Marc Lamont Hill facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Marc Lamont Hill
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Hill in November 2005
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| Born | December 17, 1978 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
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| Education | Temple University (BS) University of Pennsylvania (MA, PhD) |
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| Employer | CUNY Graduate Center |
| Political party | Green |
Marc Lamont Hill (born December 17, 1978) is an American academic, author, activist, and television personality. He is a professor of urban education at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City.
Hill is the host of UpFront on Al Jazeera English, VH1 Live! on VH1, and Basketball Wives reunion shows. He is also a BET News correspondent. Previously he was the first host of the syndicated television show Our World with Black Enterprise, the host of HuffPost Live, and a political commentator for CNN and Fox News. In November 2018, Hill was fired from his position at CNN after receiving criticism for remarks he made before the United Nations on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. CNN gave no reason for the firing.
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Early life and education
Hill was born and raised in Philadelphia. When he was 14, Hill met future NBA star Kobe Bryant at a basketball summer camp, and the two became close friends and remained so until Bryant's death. After graduating from Carver High School, a public school in Philadelphia, Hill attended Morehouse College, a private liberal arts college, but says he spent his time "hanging out and getting in trouble", and dropped out of Morehouse when he was a freshman. He finished his undergraduate studies at Temple University, where he received his B.S. in education and Spanish in 2000. He later earned both an MA and a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Career
From 2005 to 2009, Hill was a professor of urban education and American studies at Temple University. In the fall of 2009, Hill joined the faculty of Teachers College, Columbia University, as an associate professor of education. He left Teachers College in 2014 to join the faculty at Morehouse College as Distinguished Professor of African American Studies. In May 2017, it was announced that he was re-joining the faculty of Temple University as the Steve Charles Professor of Media, Cities, and Solutions. In August 2023, Hill left Temple University to join the CUNY Graduate Center as a professor of urban education.
Hill worked as a political contributor for Fox News from 2007 until 2009, when he was fired. During this time, he appeared on The O'Reilly Factor, Huckabee, and Hannity. Prior to Fox, Hill was a commentator on CNN and MSNBC, as well as Court TV, where he was a weekly contributor to the Star Jones talk show. In August 2010, he replaced Ed Gordon as host of the syndicated television show Our World with Black Enterprise. In May 2012, he joined Huffington Post as a host of HuffPost Live. In January 2021, Hill was named as the host of UpFront on Al Jazeera English, as the permanent replacement for Mehdi Hasan. In March of the same year, Hill was announced as anchor for Black News Tonight, a primetime show on the Black News Channel which would launch the following month.
Activism
Hill is a founding board member of My5th, a non-profit organization aiming to educate youth about their legal rights and responsibilities. In 2001, he started a literacy project that uses hip-hop culture to increase school engagement and reading skills among high-school students. He also organizes and teaches adult literacy courses for high school dropouts in Philadelphia and Camden. Hill was named one of America's top 30 black leaders under the age of 30 by Ebony magazine.
In addition, Hill works with African-American and Latino youth. Hill publicly argued for the release of Genarlow Wilson and Shaquanda Cotton. In the Cotton case, Hill organized an internet letter-writing campaign. Hill urged the public to write to District Attorney David McDade to express concerns about his desire to appeal the court's decision to void the sentence of Genarlow Wilson. In May 2013, an article by Hill for Ebony.com entitled "Why Aren't We Fighting for CeCe McDonald?" won the GLAAD Media Award for "Outstanding Digital Journalism Article."
On June 12, 2010, Hill alleged that while driving his car, he was unlawfully stopped by two Philadelphia police officers, one of whom was highly regarded at the time—Officer Richard DeCoatsworth. Hill, represented by his brother, attorney Leonard Hill, filed a civil lawsuit on October 12, 2010, against the City of Philadelphia and four police officers, including DeCoatsworth.
Hill expressed support for the Green Party in the 2016 US presidential election. Of candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, he stated: "I would rather have Trump be president for four years and build a real left-wing movement that can get us what we deserve as a people, than to let Hillary be president and we stay locked in the same space where we don't get what we want."
Books
- Hill, Marc Lamont; Brewster, Todd (2022). Seen and Unseen: Technology, Social Media, and the Fight for Racial Justice. Atria Books. ISBN: 978-1-98218-041-6
- Hill, Marc Lamont; Barat, Frank (Editor); Taylor, Keeanga-Yamahtta (2020). We Still Here: Pandemic, Policing, Protest, & Possibility. Haymarket Books. ISBN: 978-1-64259-474-4
