US Senate Candidate Larry Hamm Prepares For Book Launch In Newark

NEWARK, NJ — It’s not just Larry Hamm’s story: it’s the story of the cooperation and dedication that it takes to craft lasting change in the world.

Hamm – a United States Senate candidate who is one of several people trying to replace Sen. Bob Menendez in New Jersey this year – will hold a launch event for his autobiography, “Lawrence Hamm: A Life In The Struggle,” at the Newark Public Library on Saturday, March 9.

The event will take place at 2 p.m. in the library’s James Brown African American Room, 2nd Floor, 5 Washington Street.

Hamm – who wrote the book with co-author Annette Alston – said it covers his life as a longtime social justice activist in Essex County. It spans a time period that includes his first protest as a high school student in 1971 until more recent struggles against police brutality in the 21st century.

The book explores his participation in the Black Power movement after his appointment at age 17 to the Newark Board of Education by the city’s first black mayor, Kenneth Gibson – making him the youngest school board member in the nation. It looks at the three “tumultuous” years he spent on the school board, Hamm said.

It also discusses the influence of writer and activist Amiri Baraka on Hamm’s political development and struggles in which they both participated. Hamm was the youngest elected delegate to the 1972 National Black Political Convention held in Gary, Indiana – and spearheaded by Baraka.

The book also talks about Hamm’s role in the campus anti-apartheid movement to get Princeton to divest its stock holdings in companies doing business with the racist apartheid regime in South Africa, and delves into his struggle to build the People’s Organization For Progress, an all-volunteer grassroots group that fights for economic justice, police brutality and other issues impacting the Black community.

“I agreed to write this book because I thought it was important to tell the story of some of the struggles I have been involved in during the past half century and some of the lessons I have learned from them,” Hamm said.

“This is not just my story,” he continued. “It is the story of many, many people with whom I have worked with side by side to try to bring about change at local, state, national, and international levels.”

• See Related: Newark 'Radical' Celebrates 50 Years Of Activism – By Protesting
• See Related: Hamm Ramps Up NJ Senate Campaign, Criticizes Debate Requirements

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