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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.

Early life and education

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]

Activism and journalism

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]

Community

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]

References

  1. ^ a b "Lamont Lilly to visit Roanoke to discuss "Building People's Power & Socialism" | The Roanoke Tribune, LLC". theroanoketribune.org. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Hudnall, David (November 2, 2016). "Long Shots: Durham Activist Lamont Lilly Runs for Veep on the World Workers Party Ticket". Indy Week. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e McDonald, Thomasi (August 26, 2020). "Lamont Lilly Is a Frontline Foot Soldier in the Fight Against Inequality". Indy Week. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
  4. ^ Nick Valencia (20 December 2013). "Vigil for teen who died in police custody turns violent". CNN. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  5. ^ ABC11. "Call for justice in Durham following Zimmerman verdict | ABC11 Raleigh-Durham | abc11.com". ABC11 Raleigh-Durham. Retrieved 2020-08-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Blest, Paul (2016-12-07). "That Big Ku Klux Klan Rally Didn't Amount to Much". Indy Week. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  7. ^ Lilly, Lamont (August 13, 2016). "Lamont Lilly to Peace and Freedom Party: 'True socialism must connect to the most marginalized'". Workers World. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  8. ^ Flounders, Sara (2015-02-28). "International forum supports Palestine". Workers World. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  9. ^ "PFLP leadership meets with U.S. delegation". Workers World. 26 February 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  10. ^ Protesters take on Baltimore police union - CNN Video, retrieved 2020-08-25
  11. ^ Polgreen, Lydia (2015-06-20). "From Ferguson to Charleston and Beyond, Anguish About Race Keeps Building". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  12. ^ Left, the Appalachian (2015-06-21). "The Atrocity in Charleston: "Let this trauma drive the struggle for Black Liberation"". Appalachian Left | Toward a Mass Party of Labor & People's Assemblies!. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  13. ^ Feddeman, Mary (August 2014). "New organization of local activists forms after national moment of silence for Ferguson". durhamvoice.org. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  14. ^ Patrick, Robert. "Police brace for weekend of protests across St. Louis". STLtoday.com. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  15. ^ Contributors (2016-09-26). "EXCLUSIVE: Witness Describes The Fight For Sovereignty At 'Standing Rock'". The Black Youth Project. Retrieved 2020-08-25. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  16. ^ "Durham activists rally to support those charged with felonies for pulling down a confederate statue". Scalawag. 2017-08-23. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  17. ^ "'Freedom Fighters' Targeted After Statue Toppling in Durham". Rewire.News. 17 August 2017. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  18. ^ "Protesters In Durham Hand Themselves Over To Authorities In Solidarity With Takiyah Thompson". The FADER. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  19. ^ "People rally in Durham to support activists in toppling of confederate statues". The Progressive Pulse. 2017-08-17. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  20. ^ Lilly, Lamont (2015-04-09). "Boston bus drivers stand ground against Veolia". Workers World. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  21. ^ Lilly, Lamont (6 August 2015). "A Bold and Brilliant New Moment in the Struggle for Black Liberation". Truthout. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  22. ^ "Los Angeles Students Honor Sandra Bland – CDTech – Community Development Technologies". 29 October 2015. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  23. ^ wibailoutpeople (2016-06-11). "Milwaukee, July 7: Building People's Power, Lamont Lilly Leads Community Conversation". Wisconsin Bail Out the People Movement. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  24. ^ Movement, Wisc Bail Out The People. "Lamont Lilly Leads WWP Community Conversation". www.newiprogressive.com. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  25. ^ "A youth's view from Durham to Wall Street". www.workers.org. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  26. ^ "Capitalism, Policing, & the Role of State Violence (2015-07-10)". occupyoakland.org. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  27. ^ Brown, Joel (2016-07-27). "Durham activist at DNC: No faith in GOP or Dems on race". ABC11 Raleigh-Durham. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  28. ^ Rices-Muhammad, Zola (2016-10-20). "San Diego: A revolutionary roundtable with WWP candidates". Workers World. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  29. ^ SAGER, KATE DAY. "Topic of police abolitionism discussed at Pitt-Bradford". The Bradford Era. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  30. ^ SCHELLHAMMER, MARCIE. "Police abolitionist to speak at UPB Thursday". The Bradford Era. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  31. ^ "Black Lives Matter panel to focus on modern culture". The Parthenon. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  32. ^ "Black History Month forum on racism & low wages". Workers World. 2015-02-20. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  33. ^ "Local heroes: The 2015 Indy Citizen Award Winners". 11 April 2017.
  34. ^ Sorg, Lisa (25 February 2015). "Spectacular Magazine 2017 Men Of The Year Awards Presented".
  35. ^ "Heroes of 2020: Black Activists on the Protests That Were and the Work That's Still to Be Done in 2021". COURIER. 2020-12-30. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  36. ^ "We Don't Subscribe to Reforming the Police". LeftVoice.org. 27 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  37. ^ Hudnall, David (June 16, 2016). "Durham's Lamont Lilly is Running for Vice President (of the United States)". Indy Week. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  38. ^ Brash, Jim (June 16, 2016). "An Interview with Workers World Party VP candidate Lamont Lilly". The North Star. Archived from the original on 28 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  39. ^ Loewe, Emma (25 February 2016). "Pushing for civil-rights reform". Indy Week. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  40. ^ "Lamont Lilly in his own words | Clarion Content". Retrieved 2020-09-20.
  41. ^ "Kappa Alpha Psi Brother listing". Retrieved August 24, 2020.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamont_Lilly