Mariama White-Hammond facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Mariama White-Hammond |
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White-Hammond in 2023
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| Personal details | |
| Born | Boston, Massachusetts, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| Denomination | African Methodist Episcopal Church |
| Parents | Ray Hammond (father) Gloria White-Hammond (mother) |
| Spouse | Rahn Dorsey |
| Occupation | Pastor |
| Education | Master of Divinity |
| Alma mater | Boston University School of Theology |
Mariama White-Hammond is a pastor who started the New Roots African Methodist Episcopal Church in Dorchester, Massachusetts. She used to be in charge of Energy, Environment, and Open Space for the City of Boston, working with Mayor Michelle Wu. Before becoming a pastor in the AME Church, she led Project HIP-HOP. This group helped young people learn about important social justice issues through art.
Early Life and Education
Mariama White-Hammond's parents are Ray Hammond and Gloria White-Hammond. Both of her parents are medical doctors and also ministers in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. They got married in 1973. Mariama is the older of two children; her sister's name is Adiya White-Hammond.
Mariama grew up in the Grove Hall area of Dorchester, in Boston, Massachusetts. She became aware of political issues when she was young. As a teenager, she stopped drinking Coke to support the movement against apartheid in South Africa. Apartheid was a system of unfair racial separation. She went to the Winsor School, a private school in Boston, and then to Stanford University. At Stanford, she studied human rights law and international relations.
Activism and Ministry Work
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In 2001, Mariama White-Hammond became the director of Project HIP-HOP. This group helps young people of color in Boston learn about social justice through art. When she was a teenager, Mariama was a member of this group herself. It was first created to teach young people about the history of the civil rights movement.
As director, she helped the group focus on "cultural organizing." This meant using hip-hop culture and arts to encourage young people to speak out about social justice. She worked with the organization for eleven years.
In 2006, she traveled with young people from Project HIP-HOP to New Orleans, Louisiana. They went after Hurricane Katrina caused a lot of damage. This trip helped White-Hammond see how environmental problems are connected to fairness for different races and economic groups. She also became active in local politics. In 2006, she helped with Deval Patrick's campaign to become governor again.
In 2014, Mariama started studying at Boston University School of Theology to become a minister. She earned a Master of Divinity degree in 2017. While she was a student, she worked as the Minister for Ecological Justice at Bethel AME Church. She became an ordained minister in the African Episcopal Methodist Church in April 2016, before she graduated.
Since her studies, she has become a known leader in environmental and racial justice issues. She is a Fellow of the Green Justice Coalition. In this role, she works on environmental activism in communities of color. In 2016, she was chosen to be part of Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healy's Racial Justice and Equity Council.
She spoke out against a natural gas pipeline planned for the West Roxbury area of Boston. In 2017, she was arrested during a protest against the pipeline. Twenty-two other activists were also arrested, including Karenna Gore, whose father was former Vice President Al Gore.
In January 2017, White-Hammond was the main speaker for Boston's Women's March. This event was thought to be the biggest protest ever held on Boston Common. Later that same year, she was also the main speaker for the Boston People's Climate Mobilization.
Following her father's example, White-Hammond started the New Roots AME Church in Dorchester in 2018. She serves as the pastor there.
In June 2020, White-Hammond gave a sermon at a special memorial service. This service was organized by clergy at Bethel AME Church. It remembered the lives of three African-Americans who had died in spring 2020: George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. The memorial happened after a symbolic funeral procession through the streets of Boston.
In April 2021, Acting Mayor Kim Janey chose her to be Boston's chief of environment, energy, and open space. She kept this job when Michelle Wu became mayor. In this role, she was in charge of the Parks, Historic Preservation, Food Justice, and Environment Departments. White-Hammond left this position in April 2024.
Awards and Recognition
- Barr Fellowship (2009)
- The Celtics Heroes Among Us (2005)
- The Roxbury Founders Day Award (2004)
- Boston NAACP Image award
- Grist 50 Fixers for 2019
- Sojourners 11 Women Shaping the Church.
