Marc Lamont Hill
Encyclopedia
Marc Lamont Hill is an American academic, commentator, author
, activist, and television personality. He currently serves as an Associate Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University
. Hill is also an affiliated faculty member in African American Studies
at the Institute for Research in African American Studies at Columbia University. He is currently the host of the nationally syndicated television show Our World with Black Enterprise
.
, where he regularly appeared on The O'Reilly Factor
, Huckabee
, and Hannity
. Prior to Fox, Hill was a regular 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 the fall of 2009, Dr. Hill joined the faculty of Columbia University as Associate Professor of Education. From 2005-2009, he was Assistant Professor of Urban Education and American Studies at Temple University
. A well-regarded scholar in the field of educational anthropology and literacy studies, Hill's research focuses on political education, counter-public literacies, and youth culture. In 2009, he published the award-winning book, "Beats, Rhymes and Classroom Life: Hip-Hop Pedagogy and the Politics of Identity."
Hill is a longtime social justice
activist and organizer
. He is a founding board member of My5th, a non-profit organization
aiming to educate underprivileged 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 continues to organize and teach adult literacy courses for high school dropouts in Philadelphia and Camden
. Dr. Hill also works closely with the ACLU Drug Reform Project, focusing on drug informant policy.
In addition to his political work, Dr. Hill continues to work directly with African American
and Latino
youth. Hill publicly argued for the release of Genarlow Wilson and Shaquanda Cotton
. In the Cotton case, Hill organized a mass internet letter writing campaign that helped to place a spotlight on the case and secure her early release. Hill urged the public to write to District Attorney
David McDade to express their concerns about his desire to appeal the court's decision to void the sentence of Genarlow Wilson, stating that in doing so, McDade was "ignoring the will of the people, the judge, and any semblence of justice."
Dr. Hill was named one of America's top 30 Black leaders under 30 years old by Ebony
Magazine.
He is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi
fraternity.
on October 16, 2009. News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch
publicly declared that Hill no longer worked for Fox during a shareholders meeting, in response to a question about Hill's "reputation of defending cop killers and racists". The question was a reference to Dr. Hill's support for Assata Shakur
, who Hill says "is not a cop killer – I would never support a cop killer – but a wrongfully convicted political activist." Hill, however, remained oblivious to the sudden termination of his employment, even taking to his Twitter
account to deny reports.
However, later that day, Hill confirmed reports to the Huffington Post, saying: "I am no longer employed by Fox News and grateful for the opportunity and I have nothing bad to say."
It was later revealed during an interview with conservative radio host Steve Malzberg
that Hill had no information on why he had been fired, and that he learned of his termination via Google alert. On how he felt about being fired from Fox News, Hill said that he was "a little puzzled" and told Malzberg that he had no more information than the general public.
Though Fox's handling of Dr. Hill's firing was widely criticized, Hill continues to appear as a guest on many Fox News Channel
programs, namely The O'Reilly Factor
and Geraldo At Large
, as well as being a regular guest on CNN
and MSNBC
.
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, activist, and television personality. He currently serves as an Associate Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University
Teachers College, Columbia University
Teachers College, Columbia University is a graduate school of education located in New York City, New York...
. Hill is also an affiliated faculty member in African American Studies
African American studies
African American studies is a subset of Black studies or Africana studies. It is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to the study of the history, culture, and politics of African Americans...
at the Institute for Research in African American Studies at Columbia University. He is currently the host of the nationally syndicated television show Our World with Black Enterprise
Our World with Black Enterprise
Our World with Black Enterprise is a weekly television show hosted by Marc Lamont Hill and produced by Black Enterprise, Inc. It airs on Saturday and Sunday across a range of United States local television stations....
.
Career
From 2007 to 2009, Hill worked as a political contributor for the Fox News ChannelFox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
, where he regularly appeared on The O'Reilly Factor
The O'Reilly Factor
The O'Reilly Factor, originally titled The O'Reilly Report from 1996 to 1998 and often called The Factor, is an American talk show on the Fox News Channel hosted by commentator Bill O'Reilly, who often discusses current controversial political issues with guests.The program was the most watched...
, Huckabee
Huckabee
Huckabee is a TV political commentary program on Fox News hosted by former Republican Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. It premiered September 27, 2008, at 8 PM EDT.- Schedule :...
, and Hannity
Hannity
Hannity is a television show on the Fox News network, a replacement to the long-running show Hannity & Colmes. It is hosted by conservative political pundit Sean Hannity....
. Prior to Fox, Hill was a regular commentator on CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
and MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
, as well as Court TV
Court TV
truTV is an American cable television network owned by Turner Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Time Warner. The network launched as Court TV in 1991, changing to truTV in 2008...
