Lawrence Hamm’s Memoir Inspires the Fight for Social Justice

The event began with both Hamm and Alston calling for a ceasefire in the conflict in Gaza. The two of them then discussed their journey as long-time associates serving the community and why they decided to collaborate in writing A Life in the Struggle.

“I’ve known Larry for many years and worked with people in Progress and had the opportunity to go with him to various speaking engagements that he would go to. I was always intrigued by the stories I heard at the various engagements and felt that his story really needed to be told,” said Alston.

Hamm’s memoir has come just in time to promote him in his 2024 U.S. Senate Campaign in the Democratic primary. However, it took encouragement from Alston for him to finally share his life story in their book, which they worked on for two years. “Truth of the matter is, it is as much [Alston’s] book as it is mine because had she not pushed me with my cantankerous personality, it would have never happened,” said Hamm.

Thank goodness it did happen because, as the book’s title implies, Hamm’s life is an extraordinary tale of struggle and perseverance in the pursuit of progress and social justice. A citizen of Newark during the riots in 1967, Hamm became exposed to the rebellion against racial oppression at such a young age. Having also been inspired by the work of world-renowned writer Amiri Baraka, Hamm was instilled with an unyielding desire to fight for social justice and equality that would last decades.

In 1971, when he was only 17, Hamm led a student walkout at a local high school supporting the Newark Teacher’s Strike. Such an incredible feat caught the attention of Newark’s first Black mayor, Kenneth Gibson, who appointed Hamm to the city’s Board of Education the same year, making the latter the youngest school board member in the country. 

After spending three years on the board, Hamm left to complete his studies at Princeton University. There, he continued to fight for social justice as a leader in New Jersey’s anti-apartheid movement. After graduating from Princeton with a degree in politics, Hamm later founded the POP in 1983 and became a leader of the Million Man March in 1995. He also took part in the protests to free Nelson Mandela from prison and led a rally of thousands in Newark against the police brutality that killed George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in 2020.

A Life in the Struggle chronicles these numerous achievements and features many more stories from Hamm’s long life as a social activist. Such tales range from Hamm’s persistent training to be a fast runner in high school to his reaction to 27-year-old Earl Faison’s murder by police in 1999, the latter of which was described as a “stairwell of torture.” 

Though these stories may seem different, an overarching theme in Hamm and Alston’s book is the long struggle to improve oneself and the world. This is especially true when it comes to finding justice in a flawed criminal justice system that Hamm saw let so many African Americans like him down. “The struggle for social justice is protracted, whether you’re dealing with immediate issues or whether you’re dealing with the larger issues,” Hamm stated.

During the talkback, Hamm stressed the importance of journalism as a constitutional right in the modern age, especially as the former intersects with activism and the promotion thereof. “The dialectical relationship between the people who are fighting and the journalists who are covering it is an inescapable one. The role of the journalist is to bring to light how people are fighting, what they are doing, why they are fighting,” said Hamm.

For such a busy man like Hamm, writing this memoir and reliving his past was an exhausting challenge, both physically and emotionally. “There’s a lot in this book, but there are things that are not in the book,” he said. “And there are some things I don’t know that will ever be in the book. Writing a book, though, makes you take a hard look at yourself, and that’s painful – the process of self-evaluation and having the strength to admit your shortcomings and your failings.”

Though he was humble with his audience, the 70-year-old Hamm was wise enough to acknowledge his many outstanding achievements throughout his life, from supporting the Black Power movement to founding the independent POP to raising three intelligent daughters who continue his legacy in activism. Looking back on his life, Hamm knows he made history.