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