Candace Owens
Candace Owens is an American political commentator, author, and activist, known for her conservative viewpoints and outspoken criticism of progressive ideologies. Born on April 29, 1989, in Stamford, Connecticut, she faced significant challenges in her youth, including harassment that led to legal action against her school district. After studying journalism at the University of Rhode Island, she shifted her career from a private equity firm to political activism, co-founding a marketing agency and engaging in various media platforms.
Owens gained prominence in conservative circles, particularly after her response to the 2017 Charlottesville rally and her role as director of urban engagement for Turning Point USA. She founded the Blexit Foundation to encourage Black Americans to reconsider their political affiliations and has authored a book titled "Blackout: How Black America Can Make Its Second Escape from the Democrat Plantation." Known for her controversial statements, Owens has attracted both a loyal following and significant criticism, making her a notable figure in far-right U.S. politics. She is married with two children, and her work continues to spark discussions around race, politics, and identity in America.
Subject Terms
Candace Owens
Conservative political commentator and online personality
- Born: April 29, 1989
- Birthplace: Stamford, Connecticut
Born: April 29, 1989
Birthplace: Stamford, Connecticut
Significance: Candace Owens is a Black American conservative commentator, author, online and television personality, and activist. She rose to prominence during the 2016 presidential election as a supporter of Donald Trump. Owens regularly expressed her belief that White supremacy is overblown in comparison to other issues facing Black Americans and became known for her opposition to groups such as Black Lives Matter (BLM) as well as pandemic lockdowns and other health mandates.
Background
Candace Amber Owens was born on April 29, 1989, in Stamford, Connecticut. She was the third of four children who were raised by their grandparents after their parents divorced when Owens was in elementary school. She graduated from Stamford High School, where she also ran track and was a cheerleader.
While a seventeen-year-old senior at the high school, Owens received three telephoned death threats that were recorded as voicemails. The fourteen-year-old son of the town’s mayor was questioned in relation to the threats, and the story made the news. Because no arrests initially occurred, the alleged perpetrators were allowed to continue to attend school, resulting in harassment and discomfort for Owens and her siblings. She was homeschooled for six weeks, and her family later filed a lawsuit against the school district for not protecting her rights to attend school. The lawsuit was settled with a $37,500 payment from the school. A former friend of Owens and a juvenile were eventually charged, but the cases were dismissed.
Owens attended the University of Rhode Island to study journalism but left after her junior year because of a problem with her student loan. She struggled with an eating disorder in part because of the trauma of the harassment incident in high school. After leaving the university, she worked for a time as an intern at Vogue magazine. In 2012 she became an administrative assistant with a New York private equity firm and worked her way into the role of vice president of administration.
Political Activism
In 2015 Owens and a coworker cofounded a marketing agency called Degree180 for which Owens wrote a blog. She wrote mostly about issues common to people of her generation and, from time to time, offered political commentary. Her initial comments were often critical of Republican policies and actions.
The following year, Owens and some others from Degree180 launched a campaign to fund a start-up Internet site called Social Autopsy. The premise was to provide a site where companies and individuals could easily investigate others’ digital profiles and postings. The site quickly came under criticism because of privacy concerns, and Owens was once again targeted. She and family members were doxed—had their personal information such as addresses revealed online—and she received threats.
As the situation unfolded, Owens found some unanticipated allies among supporters of Gamergate, an online controversy which peaked in 2014 and 2015 that pitted progressive game developers against fans who were upset over what they perceived to be an attempt to politicize video games with a liberal ideology; Gamergate was also marked by waves of misogynistic comments against women in the video game industry. Some conservative participants in Gamergate spoke in Owens’s defense and encouraged her. This prompted Owens to determine that most of those who were attacking her for Social Autopsy were progressives and led to her developing a conservative viewpoint. At the same time, the 2016 United States presidential election campaigns were heating up and statements made by then-Republican candidate Donald Trump resonated with her.