, where he was a weekly contributor to the Star Jones
Star Jones (TV series)
Star Jones is a talk show hosted by former prosecutor Star Jones. A guest-driven live broadcast covering recent stories from the worlds of pop culture, entertainment, crime, and justice, it premiered on August 20, 2007 on Court TV. On January 31, 2008 TruTV announced the show would be canceled...
talk show. In August 2010, he replaced Ed Gordon as host of the syndicated television show Our World with Black Enterprise
Our World with Black Enterprise
Our World with Black Enterprise is a weekly television show hosted by Marc Lamont Hill and produced by Black Enterprise, Inc. It airs on Saturday and Sunday across a range of United States local television stations....
.
In the fall of 2009, Dr. Hill joined the faculty of Columbia University as Associate Professor of Education. From 2005-2009, he was Assistant Professor of Urban Education and American Studies at Temple University
Temple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
. A well-regarded scholar in the field of educational anthropology and literacy studies, Hill's research focuses on political education, counter-public literacies, and youth culture. In 2009, he published the award-winning book, "Beats, Rhymes and Classroom Life: Hip-Hop Pedagogy and the Politics of Identity."
Hill is a longtime social justice
Social justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
activist and organizer
Organizer
Organizer could refer to:*Union organizer, a trade union official*Party organizer, a political party official*Community organizing, a way of building democratic power for the powerless*Personal organizer, a type of diary...
. He is a founding board member of My5th, a non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
aiming to educate underprivileged youth about their legal rights and responsibilities. In 2001, he started a literacy
Literacy
Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print...
project that uses hip-hop culture to increase school engagement and reading skills among high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
students. He also continues to organize and teach adult literacy courses for high school dropouts in Philadelphia and Camden
Camden, New Jersey
The city of Camden is the county seat of Camden County, New Jersey. It is located across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 77,344...
. Dr. Hill also works closely with the ACLU Drug Reform Project, focusing on drug informant policy.
In addition to his political work, Dr. Hill continues to work directly with African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
and Latino
Latino
The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
youth. Hill publicly argued for the release of Genarlow Wilson and Shaquanda Cotton
Shaquanda Cotton
Shaquanda Cotton is an African-American girl who, in March 2006, at the age of 15, was sentenced to an indeterminate time in the Texas Youth Commission's juvenile detention facilities for shoving a teacher's assistant at her high school in Paris, Texas, U.S.A.-The...
. In the Cotton case, Hill organized a mass internet letter writing campaign that helped to place a spotlight on the case and secure her early release. Hill urged the public to write to District Attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
David McDade to express their concerns about his desire to appeal the court's decision to void the sentence of Genarlow Wilson, stating that in doing so, McDade was "ignoring the will of the people, the judge, and any semblence of justice."
Dr. Hill was named one of America's top 30 Black leaders under 30 years old by Ebony
Ebony (magazine)
Ebony, a monthly magazine for the African-American market, was founded by John H. Johnson and has published continuously since the autumn of 1945...
Magazine.
He is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi
Kappa Alpha Psi
Kappa Alpha Psi is a collegiate Greek-letter fraternity with a predominantly African American membership. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never limited membership based on color, creed or national origin...
fraternity.
Controversy
Dr. Hill was fired from Fox News ChannelFox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
on October 16, 2009. News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
publicly declared that Hill no longer worked for Fox during a shareholders meeting, in response to a question about Hill's "reputation of defending cop killers and racists". The question was a reference to Dr. Hill's support for Assata Shakur
Assata Shakur
Assata Olugbala Shakur is an African-American activist and escaped convict who was a member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army...
, who Hill says "is not a cop killer – I would never support a cop killer – but a wrongfully convicted political activist." Hill, however, remained oblivious to the sudden termination of his employment, even taking to his Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
account to deny reports.
However, later that day, Hill confirmed reports to the Huffington Post, saying: "I am no longer employed by Fox News and grateful for the opportunity and I have nothing bad to say."
It was later revealed during an interview with conservative radio host Steve Malzberg
Steve Malzberg
Steve Malzberg is a radio personality. He most recently hosted The Steve Malzberg Show on the WOR Radio Network.A graduate of Brooklyn College, Malzberg worked at 77 WABC for over twenty-five years in several capacities, i.e., as an overnight political talk show host, a sports commentator, and...
that Hill had no information on why he had been fired, and that he learned of his termination via Google alert. On how he felt about being fired from Fox News, Hill said that he was "a little puzzled" and told Malzberg that he had no more information than the general public.
Though Fox's handling of Dr. Hill's firing was widely criticized, Hill continues to appear as a guest on many Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
programs, namely The O'Reilly Factor
The O'Reilly Factor
The O'Reilly Factor, originally titled The O'Reilly Report from 1996 to 1998 and often called The Factor, is an American talk show on the Fox News Channel hosted by commentator Bill O'Reilly, who often discusses current controversial political issues with guests.The program was the most watched...
and Geraldo At Large
Geraldo at Large
Geraldo at Large is a United States television newsmagazine, hosted by Fox News correspondent-at-large and former talk show host Geraldo Rivera.-History:...
, as well as being a regular guest on CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
and MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
.