother of two.

I am a ­­­­conservative because of Christian values. I love America. Our nation is an imperfect experiment in a democracy founded on Judeo-Christian values. I believe that as we move away from these founding principles, we move away from our destiny of being one nation under God with liberty and justice for all.

Dee Dee Bass Wilbon is a partner at Bass Public Affairs in Washington, D.C.

19. Daren Williams: Origins of Conservatism

Most if not all people assume that conservatism was born by way of Edmund Burke’s critique of the French Revolution in 1790, and the writing of others before him such as Richard Hooker, the Marquess of Halifax, and David Hume.

That is, the fundamental ideas and practices of conservatism are the legacy of old English white men. It is with this misconception and failed understanding of the world’s history that conservatism is scorned as a white man’s ideology, particularly by Black Americans.

The roots of conservatism did not grow from the minds or hands of white men or any other race of man. The core values of conservatism were first written by the hand of God on the tablets which Moses held as he descended Mount Sinai to give to the Children of Israel.

The Ten Commandments are the true origins of conservatism, passed down from generation to generation for millenniums. At times lost through stubbornness and pride, but always found in the humble pursuit of Truth.

These 10 fundamental laws are the infallible building blocks of conservatism and of a truly sustainable society, starting with the individual’s responsibility to God and then his love for his neighbors.

They enshrine and guarantee, if followed, a healthy, long-standing, and thriving individual, family, community, and nation of people.

And if ignored, the weakening, destruction, and demise of those entities, in that exact order.

Why I’m a Black conservative has absolutely nothing to do with the color of my skin. It has everything to do with the origin of conservatism, which is from the same hands of my origin: God.

Daren Williams is director of policy and endorsements at New Journey PAC Inc.

This article first appeared at The Daily Signal in 2020.

Image: Reuters