Leanita McClain (1951–1984) was an American journalist and commentator, best known for her observations of race and politics in Chicago and the U.S. in the early 1980s.

Her writings in the Chicago Tribune and in opinion pieces published in Newsweek gave broad exposure to her thoughts on race and class in the United States.

In fact, McClain was the first African American to serve on the Chicago Tribune's editorial board, and the youngest, at age 32.

In 1984, Glamour magazine named McClain one of the top 10 career women in the United States.

But the book is far from parochial; McClain also brings fresh insight to perennial problems of national interest, such as a column that praises America's black colleges that remain "dignified and undaunted" in the face of dwindling enrollment and resources; and her description of the pain of a young girl's illegal abortion interfaced with the rhetoric of anti-abortionists.McClain suffered from depression through much of her life, and died by suicide in Chicago in 1984.