Lamont Lilly | |
---|---|
Born | 1979 (age 44–45) |
Occupation(s) | Political activist and journalist |
Political party | Workers World Party (2011–2018) |
Lamont Lilly (born 1979) is an American writer, political activist, and community organizer based in Durham, North Carolina. He is also a former vice-presidential candidate with the Workers World Party in the 2016 presidential election.
Lamont Lilly was born in 1979 in Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States. [1] He served in the United States Army Reserve, being honorably discharged in 2001. [2] In 1998 Lilly moved to Durham, North Carolina, and enrolled at North Carolina Central University (NCCU), studying criminal justice. He graduated in 2003. Lilly initially aspired to become a lawyer. During his sophomore year of college he worked at a store at Northgate Mall, and while there he allowed a friend to use his employee discount. He later confessed and was convicted of felony embezzlement. He subsequently struggled to maintain employment and for a time became homeless. He later credited these experiences with shaping his views of homelessness and the criminal justice system. [3]
Shortly after graduating from NCCU, he pursued graduate studies in sociology, also at NCCU, but decided to forego traditional education and worked for several years as a grassroots non-profit program coordinator, focusing on Black youth leadership and academic development. His focus on Black youth and families continued as he became an activist and community organizer. [2] [1] In 2005 Lilly was hired by NCCU to serve the director of its African American Male Leadership Academy. He left the job in 2008. [3]
In 2011 Lilly participated in the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York City. That year he joined the Workers World Party (WWP). In 2015 he became a paid organizer for the party. [3] He served as the party's U.S. vice presidential candidate in the 2016 presidential election. [2] Lilly left the party in 2018, though he still identified as a socialist. [3]
From 2013 to 2018 Lilly was a Durham political activist, [4] [5] [6] a leading member of the Durham branch of the WWP, a member of WWP's National Committee, and an early member of Black Alliance for Peace. [7]
In 2010, Lilly traveled to Colombia in South America as a human rights delegate with Witness for Peace, advocating for displaced Indigenous and Afro-Colombian people. In 2015, he went to Syria and Lebanon [8] in a group led by Ramsey Clark and Cynthia McKinney. In Beirut, he spoke as a Black Lives Matter representative at the International Forum for Justice Palestine. In Damascus, he met with members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. [9]
Lilly has participated in several protests in the United States, including the 2015 Baltimore protests after the police murder of Freddie Gray, [10] to the Days of Grace actions in Charleston, SC in the wake of the racist massacre at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church; [11] [12] Lilly has been present and involved at numerous instances of civil unrest related to racial discrimination, recording his perspective as an activist-journalist in the Black Lives Matter movement. [13] [2]
Lilly participated in the protests in Ferguson after the 2014 police murder of Michael Brown Jr. [14] and was present at the 2016 Standing Rock protests. [2] [15] Later, he led support rallies for the arrested activists who tore down the Confederate statue in Durham in 2017. [16] [17] [18] [19] Lilly has helped to lead demonstrations in Boston, [20] Chicago,[ citation needed] Cleveland, [21] Los Angeles, [22] Milwaukee, [23] [24] New York City, [25] Oakland, [26] Philadelphia, [27] and San Diego. [28]
Lilly has written as a guest columnist in The Durham News, The Herald-Sun, and Triangle Tribune. [2] As of 2020 he is a regular contributor for Truthout. [3]
He has also been a guest speaker and facilitated workshops at several colleges and universities including the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, [29] [30] Marshall University, [31] and Malcolm X College. [32]
Lilly was awarded the 2015 Local Hero Citizen's Award [33] by Indy Week for "pushing for workers' rights and police reform" and the 2017 Spectacular Magazine Man of the Year for "human rights and social justice". [34] The Courier Newsroom named Lilly as one of their "Heroes of 2020" for his continued activism in the Movement for Black Lives. [35] He attributes much of his political development to Monica Moorehead, [36] [37] [38] Pam Africa, Mark Anthony Neal, and Mumia Abu-Jamal. He has also credited the writings of Thomas Sankara, Lucille Clifton, Amiri Baraka, Henry Dumas, Sonia Sanchez, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Kwame Nkrumah with influencing his political beliefs. [39]
Lilly currently resides in Durham's historically African-American community, Old Hayti. [40] He is also a member of the Alpha Kappa chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. [41]
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Lamont Lilly | |
---|---|
Born | 1979 (age 44–45) |
Occupation(s) | Political activist and journalist |
Political party | Workers World Party (2011–2018) |
Lamont Lilly (born 1979) is an American writer, political activist, and community organizer based in Durham, North Carolina. He is also a former vice-presidential candidate with the Workers World Party in the 2016 presidential election.