Owens began posting YouTube videos with other Black conservatives under the name RedPillBlack. She created profiles on various social media sites and began posting conservative content. Then, in 2017 after the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, turned deadly when a self-identified White supremacist rammed a crowd of counter-protestors, killing one and injuring dozen others, Owens posted her response to what had happened. It gained the attention of more prominent conservative commentators and increased Owens’s visibility. Eventually, she came to the attention of then-candidate Trump, who commented favorably on her viewpoints.
In November 2017 it was announced that Owens would become the director of urban engagements for Turning Point USA, a nonprofit started by conservative activist Charlie Kirk in 2012 to promote conservative approaches to government, economics, and education. She remained there until 2019, at which point she was the director of communications. For a time, she hosted The Candace Owens Show on PragerU’s YouTube channel, leaving that position in 2020. In 2018, she founded the Blexit Foundation, aimed at encouraging Black voters to abandon their traditional Democratic voting tendencies in favor of conservative candidates. The foundation eventually merged with Turning Point USA.
As the 2020 election cycle ramped up, Owens joined Nashville-based The Daily Wire to host a podcast entitled Candace, which began broadcasting in 2021. During 2020 she also released her first book, Blackout: How Black America Can Make Its Second Escape from the Democrat Plantation.
Owens’s activism resulted in frequent controversy. For example, in June 2021, Owens posted an Instagram video which alleged that Kimberly Klacik, a Republican congressional candidate in Maryland, was participating in illegal activities related to campaign finance, drugs, and procuring help for a strip club. Klacik sued for defamation of character, but the suit was dismissed with prejudice in 2022.
Impact
By the 2020s Owens had become a major figure in far-right US politics, attracting support from many conservatives as well as harsh criticism from liberals. She used her platforms and influence to encourage Black Americans to consider the impact their vote can have in national politics. Owens also used her platforms to attempt to convince Black Americans that policies such as abortion, welfare, claims of excessive police aggression toward Black people, and repeated assertions that they are victims of White supremacy are intended to control Black people and their votes.
Personal Life
Owens married in 2019. Her husband, George Farmer, was the British-born son of Lord Michael Farmer, a former conservative politician in the United Kingdom. Owens and Farmer had a son in January 2021 and a daughter in July 2022.
Bibliography
Candace Owens, candaceowens.com/about/. Accessed 20 June 2023.
“Candace Owens.” IMDb, www.imdb.com/name/nm9219306/bio/. Accessed 20 June 2023.
Cuda, Amanda. “We were children. I wasn’t the only victim.” CT Post, 5 Mar. 2016, www.ctpost.com/local/article/We-were-children-I-wasn-t-the-only-6872580.php. Accessed 20 June 2023.
Genatossio, Noah. “Candace Owens (1989- ).” BlackPast, 13 Apr. 2019, www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/people-african-american-history/candace-owens-1989/. Accessed 20 June 2023.
“Mayor’s Son Questioned in Stamford Death Threat Probe.” News12 Connecticut, 23 Mar. 2007, connecticut.news12.com/mayors-son-questioned-in-stamford-death-threat-probe-34858466. Accessed 20 June 2023.
Panetta, Grace and Ashley Collman.“The Life and Career of Candace Owens, the Black Conservative Activist Who Attacked Black Lives Matter and Said George Floyd Was ‘Not a Good Person’.” Business Insider, 13 June 2020, www.businessinsider.com/candace-owens-black-conservative-activist-life-career-attacks-2020-6. Accessed 20 June 2023.
Smith, Ryan. “Who Is Candace Owens Married To?” Newsweek, 12 Dec. 2022, www.newsweek.com/who-candace-owens-married-george-farmer-parler-1766300. Accessed 20 June 2023.
Zadrozny, Brandy. “Youtube Tested, Trump Approved: How Candace Owens Suddenly Became the Loudest Voice on the Far Right.” NBC News, 23 July 2018, www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/youtube-tested-trump-approved-how-candace-owens-suddenly-became-loudest-n885166. Accessed 20 June 2023.