Lawrence Hamm

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Lawrence Hamm (born December 24, 1954) is an American civil rights activist from Newark, New Jersey. He is the Chairman and among the founders of the People's Organization for Progress, a grassroots justice organization active since 1982. [1]

Contents

His political platform includes "universal health care, a living wage for all, an end to war and excessive military spending, reparations for slavery, stronger voting and union rights, accountability for police brutality, affordable housing, climate change reversal, and the abolition of poverty". [2] He often cites inspiration from Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s progressive agenda, [2] including the tenets of racial integration, wealth redistribution, and nonviolent civil disobedience.

Hamm assisted as state co-chair for the presidential campaigns of Jesse Jackson in 1988 and Bernie Sanders in 2020. He also ran for Senate in 2020 and 2024.

He successfully campaigned to heighten the State's minimum wage to $15 an hour, [1] and for the right to "independent investigation if someone dies during interaction with or while in custody of police". [1]

Early life

Lawrence Hamm was born on December 24, 1954 [3] to Grayce and Lawrence Sr. in Washington D.C. [1] His mother, Grayce, was a seamstress at a local dry cleaner, [4] and his father, Lawrence, was a truck driver. [5] Hamm's family moved to Newark when he was 4 years old, [5] the same year his father died. [4]

In his youth, he lived with his mother Grace Hamm and an aunt at 527 South 12th Street. [5] Each summer, he would travel to Georgia to see relatives via the Silver Meteor Amtrak train, where he had formative experiences with Jim Crow laws. Around 1960, he recalled that most of the trip went normally, but at Washington, D.C., "the conductor came to [his family] and told [them they] had to move to the rear of the train". He would later learn that, upon passing the Mason–Dixon line, laws of segregated travel went into effect. [4]

Hamm graduated from South Seventeenth Street Elementary School. [1]

Hamm was 12 years old during the 1967 Newark riots, stating he and his grandfather "sat on the porch in July of ‘67, and literally watched things go up in flames all around us". While there, the two of them discussed his grandfathers' experiences as a soldier in the Great War while overseas in Germany, during which Allied French soldiers would often make ignorant and racist requests. [4]

During Hamm's first week at Newark Arts High School in the fall of 1967, he witnessed an altercation onstage between the student government president and the principal. The student was dragged away from the podium after repeatedly violating the principal's instructions not to talk about the war in Vietnam. The experience was among many formative experiences that would inspire Hamm to begin organizing. [4]

Activism

Newark Student Federation

Hamm later became Student Council President at the Newark Arts High School. [5] He was also captain of both the cross country and track and field teams. [6]

By the time he was a senior, he organized "student protests and sit-ins for civil rights" [2] including those in support of Nelson Mandela's work against apartheid in South Africa. [1]

In 1971, during the Newark teachers' strike, Hamm organized the Newark Student Federation, of which he was the leader and chief negotiator. One of the first events he led was a "massive" walk out of school, protest march, and sit-in to support their teachers on March 24, 1971. [7] The Student Federation produced a list of 27 demands to the School Board, including calls for "improved school facilities and greater student participation in the decisions affecting their education". [5]

After being impressed with his "clear mind, his desire to be fair and his sense of intergroup dynamics", Newark mayor Kenneth Gibson called Hamm, proposing that he join the School Board at the age of 17. Hamm considered the offer, discussing it with a friend, before deciding to accept the responsibility.

School Board appointment and service

In June of 1971, Mayor Gibson appointed Hamm to the Newark school board. [2] At the age of 17, he became the youngest school board member in the United States, necessitating that he sacrifice his sports commitments (including cross country and track). [6] Not all members were in support of Hamm's appointment, and some doubted its legality, even though it did fall within policy.

That year, one of Hamm's proposals included the purchase and display of 2,000 Black Liberation flags in Newark schools (which, at the time, had over 80% Black students). [8] Over 400 supporters attended the Board meeting in favor of the resolution. [8] The young Hamm stated that displaying Pan-African flags would "signal a new day of black consciousness and pride among the black students of Newark." He also stated that doing so would not indicate less of allegiance to the American flag but rather "a greater allegiance in themselves". [8] Community reactions varied, as reported by The New York Times. [8] Mayor Gibson expressed discomfort with the resolution, while Republican Essex County senator Milton Waldor called it "shallow" and "bigoted". [8] An unspecified Italian-American group stated that its organization would "seize and destroy" all Black Liberation flags upon sight. [8]

Princeton University

In the fall of 1971, he entered Princeton University with a scholarship to study political science, "but withdrew from the university to serve out [his] three-year term on the school board". [1] He returned to Princeton in 1974. [1]

While at Princeton, he led a student movement demanding "that Princeton divest from companies doing business" with the South African apartheid government. [1] He also led a sit-in with 210 student participants in the spring of 1978, leading to Princeton's divestment from several aforementioned corporations. [1]

The same year, Hamm graduated cum laude. [2]

Post-graduation

Hamm returned to Newark in 1980. [1] In 1982, Hamm and 9 others [1] founded the People's Organization for Progress, "a Newark-based grassroots group that fights for social, racial, and economic injustice". [2] As of 2024, they have held weekly protests against police brutality, marched to Trenton to advocate for police reforms, and rallied outside the New Jersey State House for various civil rights concerns.

