Welcome to The Left Hook
The Left Hook is a thoroughly opinionated and biased intellectual playground for people who enjoy political, cultural, and religious hot takes without corporate censorship and nonsense centrism.
Who and what are you going to find here?
The Left Hook is for people whose parents gave them delicious kabobs with “green stuff” for lunch, had ink smudges on their left palms, were forced to wear Husky pants, or were last picked for after-school sports. The Left Hook is your safe space to punch back against schoolyard bullies, fascists, authoritarians, corrupt institutions, and overall annoying people with bad taste.
When they go low…we take out their knees.
But, mostly it’s a peaceful, festive, and fun abode! We swear! You’ll especially enjoy us if you can tolerate commentary about parent life, religion, 80’s action movie references, sports talk, comic books, and Lego.
The Left Hook is intended to grow into a community playground where we can platform and elevate writers who stir up some good trouble with the intention of bringing about more awareness, curiosity, and empathy.
Who is this Wajahat Ali character?
Hello! I’m Wajahat Ali and often enjoy writing about myself in the third person. I’m an author, commentator, recovering attorney, former TV host, tired dad of three kids, and the only left-handed person in my entire family. I know what it’s like to be the token minority in the classroom and the darkest person in the boardroom. I also know what it’s like to love and fight for a country that doesn’t often love you back.
OK, why should we listen to you, Wajahat?
Mostly because I promise to never bore you. This is due to the fact I’ve had an “interesting” life where I’ve been lucky enough to experience the extremes.
I’ve been a model minority and the bad minority. I’ve lived in the suburbs and have also lost my home. I’ve been rich and I’ve been bankrupt. My parents were successful immigrants who had the American Dream until they were incarcerated and lived the American nightmare.
I’ve been a struggling independent playwright and I’ve also worked as a commentator at CNN and written for the New York Times. I’ve been a solo attorney hustling to pay the bills and I’ve also traveled the world giving speeches at TED and the United Nations.
These experiences have taught me there’s a diverse, global audience that shares my passion, frustrations and hopes in creating a better future for our children’s generation.
Like me, you’re probably tired of being cast as the token, the sidekick, the villain or being completely removed from the story all together as the worst people - who are consistently wrong on all the major issues - continue to fail up.
Like me, you’re probably tired of holding back our punches in the face of rising authoritarianism and overall douchebaggery.
The Left Hook is where we fight back, but without losing our sense of humor and compassion.
Why Should I Support The Left Hook?
I’m going back to my independent roots and launching this online community from the ground up.
I feel like a brown Cassandra the past twenty years. I’ve accurately predicted many political and cultural trends, attempted to warn people in positions of power, but have been ignored by corporate media and political institutions who are vested in not rocking the boat and catering to “both sides,” even those prone to fascism.
As a 21-year-old college student, I protested the War on Iraq and during the early stages of my career wrote about how it would be a colossal disaster for both our civil liberties and foreign relations. At the age of 30, I authored an investigative report, Fear Inc., that presaged the rise of an international right-wing movement stoking the flames of Islamophobia and anti-immigrant bigotry. At 36, I was covering the 2016 election for Huffington Post and warned about the rise of Trumpism and how an extremist MAGA movement would consume the conservative movement. Two years later, I predicted Trump would never leave office peacefully.
At 43, I’ve realized many of our institutions are ossified and would rather bend a knee to bad-faith political actors and corporate money than evolve to represent the voice and passion of the majority. We can’t outsource our problems. The Avengers aren’t coming to save us. We have to step up and save ourselves. (No capes!)
I’ve been humbled enough by time and life to know I can’t do this by myself. I also know people have bills to pay and are inundated with subscriptions. That being said, your investment and support will ensure I can spend quality time writing, producing content, and building The Left Hook into a grand, fun intellectual playground for you to enjoy, even if you only occasionally stop by to swing on the monkey bars.
This is why I’m starting The Left Hook and why I need your help. Help me, help us, help yourself, and help restore and strengthen democracy.
So how’s it going to work?
Free subscribers
You will get some fresh, tasty written pieces and videos by me. They might be about politics, current affairs, foreign policy, pop culture, religion, or my failed attempt to shed my dad bod. I’ll even post some solid Lego content once in a while.
Paid subscribers $5 a month/$50 a year
First, you’ll be helping me start and grow this substack. I’m serious. Your generosity will allow me to write for free for everyone, plus put the time aside to build this into a community into a full-blown media brand for the left and anyone who is allergic to fascism and rising authoritarianism.
But you’ll also get:
Weekly posts: both written or video.
The ability to join and add to the conversation after every single post.
Access to exclusive interviews I conduct with subject matter experts.
And, finally, the beautiful karmic knowledge that you are helping to build something delicious, entertaining, and helpful from the grassroots.
Founding Members $250 a year
This is where things become very tasty. This is for those who want to really invest in this (inshallah) growing community. You’ll get:
Access to a frequent Ask Me Anything with me.
Quarterly Zoom chat with me and our growing community.
Future wwag assuming we become so big we can produce and give away swag.
My mother and father’s prayers and well wishes for helping me feed my family.
Finally, The Left Hook looks even better in the Substack app. Download it to get The Left Hook on the go AND to participate in the community chats when they happen.
We hope you enjoy your stay, and even if you disagree with us, we promise to never bore you.
Are you in? I hope so. And if there’s anyone you know who wants to be ‘in’ too, please feel free to share the news.
Sincerely,
Wajahat Ali, a southpaw willing to fight back.
