Lamont Lilly

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
Born	1979 (age 44–45) Fayetteville, North Carolina, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Political activist and journalist
Political party	Workers World Party (2011–2018)

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. "Lamont Lilly to visit Roanoke to discuss "Building People's Power & Socialism" | The Roanoke Tribune, LLC". theroanoketribune.org. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
2. 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. 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). . 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.