Lamont Lilly was born in 1979 in Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States. [1] He served in the United States Army Reserve, being honorably discharged in 2001. [2] In 1998 Lilly moved to Durham, North Carolina, and enrolled at North Carolina Central University (NCCU), studying criminal justice. He graduated in 2003. Lilly initially aspired to become a lawyer. During his sophomore year of college he worked at a store at Northgate Mall, and while there he allowed a friend to use his employee discount. He later confessed and was convicted of felony embezzlement. He subsequently struggled to maintain employment and for a time became homeless. He later credited these experiences with shaping his views of homelessness and the criminal justice system. [3]
Shortly after graduating from NCCU, he pursued graduate studies in sociology, also at NCCU, but decided to forego traditional education and worked for several years as a grassroots non-profit program coordinator, focusing on Black youth leadership and academic development. His focus on Black youth and families continued as he became an activist and community organizer. [2] [1] In 2005 Lilly was hired by NCCU to serve the director of its African American Male Leadership Academy. He left the job in 2008. [3]
In 2011 Lilly participated in the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York City. That year he joined the Workers World Party (WWP). In 2015 he became a paid organizer for the party. [3] He served as the party's U.S. vice presidential candidate in the 2016 presidential election. [2] Lilly left the party in 2018, though he still identified as a socialist. [3]
From 2013 to 2018 Lilly was a Durham political activist, [4] [5] [6] a leading member of the Durham branch of the WWP, a member of WWP's National Committee, and an early member of Black Alliance for Peace. [7]
In 2010, Lilly traveled to Colombia in South America as a human rights delegate with Witness for Peace, advocating for displaced Indigenous and Afro-Colombian people. In 2015, he went to Syria and Lebanon [8] in a group led by Ramsey Clark and Cynthia McKinney. In Beirut, he spoke as a Black Lives Matter representative at the International Forum for Justice Palestine. In Damascus, he met with members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. [9]
Lilly has participated in several protests in the United States, including the 2015 Baltimore protests after the police murder of Freddie Gray, [10] to the Days of Grace actions in Charleston, SC in the wake of the racist massacre at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church; [11] [12] Lilly has been present and involved at numerous instances of civil unrest related to racial discrimination, recording his perspective as an activist-journalist in the Black Lives Matter movement. [13] [2]
Lilly participated in the protests in Ferguson after the 2014 police murder of Michael Brown Jr. [14] and was present at the 2016 Standing Rock protests. [2] [15] Later, he led support rallies for the arrested activists who tore down the Confederate statue in Durham in 2017. [16] [17] [18] [19] Lilly has helped to lead demonstrations in Boston, [20] Chicago,[ citation needed] Cleveland, [21] Los Angeles, [22] Milwaukee, [23] [24] New York City, [25] Oakland, [26] Philadelphia, [27] and San Diego. [28]
Lilly has written as a guest columnist in The Durham News, The Herald-Sun, and Triangle Tribune. [2] As of 2020 he is a regular contributor for Truthout. [3]
He has also been a guest speaker and facilitated workshops at several colleges and universities including the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, [29] [30] Marshall University, [31] and Malcolm X College. [32]
Lilly was awarded the 2015 Local Hero Citizen's Award [33] by Indy Week for "pushing for workers' rights and police reform" and the 2017 Spectacular Magazine Man of the Year for "human rights and social justice". [34] The Courier Newsroom named Lilly as one of their "Heroes of 2020" for his continued activism in the Movement for Black Lives. [35] He attributes much of his political development to Monica Moorehead, [36] [37] [38] Pam Africa, Mark Anthony Neal, and Mumia Abu-Jamal. He has also credited the writings of Thomas Sankara, Lucille Clifton, Amiri Baraka, Henry Dumas, Sonia Sanchez, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Kwame Nkrumah with influencing his political beliefs. [39]
Lilly currently resides in Durham's historically African-American community, Old Hayti. [40] He is also a member of the Alpha Kappa chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. [41]
{{
cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link)
{{
cite web}}
: |last=
has generic name (
help)