In 1988 he was New Jersey's co-chair for Jesse Jackson's presidential campaign. [4]

21st century

In 2020, Hamm ran in the Senate election as a Democrat, "winning 12% of the vote in the Democratic primary against incumbent Sen. Cory Booker". [2] He received 118,802 votes. [9] Along with People's Organization for Progress, he organized and led a 12,000-person Newark George Floyd protest against police brutality, which was also fronted by Newark mayor Ras Baraka and featured speakers and dance activism. [10] [11] The New York Times stressed the peaceful aspect of the protest and its successful de-escalation, citing community members' memories of widespread violence during the 1967 Newark riots. [10]

As of 2024, Hamm has been vocal about his opposition of Trumpism. He expressed, to States Newsroom, that he believes "[we're] going backwards in this country, and the majority of people don’t want to go backwards. The Trump movement is a minority movement and what they want to establish is minority rule". [2]

In 2024, he expressed his support for a ceasefire during the Gaza war, along with an end to U.S. military aid to Israel. He stated,

"Dr. King said our country, the United States of America, is ‘the greatest purveyor of violence in the world.’ That was true in 1968, and it is true today. Genocide is being carried out before our very eyes. And if the United States government does not use the leverage that it has, we are going to be drawn into another forever war." [2]

The same year, he ran in the 2024 United States Senate election in New Jersey as a Democrat, where he received 47,796 votes (9%). [12]

Personal life

As of 2024, Hamm's family lives in Montclair, New Jersey. [2] [13] He is a father of three daughters [2] [13] and enjoys jogging and running. [3]

He has named his parents (as well as Amiri Baraka, Kenneth A. Gibson, Malcolm X, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.) as his greatest influences. [1]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Heroes Walk Beside Us: Featuring Larry Hamm, a Man Who Fights For Justice". TAPinto. Retrieved 2025-01-29.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 DiFilippo, Dana (2024-01-15). "Newark activist embraces 'Dr. Martin Luther King's agenda' in U.S. Senate bid • New Jersey Monitor". New Jersey Monitor. Retrieved 2025-01-29.
  3. 1 2 "Lawrence Hamm for US Senate - Today, December 24, 2024 is my 71st birthday. Went to the track today. Couldn't do much because it was covered in snow, ice, and slush. I am counting my run on 12/8/24 for this birthday. That day I jogged 7 miles, 28 laps on the track at Brookdale Park in Bloomfield, NJ. Happy Holidays Everyone!!! Power to the people!!! | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2025-01-30.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Lawrence Hamm: "The progressive movement must continue to push forward within the electoral arena"". openDemocracy. Retrieved 2025-01-30.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Gibson Names Youth, 17, To Newark School Board". The New York Times. 1971-07-02. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2025-01-29.
  6. 1 2 "Gibson Names Youth, 17, To Newark School Board". The New York Times. 1971-07-02. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2025-01-29.
  7. ↑ "Newark 'Radical' Celebrates 50 Years Of Activism – By Protesting". Newark, NJ Patch. 2021-03-29. Retrieved 2025-01-29.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Schools in Newark To Display the Flag Of Black Liberation". The New York Times. 1971-12-02. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2025-01-29.
  9. ↑ "2020 Official Primary Results. US Senate.pdf" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Elections. August 9, 2020. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  10. 1 2 Tully, Tracey; Armstrong, Kevin (2020-06-01). "How a City Once Consumed by Civil Unrest Has Kept Protests Peaceful". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2025-01-30.
  11. ↑ NJ.com, Jonathan D. Salant | NJ Advance Media for (2020-06-06). "George Floyd protest puts spotlight on Booker challenger in N.J. Senate primary". nj. Retrieved 2025-01-30.
  12. ↑ "2024 Election Information - Official Primary Election Results: U.S. Senate" (PDF). nj.gov.
  13. 1 2 "Heroes Walk Beside Us: Featuring Larry Hamm, a Man Who Fights For Justice". TAPinto. Retrieved 2025-01-29.
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