Newark 'Radical' Celebrates 50 Years Of Activism – By Protesting

NEWARK, NJ — Half a century ago, a 17-year-old Lawrence Hamm led a student walkout at a high school in Newark. It was a life-changing moment for Hamm, who was soon appointed to the Newark Board of Education, becoming the youngest voting school board member in the United States.

Last week, Hamm was again at the forefront of a rally in New Jersey’s most populated city, calling for students to stay active and demand change. And in doing so, the former U.S. Senate candidate showed why he’s gained a reputation as of the most tenacious progressive activists in the Garden State.

It all began on March 24, 1971, Hamm recalled.

Tired of conditions in local schools, Hamm and a large group of students walked out of Arts High School, marched downtown and held a massive sit-in to support a teachers’ strike. Acting as chief negotiator for the New Ark Student Federation, Hamm later presented 27 demands to the school board, including better facilities and more student voices in the district’s decision-making process.

“It was the first time I participated in a protest in my life,” Hamm said – but it wouldn’t be his last.

Impressed by the teen’s leadership abilities, Newark’s first African-American mayor, the late Kenneth Gibson, appointed him to a historic position on the board of education three months later.

It was a gig that meant making some big personal sacrifices, including his career as an athlete. But the standout, long-distance track star – who also served as student council president – decided that serving his community was more important than his dreams of athletic glory.

“I’ve been an activist ever since,” Hamm said. “It was the beginning of my life’s work.”

Watch a video of Hamm speaking about the experience here.

Shortly after making that momentous choice, Hamm got a chance to meet the legendary poet and activist Amiri Baraka, the father of Newark’s current mayor, Ras Baraka. The meeting had a major impact on his political thinking that still reverberates to this day.

One of Hamm’s first campaigns after his historic appointment to the school board was another education-related issue, this time at Princeton University, where he led a student sit-in to protest the Ivy League school’s investment in the Apartheid government in South Africa.

Hamm later founded the People’s Organization For Progress (POP) in Newark, where he still serves as one of the group’s most recognizable voices. Since then, the indefatigable activist has found himself at the forefront of fights against police brutality, poverty and institutional racism – among many others.

• See related article: They Helped Lead Newark's Massive George Floyd Protest; What's Next?

In 2020, Hamm took a leap into national politics, challenging his fellow Newark resident Cory Booker for a seat in the U.S. Senate. His platform included support for issues such as Medicare for all, a $15 minimum wage and the Green Deal.

“I'm a radical, but one who wants radical change in the condition of people in this country,” he told Patch. “There's a greater gap between rich and the poor – or actually, the rich and the rest of us – in human history.”

“I'm trying to bring the programmatic ideas of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. into the public policy arena,” Hamm continued, adding that he supports the concept of U.S. slavery reparations.

“We need a fundamental restructuring of our social system in this country,” Hamm emphasized. “Rather than just have programs that feed the hungry, we need to reshape an economic system that produces hungry people.”

• See related article: This 'Radical' From Newark Is Challenging U.S. Sen. Cory Booker

Things came full circle for the longtime activist last week when he took part in a march in front of Arts High School on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard – exactly 50 years to the day of his first-ever protest.

Among those in attendance were several people who stood at Hamm’s side during the 1971 walkout. They included activist and educator, Akili Buchanan, who led a campaign as a high school student to rename then-South Side High School to Malcolm X Shabazz High School, making it the first institution in the country to honor the slain civil rights leader. Other guests included former New Jersey Assemblyman Craig Stanley, who would eventually co-author the state’s groundbreaking Amistad Bill.

• See related article: New Jersey's Amistad Law Marches To Dismantle White Supremacy

“The purpose of this observance is not only to talk about student activism of the past, but to also discuss the importance of student activism today,” Hamm told attendees at the march.

“Last summer, millions of students and young people marched to demand justice for George Floyd, Brianna Taylor, Ahmad Arbery, and other victims of police brutality,” he said. “More protests and other actions are needed to keep the pressure on until they get justice.”

Hamm’s dream of student activism is alive and well in Essex County, where the region’s younger residents have continued to make their own marks on the political landscape of their towns.

In Newark, at 23-years-old, A'Dorian Murray-Thomas recently became the youngest woman ever elected to the Newark school board. In Millburn, Jamie Serruto was recently sworn in to a post on the Millburn Board of Education at the age of 18. And last year in Belleville, Frank Velez, 19, became the youngest person ever elected to the school board in the town's history.

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